| OCR Text |
Show Egress Has Handsomest Office Building in World 1 feZT '' ' BY RENE BACHE " , IH Ku'ih the wonderful new B&'bllslicd by congress, four Ktfhc 'npl10' wl" 1)0 sart" H& wiui ii!t imI h?at 110t KiKt5Clf 1"lL also 1,10 tv'" Kfauiss of house and scn-Sillonal scn-Sillonal library. It Is a V, onginccrlue enterprise, KftpUoI Hi" having been lit-Kd lit-Kd with borrows to csirry Kircs for thr. purpose. Khhcro will bo jio separate ol. Illumination lnfmy KiitloiiDd buildings, JH of Ecld tor SllL !l,,1 wai'mllv K'-pIftnl In question. Tlie. EcUd ly !l cement-lined Kbugb for 51 m,in 10 W!,,k BLft'vvsiein of tunnels, ncw-HKjdiieli ncw-HKjdiieli joins the. library Khe capltol and L tho .two KrMc annexes. -Ml or UK Kj ubtcrranen. not a Bering- above pround. Kent omce Building. Kip tf P?wcr pl",nK is Hfcldent witl 11" completion Kv (1UI1P-: In ils conslruc-R conslruc-R ""celvcd Its ilnlshln? finds today, however,-o-E the liaiidsoinel and HEitlc equipped of lice build -S"" To nil iiV,lit ;m,'1 l)ur KVniPiisc hotel, and is con-Bt-lmsls uvft only for the HR'-dns no bedrooms. H is K o.nyf and nobody sleeps Kd suites of rooms- All of Bftfully -furnished, and they Et of desirableness only cMlmt Home of them rnm-Wbm. rnm-Wbm. while others have but Knutor has a suite for Ins Koccupaiiey, and In every Karlmcnt is connected with Bfwm of a committee over Bator himself presides 'as Bcse committee rooms, by Ki'pcrbiv iltted up. the groat HkUIcIi thi' members sh on Hjiclialrs belns of massive WKo OliarVWoinnn. Bt?a- goocNleal about tills .'palace that Is out of the B.Wio thin?, there aro no BDTll of tin- cleaning and f doiie by tho "night men." Kaumber, conic on duty at fltaro off at S o'clock In Hie jBc tbc st nator. when bo HC-ms. finds herii in perfect BKt bothered by intrusions Bwmo&e?. and never even HEttV does the work. BKter wants any thing, lie SVpdd by tho government) BjTthc hotel office thai Is to say. to the office, of tho building, which Is on the flrsL floor., just inside tho inu In entrance. Tho.ro aro twelve messengers and laborers always on duty n ujie daytime, and they aro at the. service serv-ice of the occupants of the; legislative Hats. o women are, employed In the i building, save only three, of colored persuasion, per-suasion, who have ehargo of retiring I rooms for lady visitors. i Hotci-Kcopcr Frorii Idaho, Tho housekeeping of the Senatorial Hat cost's $10.0000 -vear. This, of eour.se does not Include, fuel or light. There arc thirteen elevators, which aro run from 7 :i. in. to l'j midnight every diy while eongi'ess Is In session, Sundays Sun-days Included each tr thorn, of course, requiring an alte.hdant. Towels and such other toilet neccssHVlcs na brushes arid combs arc supplied from tho office. The building is under the charge or an official offi-cial "t-ustodliiii" 'Mr. .1. Werner. Mr. Werner, who keeps tlje bote.I for senators. sen-ators. Is about in yens of age and looks younger, lie hails from Idaho itnd his beginning In life was- made as clerk. In a drug slore, which was owimrl by Ills inoihcr, at a salary nf $3 a week, l'or ;i wlille bo did engineering work on Hie Northern Pacific mllroad Jn Montana, and ho h.s also been in the real i-iilatc business. busi-ness. Uo was a member of the Idaho legislature when that body 'elect e.d Senator Sen-ator Horah. It w;is through" liorali that ho vanie'to Washinglon. and, after sn-Ing sn-Ing for some time as assistant to F.lHott Woods, tht superintendent of the oapllol. ".is made cu.xtodl.iii of tlie senate Hats. Werner is tall, dark, slender and much liked b everybody. Controls Cougrcss Phils. It is Elliott Woods who, incidentally to his duties as superintendent, of the capltol. controls both the senate flats and the house Hats. He Is a most remarkable re-markable man. Twenty years ago, or thereabouts. In; drifted to "Washington from Indiana and obtained employment as a foreman of laborers', on the capitol grounds. Ms, manifest ability caused ICnwnnl I'lark. the architect of tho capltol. capl-tol. to tnomoie him to the posltliyi of an assistant in his office, and. when Clark died, lililf a dozftn years since, he. succeeded suc-ceeded to the main jolv being recommended recom-mended for the. xdace to Mr. Roosevelt by every member of the senate, including libth Republicans and Democrats Re-Cause Re-Cause Woods was not an architect, tho title of the manager of tho capltol vas tillered, for his benefit, to superintendent. superintend-ent. Ho Is not., in fact, even a builder, -yet It was h" who pui up the two great office hulldmgs. otherwise known as annexes, an-nexes, which, as they stand today, represent, rep-resent, his ideas throughout, even to the smallest details. Incidentally, he Is a wonderful muslenn. playing the violin, tho piano and the old-fashioned musical glasses ' He can give a whole evening's drawing room entertainment all by himself. him-self. A wizard at electricity, ho was one of the Aral men in this country to take up experiments with the X-rays, and at tho present time he operates a superbly- t ettclpped wireless telegraphy plant Just I pntsluc the capltol grounds. Automobiles in Tunnels, " It has always been regard-M as ri mat-tor mat-tor of course that, senators should en-Joy en-Joy comforts superior to those provided for mi re, representatives. Thus It Iswioi surprising to tlnCI that, nutonioblles are furnished to carry 'members of the upper up-per liouso J:jck and forth through the tunnel which connects their DitUv with tho capltol. whereas legislators in "the popular branch of eonsresa have the ?en-l,lt ?en-l,lt of no tijich .von vii lein vs. Kvcr since tho tunnels were dug- between Hie capltol capl-tol and (he two annexes it bus been a puzzle to decide, what mode of tr.mr portatlon should- h adontei through them, und the question is still unsettled'. : Orlglna!!." It 'whs , intended to luiroiluc a sort of pocket-edition electric railroad for the purpose, 'but this plan has been relinquished, at least for' the time ho Jug. ' The distance In be covered between tho capltol und the senate ,anne.v Is just about a fifth of a mile. inasmuch as tho tunnel Is brilliantly lighted and floored with smooth concrete, the trip Is rathe?