REPORTS OF THE BUILDING COMMITTEE. 707 



limited the duration of the original contract, passed a resolution that his claim should 

 he paid, provided he would report as to the state of the account between the Board 

 and the contractor previous to the discontinuance of his services. Mr. Kenwick 

 agreed to this proposition, and in accordance with it has presented his final report to 

 the Eegents. 



After Mr. Eenwick left the charge of the building the committee employed Captain 

 B. S. Alexander, of the United States Corps of Engineers, to prepare detailed draw- 

 ings and plans for rendering the remainder of the building entirely fire-proof. This 

 gentleman is now engaged as superintendent in the erection of the military and naval 

 asylum for the District of Columbia, and is highly recommended to the committee 

 by the officers of the army and navy, as well as by the fact that so important a work 

 has been intrusted to his superintendence. 



Should the plans which are herewith submitted to the Board be adopted, the com- 

 mittee would recommend that Captain Alexander be appointed, with the consent of 

 the superior of his corps, to superintend the completion of the building. As he is an 

 officer of the army, on duty in this city, he will be enabled to give daily attention to 

 the work at a comparativelv small expense. 



GKAHAM N. FITCH, "| 



EICHAED EUSH, I p ., ,. n 



JOHN W. MAURY, \ Building Committee. 



JOSEPH HENEY, ' J 



Report of the Building Committee for the year 1853. 



The Building Committee of the Smithsonian Institution beg leave to present to 

 the Board of Eegents the following report of their operations and expenditures 

 during the year 1853 : 



It will be recollected by the Eegents that the first plan of the Smithsonian building 

 contemplated finishing the interior with wood and plaster, and that the Board subse- 

 quently adopted a resolution directing the wood-work to be removed and its place to 

 be supplied with fire-proof materials. 



In accordance with this resolution, the Building Committee directed plans and 

 estimates to be made by Captain B. S. Alexander, of the United States corps of 

 engineers. These plans were laid before the Board at the last meeting, and approved ; 

 reserving, however, to the Building Committee the right to make any changes which 

 they might think desirable during the progress of the work. Mr. Eenwick having 

 retired from the office of architect, Captain Alexander was appointed in his place. 



It will also be recollected by the Board that, shortly before the close of their last 

 session, Mr. Gilbert Cameron, the former contractor, petitioned the Eegents to be 

 allowed to finish the building, alleging that, if he was not granted this privilege, his 

 reputation as a builder would be injured ; and also affirming that he was legally 

 entitled to be allowed to complete the work, by the terms of his original contract, 

 which the Board had never declared forfeited. 



This subject was referred to the Building Committee, and legal advice was asked 

 by them, in reference to it, from J. M. Carlisle, Esq., who has acted for some years as 

 counsel to the Board of Eegents. His opinion was in favor of the claims of Mr. 

 Cameron. The question was also submitted to P. E. Fendall, Esq., United States 

 district attorney, who coincided in opinion with Mr. Carlisle. 



In accordance with these opinions, the committee concluded to let Mr. Cameron 

 proceed with the work on the terms which he had previously submitted to them, and 

 which was within the estimate which had been made by the architect. 



Some delay unavoidably took place in arriving at this decision, and consequently 

 the work was not commenced until June 13, 1853. Since then, however, it has been 

 prosecuted with great vigor, and to the entire satisfaction of the committee. The 

 roof has been temporarily secured, the entire frame of wood-work which occupied 

 the interior removed, and a cellar excavated. A large brick sewer has been con- 

 structed through the middle of the building, and carried outward toward t\±i canal, 

 by which the cellar may be thoroughly drained and all waste water discharged. The 

 foundation walls, piers, and arches, of a spacious and commodious basement, have 

 been completed ; the piers in the main story have been built, and the beams and 

 arches of the floor for the rooms above finished. The brick-work of the upper story 

 has also been completed ; in short, the masonry from the foundation to the roof, and 

 more than nine-tenths of the brick-work, have been finished. The principal part of 

 the work yet remaining to be accomplished, according to the statement of the archi- 

 tect, may be classified as follows : 



