REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 7 



thus furnishing exceptionally good conditions for the massive struc- 

 ture to be erected. The excavation was completed during the sum- 

 mer, a considerable undertaking, since the area covered is larger than 

 that occupied by any other Government building in Washington 

 except the Capitol. The laying of the heavy concrete foundations 

 immediately followed and was finished on November 9, 1904. 



By September 1, however, the working plans had been sufficiently 

 advanced to invite proposals for all the granite required, both for 

 the exterior faces of the building and for the courses in the courts. 

 There were nine bidders, though a larger number of quarries was 

 represented, and their proposals were opened on October 1. Sam- 

 ples of the granite accompanied the bids, and these were examined 

 with reference to the durability of the stone as well as its fitness for 

 best expressing the architectural design of the building and for secur- 

 ing harmony with the generally acknowledged principle that the 

 exterior walls of the public buildings in Washington should be of a 

 light color. The material finally selected, with the approval of the 

 building committee of the Board of Regents, was as follows: For 

 the basement the warm gray, usually called pink, granite from the 

 quarries at Milford, Massachusetts; for the first and second stories, 

 which compose the greater part of the fronts, including also the main 

 south central feature to the roof of the dome, the pure white granite 

 from the recently opened quarries at Bethel, Vermont; for the upper 

 story, the white granite from Mount Airy, North Carolina. The two 

 interior open courts, each measuring 128 feet square, will lie faced 

 with a light-colored brick, relieved by courses and window arches 

 of stone. For the latter has been chosen the same variety of gran- 

 ite from Woodstock, Maryland, that was used in the courts at the 

 Library of Congress. Before the close of the fiscal year the quarry- 

 ing and cutting of the granite, especially for the basement, was well 

 under way. 



During the early part of the winter a narrow section in wood of 

 the front of the building, to the full height of the stonework, was 

 erected on the foundations for the purpose of studying the proportions 

 as worked out on the plans. This resulted in a decision to increase 

 the height of the building to the extent of 3 feet, which was accom- 

 plished by raising the level of the basement floor lh feet, and adding 

 the same amount to the height of the basement. Among incidental 

 advantages following this change was the opportunity for raising 

 the numerous pipe trenches, insuring a greater fall for the drainage 

 system, and for obtaining a level grade line around the building with 

 an architecturally better base course of stone. The change also 

 permits the transfer of the lecture hall to the rotunda basement, 

 removing it from the center wing, which will become available for 

 exhibition purposes. 