- agreeable. Tlfe automobiles used are. buljt for use rather than show. lJaoh of them has room for twelve ifer-sons, ifer-sons, facing each other., on two, benches tunning lengthwise of l!i; vehicle, which Is painted yellow. In all likelihood similar sim-ilar conveniences will be provided for the representatives nt no distant dale. j Marblo and .Mahogany. In. oil the suites of the senate flat-house flat-house the ninntehi use of marble jmd the doorfi and furniture, of solid mahogany. Jn -tbo house building, tho mantels are of wood, nnd'lbc furniture and doors, of comparatively Inexpensive vener. Another An-other advantage, enjoyed by senators is that of a cloek on the wall of every room In the building air of these docks being controlled by a single, "master clock.',' which gets Its th'uo direct from the naval observatory. This Is the absolute time, reckoned by the stars. House Office Building. The house office building, which in plan and external aspect resembles that of tlie senate. (Is quadrangular iu shape, 'nut tho -senate a'nncx. though of tlie same dimensions, has no fourth side. Thus (5U.SOO.000 having been originally appropriated' appro-priated' for eacii of the two buildings). It has been found practicable to make the neWly-finished .senate whig far more beautiful and luxurious Inside than that of tho house rof representatives. The money saved by omitting the fourth, or east, side has been put into Interior Improvements. Im-provements. Custodian of House Flats. The custodian of the house flats Is "W. R. Woollcy of Cleveland, O.. who was formerly employed' as a civilian expert In connect Inn with the river and harbor work of the department. From this ho "was deTaehed to take charge of the bUB masonry work In the building of tho jEKI hoiire annex, ;:ik1 was Inter appointed to HMIj manage the building that is lo soy, to Hall keep the hotel for representatives In JmtSw congress. It Is worth explaining. Incl- tflfifflj dentally, that, both apartment bouses aro sjSma under the control of" the respective com- nuni mlltees of senate and bouse. kK0 Eestaurant iu Uach Annex. ffi 15.ich.of tho two great Ual-houscs has wBt . restaurant of its own. That of tho house is under the sJinio management 3KMi as the citing ''---tablfshment nt the ious4 BN end of the capltol. Probably the arniugo- tBTi incut in l he senate annex will b tho 9NB uaine. hi the basement of each annex la BH a kitchen. J.nger -.uif with a greater HH eooklng eupjiclty. so to speak, than that InB of any lintel in Washington. Tho two Wmt together could prepare n supper for G000 mH people, it. goes wit bou I saying that all MP the culinary convenience:- arc of the MM most up-lo-daie description. Jn each r,IMt kitchen there )- a range tl-Jr!y-flvc feet MB long. The white enamel lee boxes arc ffiuB enormous In size, and the huge lec cream MKfl froosers are run by electricity. iDB The. kitchen arrangements are subslan- Bi tinlly the same for both these, congn s- PN sloual hotels. Their dining rooms aro HH equally spacious. Hut the senate dining BH room has a wlille marble floor. plastc-M BB of Vermont marble', and chandeliers of fll pure silver, whereas. In the house annex. HI both Horn- and walls ;ire of cement.' and BB the light fixtures of trnnr.e. MB Elevators in Plenty. IB In each annex there are thirteen ele- BB vntorn, but those in tlie house building BB are of Iron, while thr. senate clevnlorn BB arc of polished bronze probably the most BB tjeautifiil In the "world. Everywhere. In jQ the senate whig. Iron Is replaced by BB hrnn7.Q(n.s, .Tor exneiple. In the stair Hb rall?l. and'riiui'hlc takes the place qf Uin BH plaster with which representatives must BB he sat lulled. Qn each lloor of the sen- HH ate annex, .-1I30, stands a chemical tiro engine and a v.-n-uupi carpet cleaner BB luxuries to which tho house- office build- BB lug Is a si ranger. BH Manyy.ve.irs ago th" $en,tte lesorted lo BB the expedient of tuakimc each of lt:t Hfl members tho ohnlVmaji of some commit- wSL tcu, partly In order (hat he might han OH the exclusive use of a room (attached. BJI lo the comfnilte.. room), and a clerk and messenger.- It was not. possible lo mak WK any such provision for representative BR been use of their number. But it was tho WB opinion of.inapy representatives. neer- BB tbeless. that, each of them should ha Q Bm a room that he could call his ov. n BJI whence the building of the house annex, which was finished a year nc-o. The sen- BH ate was willing to assent to the appro-prlatlon appro-prlatlon of the requisite money ir It could have a building for Its own use. Thus it comes about that, at a cost of HHJ J5.0OO.000 for the two structures, both branches of congress And themselves to- HBJ day provided with the most luxurious quarters of a quasi-domlcillary charnc- BH ter enjoyed by any body of legislators RSJ in the world. ' Hfl |
