Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-03-10

one or the library clerks can show then, -
you, ana ne can show you the signatures
"a al we PRESIDENTS and the Vice Presi-
uens or the United States and the Sneakers
OF me House OF Representatives which have
made them law.
another set of valuable documents In the
possession of the State Denartnant a. ~
eonecuon OF treaties with many nations
Ahu II is one OF the prettiest showpieces
20. me state Department engrosses our
copy OF a joint treaty on plain heavy ma
per or light blue. No attemnt ar orpa
mentaton is made; but the treaties Of otbor
nations nay are painted on satin. embroidered on
SIM. decorated with ribbons and gold lace
ihciosed In boxes OF rich woods adorned
with precious metal and with Jewels. They
make very gorgeous array, and any one
OF the courteous clerks in the library can
snow them to you II he has time
Then there are letters from kings and
queens, autograph letters sent TO the pres
laent OF the United States. which are not
among the souvenirs which a President
takes with him when he goes out OF Once
out whlcn belong to the government and
are preserved by the State Department
The Most Valuable Archives
Sill tie most valuable of the depart
iheht archives are the manuscript records
OF the continental congress and the manu-
script letters of famous Americans. These
are Kept In the main room of the library
behind glass doors. The safeguards that
surround them are not very elaborate, con-
Drarian has DO fear that they will be stolen
or injured. The building is fire proof. The
nprary Is constantly watched during the
day: at night the halls Of the building are
pduoheo every half hour, and there are
watchmen in constant attendance AT tha
doors. Access to the documents is hal
only by order of the Secretary of State and
you must give the Secretary a very excel
lent reason before you can obtain an order
Ihen while You examine the papers they
must remain in the library room and under
,he eye OF a custodian. But the chief re-
nance which the librarian has for the
sassy OF mis- charge is in the ease with
wnlch any one Of the manuscripts could be
Identified and the difficulty a thief vould
nave III disposing of it,
NO one Is permitted under any pretense
70 take ne manuscripts from the State
department. Some of them were taken
10 the worlds fair and before their de-
parture for Chicago two of them were taken
10 Philadelphia to be restored, but this was
9huer special order of the Secretary of
STATE ana the manuscripts were constantly
under the eyes of the department people
When they went to PHILADELPHIA their Gus
todian was the foreman in charge of the
work OF restoring manuscripts which has
been going on at the department for three
years. He was a one time foreman of the
Philadelphia concern which did the sDe-
clal work or restoring the two volumes
for exhibition at the worlds fair The
work done on these two volumes cost sev-
eral hundred dollars. 1t was by process
known as ''inlayng," which is quite be-
vond the department experts. The two
volumes selected for exhibition were a
school copy book Of George Washington.
end the last entries which he made I'm
his diary-the two extremes, his earliest
and his latest writing. The sheets OF the
per. The experts in Philadelphia
took leaves of thick paper of a
inform size, drew on them the outlines
Of the manuscript leaves and then cut out
al
narrow margin. The thick paper around
this open space was then split with a keen
nife to the depth of the frame. The edges
Of the manuscript page were fitted between
the thin walls of this paper frame-"dow-
eled.' to use the technical term-and
glued in place. Where the writing on the
manuscript ran to the edge of the page
il did in scme places, the frame was
trimmed so as to obscure none of IL. When
ell of the pages of manuscript had been
set In these frames. the leaves were bound
together In heavy Russia leather. lined
with watered silk. The work was done so
stored book, you could hardly tell where
the border of the frame began except by
the dullness of the older paper.
Restoring the Manuscripts
This 'inlaying," as / said. is quite be-
yond the department people. The work
men who are doing the work of restoring
now are four-two women and two men,
the Philadelphia concern sent its foreman
and force of workmen to Washington
two years ago to begin the work for which
at that time Congress had made a special
APPROPRIATION. Some workmea from the
government printing office were called in
as helpers and they are now the experts
who are carrying on the work. They follow
the original and more expeditions form of
rest oration-by mounting the manuscripts
hinges sheets heavy
of the manuscripts are old that they are
falling to pieces. Wherever a hole appears,
a piece of dull-colored paper as nearly as
possible Of the yellowish tint of the manu-
script is carefully pasted beneath. No at
tempt is made, however. TO renew any lines
which time or wear may have dimmed or
obliterated There is no Di Cesnola res
toration done on these papers.
When sheet has been strengthened and
made whole, a narrow strip of linen is
pasted along the edge. This piece of linen
is the hinge 1t is pasted along its other
border to the sheet of linen paper-as heavy
almost as bristol-board-which is to be a
leaf of the bound book. The manuscript
page fastened TO this hinge can be examin-
ed on either side. When a set of manu-
scripts is mounted, the leaves are bound
together to form n book.
All of the work of restoring, mounting
and binding Is done in the State DEPART
ment building-almost all of ii in one room
1t is paid for out of the appropriation for
the department printing. Every safeguard
surrounds the handling of these valuable
documents All of the pages of manuscrtpts
in each collection are numbered serially
without regard to their contents. Every
scrap of paper with a line of writing has
its number. Each book as il is given into
the custody of the restorers is examined
to see that no leaf is missing. As each is
returned to it's place In the library from
the binder, IL is scanned again to see that
nothing has been distracted. Even an
autograph clipped from one Of these Old
letters would have its value. So far as de-
partment records show, and the memories
of department officers run, no official or
clerk Of the department has ever BETRAYED
his trust, and the manuscripts are todav
as they were when they were added to the
library collection.
Reducing the Number of VoIume.
The work of restoring is reducing the
number OF volumes of manuscript. The
original collectors of these MANUSCRIPTS put
very few of them in each of the bindings
The department is grouping them in thick
quartos. The George Washington papers
now In 1856 volumes, will probably NOT III
more than 50 when they have been re-
mounted. The total number of manuscript
volumes now in the department library is.
Papers. Vol,ip,o.
Continental Congress. az
Washing toh ..........................:3
r raihlil ..--.................... 10
Mdulson ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. *