| Show WIIE GHOSTS ViALI t c Cummings Describes the Capitol by Moonlight SCENES GRAPHICALLY PICTURED J On the Drive in a Thunder Storm lila City of ft ashin ton Viewed by Lightning Flashes WASIIIXGTOX D C Oct 15 18007 Special correspondence of TUE Hcu JLLDJ There is hardly a school boy in the land who has not seen a picture of tho Capitol at Washington An engraving of the building hardly does it justice You must see the marble pile limned against the sky to appreciate its beauty It must be seen by day and by night It is only after af-ter such views that its perfect symmetry impresses itself upon the mind Viewed from Arlington heights from the bosom of the Potomac miles below the city or from tho flat fertile Maryland farms it fixes the eye more than surrounding objects ob-jects It is the white hub from which the broad avenues of the city radiate It is the only objectof interest upon which all mands are concentrated during sessions S ses-sions of Congress Strangers usually 4 us-ually visit it within twelve hours after their arrival There is no place upon the soil of the great I republic more attractive The edifice is impressive at noonday when the city is all life and animation but far more impressive in the pale moonlight at dead of night Two years ago a Representative was sauntering upon Pennsylvania avenue at midnight A full moon hung in a cloudless sky The Representative was accosted by Colonel Joyce the wellknown poet of the Gtaut regime author of A Checkered Life He wore a white sombrero and his long hair fell upon his shoulders He has the face and bearing of a poet There is nervous impetuosity in his words and acts and many reminders of Macdonald Clarke lie glanced at the broad moon threw his gaze upand down the avenue and then said Como with me You shall see a sight that would charm the gods of Olympus Olym-pus He hailed a hansom and they dashed down the avenue toward the capitol The wheels of the vehicle emitted a metallic ring as they were whirled over the car tracks in the vicinity of the Peace monument and turned towards the south A moment later they swept past tho bronze statue of Garfield Gar-field turned into the capitol grounds and i q 1 T hk WASHINGTON BT MOONLIGHT began to climb the hill leading to the House wing At the top of the hill they dashed over the plaza and came to a halt near Greenougfrs marble statue of Washington Look up laid the colonel waving his hand beyond the brim of his sombrero You will never see a more magnificent sight on this continent His eyes were glowing and his face was as white and finelychiseled as the statues upon the portico above He was drinking in tho beauties of the scene The great pile bathed in the effulgence of the moon snono like a temple of alabaster Neither house was In session Only one or two lights glimmered within the building The shadows of its cornices and its Corinthian pillars were distinctly outlined upon its snowy front The marble figure of Columbus Co-lumbus with a globe in his uplifted hand threw its shadow upon the portico where so many Presidents have been inaugurated The beautiful group of Persico illustrative 1 of the dangers of the early settlers cast its shade across the tesselation at the vestibule vesti-bule of tho edifice The effect was heightened height-ened by the broad steps and chiseled pilasters pilast-ers adorning the two huge wings of the structure The wings looked like twin parthenons The sculptured figures upon the Senate facade were distinctly visible The whole building was outlined against the moonlit sky In the soft light it seemed larger than it really was The white dome climbing hundreds of feet above the main A edifice recalled the dome of St Pauls in alight a-light London fog Above all three hundred hun-dred and eighty feet high stood the bronze statue of Liberty with her Greek helmet For ten minutes the two men sat lost in ndmiration Then the poet sprang from the cab They crossed the plaza went J around the edifice and stood upon the marble esplanade at its bacir Washing ton lay below them bathed in the same soft light and enwrapped in slumber The city was early submerged in a sea of dark foliage The patentoffice the postoffice temple the Baltimore Sun building and other marble edifices showed their whiteheads white-heads above the foliage Pennsylvania avenue was asleep Its electric lights were aglow but not a horsecar nor a carriage was seen upon its broad surface Even the tiny red lights of tho bicvles had disappeared dis-appeared The Potomac and the Eastern East-ern branch shono in the moonlight like 1 r cM7 TIlE IMPRESSIVE SENATOR bands of silver But most wondrous of all was the marble shaft erected In honor of Washington The moonbeams glinted its aluminum point 555 feet above its base It seemed like a sentinel arrayed in white itanding guard over the sleeping city The 4 avenues ran from Capitol park like spokes from a hub the long rows of gas lights tdorning them looking like strings of golden beads The rim of the h uge basin of foliage was indistinctly outlined miles away by tho round dimpled moon near the zenith No 4 more charming scene was over witnessed It was a fit setting for a sceno upon some I celestial stage I The contrast two nights afterward was narvelous The sky was overcast There a were no stars in the cloudrifts The wings If the capitol were aflame