Through the central corridor, whether entering through the Vestibule or by way of the Ground Floor, the visitor proceeds to the EAST ROOM, the one apartment thrown open to the general public. It is the largest room in the White House, measuring 40x60 feet. The walls of this room are covered with enameled wood paneling, set into which are twelve basrelief panels, representing themes taken from Acsop's "Fables" (executed by Piccirilli Bros.). The window draperies are of heavy yellow silk damask. Velvet cushioned seats surround the walls, but there are no chairs in this room, and the walls are bare of pictures, the portraits of General and Mrs. Washington, which formerly hung here, having been transferred to the Red Room (p. 120). One notable work of art, however, is the famous so-called "gold piano," valued at over $20,000. The inside of the lid contains a much admired painting of the Muses.

Standing on cabinets set against the E. wall, are two beautiful blue Sèvres vases, presented to President McKinley by the President of France in commemoration of the laying of the Franco-American cable.

The room is lighted by four bronze candelabra, placed respectively in the four corners; also by three massive crystal chandeliers, suspended along the centre of the ceiling. The latter date from 1902. The original chandeliers installed in President Grant's administration were removed before the remodeling of the White House, reconstructed and are now serving in various Committee Rooms of the Capitol.

The East Room, which Mrs. Adams once used as a drying-room, was originally intended as a State Banquet Hall, and was used as such until 1827, since which time it has been the State Reception Room. Prior to the restoration of the White House in 1902, it was once again used occasionally for large official banquets.

This room has witnessed many historic scenes, both joyous and tragic. Among the brilliant weddings that have here been celebrated were those of: Nellie Grant to Algernon Sartoris, May 21st, 1874; Alice Roosevelt to Nicholas Longworth, February 17th, 1906; Jessie Woodrow Wilson to Francis B. Sayre, November 25th, 1913. Among the many eminent Americans who have lain in State in this same room were: President Zachary Taylor, Col. Ellsworth of the N. Y. Zouaves, May 24-27, 1861; Willy Lincoln, March 20th, 1862; President Lincoln, April 19th, 1865; President Garfield, Sept. 20, 1881; The wife and daughter of Secretary Tracy, February 5th, 1890; President McKinley, 1898; and the first wife of President Wilson, August 7, 1914.

The Green Room, reached either through doorway at S.W. cor. of the East Room, or through the central corridor, is a much smaller apartment, measuring 30x22 ft. Nearly everything in this room is new, including the mantel, the furniture, rug and chandelier. The wall coverings and window

curtains are of green velvet, copied from an old piece of Genoese velvet. On the walls of this room are the portraits of the following Presidents:

1. John Quincy Adams, by G. P. A. Healy; 2. Andrew Jackson, by E. F. Andrews; 3. Martin Van Buren, by Healy; 4. William Henry Harrison, by Andrews; 5. Franklin Pierce, by Healy; 6. James Buchanan, by Andrews; 7, Abraham Lincoln, Artist unknown; 8. Andrew Johnson, by Andrews; 9. Rutherford B. Hayes, by Daniel Huntington.

Through the western door of the Green Room we enter the BLUE ROOM, an elliptical apartment measuring 30x40 ft., and generally admitted to be the most beautiful room in the White House. The wall covering is a heavy corded blue silk embroidered at top and bottom with a Grecian fret. The curtain hangings are of the same material, embroidered with stars, and the curtain poles are surmounted by gilt eagles. The furniture is white and gold, upholstered in blue and gold. The mantel, dating from the restoration in 1902, is of pure white marble, the shelf being supported on bundles of arrows carved in marble with bronze tips and feathers. On the mantel stands a massive gold clock, said to have been the gift of Napoleon I to Lafayette, and presented by the latter to George Washington.

Blind doors are in the walls near the southern end of the room, and at receptions the guests coming from the Red Room pass the receiving party standing in a single line directly in front of the windo.vs. The guests especially invited to share the Blue Room with the receiving party, face the President. A silken cord is stretched across the room from door to door to insure freedom of passage for the guests while being presented.

