THE CAPITOL

The site for the Capitol, or the Federal House, as selected by L’Enfant, is on what was then known as Jenkin’s Hill, 88 feet above the level of the Potomac River.

The northwest cornerstone of the main building was laid on September 18, 1793, by President Washington with Masonic ceremonies. The building is of Virginia sandstone from quarries on Aquia Creek.

The north wing was finished in 1800 and the south wing in 1811. A wooden passageway connected them. Congress convened there for the first time at the second session of the Sixth Congress, which began November 17, 1800, and ended March 3, 1801.

The original designs were prepared by Dr. William Thornton, and the work was done under the direction of Stephen H. Hallet, James Hoban, and George Hadfield. Benjamin H. Latrobe was the architect. Washington and Jefferson favored the classical type of architecture for the building, and it was adopted.

On August 24, 1814, the interior of both wings was destroyed by fire set by the British. Many books of the small Library of Congress housed in the building at that time were burned, whereupon Congress purchased the library of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. The damage to the Capitol was immediately repaired.

In 1818 the central portion of the building was commenced under the architectural superintendence of Charles Bulfinch, architect, of Boston. The original building was finally completed in 1827. Its cost, including the grading of the grounds, alterations, and repairs, up to 1827, was $2,433,844.13.

Because of the growth of the Republic, after half a century it became necessary to build a Senate Chamber on the north and a House of Representatives Chamber on the south. The cornerstone of the extensions to the Capitol which increased it to its present size was laid on July 4, 1851, by President Fillmore. Daniel Webster was the orator of the day. This work was prosecuted under the direction of Thomas U. Walter, Architect of the Capitol until 1865, when he resigned, and was completed under the supervision of Edward Clark. The House extension was first occupied for legislative purposes December 16, 1857, and the Senate extension January 4, 1859.

The white marble used in the walls is from Massachusetts and that in the columns from Maryland.

The entire length of the building from north to south is 751 feet 4 inches and its greatest dimension from east to west is 350 feet. The area covered by the building is 3¹⁄₂ acres.

The Dome of the original central building was constructed of wood, covered with copper. The present structure of cast iron was commenced in 1856, and completed in 1865. The entire weight of iron used is 8,909,200 pounds.

The Dome is crowned by the bronze Statue of Freedom, 19 feet 6 inches high and weighing 14,985 pounds. It was modeled by the sculptor Thomas Crawford. The height of the Dome above the base line of the east front is 287 feet 5 inches. The height from the top of the balustrade of the building is 217 feet 11 inches. The greatest diameter at the base is 135 feet 5 inches.

The Rotunda is 97 feet 6 inches in diameter, and its height from the floor to the top of the canopy is 180 feet 3 inches. The canopy overhanging the Dome, portraying the Apotheosis of Washington, was painted by Brumidi.

The Rotunda frieze, 65 feet above the floor, making a circle 300 feet in length around the walls, illustrates important periods in American history.

Paintings in the Rotunda are as follows:

The Senate Chamber is 113 feet 3 inches in length by 80 feet 3 inches in width and 36 feet in height. The galleries will accommodate 682 persons. The House of Representatives Chamber is 139 feet in length by 93 feet in width and 36 feet in height. In 1800 the Chambers were lighted by lamps and tallow candles, and the 142 Representatives were seated in chairs. To-day there are 435 Members of the House of Representatives, in addition to 2 Delegates and 2 Resident Commissioners, who are seated on benches, which are arranged in a semicircle like those of the theater of Dionysius. To-day the Capitol is lighted by electricity and equipped with a modern ventilating system.

The room later occupied by the Supreme Court of the United States was the Senate Chamber until 1859. Previous to that time the court occupied the room immediately beneath, now used as a law library.

Beautiful paintings by Brumidi, Trumbull, and others adorn the Capitol, and many statues, gift of the States, may be seen in Statuary Hall, set apart as such in 1864, being formerly the House of Representatives Chamber.

Massive bronze doors by Rogers, depicting scenes from the life of Christopher Columbus, are at the main entrance, the east, and open from the portico to the Rotunda. They call to mind the Ghiberti doors in Florence.

