Workmen are engaged in putting 
the grounds about the new building 
_ in order and the directors of the 
Smithsonian Institution hope the en- 
* tire work will be completed in a few 
* months. '* 
Under the terms of the will of Mr. 
Freer,; the collection and building 
form a gift to the American people 
■ to be administered by the Smithson¬ 
ian Institution. The building com-, 
mauds a site on the Mall close to the 
old National Museum building And is 
in keeping with the design of build¬ 
ings planned to make the Mall one of 
the most artistic places in America. 
The architect is Charles A. Platt, of 
. New York. 
COl/I.EOTIGN SECOND TO NONE. 
Mr. Freer for many years before his 
death gained the reputation of having 
assembled a collection second to none 
among the private art collections of 
1 the world. Ills' gift to the Govern¬ 
ment in 1906 attracted wide attention 
5; throughout the country, especially in 
art circles. Work was not com¬ 
menced on the $1,200,000 building, 
1 however, until 1916. 
The collection numbers 5,000 items, 
and includes specimens of very wide¬ 
ly separated periods of artistic devel¬ 
opment, beginning before the birth of 
Christ and ending today. It is con¬ 
fined to the American and Asiatic 
schools of art, and consists of Ameri¬ 
can paintings and sculpture, Oriental 
paintings, pottery, bronzes” jades and 
textiles. 
The structure itself will be one of 
the finest in the National Capital. 
This addition to the Smithsonian 
group of buildings, with a frontage 
' of 228 feet, a depth of 185 feet and a 
height of 46 feet, and containing an 
open central court a.bout 65 feet 
square, presents an exterior of pink 
granite. i 
Above the ground level it consists 
only of a basement and main story, 
the former lighted by windows, the 
latter principally by skylights, leav¬ 
ing the upper part of the walls es¬ 
sentially unpierced except for the en¬ 
trances. The location, at the corner 
of Twelfth. and B streets southwest, 
between .the buildings of the Smith¬ 
sonian Institution and the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, assures favor¬ 
able surroundings for the future. 
In the basement are located large 
studios and rooms for the storage of 
such parts of the collection as are 
not on exhibition; a. capacious lecture 
hall, an office for the curator and 
workrooms-—furnishing, in fact, all 
necessary conveniences for adminis¬ 
tration, for -serious study, and for 
popular instruction. 
PEACOCK ROOM DECORATIONS. 
The main story will be entirely de¬ 
voted to exhibition purposes and is 
it is recalled by officials of the 1 
Smithsonian Institution that this 
building is designed to accommodate 
only the Freer collections and to pro¬ 
vide for the study and appreciation 
of their varied contents, which supply 
a vast amount of material for re¬ 
search work by specialists. As an in¬ 
tegral part of this specific gift of art, 
the most important and valued do¬ 
nation which any individual has ever 
made, freely, and unconditionally, to 
the Nation, it cannot be otherwise em- 
Dloved. 
Refiners and Dealers Consider 
Limiting Supply to Autoists. 
Production Far Behind. 
Automobile joyriding. may soon be 
a thing of the, past—that is, unless 
a substitute for gasoline is found. 
Because of low production of gas¬ 
oline, it is said refiners and dealers 
may be forced to limit the supply to 
their customers. i 
Government officials' are aware, of 
the shortage, but it was explained 
today at the Geological Survey and 
Federal Trade Commission that there 
is no Government agency which may 
be used to ration put gasoline, and 
that it would have to be worked out 
through the refiners, dealers and con¬ 
sumers thmselves, with the Govern¬ 
ment participating in a supporting 
sense only. 
It is understood that representa¬ 
tives of several of the large refining- 
companies have discussed the ration 
system informally with some of the 
officials' of the Government, but it 
was said that no Government action 
is in prospect. 
The latest figures available on the 
oil and gasoline supply were com¬ 
pile-^ by the Bureau of Mines, show¬ 
ing stocks on hand at the refineries 
May 31. These figures were far be¬ 
low the 1919 figures for the same 
month. 
In a letter to a Member of Con¬ 
gress, Director Manning of the Bu¬ 
reau of Mines', declared the threat¬ 
ened shortage was caused by an in¬ 
crease in the use of gasoline faster 
than the increase in production and 
importation o^ crude petroleum from 
which it is derived. 
GAS EMPLOYES ON OUTING. 
ml , -nrf . .,7 „ » t S 