The Blue Room was originally the President's dining-room, and was known variously as the "Circular Room," "Elliptical Dining-room,' and later "Oval Reception Room." Under the Madison régime it was hung with yellow damask; this gave place successively to old rose, green and then for the first time under the Van Buren administration, to blue. During Johnson's Presidency it was changed to red; while Grant was President it reverted to blue, which has remained its distinctive color ever since, the only variation having occurred during the Arthur administration, when the room was redecorated by Tiffany, and the pale tint adopted caused it to be temporarily called the "Robin's Egg Room."

This has long been the favorite room for White House weddings. Among them may be mentioned the following: 1. Maria Hester Monroe (daughter of the President) to Samuel Lawrence Gouverneur, March 9th, 1820; 2. Mary Hellen (niece of Mrs. John Quincy Adams) to John Adams (son of the President), February 10th, 1828; 3. Delia Lewis (daughter of an intimate friend of President Jackson) to Alphonse Josephe Yver Pageot (Secretary of the French Legation); 4. Mary Easton (niece of Mrs. Jackson) to Lucius B. Polk (also during the Jackson administration); 5. Elizabeth Tyler (third daughter of the President) to William Waller, January 31st, 1842; 6. Emily Platt (niece of President Hayes) to Gen. Russell Hastings, June 19th,

1878; 7. Frances Folsom to President Grover Cleveland, June 2d, 1886. (For twenty years, from 1886 to 1906, there were no weddings in the White House). 8. Eleanor Randolph Wilson (youngest daugh. ter of the President) to William G. McAdoo (Secretary of the Treasury), May 7th, 1914.

It was in the Blue Room that a brilliant reception was given to the Infanta Eulalie, daughter of the Queen Regent of Spain, May 19th, 1893.

The RED ROOM, situated immediately W. of the Blue Room, corresponds in position and dimensions to the Green Room (see above). This room is wainscoted in white enamel; the wall covering and curtains are of red velvet, and the furniture is upholstered in red damask. The room contains a richly carved mahogany cabinet, ornamented with gold, in which are seven exquisitely dressed male and female Japanese dolls, the whole constituting a present to Mrs. Roosevelt from the Japanese Legation. On the walls of the room are a number of portraits, including the historic full-length portrait of George Washington, which formerly hung in the East Room and was long attributed to Gilbert Stuart, but is now admitted to be a copy by an obscure English artist.

The traditional story still told to visitors is that Mrs. Dolly Madison cut this painting from its frame with a pair of scissors to save it from destruction by the British, and carried it with her in her fight from the Capital. But according to the testimony of her own letters, the painting was entrusted to the care of Mr. Custis, a nephew of Washington, who had come post-haste from Arlington to save it. The canvas was not cut or otherwise damaged, for a servant broke and removed the outer frame, leaving the picture intact.

Here also is a portrait of Martha Washington, by E. F. Andrews, painted in 1878. Being a modern work, its chief interest centers in the fact that the dress is a faithful reproduction of a masquerade costume made in Paris, and worn at a Martha Washington Centennial Tea Party, given in Philadelphia in 1876. The other portraits in this room are:

1. John Adams, by G. P. A. Healy; 2. Thomas Jefferson, by E. F. Andrews; 3. James Madison, Artist unknown; 4. James Monroe, Artist unknown; 5. Zachary Taylor, by Andrews; 6. James K. Polk, by Healy; 7. Ulysses S. Grant, by Le Clair.

The STATE DINING-ROOM, adjoining the Red Room on the W., is now the second largest room in the White House, thanks to its enlargement in 1902, whereby, instead of accommodating from 50 to 60 guests, it can now seat a maximum of 107. The walls are paneled from floor to ceiling in dark English oak, richly carved; the chandelier and wall-branches are of silver; around the frieze are placed mounted heads

of American Game; on the floor is an Indian carpet in solid color; the window draperies are in green velvet. In this room are two tapestries of 17th century Flemish workmanship, the one over the mantel illustrating a scene from Vergil's "Eighth Eclogue," and inscribed with the following quotation (in Latin):

"Nysa is given in marriage to Mopsus! What may not we lovers expect?