There are 24 columns of Maryland sandstone, 30 feet high, in the central portico. Statues by Greenough and Persico flank the steps.

The Capitol is to-day the most significant building in this country. Its assessed value in 1930 for building and grounds was $45,000,000.

On the east portico of the Capitol newly elected Presidents of the United States take the oath of office.

STATUE OF FREEDOM

As has been stated, the Statue of Freedom surmounting the Dome of the Capitol is the work of one of America’s great artists, Thomas Crawford. The modeling was done in Rome, and at the time of his death, in 1857, he was endeavoring to secure the necessary funds for the casting of it at the Royal Foundry at Munich. On April 19, 1858, the plaster model was shipped from Leghorn, Italy, and after a perilous voyage to New York it arrived in Washington in April, 1859. At that time work on completion of the Capitol was proceeding under the supervision of Thomas U. Walter, architect.

On May 24, 1860, the Secretary of War, in a statement concerning the casting of the statue stated that—

This arrangement had been entered into and the work had progressed to quite an extent, when Captain Meigs, who had returned to duty at the Capitol, issued a formal statement of the existence of war, on May 15, 1861, suspending work on the Capitol extension and the new Dome. But subsequently, even though the existence of war between the States handicapped the Government, the necessary arrangements for completing the Dome and for casting the statue were made. The statue was hoisted in place on the Dome amid a salute of 35 guns on December 2, 1863.

The original model of the statue may be seen to-day in the rotunda of the Museum of History Building of the Smithsonian Institution.

BRONZE DOORS OF THE CAPITOL

These bronze doors, the central and most elaborate of the Capitol, were modeled by Randolph Rogers at Rome in 1858, and cast at the Royal Bavarian Foundry in Munich by Ferdinand von Muller, director, at a cost of $17,000. Each of the doors is 19 feet high and 5 feet wide. They are surmounted by a semicircular transom-panel or lunette representing the landing of Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. The casing border is a decorative scheme composed of anchors, rudders, and armor; four figures in low relief typify Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. At the top of the casing arch is a bust of Columbus.

Each of the doors is separated into four panels, portraying scenes in alto-relief from life of Columbus.

The lowest panel on the left-hand door pictures Columbus before the Council of Salamanca. Then follows his departure from the Convent of La Rabida for the Spanish Court. The next is the audience before Ferdinand and Isabella, and the last the sailing from Palos on the first voyage.

The top panel on the right-hand door represents the first encounter with the Indians. The next the triumphal entry into Barcelona. Then follows Columbus in chains, and the last depicts the death of the discoverer.

The borders of the separate doors each contain eight figures representing prominent personages of the fifteenth century who played important parts in the events connected with the discovery of America.

BRONZE DOORS OF THE SENATE WING

The bronze doors of the Senate wing were designed by Thomas Crawford, sculptor, though the actual work of executing the plaster models was done by William H. Rinehart. They represent Crawford’s last work as a sculptor. It was first contemplated that one of the doors should be cast at the Royal Bavarian Foundry in Munich and that the other door should be cast in this country. The death of Thomas Crawford in 1857 and the subsequent occurrence of the Civil War caused many of the plans to be changed. The doors, the first of that kind in America, were finally cast in 1868 at Chicopee, Mass., by James T. Ames, and the expense, $50,000, was far greater than was anticipated at the time when it was planned to have the work done in this country. They weigh 14,000 pounds. The sculptor, Rinehart, received about $9,000.

Each of the doors consists of three panels and a medallion picturing events of the Revolutionary War.

The upper panel of the right-hand door contains a representation of the death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775; the center panel shows General Washington rebuking Gen. Charles Lee at the Battle of Monmouth, N. J., on June 28, 1778; the lower panel pictures the storming of a redoubt at Yorktown, Va., led by Alexander Hamilton, on October 14, 1781; the medallion at the bottom represents a conflict between a Hessian soldier and a New Jersey farmer.

The medallion at the bottom of the left-hand door represents Peace and Agriculture. Above is a panel showing General Washington passing underneath an arch of flowers at Trenton, N. J., while on his way to New York City to be inaugurated as the first President of the United States; the middle panel represents Washington taking the oath of office as President, which was administered by Chancellor Livingston on April 30, 1789—the United States Supreme Court had not as yet been organized, so that the oath could not be administered by the Chief Justice. The top panel represents President Washington laying the corner stone of the Capitol on September 18, 1793.

