Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1896-01-09
MOVING AN AkMY OF Rc.or.
Giant Undertaking TransferriDs !.
National Library =

congress has been begun in wa
ton Within the last few davs
quantities OF duplicate yotumss eae
eign parliamentary reports ana an.
stun Of no immediate usefulnsss
anybody have been transferred
brarian Spofford proposes 10 .e1fee, - :.
removal by degrees. 'us
A temporary elevated railwav -,
be built for transferring the contsnts
of the old library TO the new ono :.
will run directly from the floor :,
the rotunda Of the capitol 10 the mar
floor Of the building with the sosaa
dome Over it small cars propeIIed <
electricity will carry loads Of books
When the job is finished the struetura
on stills can be taken down and =.
moved. The expense involved win
not be great.
The library will be moved by div,.
sions. Poetry Is one division and n.
ton Is another. Each division viii h
arranged by authors, alphabetiealy
The divisions are split up into classes
American biography is a class ana
British biography another Each class
win be arranged by authors accord.
ing to the alphabet Cromwell win
come next after Cranmer. the arch.
bishop who was burned for heresv
All lives of any individual, as Darwin
or Agassiz. will be kept together in a
bunch.
This method is original with Mr
Spofford. BY an ingenious system Of
Juggling with the alphabet the new
library win be arranged in such fash
ion that any one OF its 6S5 900 bound
volumes or 100000 pamphlets can be
touched at moments notice. The
great stacks Of book-shelyes have
been likened to gigantic honeycombs
of iron. There are three OF them. the
two great ones being each e5 feet
high, l12 long and As feet wide.
Each Of these mighty bookcases will
hold 100000 volumes more than the
present entire contents of the library
of congress.
The biggest books in the library Of
congress are bound files OF old-fash-
toned newspapers. Among the heav-
lest are Bibles printed in the middle
ages, with brass clasps and covers Of
wood an inch thick. There are 90
900 bound volumes OF newspaper f.es.
Mr.. Spofford binds regularly x least
two newspapers for each political
PARTY in every state and territory
In addition to this are many news
papers Of the leading cities.
The library of music is not bound
yet. though it will be some day. It
comprises over 100000 compositions
All of them have been contributed By
publishers desiring copyrights. The
total bulk of these unbound pieces Of
music is enormous: yet they win be
so arranged that any one of them can
be found at minutes notice.
In the new building there will be
room devoted exclusively to works re-
lating to George Washington. Be-
sides, Mr.. Spofford proposes 10 estab-
lish literary museum. in which rare
and queer books of all sorts will be
displayed under glass. Among them
will be old Bibles and other volumes
copied and illuminated by medieval
monks. There viii be an art gallery
for exhibiting the best OF the copy
righted pictures. a separate room
will be devoted to maps.
The book-stacks in the new library
tower to the roof of the building, ana
are nine stories or tiers in height.
They could just as easily have been
made nineteen stories high or twenty
nine stories. They are wholly Of iron,
floors as we'll as cases. The metal is
absolutely proof against rust The
shelves are made gridiron fashion, 50
as to afford no Judgment for dust
cockroaches or other insects that al
tack books
Hand elevators, telephones, Fnen-
matte tubes and other mechanical de-
vices viii render the huge book-stackt
like lofty modern office building,
equally useful and convenient in aii
its parts. Little cars attached TO emu.
less chains will do all the handling Of
the volumes, carrying them from inc
stacks to the great central reading.
room and back again. The cars WI
run beneath the floor of the reading
room and all the machinery WIN q
noiseless and invisible.
On reaching the new library ouiiu-
ing by way of the temporary railNa!
on stills the books in process OF NOV.
ing will be delivered in the eondai
reading room, whence they Nih 4
conveyed by elevators to the tFaeks.
To arrange them will be an enormous
task. If the volumes were arrange
side by side as on shelf they WoaN
stretch about fourteen miles. Du
there are forty-three miles Of she95s
now empty and waiting TO Re niau.
They will hold as many volumes, "
side by side, as would extend iiom
Washington to Baltimore ana iou'
miles beyond.
1t was suggested that the mllisia :.
the District Of Columbia be called ~
for the purpose Of moving the oo0e
Such plan was adopted actuahs
Berlin not long ago. when the toss
r,.f. .,.nr 4,-o " QfRrrEG " 2