The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-01

| oTds Of the civil war including both the
| Union and Confederate collections, Is
| practically completed with the publica-
| ton of Volume III. series +. which has
| recently been distributed To benefciariss
| by Captain Kerr, in charge of the War
/ Department documenJ-room- II is true
| there is still a volume Of statistical mat
| ter TO follow, and Two volumes of a gen
| eral index, covering the entire 125 vol
| umes Of text or records one chief in
| deXer at 81 $40 a year with number of
| assistants. has been engaged upon this
| general index for nearly ten years The
statistical volume yet to lie issued is sup
! Elemental, added by eN-Secretary Alger
! to the scope Of the compilation as origi-
| nally planned twenty-five years ago. This,
| with the two index volumes, viii run The
| total number OF books up TO a round 80
II is true that the last volume is num-
/ bered seriaIly 129, which would seem to
| indicate that there would be- an aggre-
| gate OF l2z books, bat IL Is not 50 In the
serial numbering there is a hiatus of two
| books following the final volume of the
| first series, which was No III II has
| been determined that when issued the
| two general index volumes shall be num-
/ bered 10 and lib, 10 all this hiatus in
| regular order, though the index itself VIII
| thus be Grotesquely ont OF place, sand
| Wichcd in the very midst of the series. II
was not so intended bat this astonishing
| hiatus occurred through . freak of one
who at one time had fieeting direction OF
the publication, though having little Sr
no practical knowledge Of such work
| When the first series. numbering III
volumes. was completed. il VAS hastily
| assumed that the whole joh WAS finished,
| in so far as the proposed index was con-
q. NH
| should be prepared 10 cover only that
| series -Afterward it was seen that d
/ general index Of the three remaining
series was just as important to the histo-
riau engaged in researches IS one Of the
first series alone. and. besides il was
/ pointed out that in fact the law sPeciH-
cs.ly provided for > general index to the
/ whole set Meanwhile volumes Of the
! school series lad appeared. beginning
! with the serial 10. IL leaving the hiatus
. permanent one
The first series was completed nearly
! three years ago, and the atlas Of battle
/ ATld maps, charts drawings. etc. We're
completed some six years ago Both the
! foregoing deal with the military cam
paisnS and analogous sab jecFS. bat the Sc
TIeS includes much valuable miscellaneous
! matter emanaUiuS from persons uf c9HSe-
25ef-ee, TeleJlng 70 the progress OF events
The second series consists Of only eight
| volumes, and Te.aI=S exclusively to prison
eTS Of war and safe and the general pol
les Of political arrests ou both sides under
tn direction o. their executive aHtIoTili=~-
The third IS. OF FIVE books e1nbodie=
the Official calls for troops. orders reports
etc relating 10 the drafts orSaniZJiGn OF
armies, and such miscellaneous matters on
the Union side a. are roI covered IN the
I tWo preceding series. The fourth series. OF
three books only embodIeS similar mat
teTs on tie Confederate side
Z TIE FIRST steps In tiIis work Were taken
oyer JhIrJy-slX years ago II has been a
/ tremendous and costly undertaking. Al
. Poe. EH
than ly5 persons we're engaged IN In= com
uilatiOn Of the work The IZl books com
pleted viii average lq=J octave pages each
OF sohd long primer l pc or an aggregate
Of III so pages Each book has as OEu
c"pIOus index. Il Is estimated by sSI'a rs
that al the least calculation there are
tiers. and Geographic dispatches printed ia
/ these volumes Some Of them are dated
on the battlefield, and DOUBTLESS were WIT
ten amid the very CLASH o. arms In some
I OF the great campaigns. like that OF Get
I JESDUrE. CEllckaTlaug&- AtlaG+a- and Pc
| terSbUTg. where in the field Ielegrap niGg
TO the various military headquarters was
freely used, the dispatches between the
/ generals are short ald numerous. and
many OF the printed pages contain four ur
i've Of them The formal reports of al
kinds are. % course. much more e&i end
/ cd and perhaps occupy about one-tALru
/ of the superficial space n the IlrSt series.
/ Il Is not however. in these carefully
I .IraWn reports made after ali was over.
{ when in cold blood the bearings of things
historian Will get at the real drift Of
Z things IN struggling through this eEOr-
/ nous mass OF Official data To know the
( Immediate result and ultimate effect OF
{ any given event. he must have recourse
( to the daily correspondence and utter
! ancss Of the leaders flung of in the heat
4 of action. These latter Oitentinnss give
the lie direct To the former and the Off
| ciaI records as a whole have placed many
! a preterti0us humbug in q ridiculous pre-
: dlcameEt before the world But Singh
/ iarly enough, they detract not one iota
I from the iaurelS OF high personal char
! acter Of the great stars Of the period.
/ Lincoln Davis Grant, Lee, Sherman,
/ Jackson. Sheridan, Johnston. Thomas
I SeaureSard, and several others. In fact
/ it Is largely by means Of this vast Gov
| eminent publication, which has cost 81.
/ iPl.W" approximately, and 50 many years
l Of painStaking work that the true great
I ness and patriotism OF some Of the chief
actors IN the drama are the more fully
/ cnmprehend-d and appreciated.
/ After many years of preliminary work
/ some Of IL wholly dbOrttF-. the first vol
! ume OF these War Records. so called
was issued in 1855 The general plan upon
! which the records have been compiled
/ was evolved b. Lieut.. Col. Robert y
| Scott an Intelligent and ig9sd-rufudad
| regular army officer himself Il child Of
he civil war who died when only about
| one quarter OF the book mad gone through
| The press IN fact, the scope Of the work
/ was greatly enlarged after Colonel Scott
! died, ana necessarily 50 becau Of the
discovery Of vast quantities of official rec
the work advanced. But in the ARA uee-
meuL OF the documents SCOTS original
method has been carried out TO the letter
! Il - expected that the forthcoming gen
! eral index and the statistical volume
mentioned above viii De issued before the
close OF the present year. which viii end
this long drawn out JOB Of Government
/ work BY law an edition Of II $50 copies
OF each separate book was printed. or
81 0py books IN the aggregate Mainly
these were distributed free TO the pub
lie through designations made by Seua-
| tors and Representatives and the heads
| Of the several departments Such Oiii-
| Ciai designation carried the entire set Of
! sets we're reserved fer - T. At cost. and
| the Ivcr-&e price @ the CI0C5s -a1nd
i volumes IS appT-1 iuaTely - cents
The original asSiguTl -ntS or sub
| sequent ones. exhausted he edition long
| ago and none remain fer free d5stribu-
| ton Fortunately. neariE 2,nUJ sets went
int% public libraries ana educational in
Stitutious throughout the country Eff
forts are on foot 10 issue q new and
larger edition of the entire u volumes
and Congress has already been asked to
appropriate for the purchase Of the
| stones upon which the maps are en-
| gr8yed. 10 save them from destruction
| This work was done by a New York
! Hrm. but the books were issued from the
| Government Printing Office ms firm
| now wishes TO have ne lth, -IaDhic
/ stones upon which the maps are en-
! graVed taken OF their hands, or they
| must be turned 20 other use. There are
zoo Of them. II II NOT probable that a
| new edition VIII he ordered by Congress.
hoo mil az rE4r4