BRONZE DOORS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WING

The bronze doors of the House of Representatives resemble in general outline and arrangement the bronze doors of the Senate. Each door consists of three panels and a medallion picturing events in American history. The design is that of Thomas Crawford, sculptor, but the modeling and completion was that of William H. Rinehart. The models after being transported to this country remained for a long time in storage and were finally cast by M. H. Mosman, at Chicopee, Mass., who had succeeded to or continued the business organization of James T. Ames, by whom the Senate doors were cast.

The doors were installed in the autumn of 1905, the cost to the Government being $45,000.

The upper panel of the left-hand door portrays the Massacre of Wyoming, July 17, 1778; the center panel the Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775; the lower panel presentation of flag to Gen. William Moultrie for his defense of Sullivans Island, Charleston Harbor, June 28, 1776; and the medallion at the bottom shows the death of General Montgomery in the attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775.

The upper panel of the right-hand door depicts the reading of the Declaration of Independence; the center panel the signing of the Paris treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, September 3, 1783; the lower panel Washington’s farewell to his officers at New York, December 4, 1783; and the medallion at the bottom contains a seated figure of Franklin in his study.

THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES

Congress is one of the three coordinate branches of the United States Government. It is the legislative branch and consists of a Senate, to which the Members, two from each State, are elected for a term of six years; and the House of Representatives, to which the Members are elected for a term of two years. The membership is based on the population of the United States, and in January, 1939, numbered 435 Members. The apportionment is made among the several States in the ratio that the whole number of persons in each State bears to the total population of the country. States arrange for their own congressional districts after the number of Members of the House of Representatives from each State has been determined upon. There are in the House, also, 2 Territorial Delegates—1 each from Alaska and Hawaii—and 2 Resident Commissioners—1 from the Commonwealth of the Philippines and 1 from Puerto Rico. They have the right to debate but not to vote.

The Constitution provides that Congress shall assemble on January 3 of each year (20th amendment); and each Congress usually consists of two sessions.

The powers of Congress are set forth in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution, which is divided into 18 clauses. The power to raise revenue originates in the House of Representatives, which carries the burden in providing necessary appropriations; the Senate has the power of confirming or rejecting appointments made by the President and to ratify treaties. Measures are originated in the form of bills or resolutions, which are thereupon referred to committees for report before being introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives.

The age requirement for eligibility as a Member of the House of Representatives is 25 years, and for the Senate 30 years; each person must have been a citizen of the United States for seven years and a citizen of the State from which elected.

Members of Congress are by the Constitution granted exemption from arrest under certain conditions while attending the sessions of their respective Houses and in going to and returning from such sessions, “and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.”

The proceedings and debates in Congress are published in the Congressional Record, which is printed daily at the Government Printing Office with such rapidity that even though a session of Congress may continue until late in the night a copy of the Record is at hand for each Member the following morning.

A bill or resolution, to become a law, must be passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and approved by the President. If there are points of disagreement in the Senate or House of Representatives in the enactment of legislation, each body appoints conferees to settle the points in dispute. The President has the power to veto a bill, but the measure can become law if reconsidered and passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives by a two-thirds majority. Occasionally the President makes use of the “pocket veto”; that is, if the bill was passed within 10 days (Sundays excepted) of the adjournment of Congress, the President may retain (pocket) the bill, which is thus killed at the end of the session without the interposition of a direct veto, and without risking the chances of its passage over the veto. If the President does not interpose the ordinary veto, a bill becomes law at the expiration of 10 days.

The President is given authority by the Constitution to convene either or both Houses of Congress in extraordinary session.

SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OFFICE BUILDINGS

The Senate and House Office Buildings, the former flanking the Capitol to the north and the latter to the south, were designed by Carrere & Hastings, architects, and are in the classical style of architecture. A new House Office Building, designed by the Allied Architects, Inc., of Washington, has recently been completed, and also the East Wing of the Senate Office Building, designed by Wyeth & Sullivan, architects of Washington. Each Senator is provided with offices of from two to three rooms, and likewise each Representative, excepting a few whose offices are in the Capitol.

