Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/410

Rh 384 WASHINGTON [CITY. rate of the District in 1886 was for whites 17 96, for negroes 32*35, and for all inhabitants 22 80 per thousand. The death-rate among the white population is less than in any other American city approaching Washington in size. The public buildings are scattered widely over the city. The Capitol (see vol. ii. p. 454) stands upon an eminence towards the eastern edge of the thickly settled portion, in the midst of extensive grounds. It consists of a central building, surmounted by a dome, and flanked by two wings, in which are the chambers of the two houses of Congress. The length of the building is 751 feet, while its breadth ranges in different parts from 121 to 324 feet. It covers nearly 3i acres. Its extreme height, from the ground to the top of the statue of Liberty, which stands upon the dome, is 307J feet. The material of the central building is sandstone, that of the wings marble, while the dome is of iron. The entire cost of the building has been $13,000,000. Besides the two houses of Congress, the Capitol is occupied by the United States Supreme Court and the library of Congress. For the latter a separate building is now in process of erection, upon ground just east of the Capitol. The Treasury is situated 1| miles west of the Capitol, at the corner of 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue; it is built mainly of granite, in the Ionic style, and measures 468 by 264 feet, with a court in the interior. It contains some 500 rooms, and cost $6,000,000. The building occupied by the state, war, and navy departments is just west of the Treasury, separated from it by the president s residence, which is known as the White House. It is ]LJS1 Washington Central Portion. 1. Capitol. 2. White House. 3. State, War, and Navy Departments. 4. Treasury. 5. Interior Department. 0. Department of Justice. 7. Department of Agriculture. 8. Bureau of Engraving mul Printing. 9. Government Print ing Office. 10. Smithsonian Inst, 11. National Museum. 12. City Hall. built entirely of granite, is 567 feet long by 471 feet wide, and 128 feet in height, and cost $10,000,000. The interior department building is on F Street North, nearly equidistant from the Capitol and Treasury. It occupies two squares of the city, being 453 by 331 feet, with an interior court. It is simple in its proportion, and in the Doric style. It is built in part of freestone, in part of marble, while the interior is of granite. This building cost $2,700,000. The post-office department building is directly opposite the interior department, and occupies a whole square. The style is Corinthian, and the material is marble. The dimensions are 300 by 204 feet, with an interior court, and its cost was $1,700,000. Running westward from the Capitol grounds to the river is a line of public reservations, having a breadth of four squares, from B Street North to B Street South. Within these extensive grounds are several public structures, the botanic gardens, the buildings of the Fish Commission, the army modical museum, the national museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the department of agriculture, and the Washington monument. All these are of brick, with the exception of the Smithsonian Institu tion, which is of brown sandstone, and the monument, which is of marble. This is a plain obelisk, 55 feet square at the base and 555 feet in height. The White House is situated between the Treasury and the building of the state, war, and navy departments, on Pennsylvania Avenue, in the midst of ample grounds. It is of sandstone, 170 feet long by 86 feet wide. Among the other public buildings are the naval observatory, the Government printing office, the navy yard, artillery barracks, marine barracks, naval hospital, the city hall, the bureau of engraving and printing, and the pension office. Outside the former city limits are the Government asylum for the insane, the national college for the deaf and dumb, the reform school, and in the midst of a large and beautiful public park the soldiers home, a retreat for aged and disabled soldiers. It was the design of those who laid out the city that its principal growth should be east of the Capitol. Certain causes, however, prevented this result, and sent the wealth and fashion into the north-western quarter. This quarter contains at present more than half the population and over three-quarters of the taxable property of the District. In this section are many thousands of residences of fine and varied architecture, the display of which has been much encouraged by the freedom of the building regulations. Washington is one of the most cosmopolitan of cities. Its population is not only drawn from all parts of the United States, but every civilized nation has its represent atives there. Its social life is characterized by a degree of variety and freedom rarely enjoyed elsewhere. It has become in recent years the American centre of scientific thought, and is rapidly gathering men of letters. Washington was selected as the site for the federal capital in 1790. The States of Maryland and Virginia had ceded to the general Government a tract of land 10 miles square, lying on both sides of the Potomac, for that purpose. The Virginia portion was subsequently re-ceded to that State. In 1790 Georgetown was a city of considerable importance, but upon the site of Washington there were very few settlers. The plan of the city was drawn by Major 1 Enfant, and the city laid out in accordance therewith by Andrew Ellicott. At that time the greater part of the site lying west of the Capitol was a morass, well-nigh impassable. The machinery of the government was moved to Washington in 1800, when it was &quot;a backwoods settlement in the wilderness.&quot; It existed principally upon paper, and the magnificence of the plan only served to emphasize the poverty of the execution. In 1814, during the second war with Great Britain, it was captured by the British troops, and the Capitol, together with most of the other public buildings, was burned. In 1839 it was described as a &quot;large straggling village reared in a drained swamp.&quot; Indeed, in 1871, although it had attained to considerable size, it was exceed ingly backward in all municipal improvements. The public build ings and grounds were neglected. The streets were deep in mud, or clouded with dust ; the unbuilt portions were morasses ; and the sewerage was worse than useless. In that year Congress abolished the charters of the two cities, and instituted a form of territorial government, with a governor and a legislative assembly. The matter of municipal improvement was placed in the hands of a board of public works, with authority to carry out a comprehensive scheme. The work was commenced and pushed forward with the greatest energy, and almost fabulous results were achieved. In a very few years the appearance of the city was revolutionized. The cost of I these improvements, was, however, enormous, and it was increased &amp;gt; it, too, was badly executed, so that it has been necessary to replace j one of tlie most beautiful and comfortable cities in the world is of public works. This government lived too fast to live long. In 1874 Congress abolished the territorial form, and established the present government by three commissioners. The following figures illustrate the growth of the District in popu lation : 1800, 14,093; 1820, 33,039; 1840, 43,712; 1860, 75,080; 1870, 131,700; 1880, 177,624; 1885, 203,459. Washington had 109,199 inhabitants in 1870, and 147,293 in 1880. (H. G*.)
 * greatly by the rapidity with which the work was done. Much of
 * it. But, in spite of these drawbacks, the fact that Washington is
 * principally due to the iirst governor of the District and his board