REPORTS OP THE BUILDING COMMITTEE. 671 



P. S. — If I am right in my opinion that the Bull Kun quarries will not produce 

 the stone that you have selected, it might be well enough for the Board, before their 

 final adjournment, to pass a resolution to this effect: that some discretionary power 

 be left with the architect to change or modify the material, otherwise the building 

 would necessarily come to a stand ; but this I leave to your better comprehension. 



J. D. 



Laid on the table. 



Mr. Owen submitted from Mr. Joel Downer, carpenter, the following offer to put- 

 up a temporary fence around the grounds of the Institution : 



"Washington, April 8, 1848. 



Gentlemen : I will contract to enclose the ground with a paling fence from five 

 feet eight inches to six feet average ; the palings to be sawed, three inches wide, of 

 the best quality that comes to our market ; the palings to be nailed on the rails with 

 three nailings, and six nails in each paling, with a bottom board averaging 12 inches 

 in width. It is understood that the posts and rails now standing on 12th street and 

 B street are to be righted up and made use of; and the posts and rails for the north 

 and east line are to be taken up from the public enclosure, and used for that purpose. 

 I will put up the fence in a good and substantial manner for $400. 



Respectfully, JOEL DOWNER. 



To the Building Committee of the Smithsonian Institution. 



[Note. — On inquiry, I learn that the above bid includes all materials, though not 

 expressly so stated. 



ROBERT DALE OWEN.] 



Laid on the table. 



Ordered, That, for the present, the services of Wm. McPeak, messenger, be dis- 

 pensed with. 



On motion of Mr. Owen — 



Resolved, That the architect be authorized to cause to be erected on the ground a 

 secure temporary building, as an office for the said architect, provided the same shall 

 not cost over $200. 



The chairman stated to the committee the request of Mr. Mills, the superintendent, 

 that he be allowed the use of the lower rooms in the City Hall which were granted 

 by the corporation to the Building Committee, until the same are required by the 

 committee. 



Ordered, That Mr. Mills be allowed the use of said rooms accordingly. 



On motion of Mr. Owen, it was — 



Resolved, That the city surveyor be requested to make out a plat of the grounds of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, laying down the levels at each intersection of one hun- 

 dred feet. 



And, on motion, the committee adjourned. 



Twenty-Third Meeting, April 10, 1847. 



Present, Messrs. Seaton and Owen. 



Mr. Owen submitted for consideration the following resolutions, relative to the 

 work on " Public Architecture," of which the preparation had been intrusted to 

 him : 



Resolved, That the work on " Public Architecture," to be published by the com- 

 mittee, contain a comparative review of the advantages, economy, and facility of 

 adaptation to modern purposes, of various styles of public architecture, particularly 

 the Grecian, modern Italian, Gothic of different ages, and Norman ; giving the 

 actual cost, compared to extent of accommodations, of some of the principal public 

 edifices in the United States, in the various styles, including some of the public build- 

 ings in Washington, and others erected by the General Government. 



"Resolved, That, so far as the funds permit, the said work contain illustrations, in 

 the best style of art, representing such among the public buildings of the United 

 States as exhibit the purest specimens of architecture, in various styles, including 

 two perspective views of the Smithsonian Institution, on steel ; one perspective view 

 of the gothic plan submitted for competition by Mr. James Renwick, Jr., architect 

 of the Institution ; one perspective view of the Norman plan submitted by Mr. 

 Haviland, provided he (Mr. H.) will, at his own cost, reduce the drawing to the 

 required size ; one perspective view either of the plan submitted by Mr. Arnot, or 

 that submitted by Mr. Notman, provided the architect will, at his own cost, reduce 