UNION STATION

In the design of the station much thought was given to the architectural features. Since Greece and Rome have furnished architectural inspiration for so many of the public buildings of Washington, a freely interpreted classic may be considered as the recognized architecture of these structures; and as the new station was to be the monumental gateway to the National Capital, it seemed fitting that the architectural motives should be drawn from the triumphal arches of Rome. They inspired Mr. Burnham to design the Union Station as he did. Construction work was begun in August, 1902, the terminal opened October 27, 1907, and was completed in April, 1908.

Some of the elements entering into the design of the terminal were unique. In most cities the probable future growth and nature of the traffic plays an important part in the planning of a passenger terminal. Washington has very little suburban traffic; and as it will never become a commercial center, the question of providing for future growth was of minor importance. The main problem was how to care for and provide against abnormal conditions, which arise at least once every four years. The handling of inauguration crowds had always been a heavy expense to the railroads, because they had to provide such elaborate temporary facilities. On the other hand, to provide adequate permanent facilities meant a large expenditure, with the attendant heavy carrying charges. On account of the dilapidated condition of the passenger facilities owned by the companies, and the urgent need of larger and better terminals, a union terminal seemed to show advantages over the separate stations provided for in the acts of 1901.

The layout embraces every feature and facility involved in the construction of a first-class terminal, including a depot building planned and constructed after the most modern lines, and containing every feature for the convenience, comfort, and pleasure of the traveling public; the most complete and up-to-date facilities for conducting the business of a large railroad station; a main power plant for furnishing power of every kind required for the successful operation of the station and yards; a large and completely equipped express terminal for caring for the express business handled by the companies; a modern commodious roundhouse and shop layout for caring for repairs to equipment; the most complete interlocking layout and intercommunication system ever constructed; one of the most complete passenger-equipment yards ever built; and a track system covering yards and main tracks within the passenger-terminal zone aggregating about 60 miles of single track.

The station building proper is 626 feet 10 inches long and 210 feet 9 inches wide, exclusive of the space taken up by the columns in front of the central pavilion or main portico. The front and ends are made up of groups of semicircular arches characteristic of Roman architecture. The main portico or central pavilion consists of 3 arches, each 29 feet 6 inches wide and 48 feet 9 inches high. Flanking it on either side are 7 arches, each 12 feet 4 inches wide and 24 feet 8 inches high, while the end pavilions are composed of arches 22 feet wide and 38 feet 6 inches high.

The west end is made up of 5 arches 19 feet 2 inches wide and 37 feet 7 inches high, and 1 arch 12 feet 4 inches wide and 24 feet 8 inches high. The former are used as exits for carriages from the carriage porch, the latter to carry out the open portico treatment across the front. At the east end leading to the open portico are 2 windows with arch treatment, and there are 5 arches 12 feet 6 inches wide and 24 feet 8 inches high, 1 arch 22 feet wide and 38 feet 6 inches high, leading to a carriage pavilion.

The east pavilion leads to a suite of rooms for the use of the President and the guests of the Nation, the west pavilion to the carriage porch at the west end of the ticket lobby. The central and end pavilions are connected by a portico or loggia from 14 feet 6 inches to 16 feet 6 inches wide, the portico and pavilions forming a continuous covered porch the entire length of the structure, and affording protection from the elements. The east and west wings of the building are 69 feet 7¹⁄₂ inches above the floor level, and the domes over the carriage entrances are 78 feet 3¹⁄₂ inches above the same point. The dome over the main waiting room is 122 feet 10 inches high.

The concourse in the rear of the main building is 760 feet long and 130 feet wide, exceeding by nearly nine feet the length of the Capitol. It is covered by a segmental arched ceiling 45 feet high in the center and 22 feet at the springing line above the main floor. About 40 per cent of the ceiling area is of glass, the remainder is artistically coffered ornamental plaster. The concourse is divided by the usual train fence into two sections, that on the station side being 83 feet and that on the track side 47 feet wide.

