The evening times., 1899-01-14
A GREAT CLEANING.
The Renovation OF the British Mn
scum Library.
(From The London clehe)

scum Library
(From The London GIohe)
The great British Museum Library has
been undergoing its senIi-annual cleaning.
and al the beginning OF the present month
emerged spick- -and-span from the hands OF
an army of attendants. 1t takes l20 able
bodied men five or six full days Of hard
work TO reGoyate the library. The clean
ings occur during the first and second
weeks of April and September OF each year
The cost of the labor and Of the materials
used varies considerably, but. il the wages
of the worhmeu be considered, II never
falls lower than eS00 Through the coUr-
teSy of the clerk OF the works of the Mu-
scum, Mr. Charles Pullman and of sundry
members of the staff, the following facts
concerning the autumn and spring clean
ings were obtained
The library is closed for the period of
washing save in the cases of a few spe-
cial leaders, the urgency of whose work
induces the keeper OF printed books TO al
low them access to the Long Room. These
privileged people however, must be pre-
pared 10 put up with considerable dlScOm-
fort. as the horde of mop and broom
wielders are relentless in their pursuit OF
cleanliness. Indeed, the cOrporal's guard
of readers thus permitted 10 remain are
SO harried and chased from chair 10 chair
and from table 10 table that they fire.
qeuntly do their work atop OF q ladder 30
as TO be out of the way Of dust and dis
traction The cleaning IS thorough. Ev
cry square inch of the kamptulicon com
position with which the floors are covered
is carefully inspected Wherever 4 piece
shows signs OF being worn ii is cut out
and replaced. \ layer of gum is spread
over the floor, and on this the kamptulicon
is laid. Then an iron roller. OF the kind
used on suburban lawns, is passed over
the surface until every wrinkle has been
smoothed out When the kampUulicon is
all in place, the washing brigade gets down
to work. 1t takes & statute mile of india
rubber piping 10 carry the water TO these
toilers. and this, it must be remembered,
sufliceS only TO cleanse a section of the
vast area at a time. When one mile of
gallery and reading-room has been flush
ed and washed the hOsepipe is shifted TO
another.
While the washermen are splashing hith-
er and thither, the desk inspectors and
book inspectors are not idle. The duty of
the former is TO examine all the desks and
chairs in the library, and report in every
case where repairs are needed. About
sixty chairs get broken or seriously dam
aged very half year. Nearly hundred
lose their castors. The inkwells attached
to the desks have to be cleaned out and
the lamps and shades rigidIy inspected.
The book examiners do not open each VOL
ume. That is done Systematically through
out the year. They simply remove the vol
umes, dust them. and sprinkle the shelves
with equal portions of powered camphor
and finely chopped tobacco. This is done
to keep off the insidious boOkworm. and
the tobacco bill of the British Museum an
nually exceeds that of a dozen smokers.
! The tobacco leaves are specially chopped
| by a we'll known firm of tobacconIsts, and
the dust is blown from a bellows-Iike ap-
paratus along the shelves. This will ex-
plain what has long puzzled readers, viz,
why there attaches to all British Museum
books faint flavor of the herb nicotin -
All books whereof the bindings appear in
bad condition are either doctored on the
spot or sent out for rebinding. The dilap-
idated leather is plastered with paste to
fill up holes and the beaten yolk of an
egg is then laid on with sponge. Be-
fore the composition dries a hot iron is
passed over it, and the binding looks al
most as good as new.
There are a number of old recipes for
cleaning and renovating books, removing
stains, etc, preserved in the Library
archives. These have been handed down
from generation to generation. and some
of them are secrets which many ardent
bibliophiles would like to possess.
When the general washing and inspect
ing are over. the painters and polishers
begin their task while a regiment of wo-
men tnot enumerated in the regu' ar force
! hut set down by the clerk of the works
as ''auxiliaries') start fires through the
reading rooms and corridors. Heat is abb
solutely necessary after the cleaning, as
damp is fatal to books, producing mildew
| disease which cannot be cured, and
which Sir Edward Maunde Thompson
| principal librarian. once described as
corresponding in books to consumption
| among human beings"
1t was the hope of Mr. G. X Fortesque