Griffins now shall mate with horses, and in the succeeding age the timorous does shall come to drink with dogs.

Begin with me, my flute, Maenalian strains.

Mopsus, cut fresh nuptial torches; for a wife is on the point of being brought home."

The FAMILY DINING-ROOM, directly N. of the State Dining-room, is finished in green. It is reached from the second floor by a private staircase. The Main Stairway to the second floor leads from the E. wing of the central corridor. It is constructed of Joliet stone, and consists of a broad flight from the main floor to the landing, where it divides into two flights. A double gate of wrought iron, which rolls back into pockets in the walls, stands at the foot of the staircase.

The SECOND STORY, known as the "Family Floor," is devoted to the living rooms of the President's family, guestchambers and the President's private office and library. As on the floor below, the Family Floor has a wide corridor, running E. and W., connecting two large sitting-rooms, one on the E., above the East Room, the other on the W., above the State Dining-room. There are seven bed-rooms on this floor, each with an adjoining bathroom. The four largest are situated respectively in the four corners, and each includes a small dressing-room. The N.W. bed-room was President Arthur's room, and later the Clevelands' sleeping-room. During the Harrison administration it was converted into a nursery for the young McKees. The opposite suite, in the S.W. cor., was occupied by Miss Rose Cleveland during part of President Cleveland's first term. In this room Mrs. Harrison died; and here also President Garfield was brought after being wounded by the assassin, Guiteau. The bed-room immediately E., and directly over the Green Room, was long known as the "Prince of Wales' Room." Among the Presidents who have occupied it are Grant and Benjamin Harrison. This is the room which was assigned to Miss Frances Folsom on the eve of her marriage to President Cleveland. Subsequently, it was transformed into a nursery for Ruth Cleveland.

The next room to the E., an oval apartment, directly over the Blue Room, is now the President's LIBRARY. Beyond the Library, and opposite the main stairway, is the PRESIDENT'S STUDY AND PRIVATE OFFICE, formerly known and used as the "Cabinet Room." On the marble mantel is the following inscription:

"This room was first used for meetings of the Cabinet during the administration of President Johnson. It continued to be so used until the year MCMII. Here the treaty of peace with Spain was signed."

The entire eastern half of the attic floor is used for storage purposes. In the western half are the servants' bed-rooms and bath-room.

IV. Other Buildings in the Executive Grounds

a. The Treasury Building

**The United States Treasury Building (Pl. II-D4) at the S. W. cor. of Pennsylvania Ave. and 15th St., is an imposing rectangular granite structure, extending 468 ft. N. to S., and 264 ft. E. to W.; or inclusive of porticoes and steps 582 x 300 ft. The order is pure Grecian Ionic, the columns and pilasters rising through the three stories of the superstructure, above which is an attic. Below are two basement stories, the lower one being rustic. The building is surmounted by a stone balustrade. The original section, now the east wing, was designed by Robert Mills; the N., S. and W. extensions by Thomas U. Walter.

The site of the Treasury Building was formerly occupied by two brick Department buildings, corresponding in general design with the old War and Navy Buildings, W. of the White House (p. 126). The northernmost, or State Department Building was erected in January, 1820, approximately where the north wing of the present building now stands, while the south wing covers the site of the original Treasury Building, contracted for by the Federal City Commissioners, June 23d, 1798, at an estimated cost of $39,511. This was one of the buildings destroyed by the British in 1814. The second Treasury Building, erected on the same site, was destroyed by fire in 1833. It was determined that the new edifice should be built upon a much more imposing scale, and the plans drawn by Robert Mills were accepted. By Act of Congress, dated July 4th, 1836, the President was directed to cause a site to be selected. It was the intention of the Committee in charge to choose a position such that the proposed structure would not interfere with an uninter