Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-22

TMST1It lllN mehoQ OF communlca-
M@G ton be that Congress
MI men will be able TO pro-
cure at the briefest
notice volumes that are needed offhand for
reference or for use in debate. From a station
situated midway between House and Senate
orders will be telegraphed or otherwise swiftly
sent and the books on arrival distributed by
messengers. This will be a very different
affair from the famous "hole in the ground -
which was made seventeen years ago to con-
meet the Capitol with the government. printing
Office by gigantic pneumatic tube. big enough
for man to be whisked through. 1t was in
tended for conveying public documents. but
the Sl5,000 spent on it was wasted, inasmuch
as it never worked, and it is now used merely
as conduit for telephone wires.
MODEL LIBRARY.
There is no library building in the world
that at all compares with the one now being
erected by Uncle sam. Novel mechanical de-
vices will constitute one OF lite most interesting
features. Improvements OF the kind have never
been thought of abroad, where the great book
collections are usually SO managed that their
treasures are to a great extent unavailable. In
the library OF Congress the volumes will be
handled almost entirely by machine. Orders
will be sent to the book stacks and books
brought from them to the desk for distribution
by trays suspended from endless chains, the
latter being made to travel BY means of an en-
CINE in the basement. The mechanism will be
noiseless and invisible also, the carriers going
beneath the floor of the great central reading
room to and fro between the librarians desk
and the book stacks. Every arriving tray will
dump itself automatically at the desk. Like
wise, IN taking volumes back, each tray will
spill its contents OF its own accord at certain
| tier. For example. if book belongs on tier Z
the desk attendant waits until the carrier
marked No. comes along and puts the volume
on it il passes. When it gets to tier the
book is spilled out by the action OF n peg and
catch, and the person in charge of that tier puts
1t away on its proper shelf.
ELEVEN MILES OF BOOKS
When one learns that there are $50 600 bound
volumes in the library OF Congress the mind
does not grasp the fact with very clear compre-
hension. 1t is easier TO absorb the idea when it
Is explained that this number of books placed
| side by side a shelf. would stretch eleven
miles. But the new building was not planned
to accommodate only so many. the obvious ex-
| pectation being that the great collection will
grow enormously through centuries to come.
Adjoining the central rotunda two struc-
! lures which might be compared TO gigantic
honeycombs made wholly of iron instead of
wax, and designed to hold not nectar, but
knowledge. These are called book stacks and
each OF the pair will contain 500, 900 volumes
feet wide and has nine stories. On the iron
shelves, made gridiron fashion. the books will
be placed back TO back, with just enought room
between the book cases to afford narrow passage
ways. Thus they will have plenty of fresh air
which is as necessary to books as ii is to human
beings. Books must have ventilation. else they
will rot. and they have to be kept cool Heat
makes them decay, and bad air causes mold.
Books stored by this stack system. which is q
comparatively new invention, cannot possibly
be burned. If set afire. nothing else CON-
bustible being at hand. they merely smolder.
THE BIGGEST IN THE WORLD.
However, Loco, 600 volumes do not by any
means represent the capacity of the building.
1t is anticipated that the library of Congress
will be the biggest in the world some dav. and
| provision has been made in the construction of
the editice for accommodating 900 900 books
All binding will be done the premises an
item which costs $4,000 annually. There will
| be plenty of room also for the copyright di-
| vision. which requires great space for the
| filing away of all publications. &c, on which
| copyrights are granted. Copyrights are issued
| for good many things besides books, periodi-
Gals and pamphlets. They are given for new
pieces of music, engrayings, chromos and even
puzzles and games. The games and puzzles
are not themselves subject to copyright. but
the directions for them are SO, being printed
| matter. Very commonly the manufacturers
though there is no need that they should do SO,
| send IN the playthings together with the direc-
tions-building blocks, chopped-up animals.
| parlor billiard tables or what not-and they are
| duly stored. Uncle sam has enough of such
articles in the Capitol at present to stock
| several toy shops for next Christmas
LITERARY EXPERTS.
Not little of the printed matter submitted
for copyrighting is immoral and SO unfit for
publication as to render it liable to seizure I'M
| H. 81, L.
| OF Congress has no discretion in this regard
and he is compelled 10 grant the copyright -in
every instance, so long as the material is origi-
| nal. common fraud attempted is the request
| for acopyright or an old book published under
a new title. In order to guard against this the
assistants in charge of the copyright business
must be familiar with everything that has been
issued from the press. Obviously, this is not
| wholly possible but it is wonderful how near
they come to it, SO that it is very rare for such
cheat to pass undiscovered. People offer
many thing for copyrishting which do not come
legally within the range of tina. institution
Recently dozens Of applications have been
made for copyrights on campaign BADGES. The
most interesting was a miniature diaper with a
gold safety pin stuck through it. inscribed with
the words, ''Vote for my papa-Baby Ruth. -
The applicant was referred to the patent Of
| fee.
THE LIBRARY SKELETON.
A'SAy 6hSos h"S Aso bAelttOn-tEat Is
| to say, collection of books unfit for general
perusal. which are hidden away in some corner.
Unfortunately, there are many works of this
description which are classical and to DESTROY
them would be regarded by all bibliophiles as
all atrocious act of vandalism. Such volumes
are kept by Librarian Spofford in a little room
by themselves and none of them can be OBJ
tanned without his special permission. In this
curious assemblage novels Of a century ago
bear a conspicuous part. Their contents afford
vivid conception Of the improvement in
morals and refinement of speech which has
marked the last 100 years. 1t seems surprising
to find in the Bon Ton Magazine, London
society periodical Of polite fiction, printed in
1874, publication 20 vile, as to both text and
pictures, as to be quite indescribable 1t is to
be lamented that there has grown up within
| the last decade an entirely new class of dis
reputable novels in paper covers, the multipli-
cation of which affords profitable business FOR
unprincipled publishers in New York, Boston
and Chicago. They are printed in series and
one Of them which The STAR man saw on a
book stall the other day was labeled '.575th
thousand"
IMMORAL, But CHINESE.
There is one very immoral work in the IL
brary Of Congress which it has not been thought
worth while to hide away because it is printed in
Chjueea II in n faonous or;oc&., .,..s.