Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-09-05

t@-EZM where a justice has
~ THsW0'W| been appointed dur
S15ssI@I,NITE tween ,ss, ,aS the ,sa adjourn our
t<uHV " sembling of Con
gress. Moreover, there rs really no imme-
diate necessity for the filling of the va
cancy and il is not expected that the
President will seriously consider the mat
ter until his return 10 this city in octo-
her. Justice Field has pointed out the
necessity of the vacancy being hlled about
that time as the docket of the court is
several years behind. The loss of even
single member of the bench would there
fore be considerably felt and for this rca-
son the Chief Justice and some of his as
sociates are said TO have urged upon the
President the advisability of filling the
place as early as possible.
The thing which is thought TO weigh
most with the President against making
an early appointment is that 1t might
subject the Justice selected to the humil-
iation of sitting on the bench for short
time, only to find he was a persona grata
20 the Senate. Until an appointment Is
finally made there will continue To be
much guessing as TO the appointment. Al
the present time Mr.. Bissel seems to be
about the strongest man, not only because
of his friendship with the President but
also because of his being a New Yorker,
from which State il is thought the ap-
pointment will he made 1t is predicted
ny many that the President will follow
his custom and appoint lawyer not
known to the general public. If the Pres
ident intends TO honor any of his Cabinet
with n seat on the bench Secretary Car
lisle would in all probability be the man.
Potomac Marshes.
Little by little the marshes of the Poto-
mac, which have SO long rendered Wash
ington unhealthy, are being abolished.
When the agitation for the abolition OF
the marshes began it was maintained
that the upper marshes rendered the
White House unhealthy. while those on
the eastern branch performed similar
offense to the United States arsenal and
navy yard. The plan which is being fol-
lowed in the matter is either To put the
marshes permanently under water or else
10 bring parts of them permanently above.
That this work, although only in its in
fancy has been productive of good re-
suits the death rate of Washington this
summer has shown. Physicians through
out the city report that there is less mala-
ria in the place than ever before, and
they note a similar decrease III the sick
ness caused by marsh miasma. The inn
provement in the river itself is nearly
completed, but that on the eastern branch
is barely under way. Here the flats choke
Itp most OF the waterway and half poison
the air
The plan which Maj. Twining. the en-
gincer. is following in this part of the riv-
er will have the effect of strengthening
out the navy yard channel which now
winds around like w, while the great
mud marshes will he changed into water
or high land. The friends of the late
Secretary Gresham always declared that
the sickness which ultimately caused his
death WAS brought about by the exhala-
tions from the marshes near the State
Department. At certain points of the
wind all the air from these marshes is
borne directly into the departments. and
manv a man owes his first sickness TO
Potomac malaria.
Congressional Library.
When the great Congressional library
is completed members of Congress will
he able to get the books they need ia
less space of time than by any other sys-
tenn on earth. Much of this will be due To
the system of shelving which is To la
adopted in the library. Many months
of investigation took place before the
final choice of these bookcases was made.
Next 10 the reading-room there will open
out an extensive book magazine or repos-
itory filled with iron cases consisting Of
tiers or floors rising sixty-five feet high
20 the roof These tiers were put in at
this distance to obyiate the necessity of
using ladders. As each ti>r of shelves is
only eight feet high it is easy TO reach the
topmost shelves without help of any kind
Each stack has n shelving capacity of
5000 volumes The librarians have also
been investigating the Improvements of
other libraries, and on the various floors
in the book stacks there will he elevators
and tramways for the transportation of
books.
Every kind of time-saving machinery |
which ingenuity can devise will be put |
into use to bring books to the tunnel |
which is to be put into operation between |
the Capitol and the library. Work on this |
has already been commenced. A trench |
1l.OOO feet long has been dug across the !
Capitol park, and in il will be constructed |
n brick conduit six feet high and four feet
wide. This conduit will connect the ,
basement of the library building with |
the basement of the Capitol Shafts will |
run both from the library stacks and
from the Congressional floors TO this tun-
mel.
1t is proposed TO run a small cable
through the tunnel upon which will con-
stantly travel carriers large enough To
hold books. These will move very rapid
idly. and will take up and deliver the
books between the two buildings Telc-
phone wires are To bc laid in this con-
duit. and a member of Congress will he
able to communicate his wants directly
10 the librarian from the clOak-rooms of
either the Senate or the House. The tun
hel is intended TO be dry and light. so that
inan can walk through IL if anything
goes wrong. AS this book railway is only
10 be used to furnish members of Com
gress with books it is expected that two
carriers will he sufficient The smaller
the number the greater the speed which
can be used for the cable.