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Working At The Capitol
Keeper Of The Keys:
Custodian William Henwood was in charge of Capitol security from 1900 to 1935. "The Wisconsin Capitol is said to have the finest and the most intricate set of locks of any public building in America," reported the Racine Journal-Times in 1918. Each wing, office, desk, and mailbox had its own lock, and Henwood kept their contents safe for three decades.
Veterans On Staff:
In the 1920s, about 100,000 tourists came to the Capitol each year. They were greeted by two Civil War veterans, Stanley Lathrop and Albert Cook, the building's guides.
Another veteran, 85-year-old Jesse Myers, ran the GAR Memorial Hall. "I am still here at my desk putting in a regular day's work every day," he told a reporter in 1928. A fourth Civil War veteran, Frank Higgins, worked at the Capitol every day until retiring in 1930 at the age of 91.
Awful Smells:
In 1932, state officials in Madison discovered that wardens were selling confiscated fish and game. The officials insisted that all seized game be sent to the Capitol. But soon offensive odors began rising up the Supreme Court's elevator shaft.
Custodian Tony Pickarts hunted down the source of the smell -- a rotting sturgeon that a warden had deposited in a basement storeroom. After the fish was removed, conservation officials revoked their provision, and wardens were once again allowed to dispose of seized game locally. |