There are 32 tracks leading to the station—20 on the level of the waiting rooms and 12 depressed below the street level a distance of 20 feet. Two tubes of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. and Southern Railway Co., each 16 feet wide, run from the station south along First Street between the Library of Congress and the Capitol for about a mile. At the Fountain of Neptune the tunnel is 40 feet below the surface. Approximately 285 trains enter and leave the railway station each day; the daily number of passengers is approximately 30,000.

The general waiting room has a clear width of 120 feet, is 219 feet long, exclusive of the colonnades, and is covered by a Roman barrel-vaulted ceiling, its highest point, exclusive of coffers, being 96 feet above the floor level. The decorations are sunken panels patterned after the baths of Diocletian. It is lighted by a semicircular window 72¹⁄₂ feet in diameter at the east end, by three semicircular windows in the south side and five on the north side, each 27¹⁄₂ feet in diameter, and by the glass roof over the ticket lobby at the west end. Imperial Rome at her greatest did not possess a hall of such proportions.

The Union Station is built of Vermont white granite. In the construction of this massive building Mr. Burnham set a standard for civic improvement for the construction of railroad terminals in this country.

The complete architectural treatment of the front elevation of the station includes six stone statues and four eagles, the former over the central pavilion, and the latter over the carriage entrances at the east and west ends. This statuary is placed in front of the great friezes over the main entrance arches and over the carriage archways and, with the inscriptions in the panels between, have been made a special architectural feature.

Before the adoption of the scheme a number of suggestions for the subjects of the statues and inscriptions were secured, ranging from the explorers and discoverers of this country to the various inventors who have had most to do with the development of transportation. The general architectural treatment of the building, however, was such as to preclude the usual portrait statues. To make them take their place as part of the architecture required that they be limited to allegorical draped figures, forming simple, massive silhouettes against the vast frieze. In the development of the complete scheme, embracing the subjects for the statuary, with appropriate inscriptions in the intervening panels, the late Charles W. Eliot, former president of Harvard University, was consulted. The result is an appropriate and adequate treatment of the decorative frieze over the doorway of the vestibule to the Capital of the Nation.

The general decorative features of the main entrance to the building consist of six massive stone columns, two on each side and one in front of each pier supporting the main arches. Upon pedestals on the tops of these columns the granite statues, about 18 feet high, are placed, those on the west side of the entrance representing Prometheus and Thales, typifying Fire and Electricity, those on the east side Ceres and Archimedes, typifying Agriculture and Mechanics, while Freedom and Imagination are depicted by the central figures. Those on the west side represent two of the great forces connected with the operation of railroads, while those on the east owe much of their development and wealth to the railroads. The central figures typify the atmosphere of freedom in which the inventive imagination has been able to accomplish such great results. The columns flanking the carriage entrances are surmounted by stone eagles about 8 feet high.

The following inscriptions are cut in the granite panels over the main entrance:

East (Ceres and Archimedes)

THE FARM—BEST HOME OF THE FAMILY—MAIN
SOURCE OF NATIONAL WEALTH—FOUNDATION OF
CIVILIZED SOCIETY—THE NATURAL PROVIDENCE

THE OLD MECHANIC ARTS—CONTROLLING NEW
FORCES—BUILD NEW HIGHWAYS FOR GOODS
AND MEN—OVERRIDE THE OCEAN—AND MAKE
THE VERY ETHER CARRY HUMAN THOUGHT

THE DESERT SHALL REJOICE AND BLOSSOM
AS THE ROSE

In the panels over the entrances to the carriage porch and state apartment the following inscriptions are cut:

State Apartment (east elevation)

WELCOME THE COMING
SPEED THE PARTING GUEST

VIRTUE ALONE IS SWEET SOCIETY
IT KEEPS THE KEY TO ALL
HEROIC HEARTS AND OPENS YOU
A WELCOME IN THEM ALL

The decorations immediately in front of and along the sides of the east and west entrances consist of stone balustrades upon which at proper intervals are ornamental lamp posts.

Immediately in front of the main entrance to the Union Station there are three ornamental iron flagstaffs 110 feet in height, the ornamental base and decorative portions of which are in bronze. These were designed by D. H. Burnham & Co., architects of the Union Station.

