Washington—Most Beautiful of Capitals
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
WUEN the Supreme Court of
the United States ended Its
last session In the Capitol
building in the early days of
June, the event was an important one
in the history of American government.
Tlie nation's highest judicial body,
“than whom there is none whomer"
when It comes to Interpreting the law
of the land, performed its last official
function in tho “borrowed" quarters It
had occupied for three-fourths of a
century. When the October session
begins Mr. Chief Justice Charles Evans
v Hughes and his eight associates will
move into the magnificent $10,000,000
edifice of white marble that has been
built for them and them alone in the
shadow of Capitol hill.
It will mark the first time that we
Aerial View Showing the New Buildings Recently Erected in Washington. Inset, New Supreme Court Building.
have ever seen all three departments
of our government—legislative, execu
tive and judicial—In homes of their
own.
It will he the climax to the far
flung architectural and building pro
gram that Is making—has made—Wash
ington, D. C., the real show place among
world capitals. The new Supreme
court building, the additions to the
Library of Congress, the new and al
ready famous Washington triangle
and other building projects will, when
all of them are completed, make the
beautiful city on the banks of the
Potomac unique.
The Supreme court went about Its
business of getting ready to move in
a manner unceremonious, to say the
least. Although a large crowd filled
the old chamber in the Capitol building
on that final day, there were no trum
pet blasts and no weeps. Perhaps that
was because the court is not unaccus
tomed to moving, having been sort of
kicked around from pillar to post, from
cellar to sitting room, since the nation
was born.
Deciding to move, the court opened
up the family bureau—In fact quite
a few bureaus—and threw out a few
tilings It allowed might just as well be
kissed good-by. Nobody in the family
wanted them—all nine Justices turned
till)mbs down. NKA, they felt, was
bad for their Constitution.
As Breckinridge Said.
Right there would have been a great
spot for the words that Vice President
John Cabell Breckinridge spoke as the
thirty-fifth senate moved out of those
same quarters to let the Supreme court
come In on January 4, 18.19.
“VVe leave this chamber, bearing
with us, unimpaired, the Constitution
we received from our forefathers," he
said.
The Supreme court bore away the
Constitution in just that state, but
made no speeches about it. The court
had preserved that Constitution after
sitting in many places. It had been
In New York and in Philadelphia’s
Independence hall. It first moved into
the Capitol building in 1S00. It was in
tlie basement then, and there John
Marshall established the right of fhe
court to void all laws passed by con
gress which do not abide by the Con
stitution. It was there that Justice
Taney delivered tile court*s opinion In
the famed Dred Scott case. The re
cent decision against the New Deal
has been regarded quite as Important.
When the British burned the Cap
itol building In 1814, the Supreme
court was obliged to meet In tbe home
of tlie clerk of the court at 20fi Penn
sylvania avenue, S. E. In 1819 It moved
Into a room on the ground floor, va
cated by the senate, which took up
quarters directly above this room. The
Supreme court again followed the sen
ate in 1859, when that body moved
again. The court retained those quar
ters until the end of this last session.
Worth Waiting For.
If the court had to wait a long time
for a home of its own, its members
will tell you the wait was worth it.
The majestic columns of Its new white
marble building rise against the green
background of grass and trees In an
architectural beauty surpassed no
where in the wonder capital city of
tlie world. Facing the Capitol, it occu
pies a site that lias been, in the order
named, that of a hotel for the men
who earlier governed tlie nation, the
Library of Congress, and a Civil war
prison.
Solidarity and security are the Ini
mediate Impressions the visitor gleans
from (lie building. Sentinels at tlie
head of the steps are two 45-ton mar
ble blocks, among the largest ever
brought to Washington. Beyond eight
Corinthian columns, 51J4 feet high,
are great bronze doors which weigh
3,000 pounds each. A hall lined by 36
columns, each hewn from a single
block of stone, leads to the justices’
chamber which, at their own request,
was made only CO per cent larger than
the old chamber in the Capitol
Still further on are the private
offices of the Justices, paneled in oak.
