The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-08-29
THE NATIONS LOSS.
Declaration of Independence HI
Been Practically Destroyed.

Been Practically OeStroySu-
The Declaration of Independence. the
most precious document in the United
States, has been practically destroyed
The ruined remnant of it is Kept hermet-
ieally sealed between glass plates and In
steel safe i'll the department of state at
Washington. A copy made from copper
plate in John Quincy Adams time, is
shown to the public.
1t has been asserted that the original
was ruined when the copper plate was
made. But officials of the state depart
ment say this is not So The document
was spoiled when 1t was sent to the Snl-
cdgo exposition.
And old resident of Washington and an
employ of the federal government made
this statement concerning the destruction
of the great document:
1.-THE first view I ever had of the Dec
laration of Independence was when II was
placed on public exhibition in the library
of the department of state-say about ~
wears ago-when it had been returned
from the Philadelphia centennial eGp05l-
ton. At that time-and looked long ana
lovingly at the great parchment-i was IN
a good state of Observation-Disclosures, leg1ole
and bold, both the body of the PAPER ana
the signatures, all save a, few of the sig
natures in the lower left hand corner
its presence at the centennial was PROOF
positive else it would not nave been
placed on exhibition at that great show.
L saw it the first day OF It's pubic
exhibition in the library of the state de-
partment, say 20 or more years ago, and
saw It at least once q month-oftener
Weekly-from that time TO the day 1t was
sent to the Columbian exhibition az Ctil-
cago and I most positively assert that St
had not changed one iota during those ~
years, but that when 1t Was packed tor
shipment to the great city on the lake 1t
was as clear and legible-Hancock's glor-
ions queen fncluded-aS when [ saw it
the first time
'',The fact of its being sent to Chicago to
challenge the worlds inspection IS evil
desnce enough of IT'S condition. The nun
dredS of thousands who saw the great
document at the exposition can attest 10
:'tc condition.
ia = l-tdru fr1n Chicago and on IT'S
being replaced in the old case in the de-
-artTnenl | was astoniShed to note its
condition. AS one of the clerks, when
speaking about it, afterwards, said, II was
as snriveIed as a washer woman hands:
So it was-a wrinkled. puckered piece Of
parchment, faded out of all semblamce Of
legibility. That it created CONSERVATION
among the officials of the department was
very apparent. for all feel as though some
GREAT calamity had befallen the land.
More 'a.an the land, for the Declaration OF
Independence was the true koh9noor tllSll
of the World), and its destruction, now
ever it came about through design or iS-
norance, was a worlds loss which can
never be replaced.
From the foregoing statement you VIII
be ready for the statement which | now
deliberately make: That, either in Chica-
< c-n ,a,- Wy t~.ck Itom z. s-a1sJ- % i =
ter it's receipt at the department Of state
and before It was replaced in rs ease IN
the library for public inspection. it was
taGnpered with!
by whom and for what purpose. l have
not the remotest idea. but as nearly all
the people who had charge of it IN the
department while It was in CHICAGO ara
still in the department, It should not be
Impossible to fix the blame fer and 10
reach the cause of its destrue.fon-tor II
mid
1T is nonsense to assert that this great
document should have he'd its own f0r %
wears or more and then w tflout cause.
have Instantly shTiveled up and faded out
in tlae one or two days 1T was left on ex-
hibition in the department after IT'S return