The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-04-11

ate height does not quite harmoniZe with
its immense extent, but it has beyond all
comparison the finest interior finish, the
best supply of light, the best accomoda-
lions for readers and most convenient ar
rangements for 4, 200, 600 books, with base
ment storage for 500, 900 more. And to
appreciate this consider that the largest
library in the world, the National at Paris,
has but 2,600,0 900 volumes.
Its Dimensions.
shall not attempt detail of the won
derful interior-the massive walls and
pillars Of Concord marble, the long vistas
in the first story lined with Maryland
granite, the lighter oolored and variegated
marbles which line the great reading
room, the eight massive pillars of choco-
late Tennessee marble, and prettiest, or,
at any rate, most delicate, of all, the finer
fnishings of Siena marble which give
soft and warm effect most soothing and
delightful to the eye. Suffice it to say
that the main dimensions are 40 by $40
feet, covering about 81a acres, with four
large inner courts $50 feet in length by rs
to 100 feet in width. The walls are 80 feet
high, and the apex of the dome 1876 feet
from the ground, said dome being gilded
by thick coating of the finest gold leaf,
some 81, 900 worth, fact which our Pop
ulist friends do not fail to mention as one
of many proofs that all the gold now mined
is needed in the arts There are three
stories, and the floor space, exclusive of
the cellar, is 1927, 667 square feet, the whole
brilliantly lighted by 800 windows. And
one of the best innovations is that, instead
of the usual emblems over the main win
dow arches understood by SO few, or the
fanciful creatures and grinning gargoy4es
of the old style, there are finely soulptured
heads of all varieties of our race, so by
walk around the building one may study
the development and present condition of
humanity, from the wild man of Borneo,
who uses but 40 words, to the highest type
of the Boston Caucasian as we see him in
congress.
The recent sudden death of General
Thomas Lincoln Casey gives present
melancholy interest to this building 1t
was his pride, and in completing 1t he OK
pected to round out an extremely active
and useful life. 1t is in a certain sense
his monument. He literally died in the
harness. On his way to his usual day of
supervision in the building he tainted in
the car, recovered, walked to his office,
four hours. He was born in the service,
as one might say, in Madison barracks,
New York lived in it and died in it. The
Washington monument, the state, war and
navy building and many others attest his
ability, and to him more than any one
man is due the fact that the original plan
was restored after being set aside, giving
us SO perfect building. And here a bit
of history is appropriate.
Library Delivers.
OF the present house Hon. Galusha A.
Grow makes the most use of these records,
as he loves to delve among the literature
of the war and reconstruction period when
he was a congressman in the prime of life.
One of the first things we noticed in this
house was that it contained so few delivers
compared with the Fifty third congress.
Every mem Der now has private secretary
who does the delving, and besides the ques-
tions before this house have all been of a
kind that required nothing moro than the
official reports as the basis of study. AT
first view one would think that the pro
longed debate on silver would have greatly
increased congressional use of the various
libraries, but it did not, and on looking
over the speeches / find that every one of
them on both sides are really based on but
six documentary works. With the census
and official abstract of statistics the Al
drich report on wages, Soetbeer's and one
or two other tables of prices and Senator
Jones encyclopedia speech on the subject
any one of these speeches could have been
prepared. 1 seldom passed through the
hall during the Fiftyth congress with
out some member asking me for some ref
erence or the whereabouts of some passage.
l found General Black of Illinois late one
afternoon examining great pile of books
with troubled countenance, and to my
question he replied, II am looking for
piece of poetry of which can remember
neither the name nor the first lines, but it
atells of Spaniard who had begged the
king to release his father and obtained his
request only to receive his father corpse"
Like flash of light into dark corner
came the backward flash of memory to the
lines we used to recite at school:
The warrior bowed his crested head and tanned
his heart of fire
And sued the naughty king to free his long
imprisoned sire.
bernardo del Carpio, by Georgel" said
the delighted general, my repeating the
lines having brought the name to his
memory. Several members have owned
to me that they cannot remember even
short poetical quotation and are afraid to