There are also offices for tlie attorney
general and solicitor general. In the
courtyards are garages, and elsewhere
are the air-conditioning plant which
keeps tlie brow of justice cool, dining
rooms and library space for tlie 379,
72G volumes of tlie law.
Also facing tlie Capitol—and ncross
tlie street from tlie Supreme court—
excavations are under way for an ad
dition which will nearly double its size.
It Is already tlie largest library In the
world, by far, with nearly 10,000,000
pieces.
The Federal Triangle.
But below Capitol hill, half way j
along Pennsylvania avenue from tlie
Capitol to the White House Is the most
ambitious part of tlie new Washing
ton. It is the Federal Triangle, built
on tlie former site of tlie old Central
Market ground which in the early
days was merely a swamp.
On the tip of tlie triangle, which is
eight blocks long and through whose
20 miles of corridors 17,700 govern
ment workers already pass in tlie ad
ministration of their daily duties, is
the National Archives building, a man
made Gibraltar designed to withstand
the ravages of time. It is tlie first
safe and fitting citndel to hold tlie
records of tlie nation, many of them
yellowed with tlie centuries that have
passed. It was built “to last forever."
Its foundation Is a “scow” of rein
forced concrete, five feet thick. This
Is set on 5,000 concrete piles which
vary In length from 15 to 35 feet.
Should tlie waters of the Potomac
swell with flood, the scow would not
go sailing, for down In its center are
two electric pumps and a steam tur
bine which automatically keep the
water at a constant level. In the most
severe emergency Imaginable, the
steam turbine would go to work with
almost power enough to pump out tlie
whole Potomac river.
To find the eternal stone to protect
the documents of our patriots, the
builders of the National Archives
building went to the granite quarries
of Chelmsford, Mass., and opened up
an entirely new and gigantic bed of
limestone near Bedford, Ind. From
Bedford they cut two great limestone
blocks of 120 tons apiece and, finding
they would have to reinforce bridges
and enlarge tunnels all the way to
Washington, they cut them down to 00
tons each. When they arrived at the
Capital there was no conveyance big
and strong enough to transport them
to their destination, so they were
shaved down again to 00 tons each.
The two blocks now stand guard at
the main entrance. On one of them
has been sculptured the figure of a Uo
man gladiator standing sentry, on the
other a mother and her rhild with a
sheaf of wheat in the background.
All documents which enter here get
their last glimpse of sunlight and their
last breath of “outside” air as the
doors close upon them. Inside they
are fumigated; there are no windows
in the building; all light Is artificial
and all air is mechanically condi
tioned to preserve the life of the
archives.
As slick and severely molded as the
department it houses Is the new build
ing of the Department of Justice,
across from the National Archives
building. It is a temple of aluminum.
Nearly $450,000 worth of the light
weight metal has been used in its con
struction. This same metal would
have cost $8,500,000 in the days when
the aluminum cap was placed on the
Washington monument in 1SS4. Doors,
elevators, bas-relief casts, stair rail-'
ings, window frames and lighting fix
tures are of aluminum, and there is a
large fountain of the same metal.
Home of the “G" Men.
The building is of limestone nnd
granite, and the architectural keynote
is Greek. Visitors In throngs already
are ogling through its two miles of
corridors, for the recent nation-wide
drive against crime has publicized the
“G” men as tough gentlemen who
don't stop to fool, but stioot criminals
first nnd ask questions afterward. The
“G” man Is rapidly usurping the
gangster's place ns a romantic figure
and his headquarters nre a Mecca for
the curious.
Across the street, where the Har
vey’s Oyster house used to tickle
Abraham Lincoln’s prairie appetite, is
the new home of the Bureau of Infer
nal Revenue, one of the largest of
them all, and nearing completion. It
is so large that the visitor has to get
his bearings from a charted map in
the lobby.
