Evening star., 1894-02-17

have spoken of the $500 windows of this
building. Those of the interior and of these
stacks are set into the walls, great. mas
sive pieces OF plate glass, as large as good
sized store fronts. 1t is not possible to
raise or lower them, and they are made SO
for the protection of the books, in order
that no dust may enter. The ventilation Is
all done from the roof and these windows
are washed on the outside by means OF a
little railroad which runs around them from
story to story, on which the washers can
stand and scrub them clean. The acres of
floor in this great book palace will be of
marble The walls of the rotunda are of
colored marbles from all parts of the Unit
ed States, and in the whole vast, high,
four acres of wonderful rooms not a spin
ter of wood has been used. All is composed
of iron. stone. cement and glass. and, as
Mr.. Green, the engineer in charge, told me,
there will not be enough wood in the build
ing when il is completed to make a match.
This building is to cost S6o0J,0OO. The
State. War and Navy cost S1OOOO.0uO. and
upon the Capitol has been expended all
told, something like $iS,OOU,WO. Uncle Sam
will get more for his money out of this
than out of either of the others. All of
the work is being done under the govern
ment, and everything is built to outlast
the ages, and of the very best material. In
one of the rooms 1 found an army of car
vers at work making wonderful decorations
which are to adOrn the exterior and
throughout the whole building everything
went ON like the work of an army under
perfect control and in perfect order. The
building will be completed in about two
years, and within two years and a half the
new library will be in thorough operation.
The Present Library.
From here ! walked over to the Capitol
and took stroll through the library of
Congress. Every available room in the
building is packed with books, and the Ii
brary proper is so full that you have to
march through single file in order to get
from one part of it to the other. | pushed
my way past a mountain of bound newspa-
pers up to the main desk, and asked Mr.
Spoi1ord. the librarian, to tell me something
about the condition of the library TODAY
and as to how the great American brain
was acting. Every one at Washington
Knows Mr. Sponord: He has been with the
library Tor more than a generati tiOn and
ne knows more about books and their con-
tents than any other man in the United
States.
There are in the National Library nearly
'V".Vp volumes, and in addition to this
Ihere are over 100000 pamphlets AR Spcf-
fordS brain is such that ne knows; inst
where each one of these 1DO.OpO volumes
s1ancs; f',it ana ne can tell you in an instant
Just which of them ought to help you on
any subject you are studying. 1t is the
same with the pamphlets, and the wonder
Is now one little iron-gray head can hold it
ah ne Is curlous-looking man. as dark
as Spaniard. He has black hair and
whlskers now mixed with gray. His eveS
are bright. His frame is short. 1.-the and
WHY anu every atom of il is made up of
muscle. He is the busiest man in the can
itol building and he knows how to do work
quickly. lie dictates all of his correspond-
ence, and his ordinary conversation. which
Is clean cut and exact. is as classic as the
mass OF books which surround him I al
ways feel afraid to report him. He saws
just what he means and if you misplace a
word or hSure you feel that IL will cauSa
his black hair to stand on end in indigna-
tion when he reads it. He is with ALI This
very accessible man. and to peopIe who
have business with him there is no one
more ready to talk. / told him what
wanted and he took me into a little cubb1,
hole in one corner of the library and the1
ratified OF answers to my questions at the
rate of 100 words q minute.
| asked him as to the story of the lihrary
and as 10 the new building He said ..Rc-
fore Congress came to Washington it bad
access for time 10 the books in the -
ganian Library IN Philadelphia. The uttIa
city contained a number of scholars and
there was not much trouble in getting in
formation. When the capital was moved
to Washington, however, Congress found it
self in the woods and there were no hooks
of reference or general libraries When
jefferson became President the library vs.
first established and an appropriation of
$1,000 year was devoted to it. In 1914