The Washington critic., 1886-04-23
CRITIC
WASHINGTON, APRIL 80, 1886.
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Drnln reservoir OF tne Unltcu STATES. L
might say the brain reservoir of the
world, past and present, for II has
everything of value, old and new,
which has ever been printed. 1t Is
complete as to the workings of the
American mind. Everything in litera-
ture, music or art that is copyrighted
must be deposited here, and in those
narrow quarters of the Capitol, piled
up in store boxes, squeezed up into
shelves, and packed away down in the
ground in the crypt, are hundreds of
thousands of volumes, charts aud
pamphlets, each of which has con-
sumed days of labor, and some life
time of intellectual work. There are
nearly 100000 books, in the library,
and almost 100000 pamphlets. These
will now be brought forth to the light
of day. The works of art will be col.
lected into galleries and the books be
made accessible. Few people have
any idea of the expanse of this H.
brary. Away down under the Capt.
tol there are cavern-like rooms into
which the light never comes, which
are filled with thousands of bound vol
umcs of daily newspapers of half q
dozen different languages, and of all
the years back almost to the date of the
Declaration of Independence. Here,
too, are 1900 valuable maps and in.
Vulnerable engravings, photographs,
prints and drawings. Some of the
maps are those made by the generals of
the Revolution on the field of battle,
and some, indeed, have never been
printed. 1t will take five years to COM
plete this new library, for Mr. Smith
meyer, the architect, tells me that you
can not do work of this kind in hurry.
a. ibis time II Is estimated that the
library will contain at least million
volumes. 1t Is already the sixth largest
library in the world. Sixteen years ago
there were fifty million books in the
libraries of the United States, and there
Is now more than an average of one
book per person to our population. Lit
erary activity Is on the increase in the
United States, and 1 doubt whether
there Is nation in the world whose
brain is working as actively as ours
Says Mr.. Spofford: "The literary ac-
tivity of the United States is incrcas-
ing every year, and our annual increase
rom copyright alone varies annually
now from twenty to thirty thousand
volumes. Our annual entries of copy.
rights now exceed 1000 volumes, and
we have in the library more than
100000 pieces of music" Mr.. Spot.
ford is overjoyed at the passage of the
bill. His whole soul is wrapped up in
the library, and he is as much part
of 1t as any book on its shelves. He
has been its librarian for over twenty
years, and he has seen the library grow
from ninety thousand to more than
half a million books.
~
Mr.. M. b. Frary of Atlanta, Ga, was
q schoolmate of Miss frankie Folsom,
the young lady who, according to dame
rumor, is the prospective bride of
President Cleveland. Eyes, went to
school with her when she was twelve
or thirteen years DID," said Mr. Frary
to a Constitution reporter. "But that,
you know, was a long time ago." he
added, in an absent.minded way.
"Wha-a-a.t" "Tut, tut; what do l
mean? OF course it was not long
time ago. The young lady is just
fairly grown, and she is just us charm
ing as she can be- She Is tall and as
graceful as a queen, and has the most
winning ways imaginable" Does she
like the gayeties of society life ?"
"Well, she goes in society a great deal
and even moves in higher society
than is usual with young ladies of her
means. She is so brilliant every way,
and is so charming, that she is well
coined and sought out by the best peo-
pie of Buffalo" "Was she Cleveland S
sweetheart when you were in school
with her?" II guess she hadn't heard
of Cleveland then, but 1t has been ru-
mored for some time that they were
strongly attached to each other"
wv
A friend of Senator Kenna of West
Virginia says that since his speech on
the right of the President to withhold
papers from the Senate his experience
and intercourse among Senators is so
wholly different from what it was that
he can hardly believe that he is the
same man living in the same condition
of life. The correspondent of the Troy
Times writes that men who have
hitherto been distant and reserved are
now almost enthusiastic in their ex-
pressions of regard and esteem. 1t
beats all what one good strong speech
will do to break the ice for novitiate
in the Senate. Kenna Is de-
lightful fellow in all respects. He
Is rs free and open. handed as a
man can be, and accessible at all
times to people of all sorts. He is n
wonderfully versatile man, and owes
his success in life, no doubt, to his
ability IN mako himsplf nt homo with
everybody He knows what 1t is to be
poor, for he began life as coal digger
in the Kanawha valley at seventy five
shot, and keeps the finest pack of deer
hounds and beagles owned by anybody,
probably, in the United States. He has
been known to bring down nine deer in
one days hunt. He knows the best
fishing streams in the Alleghenies, and
likes nothing better than to set out for
days sport to see who, of half n
dozen fishermen, can bring in
sides, he is fine amateur
photographer, and seldom goes
into the mountains for hunt without
taking his apparatus along. lie is not
rich man, and it is said that he en-.
tered the canvass for the Scnatorship
with less than 800 in his pocket. Up
in the backwoods mountain settlement
he has been known to fiddle and dance
all night and make speech next day.
He is nm excellent player on the violin
and very graceful waltzer. lie lives
at home in II small story-and "a half
frame house, and has II very ordinary
law Office over n country store.