CAN'T CLEAN FEDERAL DOME.
Soot and Oil There to Stay, Says Wal-
ter Humphrey.
After scrubbing a hall on the top of one of the federal building flag staffs with seven kinds of cleaners, the decision has been reached that the gilded dome cannot be freshened up. The highly charged soot of the city, recently strengthened with a fine spray of oil from the furnaces burning oil, has discolored the dome for all time. Walter Humphrey, assistant custodian of the building, took advantage of the work of repainting the flag staffs to include in the specifications the work of washing the gold balls at their tops His intention was to subsequently wash the dome, if the ornaments on the flag staffs should show any improvement.
