Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1894-1895, 1895-09-06

time only to find he was persona grata
20 the Senate. Until an appointment is
finally made there will continue to be
much guessing as to the appointment. At
the present time Mr.. Bissell seems TO be
about the strongest man. not only because
of his friendship with the President. but
also because of his being n New Yorker,
from which State ii is thought the APP
pointmcnt will be made. 1t is predicted
by 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 Il seat on the bench Secretary Car
Isle 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
to 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 i'm
provement in the river itself is nearly
completed out that on the eastern branch
is barely under way. Here the flats CHOKE
mp most of the waterway and half poison
the air.
The plan which Maj Twining. the ell
gineer. 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 be 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
tons from the marshes near the State
Department.. At certain points Of the
wind ali the air from these marshes is
borne directly into the departments. and
many man owes his first sickness To
Potomac malaria.
When the great Congressional library
is completed members of Congress will
be able to get the books they need in
less space of time than by any other sys
tenn on earth Much of this will be due 10
the system of shelving which is To be
adopted in the library. Many months
of investigation took place before the
final choice of these bookcases was made.
out an extensive book magazine or repos-
itory filled with iron cases consisting OF
tiers or floors rising siXty-five feet high |
to the roof. These tiers were put in ut |
this distance to obviatc the necessity of |
using ladders. As each tier of shelves is |
only eight feet high it is easy to reach the |
topmost shelves without help of any kind. |
Each stack has Il 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 timc-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
has already been commenced. 4 trench |
1 900 feet long has been dug across the
Capitol park. and in it will be constructed
q 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-
nell
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 building Tele-
phone wires are To he laid i'm this con-
duit, and member of Congress viii be
able to communicate his wants directly
to the librarian from the cloak rooms of
either the Senate or the House. The tun-
mel is intended TO be dry and light, So that
a man can walk through it if anything
goes wrong. AS this book railway is only
to be used to furnish members of Con
gress with books it is expected that two
carriers will be sufficient. The smaller
the number the greater the speed which
can be used for the cable.