The times., 1897-09-05
ALL NOW BOOKS OF TRAVEL
The Migration From the Old to
the New Library.
QUICK AND GOOD WORK DONE
at the Present Rate 1t Is Estimated
That All of the Volumes VIII Be
Transferred to the New Congress
sional Library In a Month An
Interesting Process.

"ofthc making OF books there is no end
is saying which has been in vogue for
hundreds OF years since the days of Viii
liam caxton Librarian John Russell Young
has perverted that saying, and has had the
following phrase attached TO his crest
and coat of arms, as family motto: 'Of
the moving of books there is no end He
has had to attach this more modern rem.
dition TO his name on account of the work
of moving the books from the old Library
in the Capitol to the new edifice erected
across the street.
And, as though to keep up with Librarian
Young IT. perverting InaXims, the endless
chain Of laborers moving the books from the
OLD TO the new, sing out together: For
librarians may come and librarians may
go, but these books go on forever
1t is expected that the books OF che Con-
gressonaI Library will all be In theiT
new hunks about the 1st OF October.
Tho work of moving them has been going
nlerrily on for the past two weeks, and
according to the present rate OF removal,
the several hundred thousand volumes VIII
all be properly stalled and catalogued some
time during the latter part OF this month
Visitors to the ca st front of the Capitol
nowadays have an opportunity of wit
Messing shoot the chute" arrange
inenj, which much resem bles a tobosglE
slide on small scale. This is in the form
OF long trough about two feet wide and
extended from the top landing of the
main stairway to the concrete pavement
at the bottom Down this trough daily
shoot thousands OF volumes of poetry, fic
tion, essays, travel tales, and, In fact,
all SORTS and conditions of literature.
The system of removing the books is re-.
daced almost 70 an exact science. There
is no interruption to the regular order OF
things. That is, the books occupy in the
new building the same relative positions
they occupied in the old. 1t will not thus
be necessary for the clerks in the new
Library, who have been king IN the
old, to lean over again the scheme of the
arrangement Of certain classes OF books
ne books are taken by classes, packed into
small oblong boxes about foot wide, and
TWO feet long, and are then carried ON small
trucks 10 the east pOrtIeo of the Capitol
There, they are lifted in the boxes to the
chute, into which these specially con
structed boxes fit accurately.
They are given push and a shove. ana
perhaps fifty books, possibly first editions
and of such a nature that If they were de-
stroyed they could not again be- dupli-
Gated, are sent rolling down the steep in
cline. No more care is exercised with
Browning and mis- verses than is bestowed
upon the fiction OF Laura Jean Libbey In
fact, the porters who are engaged in trans
porting these works say that all books look
alike to them. And so they show favor
itism toward nole.
At the bottom OF the chute small truck
is in waiting. The boxes slide down along
side and are lifted on board the second line
OF trucks These are tnen wheeled owe.
across the street ana through the parking
and darecarriedinto the new building, " here
the boxes are unpacked and the books are
placed away on the shelves and In the al
coves OF the new structure. AS they are
already classified before leaving the old
building there is no necessity Tor rearrang
ing them, but they are simply placed away
in the order in which they are received.
This scheme of transportation has been
adopted because the underground railway
from the Library TO the Capitol, Intended
to transport the books needed by Congress
men from the Library TO the Capitol, Is
not yet in active operation. Even if It
were. it would hardly be capable of trans
porting within a reasonable time the mass
Of literature which is now being NOV ed to
hat viii perhaps be, for most Of the
books, their last resting place. II could
only carry small portion of the books
at a time, whereas low 1t is possible
to transport several hundred volumes at
one load. These boxes are sent back and
refillcd, and as each contains about fifty
books, and truck can carry six or eight
Of the boxes, the load of each truck
averages about three or four hundred
books. Assuming that each truck makes
about eight trips to the day, carrying
about 9, 400 books, and that there are eight
OF these trucks, then the average number
Of books is about 5000 day. This means
a bout 10000 books moved in a week, and,
a s there are in all some 100000 volumes,
the work OF removing them is something
OF an undertaking.
Each book, before it is placed in the
rack, is also given a dusting and is in
spected as to its condition. There are
thousands cf books III the Library which
have been there for years and which
after being once consigned to the shelves.
In fact, the Library has been one immense
mausoleum of copyrighted books that have
ne yer been read. An Insignificant fraction
of the total number of books is taken out.
The rem ainder lie in their graves in the
dark shelves of the Library, and this pres
ent resurrection Will be to them most
welcome change.
III addition to the 600, 600 cloth bound
volumes there are some 200, 900 panl-
phlets and paper-bound volumes which
will also have to be filed away. There
are alsc bound volumes of almost every
newspaper and periodical ever published
in this country in the past fifty or sixty
years. This newspaper and periodical
file is, perhaps, the most complete one in
the world, and is certainly the only COM
plete one Of American publications. Ac.
cording to the copyright laws, the publisher
is required to send on two copies OF each
publication for which a copyright has been
granted. In the case of newspapers and
periodicals they are bound into volumes.
1t is possible now to consult files of every
Washington daily or weekly paper ever
published here, from the days of the old
Washington Intelligencer to the present
limc. These newspaper files make most
important item in the transportation, since
they are so bulky.
There viii be one feature in connection
with the removal of the books that will be
Of interest to the local public. That will
be that all books of comparatively recent
date will be shelyed and made availa BILE
to thereading public. In the past few years
the lack OF space in the old Library made
II in,noScihla to Mace on tha Sh,.lxa. tho