New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-26
fBr TELEGRAPH TO TIE rRrnuvE.1

OF BUSINESS.
rBY TELEGRAPH TO The TRBUNEl
" .MNGToN, Sept. pa general exami
nation OF affairs the interior Department today
firms tie belief OF last Night that few valuable records
been lost destroyed though many have been dis
figured aud DANA ged by water. The obstruction to bust
arising from the soaking OF water Through all tue
neayy floors and arches will be greater than sup
posed The floors Of the great Museum rest on
neayy and very thick arches. The filing be-
tween tho arches Is OF buck. THIS immense
Of masonry TO have soaked up many tons "
water which, during the night permcated every portion
OF it. This morning many rooms were flooded which
were dry several after the fire. Aside from the
damage which this doing in loOsenlng the pasering
It Is found that the walls and ceilings thoroughly
saturated that II will not be safe for the clerks
to work in the rooms for many weeks This
and the work of repairing will make necessary
practical abandonment all the the west aud
north OF the building. These chiefly
pied by Land Patent Offices. The present plan
is the Indian Office to another building, aud give
the st front which is dry TO the Land Office, because
Its records Of Importance to the Government
and it is therefore desirable to keep them in 1reploo
part Of the building. As item Of It's records there
are 900 large folio volumes containing the titles OF
all lands sold eeded since the Government esab
| hshed.
The OF restoring the building Is variousy cacu-
lated but the examinations have not yet thorough
enough estimates The marble OF the exterior
walls shows little damage, aud it still believed that
rebuilding will be necessary. The brick backing 10
these walls is two feet in thickness aud the
material which fed was SO quickly consumed
and the fire burned rapidly, that these walls
did not become badly heated Some OF the ground
arches which support the Museum floors the
west side considerably cracked, and few or
them sprung. Architects express the opinion that
probably all except the extension walls on tue front will
dnxr far the man first
step taken will be to put on temporary roof and pro-
poss will be opened for tnls by the middle
week.
The actual losses are described in the reports OF two
principal officers OF the Department The Office OF the
Chief is the most important division m the
Patent Office for that contains vital records
of that branch OF the public service During the excite
ment of yesterday all the valuable records
moved including 10000 files in rejected and forfeited
cases These files promiscuously scattered through
out the squares adjacent to the Patent Office
Building Secretary schurz called upon the
Commissioner OF Patents late this afternoon
for report as to condition of the different branches
OF the bureau The Chief aughtsnan IN his report
in m. room there were M olios containing 81 243
original drawings AT II o'clock to-day 407 OF these
toios had returned and placed IN tue proper
classes which they belonged and all OF tue rest
had been arranged In thslr reGalar order IN tue
not single document is missed aud on twenty original
drawings were destroy ed by tGe fire. The latter
ten records in untouched. The original
drawings vi September 4 last were IN the model-rOon
for the purpose Of having the models belonging 10 them
ideutied, and Of course, wee destroyed Fortunately
they had been phoohOgraphed before being sent 10 the
muoeroOm and therefore safe. The Patent ONCE
will probably be compelled, at its own expense TO make
new drawings
The model-roOm. which is next in importance to that
OF the Chief auhtsman, Jared much worse. The Chief
OF the mOderOom tonight reports that IN the west hall
where the fire began, there eighy-our eases OF
models destroyed III the north hail egh,yeight
and about onequarter OF the models In the east hall
were damaged by water The number Of models
DESTROYED readily ascerained by the Chief be had
fortunately preserved the record OF everything, including
the number kind Of models each she'll lie reports
1000 rs the entire number OF models destroyed. Ths III
cuds the following classes entire, and II VIII be seen tlt
these OF the most valuable inventions powu
use: All agricultural implements excepting few mar
yes,r and seed planters the preparation OF agricultural
products brakes ana cOttOn-ins brushes and brOoms
aeraton and botng butchering, bridges capstans ana
wlndlasses, fences, dairy models, grinding mills, and
grain machines. carpenteTy, carriages aud Wig
Ons eXcayatng inventions, glass manui curing
and glass articles, metaurgy, hydraulics, ana
IN umatics; quarry, rock drilling, hydraulic engi-
neerin and hosting apparatus raroading. except To-
comotyes: metal WORKING, except very few models IN
the Examiners room; mechanical PAYERS, st2bng.
woodworking machinery OF all kinds, tobacco maciin-
cry stone dressing and saving All OF the other
classes which patents divided are saved except
that many OF them have been quite seriously injured 0y
water.