Other members of the new Triangle
are the I’ost Ofliee department build
ing, which is headquarters for the
activity of a personnel that has ex
panded from 32,320 to 237,000, and the
Labor department building, enriched
by the artistic fruits of the Public
Works of Art projects.
At the base of the Triangle Is the
colossus of them all, the new Com
merce Department building. Into it
went 2,000 carloads of Iloosler lime
stone, 150 tons of Connecticut granite,
1,400 tons of marble from Missouri nnd
Vermont, and more stone from Minne
sota, Colorado and Georgia. The 13,
(XX) concrete piles used to support the
structure would almost stretch from
Chicago to Milwaukee.
In this giant edifice are stored and
complied all of the endless records
the Department of Commerce keeps,
and constantly renews, concerning al
most anything you could possibly think
of—travel, Invention, harbors, trade
statistics and a host of other nnd re
lated subjects. Also here Is the world’s
largest camera—for reproducing maps
—and the records of the millions of
patents that have been issued.
These are only the important few
of the many new buildings which are
transforming Washington into a mod
ern Rome and Athens combined with
many new wonders and beauties that
are not even hinted at in classic bis
tory.
c Western Newspaper Union.
Caballero Submerged Along Toward the Center of the Stream.
Caballero
By James J. Montague
HE first mistake I made was go
ing up that canyon at all. The
second was letting the guide per
made me that I couldn't possibly get
here afoot, but must ride Caballero
Caballero was regarding me at the time
with what appeared to he a friendly
expression. Moreover, despite his size,
whicli was diminutive, he looked capa
ble. So I set forth with two mistakes
in me.
1 was a little disturbed as we start
ed boldly forth to hear the guide call
nit from behind me: “I forgot to bring
.lie chow along when we left the ranch
fou go ahead nn’ I'll ketch up witli
you. Ole Cal) knows the way just as
well as I do.”
By this time Caballero was forth on
nis way with an air of assurance that
gained my confidence. The trail was
easy for the first mile, and then de
scended at an alarming angle toward
the bottom of n canyon. Through this
ennyon a mountain torrent was pour
ing, but 1 supposed, of course, that
we would travel along beside it. I love
mountain streams and I was quite hap
py over the prospect of seeing one so
close at hand.
But when my mount, Instead of
skirting this wild water course, walked
deliberately Into It, I thought It was
time to assert myself. “If you want
» drink. Mr. Burro," I said politely, “I
will find one for you later on, but Jus’
now I think it would be better not to
tempt these wild waters. The first
thing you know, we'll be—”
1 didn’t finish the sentence because
I was surrounded by engulfing rapids.
My first Impulse was to get off and
walk back to shore, but when 1 ob
served how far we were away from the
refuge, and how high were the waves
between us and it, 1 desisted. 1 seized
the pommel of the Spanish saddle as I
would seize a life preserver and hung
on. “The torrent roared and we did
buffet it," to quote .Mr. Cassius, but I
did most of the buffeting, for Caballero
submerged along toward the center of
the stream. I knew he was not
drowned, for 1 could feel the throb of
his four propellers, but fording a rapid
running river on a mount that you
can't see. and which you fear every
minute will be bowled from under you
by n particularly heavy mass of water
is not my Idea of enjoying myself in
the man deserted wilds.
I don't know how long that crossing
took, but it was not the six months 1
estimated at the time. 1 am informed
now that it was not more than six min
utes, but In those six minutes, as I
lived them, Columbus might have
crossed the alien ocean.
Caballero soon began to become
slightly more visible, and at leDgth
hooked his fore knee over a boulder
and paused a space to catch bis breath
while the waters swirled around my
thighs. When he felt sufficiently re
stored, he rose almost upright, grasped
a rock with his other knee, and we
were ashore once more.
I made a feeble attempt to dismount.
