Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 51, Number 109, 27 June 1884 — The New Pension Office. [ARTICLE]

The New Pension Office.

The Government is erecting on Judiciary Square in Washington a lurgi' structure for the exclusive use of the Pension Office, for v. hi.-li Congress baa already appropriated i $440,000. '■'■ is lour 1..;..,., feet long and two hundred feet wide, the (right being three stories, with a vast central sky-light rising a full story above the roof of the third story and lighting the court. The roof of the inclosed court is supported by two rows of enormous columns. This court, with its triple colonnade on all sides promises to be the best architectural feature of the edifice, which from the exterior suggests a temporary exhibition building by the cheapness of its material and decorations. The entire structure is of brick, and the cornices and frieze are of terra cotta. Between the Him and second stories a yellow band, or frieze, three feet in bight is carried entirely around the building, and <•.•! tip.- are represented scenes from military and naval life— infantry, artillery and cavalry on the march, wounded men, sailors in boats, etc. This much at least can be said in praise of the figures, that they are not the stereotyped soldiers and sailers of the picture books, but seem to have been designed .by some one who has seen actual warfare. They are too small, however, to be effective The building is not yet far advanced, but one or two things are clear: It will have the beaut; of usefulness, which is lacking in so many public structures, and ii will be a wide departure from the classical ideas that long dominated our Government architects. For the purpose of providing a large number of well-lighted and well-ventilated office rooms, the plan seems an excellent one. The architect is Genera] Mcigs, formerly Quartermaster-General of the army. —[!•;. V. Smalley in Century.