Canada -- Description and travel; United States -- Description and travel
A corridor leads westward from the "East Room," through the centre of
the White House, to the conservatories, which are prolonged nearly two
hundred feet farther westward. A series of fine apartments, called the
Green, Blue and Red Rooms, from the predominant colors in their
decorations, are south of this corridor, with their windows opening
upon the gardens. These apartments open into each other, and finally
into the State Dining Hall on the western side of the building, which
is adjoined by a conservatory. North of the corridor the first floor
contains the family rooms, and on the second floor are the
sleeping-rooms and also the public offices. The Cabinet Room, about in
the centre of the building, is a comparatively small apartment, where
the Cabinet meetings assemble around a long table. On one side of it,
at the head of a broad staircase, are the offices of the secretaries,
over the East Room; and on the other side, the President's private
apartment, which is called the Library. Here the President sits, with
the southern sun streaming through the windows, to give audience to
his visitors, who are passed in by the secretaries. One of the desks,
which is usually the President's personal work-table, has a history.
The British ship "Resolute," years ago, after many hardships in the
fruitless search for Sir John Franklin, had to be abandoned in the
Arctic seas. Portions of her oaken timbers were taken back to England,
and from these, by the Queen's command, the desk was made and
presented to President Grant, and it has since been part of the
furniture in the Library. An adjacent chamber, wherein the Prince of
Wales slept on his only visit to America, and the chamber adjoining,
are the two sleeping-rooms which have been usually occupied by the
greatest Presidents. The accommodations are so restricted, however,
that a movement is afoot for constructing another presidential
residence, on higher land in the suburbs, so that the White House may
be exclusively used for the executive offices.
ELABORATE PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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