The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-03-21
SHAMEFUL NEGLECT
New JERSEYS Historical So.
ciety In a DisgracefuI
Condition.
TREASURES DISAPPEARING
No Arrangement in this Important
Place, and the Visitor May
Do as He Pleases.
Special to the Jersey cYtv Ncus.

--rt4H .UtltI srEYH
Special to the Jersey Citg Teucs.
NEWARK. March p. lse5.-It is one
thing to have g thing and another thing
to lake care of it after you get it. There
is an institution located in thia city
whose welfare should be the concern.
not of Newark alone, but Of the entire
State. but which. on the contrary, Is suf-
fered. month by month, year by year, to
slip more and more completely into the
background of forgetfulness and indiffer-
ence. This institution Is the New Jer-
sey Historical Society, and in ten years,
If things go on as they are now going,
but a woefully small percentage of the
rising generation, at least, will so much
as know there Is such an institution in
existence. Few who have not taken the
pains to look into the matter can have
any idea of the vast amount of valuable
material that is ~crusnbling away in the
rooms of the society on the third floor
of the Newark Banking CcInpany's build
ing. For a number of years contributions
have been coming steadily from one sec
ton of the State and another, ana the
contents of dozens of eases cannot be
u~rpacked. The boxes are piled In the
hallway, and wherever there is a foot
| of floor space which can be utilized with
out blocking passage. The shelf space
is overloaded. and to get at one book
you usually havsato disturb a dozen, al
ways provided you have any IDEA or
anybody else has any idea of the where
abouts of the volume for which you are
searching.
INcoNvENIENcES APLENTY.
The result usually Is that after one.
-, Er~ L-.- - 49, q -
rooms you have to want information
very badly indeed before you will ven
ture to delve for it there. Then, too,
the general atmosphere of neglect which
pervades the place is not Inviting to a
man or woman of healthy temperament.
One hates to linger there long, for
there is something chilling and de-
pressing about the rooms. You not only
feel that you are CROPPING about IN the
past. but that it is a sadly chaotic and
cropping in. In spite Of ones self, too,
one is influenced by the spirit of neglect,
and he finds himself handling the vener-
care and respect which would animate
him were the appointments of the place
more digniled and commodious. Say
what you viii, upon the environment of a
pface the character of a mans treat
ment of 1t very. largely depends. The
absence of order is certain to foster dis
hold every day hat passes makes SO
much the more diflcuit the task Of any
one who may attempt to eradicate 1t.
THEFT EASY.
But this by no. means all. and if it
were there would be little excuse for this
article. for much Of what has already
before. Those who are interested in the
Historical Society know the neglected
are not Interested do MOI Know and ao-
,p%arently do not care. Some day, how
ever. the people will either wake Up to
an appreciation OF the real wealth of
will realize h a loss they have suS>
tanned in allowing It's treasures to cruna-
old men and women. need comfortable
quarters. In their buffeting about the
world their frames pecome weakened.
are subjected to the longer viii they last.
Again. while everything about the So
c.ety's rooms IS In such a state of dis
of what it contains. Books or ~pha1nplets
might be taken away by the dozens and
no one be the wiser until weeks or
tracing them would a vanished. 1t
is an actual fact. too. that books have
been taken from the rooms CHS ana nd have aaya not
STAMP on them have been seen in far
NO ARRANGEMENT.
Now. if his Is so. then a most serious
| danger assails the institution. and what
has been said above concerning the in.
huence upon visitors to the library of
the careless and selni-neglected state of
affairs there. takes on every s.gnif-
canoe. Who can say how many volumes
managers Of the institution do not know
accurately and In detail just what it
possess es. it would appear that they, can
not tell what and how many books have
been abstracted. 1t is a rule of the in
st.tution that books shall be used for
reference. and for reference alone. As
from the rooms by persons VINO nave
subsequently returned them. But sup
posing they forgot to return them, wing
but themselves would be the wiser?
They may nave the best intentions in
the world. but may die suddenly or may
be called away from the city for a long
Is the easiest matter in me world to for
get to return books. Every n Who
possesses q library e well aware = OF IT ln,s
possibilities for loss exist in the New
Jersey Historical Society LIBRARY where
there is no systeraatie and comprehen-
sive aF NnHaEImeTED Hf fNsf R2fEF
Now the curator Of the society's rooms,
for the l~amentable condition Of things
there, for the only remedy IS increased
facilities. nloressroona; Mr.. Ricord Is now
worse now than they ever were. A small
boy has charge OF the rooms. and while
he does the best he can, ne can 90 little
Blu. KEEP Ilit ple1tC OpC4A c-AtN- xiv y Fz%t y
to rumrnage about at their pleasure The
visitors, after all, are comparatively few,
! and they grow fewer every year. a new
face there Is an event. The institution
is apidl gliding along into a state of
innocuous d~esuetude. If new, fresh and
vigorous life is needed anywhere tt is
certainly in urgent demand here,
the writer has heard people who possess
valuable historical books or pamphlets
express a regret that there is no really
suitable Institution to which they can
leave their treasures when they pass
away. "Why not leave them to the His
torical Society?" is always asked, and
the answer almost Invariably is to this
Of such things there. They'd be piled
away in a heap somewhere out of sight,
where no one could get at them. They
would be Of no use to any one. If ]
give these things to any institution l
want them to go where they'll be 40.
preciated." There can be no doubt that
the Historical Society is losing golden
opportunities of this sort every year. Old
books and records are like wine.-they
that sort of thing. and 1t Is a crying
shame that no serious and energetic
effort Is being made to gather them to-
gether under one roof.
HAS No MONEY.
The New Jersey Historical Society owns
the plot of ground immediately south Of
the Public Library building on West
Park street. and II has for several years
been a dream of the managers that some
day they will erect a suitable building
there where the treasures of the society
may rest in safety and In order. Bat
this dream unfortunately takes no tang;-
BILE form. 1t is apparently as much a