Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-09-20

The original declaration of independ-
ence, of which Bancroft, the historian,
more extended than that of any other
state paper in existence has faded
away beyond the possibility Of restora-
ton. The names of the signers to this
great charter of American liberties, are
no longer legible. After 11S years of
arelesS guardianship, in arious Gus
tody,-during the &ralter portion OF
which period it was thoughtlesSly ex-
posed to the destroying influences of
light and air and heedleSs handling
now when the irTeparable havoc is
done, and the precious archive has
become hardly more than a blank and
Wrinkled sheet of paper, sohcitude for
its preservation has begun to be felt,
and at last it is cared for as it should
have been cared for years ago. 1t
was my privilege, some time SINCE
privilege then accorded to few, and
now, under the StricteSt prohibition ac-
corded to nOne,-tO see and touch the
precious document. 1t is kept locked
up in steel safe in the library of the
department of state at Washington. 1t
is spread out fat in a mahogany port
folio, made to slide in and out of the
safe, and over it is a sheet of thick
paper and a plate of glass. 1t is now
never exposed to the light, and is as
little exposed to the air as is possible
without placing it in a vessel from
which the atmosphere has been ex-
nausted.
The document is a single sheet of
parchment, 36 inches long and 81
inches wide, and bears no scrolls or
decorations such as are seen upon
many copies that are so common. The
body of the writing having been evenly
and clearly written when the instru-
ment was engrossed, is still seen
though badly faded, and can hardly be
made out, but the signatures, which
were written perhaps with a different
INK and another pen, are faded beyond
recognition, many of them being
wholly gone and others partly So.
The heavy stroke of the pen in j Of
John Hancock's bold autograph is still
visible, but that is the only line that
is distinct. The history of the origin
OF this great state paper is we'll known
to most Americans, but is always in
teresting. The story of the varied and
disastrous fortunes of the document
itself during the past 11S years is less
known, and is here told.
On the Goth of June, 1916. a commit
tee, of which Thomas Jefferson was
chairman, was appointed by the CONT
mental congress then sitting at Phila
1elphia to draft a declara ton setting
for the reasons why the 10 colonies
should become independent of England.
Jefferson was requested by the other
members of the committee to prepare
the draft, and his draft, when pre-
sented, was at once approved by a ma
jOrity of the committee, a few verbal
alterations only being suggested. On
July a copy of this draft was laid
before congress, and, after a hot de-
bate of three days, a few sentences
were stricken out, and the declaration
was then adopted. 1t was at once en-
tered upon the journal of the congress +;
but the engrossed copy, on parchment,
was not prepared and signed until
August 2. q
During the first "A years of its ex-
istence the declaration was preserved
q thn oe A.
at Philadelphia and during all or a
part Of that time it was undoubtedly
rolled up, as it shows. by the cracks
in the parchment, that it must have
been rolled for long period, and it is
known that subsequent to that time
it was hung up exposed to public gaze.
When, in the year 1900, the national
government was transferred to Wash
lngton the declaration was carried
there and deposited in the department
of state, where it remained for Al
years. In the year 1871 a substantial
building having been erected for the
use Of the United States patent office,
which had formerly been in the state
department, and the state department
being in brick building, not freproof,
Daniel Webster, secretary Of state, ad-
dressed a letter to Henry L. Ellsworth,
the commissioner Of patents. and re-
queSted him to receive the declara ton
and other valuable documents into his
custody for their safe keeping This
request was complied with, and for the
next 80 years the patent office retained
charge of the precious paper; but it
was while there that it suffered its
greatest injury. 1t was hung up, ex-
posed to public view, behind the glass
in one end of a case of patent Office
models. At certain hours of the day
the sun shone directly upon it, and,
Of necessity, it gradually faded 1t Is
amazing almost beyond the power of
belief that of the dozen commissioners
of patents who had the custody of this
document during those 80 years, not
one Of them had the forethought to
take it out Of the sunlight and to put
it away in darkness. In England such
treatment of an important state paper
is unheard of. Magma Charta, the
death warrant of Queen Mary, and
other archives in the British museum,
four or five times as old as our declar-
alton Of independence, are still kept in
a condition of perfect preservation.
Tn tho voar 1917 cnnUroSc r-ol-o nm