The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-11-20
\. D. NDCCCLxxXvII.

Inside are the grand hall, reading room
and long arcades, where the books are ar
ranged on what IS called the stack sys-
tem-thar IS on shelves so low that no
ladder Is needed and there Is barely room
to walk between. The patron, seated at
the desk in the main room, consults the
catalogue OF the subject he wishes 20 read
on, selects the needed volume and sends
the title in on card The book comes
back on q little railway somewhat ike
that used IN some large stores for cash and
return OF purchases. Th3s IN the first en-
pioyment OF this system, and Boston
thinks it q brilliant success, as IL is rarely
more than a mi1ute after the card IS sent
In TIL the book Is returned
There were heroes before Agamem-
non" and so there were wonderful libraries
long before Boston was founded It was
long believed that the first library col
Iected was that ae Thebes, Egypt, by Ram
eses II, but we now know that that was
comparatively q modern affair for Egypt
Everybody has heard OF the great libra
" at Alexandria and how its COO, 600 vol
umes were burned by the Aohammedan
conquerurs. Constantinople had library
OF 100, 900 volumes, which were destroyed
in the last wars Of the eastern empire
The Mohammedan5 at the height OF their
power and learning had a library in Cairo
which their writer's asserted 10 contain
], 900, 600 volumes, but those oriental peO-
pie are careless about figures The largest
library Of today Is in Paris and contains
about ., $40, 600 volumes
Next in their order are the British Mu-
scum library, with 1, soc, 600 volumes; the
Imperial at st. Petersburg, with over
1000, 900; the Royal at Munich, with near
II goo, 900; the Royal at Berlin, with some
500, 600; the Imperial at Vienna, with
about 500, 600, and scores OF others ranging
from 100, 600 20 400 OoO-
In 1916 the united colonies had but 20
public libraries, containing 45, 623 vel
umes- In 1885, by official count, the ma
tion had ), SSS large Libraries containing
90, 622, 0T6 volumes, and the Subsequent
growth has been rapid New Hampshire
stands first, with little more than one
rubIic volume 10 each inhabftant- and
Texas last, with one 10 % inhabitants.
Scholars have mourned much over the
loss OF ancient libraries There have been
three memorable distractions. When the
great fnquisitton Of wiuchcraft was made
IN the latter days OF the Roman empire,
hundreds Of scholars burned all their
books lest the discovery OF a single work
OF heretical nature should endanger their
lives, and the priests followed this by de
stroyinz all the works in Egypt and Asia
Minor which contained any praise OF the
heather gods The sack OF Rome and
other cities by the northern invaders was
the occasion Of the second great loss and
the destruction OF the AIe1andrian Hb-a-
y in \ D. $40
This has ever been esteemed the great
est loss because the Greek rulers OF Egypt
had diligently collected the reIi gious books
OF all nations, and the first Greek copy OF
the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint,
was made for that library about 27O B. c.
Yet GibbOn has pretty clearly shown that
the loss was not 50 very great, and that
we probably have ell OF any real value in
ancient literature, because copies OF the
best books were multiplied, and some en-
fnent scholars have maintained that in all
the world there have been only 20 really
original and valuable books produced, OF
which we have every one
j II. BEADLE