A PORTION OF THE SOUTH STAIRWAY-MARTINY CARVINGS. South Stairway. Beginning at the foot, the symbolical figures carved in high relief are, in the railing a Mechanic with a cog-wheel, Hunter with a rabbit, Vintager with grapes and wine glass, Farmer with sickle and sheaf of wheat, Fisherman with rod and fish, Soldier with helmet, Chemist with blowpipe, and Cook with a steaming pot. The buttress figures are of America and Africa, supporting a globe showing these continents. On the landing balustrade above are Comedy and Tragedy with their masks, and Poetry with a scroll. North Stairway. The figures of the north stairway are, beginning at the foot: Gardener with rake and spade, Entomologist with net and specimen case, Student with mortarboard cap and book, Printer in paper cap with press and type, Musician with lyre and music book, Physician with mortar, retort and serpent, Electrician with telephone and electric light, Astronomer with telescope, globe and compasses. On the buttress are Europe (with lyre, book and column) and Asia (with cragon vase). The balustrade figures are of Painting, Architecture and Sculpture. THE CENTRAL STAIR This apartment, which has been styled "a vision in polished stone," is a fitti harmony of adornment, in the perfect adaptation to the purpose for which it is int legend of Mr. Vedder's mosaic of Minerva, runs: Nil invita Minerva quae Mo memorial more enduring than bronze." Or, more freely rendered, "Minerva was a contributed, each his part, to produce the perfect whole, are all American citizens; design and execution the building is a product of American talent, art and workma to the superb building. In the dignity cf its proportion and design, in richness and ary of Congress stands to-day as America's highest architectural achievement. The e perennius exegit. "That was not an unwilling Minerva who fashioned this en she builded this monument." The architects, painters and sculptors who have n pointed out, it may well be for us an occasion of patriotic pride, that in conceptio |