Since the completion of the Union Station in 1908 there have also been placed on the Plaza the Columbus Memorial Fountain in front of the main entrance, and two large fountains, one on each side of the memorial.

All stone used in the decoration of the Plaza, except that in the bowls of the fountains, is Vermont white granite, from the same quarry as that used in the station building. The fountain bowls are of Maine green granite. The upper bowls are 13 feet in diameter and cut from a single piece of stone; the lower bowls are 22 feet 6 inches in diameter, the rims being made from eight separate pieces of granite. The bottoms of these bowls are of reinforced concrete and are lined with sheet lead.

WASHINGTON CITY POST OFFICE

The Washington City Post Office moved into its present quarters on September 5, 1914. The building faces on Massachusetts Avenue and extends from North Capitol Street to First Street NE.

At the time of occupancy it was considered the model post office for the rest of the country, being provided with the most modern mail-handling equipment that human ingenuity could devise. There are conveyor belts through a tunnel under the streets for bringing the enormous amount of Government mail from the Government Printing Office directly into the post office, where it is made up for dispatch to trains; other belts for conveying mail from one section of the office to another; bucket lifts for raising mail from a lower to a higher floor; gravity chutes to send mail from an upper to a lower level; miniature trolley systems to carry smaller amounts of mail, or even single important letters, from one section of the workroom floor to another; and other devices to save footsteps of the employees and conserve their time.

The building is three stories above the ground level and two stories below. The two upper floors and one of the lower ones are given over to Post Office Department activities, such as the Postal Savings Division, the Division of Stamps, the Division of Equipment and Supplies, and others. The building is so constructed that the maximum of natural daylight is permitted to enter. It has no heating plant of its own, being supplied with heat from the plant located at First and E Streets SE. that supplies the Capitol, Senate and House Office Buildings, and the Government Printing Office. The necessary pipes are brought into the building through underground tunnels.

There are approximately 6 acres of floor space available for the Washington Post Office. This additional space was secured by a new addition. It was thought at the time the post office moved into its new quarters that the floor space provided would be ample to take care of all increases in the volume of mail for a period of 50 years. In a few years the office far outgrew this space, and Congress appropriated for an addition to the building about equal in size to the original one. The construction of this addition cost $4,000,000.

The original building cost $3,028,000, and the general style of the architecture is that of the monumental work of Roman times and was designed by Peirce Anderson, architect, to harmonize with the Union Station, which adjoins, and to which it is connected by a covered bridge, over which mail to and from the trains is trucked.

The main exterior motive consists of an Ionic colonnade flanked by corner pavilions treated with round arches, inclosed in a strong frame of columns and pilasters and surmounted by solid attics carrying inscriptions as follows:

MESSENGER OF SYMPATHY AND LOVE
SERVANT OF PARTED FRIENDS
CONSOLER OF THE LONELY
BOND OF THE SCATTERED FAMILY
ENLARGER OF THE COMMON LIFE

CARRIER OF NEWS AND KNOWLEDGE
INSTRUMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
PROMOTER OF MUTUAL ACQUAINTANCE
OF PEACE AND OF GOOD WILL
AMONG MEN AND NATIONS

Many visitors to Washington will stop and read these inscriptions and, being interested in the authorship thereof, will make inquiry concerning it. Research shows that the originals were prepared by Dr. Charles W. Eliot, at that time president of Harvard University, but that some slight changes were made in the text by the late President Wilson to the extent of the alteration of some three or four words. It is this revision that appears on the building.

The material of the exterior of the building is Vermont white granite and is the same as that used in the construction of the Union Station. The general treatment of the main lobby, which is 250 feet in length, is that of a high cella, 30 feet wide and 53 feet high, and surrounded by an order of pilasters in Tavernelle marble. The adjoining vestibules are ornamented by 24 monolithic columns of gray-green granite from New Hampshire. These columns are 2 feet and 4 inches in diameter and 20 feet in height. The floor is of Tennessee marble, laid in patterns of pinks and grays. The main lobby ceiling has an elaborate coffered design inspired from the best period of the Italian Renaissance.

