The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-03-18
KEEPING OLD BILLS.
Catacombs of the National Capitol Where
Records Are Filed.

Washington Critic.
1t is not generally known that every bill,
every report every executive commnuica-
tion,-in short, everything that comes be-
fore Congress- preserved in the original.
But such is the fact.
There is place devoted to the preserva-
ton OF these relics, and q man specially
charged with preterviDg them. The room is
q succession of iron corridors, one above the
other, lined with receptacles for holding
large volumes.
Commencing on the roof of the house,
the records run downward in chronological
order. The books are of all sizes down to
about forty years ago, when they assume
uniformity. They are all leather covered
and strongly bound. Inside of them ara
thick leaves, upon which bills, reports and
other Congressional documents are pasted in
the original. Every kind of paper is there.
The history OF the improvement in paper
manufacture can be traced in these volumes
from the first session of the Continental
Congress down to the present day.
II is noted, toe, in delving among these
old tones that the later ones are better pre-
pared than those preceding them. For in-
stance, there is evident slovenliness in the
volumes of the first Congress Improve
msnt goes on as the dates become more re-
cent. But very little is missed in this vast
collection. The first and second Congresses
are not complete, and there is a somewhat
bad break in the continuity of the records
in the years just before the British burned
the Capitol.
The break was caused by fire and by the
British taking away some of the volumes.
There are number of volumes on hand
which show the effects of British depreda.
tions. They are charred, and their conte ats
smoked and covered with dirt. But not
word is there in them that can not be read.
Thus, from the date of the first meeting of
N1v1r foo ,l1rzl
ton in the original of almost all matters
that came before that body. In later years a
great deal of ingenuity has been shown in
making the edges of the contents of the
leatherbacked volumes as smooth as those of
any first. class publication.
The ingenuity is the more apparent when
it is remembered that all sizes and kinds of
paper are used in preparing bills for intro
duction, and in writing reports and other
matters pertaining to Congressional bust
ness The originals, when ordered to be
printed, 90 to the Government Printing Of
fee, but strict care is always taken that they
are returned. The printers marks are to be
seen on many OF the papers.
For the past thirty years these volumes
have been prepared by an old gentleman
who is now nearly seventy years of age. He
has room in the basement of the Capitol
set apart for his own use. There he locks
himself up and gives receipt for the decu-
ments which are sent to him. He then ar.
ranges them in his books in regular order.
When be has finished volume he turns it
over TO the proper official and gets receipt
The volume then goes to the place set apart
for such records.
One would not think there would be much
inquiry for what is contained in the dust
covered old books, bat there is. There Is
hardly day but that somebody wants to get
a copy OF an original document of years aud
years ago. They are always accommodated
The old gentleman who prepares the original
matter for preservation is but seldom seen.
One of the gentlemen in charge of the iron
corridors rays that he does not see the old
man more than two or three times q year
when he appears to hand over the volumes
that he has prepared.