with light Thereat The-reat gasjet beneath the feet of the Godless God-less of Liberty high above the dome glowed like a huge torchlight Both houses of Congress were in session Pennsylvania avenue was awake and alive with light and motion Its pavements jrere frescoed with shadows exercised by ho electric lights A score of horse cars were moving up and down the broad street md the little lanterns of the wheelmen naked like to many fireflies Human rivu S lets poured into both wings of the capitol The marble corridors hummed with conversation con-versation and the galleries wore overrun over-run with spectators There were interesting inter-esting scenes in the House Filibusters were at work Oratorical rapiers were flashing in discussion and wit and repartee were on tap There were bright eyesrosy cheeks sparuling jewels charming costumes cos-tumes and waiving fans in the galleries Banked with loveliness they looked fairy parterres They added zest to the excitement excite-ment and seemed to give point to the debate de-bate below As midnight approached however and the discussion ended in repeated rollcalls the galleries thinned Theme The-me loV light poured through the glass ceiling as bright as earlier in tho evening even-ing but the bloom of the scene disappeared disap-peared when the ladies went home Many of the Representatives became drowsy and sought the sofas in the cloakrooms and at the back of the hall Jehu Baker of Illinois lay upon one of the lounges shoeless and coatless sound asleep His stockings were fiery red and the wristbands of his red flannel undershirt un-dershirt were plainly visible He was only one of twenty similar pictures Other Representatives Rep-resentatives tried to cheer the weary hours with songs and stories Poor Taulbee of Kentucky who was untimely sent to his long home two years afterward stood in the main aisle singing in a low tone Thcu seet gliding Kedron by thy silver stream Our Saviour would wander in the moonlights pale beam Taulbee was a clergyman and sang nothing noth-ing but psalms and hymns In the cloakroom cloak-room however there were more hilarious times Davidson of Florida was the center of attraciion He sang She had a fine waist and a very fine figure Which charmed de heart of dis yere nigger But alas I alas my rival came Ole Bull Sam Johnsing was his name Suddenly the Representatives were blinded by a vivid flash of lightning It was followed by a rattling peal of thunder The reverberations were heard rolling over the sleeping city Then came the sharp patter of rain The elements without were warring It was a warm night and the lobby doors and windows were open A cool breeze wafted over the floor The Represen tatives iiocneu 10 tUB SUULU purucu to see the storm It was a tempest The wind was howling like mad and the rain was coming down in sheets Huge trees in the park below the esplanade were bending to the gale The heavens were one great black blot The electric lights in the foliage along the avenue sparkled like diamonds Sheets of rain driven by the wind swept up the hard walks around the capitol like surf rolling upon the beach Zigzag lightning rent the inky sky and illumined the landscape The flashes were almost blinding By holding your hand above your eyes however glimpses of the glorious panorama below were caught Away to the right of the portico the alabaster ala-baster needle that is the pride of the city was revealed in the vivid light The instantaneous instan-taneous panoramic views appeared and reappeared re-appeared like pictures from an immense steropticon As the storm grew in intensity inten-sity the clouds began to whiten A fierce wind JM ted the rain into the faces of the spectalftupon the back portico and drove many back to the house The war of the elements did not disturb tho sleepers however how-ever They preserved their picturesque attitudes Littlepages in Knicker cockers were sprawled over the speakers stops in somnolent repose The clerk was still drawling draw-ling the roll call not one in thirty responding respond-ing to his name The side galleries were empty Not a ribbon fluttered in any part of the House In the main gallery half a dozen negroes anthracite in blackness were asleep near the clock Gradually the warring elements without subsided Bolus scratched the great black blot from the sky and the fleecy clouds in its wake vanished A gibbous moon shone at the zenith and threw a mellow flood of light upon the saturated landscape below it It touched with renewed beauty the scenery of two nights before The contending Representatives trooped anew to the portico Lost in rapture they gazed at natures loveliness Then there were low exclamations of delight Pool Taulbee hummed the hymn While shepherds watch their flocks by night All seated on the ground The angel of the Lord came down And glooory shone around The calm beauty of the scene and Taul bees quaint music apparently had a pacifying effect Alter a few more rollcalls the contending factions came to an agreement and before 3 oclock in the morning the House adjourned The lights were turned off and the members passed out by the marble arch of tho House wing and slowly crossed the plaza on their way homeward The magnificentmarble I structure remained bathed in moonlight its halls and corridors echoing the tread of its watchmen AMOS J CUMMIXGS |
