New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-01
GUARDING 4 HISTORIC DOCUMENT.
Washington Letter TO The Milwaukee Evening Wis

washington Letter 10 Inc NllNduAcc E'ehine WIZ
consin.
In one OF the corridor, of the senate wing Of the
| Capitol is statue In marble Of John Hancock. On
lie wrote his where all nations should behold
it, and all time shall not efraee H. ...- .a..,o,
| This Of refers To the revolutionary patrlo'
whose bold chrosIaphy appearS on .at
period that several OF the slgnerS. while SYM
| pathzing with the col0nsts in their struggle, were
little timd or he,itating about signing their names
in case the revolt be unsuccessful Not 50 with Han
cock Ciraspins q goose-qul and using plenty Of INK
wrote 50 boldly and distinctly that the name Of John
Hancock aS easily seen As an ec,rT tS St Hon on
| cocks handwriting. and one Of the sgners OF me
Declaration of independence the Game OF hane oS
could not give the name II any other OF The patriots
who signed with him Hence the sculptor or d s.
sgner Of the statue was led to declare tnai ny
wrote his name where aii time snail mol
| However true this may be as sentiment the fact
is that Hancoclts name l. now almost enurey enaeeo
from the Declaration OF lndepe'deentte Ghm Is
by the aid Of a strong gas, out !. so i.esipe
that a stranger TO the document or the ST. style OF
have faded out entirely. and can no more be rend
sn il they had never been %en NOT ~ .e 1 ibay
ten can now be read, and they have faded 70 pile.
slckly color As 10 the Others. there are iat traces
~ writing but nothing in the form Of a Signature
can be distinguished sufficiently TO enable any one
20 read them some are Sny psF AMY oDe ms
with the document can make ont inc name Which
should be there, but TO longer t. eA0ep III very
Con iderng the priceless character Of the Declare
G@ IS r rom the Beginning proper care should
not have been taken to 1t from he avases OF
i, has been ieaously guarded the library OF the
Department OF state and precautions taken to prevent
plates OF French glass. enclosed I'm hardwood case,
ali OF which is hermetcay sealed 50 aS to keep out
now reach the precious document. which In showing
- decent respect for the opinions Of mankind. pro-
some wooden ease in which the Declaration is kept
Is In an upright position. fastened to latticcd
The doors open only far enough to view the document
ard exclude the light except such as Is admitted oy
aop GOs sSpT 1 or cona cc o. IN II;
present condition. vet the present custodians nro
determined to spare no pains TO prevent further
The general belief Of visitors. to the library Is
that the on%S Of n Ink ama osa as 20
would naturally fade in the Of time. This is
sn q. Colonial S aHeans IN.
Declaration Of Independence by many years. which
are stl clear and distinctly legble and will continue
ton Of the Declaration is due to misuse. Prior TO
1877 it was kept at the Interior Department ana was
guarded with less than the caveat In the pntent
for a nomr sitter. No special effort was made. TO
keep from injury such as Is now being done ana IN
position and exhibited In Independence Hall. Dur
Ing the Centennial year an attemp was made to take
letter press copy OF It. which was successful In cy.
tracing much OF the color from the writing. and IN
places the writing shortly aferward disappeared
Altogether. II Is hardly conceivable that so danger
ous m cXpcdent should have been attempted merely
to rratIfy the peope who desired facsimiles. It
cOnld only damage the original and give no promise
that the copies could he satisfactory II Is unlikely
that the Declaration of Independence will ever again
be placed exhibition In connection with any event.
no matter how important. Iy an executive order u
Is to remain In the State Department. and viii not
Re loaned for any purrose. no matter how worthy.
The custodian believes that there will be no further
fading Of the document long ms II remains I'M
disturbed but to him and to every visitor II Is o
matter OF regret that the attempt TO make letter.
press copy should have been permitted IL looks
worse than OF the manuscripts In the. British
Museum which are three times rs old.