Show supreme court now big attraction in capital visitors interest aroused by talk of changes washington D C discussion ot of possible changes in the number ot of members ot of the supreme court his has led more visitors than usual to observe the court in action in its palatial supreme court building in washington this greek temple to modern modem justice stands at the quaint address of no 1 first street N E obviously close to the heart ot of the government says the national geographic society it Is just next door to the original constitution on display in a case at the library ot of congress in use only 18 months the building Is still new and gleaming the white marble exter exterior lor of the court building in its green and as ahalt setting on capitol hill ha has a startling pearly luster almost a as if filu illumined mined from within even the tile root roof Is white from a distance it has the milky smoothness of white cake icing because of the dazzling reflection of light guards on duty outside in the summer wear colored glasses closer inspection gives the impression of less confectionery and more of solid geometry although the bronze flagpole bases are tiered and cupid covered like al a wedding cake the structure has a haste chaste c design of massy cubes cabes giant triangles and towering columns bronze entrance doors A monumental stairway of marble ascends from the marble plaza with Us its fountains and flagpoles to the entrance where eight pairs of twin corinthian columns support the sculptured triangle of pediment the entrance doors shaded by marble columns are a ton and a halt half of bronze apiece yet they roll docilely back nto anto the wall at the touch of a guards hand the portals open up on memorial hall where an avenue 0 ot f marble columns leads up to the closed double doors of the courtroom even on n mond mondays ay s decision days when en judicial opinions attract an average oft of 1400 visitors ini instead tead of the usual the spa spacious clous hall is not crowded this larger attendance becomes only a longer queue of little beside lofty columns walting waiting to get in no ticket t required for entrance for for admission n to the courtroom no ticket is required require dof of the visitors torf on tiie the contrary c hils he is given a i tick ev e while wait waiting ing in me memorial morial hall an index card size diagram of the judicial seating arrangements the hushed tone odthe waiting crowd shows acceptance of the words italicized on the slip silence is re quested when the doors of the courtroom swing noiselessly open to admit the visitor under a uniformed guards close scrutiny he finds himself in a twilight space behind heavy red velvet curtains cu stains he is seated with other spectators between the curtains and the bar which shuts off a front seating space for about 75 lawyers As hands of the two clocks suspended from panels front and back seem on the verge verg e of clasping at twelve the four page e boys busy themselves with turning the chairs a little sideways curtains billow with hidden activity at noon a faint buzzer sounds the audience comes to its feet led by chief justice hughes hughei the justices emerge through openings in the curtains and stand behind the bench medieval dignity A gave raps sharply the crier brier is intoning in syllables of medieval dignity the honorable the chief justice and the associate justices of the supreme court god save the united states and this honorable court pages behind the chairs seat the justices the supreme tribunal is now in session visitors need not listen but they must not read write nor photograph for all its stately dimensions of 64 feet square the courtroom is small enough to be intimate As attorney after attorney places his notes on a desk before the bench and presents his case in muted oratory the justices listen with bowed heads or closed eyes or chins in hand in the background the tour four page boys on their low backed seats play their own little private backstage back stage drama in discreet whispers crouched behind the nine august black chairs baegl the gavel announces that it is i two and time forthe halt half hour recess for lunch As the pages man the openings in the cui curtains the justices file out without a word and the visitor is free to join the crowd in the public lunchroom downstairs or to examine more of the building |