The gross receipts of the Washington Post Office have increased from $1,792,917 in 1914 to nearly $7,000,000 in 1938.

In order to make postal facilities as easily accessible as possible, there are located throughout the city 31 classified and 41 contract stations.

To properly transport mail from the main office to the various stations, electric-line terminals, steamboat wharves, and aviation fields, and to make collections from the street letter boxes and deliver parcel-post packages, the office operates a fleet of fully 100 Government-owned automobile trucks.

Designed by Graham Anderson, Probst & White and built of white Vermont granite, the addition was completed in 1937 and it doubled the size of the city post office.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

The Library of Congress, the world’s largest and most elaborate building devoted wholly to library uses, occupies two city squares east of and facing the Capitol Grounds, also an addition recently completed.

The architecture is of the Italian Renaissance order, from plans made by J. J. Smithmeyer and Paul Pelz, and modified by Edward P. Casey. The exterior walls are of New Hampshire granite. Fifty masters of painting and sculpture worked together to make it a treasure house of the best contemporary American art, fit to shelter one of the greatest libraries of the world. Army engineers superintended its construction.

Begun in 1886, completed in 1897, the building measures 340 feet by 470 feet and covers about 3¹⁄₂ acres. Its cost to date has been $7,868,951. The addition was designed by Pierson & Wilson, architects of Washington, and built of Georgia marble.

In front of the Library is a bronze fountain by Hinton Perry, sculptor, representing the Court of Neptune.

The grand stair hall of the entrance pavilion is of Italian white marble, is particularly beautiful at night, when visitors delight to see it. It leads to the great rotunda, which is the reading room. To the right are the library rooms of Senators and Representatives and the periodical room. To the left are the rooms for the blind and the conservatory of music.

On the second floor at the head of the staircase is Elihu Vedder’s famous mosaic, Minerva. On this floor also are on exhibition the original Declaration of Independence, the original Constitution of the United States, and the Gutenberg Bible. To the right is the prints division, now called the division of fine arts, and to the left the manuscripts division.

The reading room contains the card-index catalogue of the books in the Library, will accommodate 1,000 readers at a time, and is free to any reader over 16 years of age. The alcoves are devoted to books on particular subjects.

The reading room is under the dome, which is 100 feet in diameter and 195 feet high to the lantern. In the lantern of the dome is a female figure indicating Human Understanding, and on the collar surrounding the lantern, 150 feet in circumference, is the Evolution of Civilization, symbolic of the 12 nations and epochs which have contributed to the world’s advance—both great works of art by Edwin Howland Blashfield. The dome is beautifully decorated, and the series of statues in bronze by famous American sculptors at intervals on the balustrade encircling the rotunda make the scene impressive.

The pillars in the rotunda are 40 feet high, the windows 32 feet wide.

There are 16 bronze statues surrounding the railing of the gallery under the dome, representing leaders in great fields of learning, as follows:

Numerous paintings, mosaics, and inscriptions adorn the interior walls. The dark Tennessee, the red Numidia, and the shades of yellow Sienna marble give the room a rich color effect.

When the collection of a million books was moved from the crowded Capitol it was believed that the increase for the next hundred years had been amply provided for; but before 15 years had passed it had been found necessary to roof over one of the four great open courts (more than a quarter of an acre in extent) and fill it with a 10-story steel bookstack to hold 1,500,000 volumes. By 1927 another court had been filled with a 14-story stack. Two years later four levels were added to the first of these court stacks, making the two equal.

To meet the great increase in the future, Congress appropriated for the purchase of a square and a half of land to the eastward and the construction of an annex building costing $9,300,000. To the annex will be transferred the copyright office, card division, printery, and bindery, but leaving room in it for eight or ten million volumes of less active material, such, for example, as the 97,000 volumes of bound newspapers. There are 20 acres of floor space in the new building.

The Library’s resources for research are unsurpassed in the Western Hemisphere; its service as a national library is unexcelled. The printed book collection on June 30, 1938, totaled 5,591,000, surpassed in numbers only by that of the Bibliothèque National in Paris, and increasing at a greater rate than those in any other library. Last year 196,000 volumes were added.