I didn’t know where 1 was, or how 1
could get back to where 1 came from
unless the guide came along before I
died from a chill, but I had lost con
fidence In the little animal's knowledge
of the topography of the country, and
felt 1 would be more nble to collect
my thoughts If 1 sat down on a rock
and reflected for a little while. But
the burro hud other plans. Waiting
only to shake the water from his
flanks—he almost shook me o(T In the
process—he laid a leg over another
rock and drew himself up Into the
mouth of one of those dry canyons
which, I think, are called arroyos.
Suddenly he rose forward and sank
aft, and I perceived we had begun a
long ascent It was a short climb, but
not a merry one. Scrub trees grew hor
izontally out of the walls of the moun
tain, and shredded my apparel when
they snapped back at me nfter they
had been bent by our passage.
Booking up—for I was afraid to look
down, I could see mountain tops gleam
ing. white in the sunshine, and thanked
my stars that 1 was at least not up
there. But my gratitude came too
soon. A little later It became evident
that that was .lust where C aballero in
tended to go. He did not go In haste—
though I would rather have had it all
over. He walked, step by step, making
sure of every small rock on which he
placed his hoof. The movement was
much like that of a small boat on a
stormy ocean, and I found myself grow
ing sea sick.
Again and again I yanked at the
reins, but the creature only looked
around reprovingly at me and proceed
ed on his way. Just ahead I heard a
loud roaring noise, and, looking up, 1
observed that a cataract was pouring
Its waters Into the V-shaped bottom of
the canyon about a city block ahead.
I endeavored once more to nrrest our
progress, but what was the use?
We went right Into that fall, and
soon there was nothing that I was con
scions of hut the roaring of many wa
ters. I seized the saddle and hung on.
Around and over me was a titanic
drumming. Now and then an especial
ly dense mass of water descended on
me and rendered me temporarily—I
thought—unconscious. But we still bore
on, and by and by we went forth imo
clear sunshine.
It was a happy release, hut It was
not to last long. The trail wound
around a corner, and directly above
me loomed a giant glacier. It was
probably very beautiful, but I would
have been just as eager to enjoy the
sight of the angel of doom. I had
learned by this time that yanking on
the bridle would convey no message
to Caballero that he would heed, so l
thrust my legs as far apart ns possible,
and brought them banging Into his
stomach. He only looked around at
me reprovingly and turned up toward
the Ice and snow.
We climbed that glacier with a
stendy, but not a sure tread. A num
ber of times my ship of the mountains
mistook soft snow for hard, and rolled
over on his side. Each time I tried to
get off before he regained his equili
brium, but it was hopeless. Always he
was up and forth before I could extri
cate my feet from the stirrups and
dismount.
At last we stood on wlmt up to that
time I had regarded ns the summit of
the range. Now, I thought. I shall
get off. To go down tills canyon on
that Imbecile unlmal Is not to tempt
Providence, it Is to defy it. But we
were going up, not down. On, on, on
and on. we plodded, till at last we could
look about and see range after rnnge
of snow-capped mountains. It was
probably a sublime sight, but It didn’t
strike me that way at the time. I was
fishing for my hunting knife with the
Idea that I would have to thrust It
between Caballero’s ribs and stop him
the best 1 could when 1 heard a hall
from below, and looking down, ob
served tlie guide approaching on a re
plica of my burro.
I was glad to see him. In fact, there
was at that time no human being on
this earth, not excepting my wife and
children, that I would have been so
glad to see.
“He got ye here ail right, I see," said
my rescuer, grinning. “1 knowed he
would. He’s a smart brute, Caballero,
even if he is a burro."
“When do we start heme?’’ 1 asked
with simple directness.
“Home, why we aln’t-got a quartet
of the way. yet."
“Oh, yes, we hav*,” 1 replied. “We’ve
got all the way and I’m going to walk
back.”
I didn’t, for lie overpersuuded me
but there were a number of times on
that ride when I would have traded
my llf< for a song, and not a very
good song at that
©. Bell syndicate —WNU Servlca.