Evening star., 1902-01-04

Der of the same year Patrick Magruder
of Virginia, previously elected clerk of the
House of Representatives was appointed
| librarian by President Jefferson.
Amusing Regulations.
Some of the rules and regulations as
printed in the catalogue of 1908, and in an
amended and revised form in the catalogue
of 1915, are curious and amusing, and
seem to have been designed to safeguard
and restrict the use Of the books rather
than to provide for their free use. A folio
was to be returned within three weeks, a
quarto within two. and an octave or duo
declmo within one No member was to
receive more than folio, one quarto
or two octayos or duodecimos within the
terms aforesaid, unless where so connected
as to be otherwise useless" The penalties
for the detention of book beyond the time
allowed were severe: For a folio, So per
day: for quarto, 81, and for an octave,
1872 to 81 for folio, 80 cents for a quarto
and % cents for an octave. The fines were
still further reduced in 1916 The President
OF the Senate and the Speaker of the House,
however, might for good cause remit the
penalty in whole part. No book was to
be issued within ten days of the termina-
ton of a session of Congress, and all books
were to be returned five days before ad-
journment.
When the British soldiers under the COM
mand of Gen. Ross burned the Capitol
August - 1914, the library. then consisting
of a little over 5000 volumes, was de-
stroyed. Less than month after this, on
September p, 1914, ex-President jefferson,
who had always taken an interest in the
library, wrote from Monticello to his friend
Samuel Harrison Smith. founder of the Ma
tional Intelligencer, asking him to tender
his library to the library committee of Con-
gress. This was done, and Congress, Octo-
Der p, 1914, authorized the library commit
tee to contract for the purchase Of the Ii
brary, and on January 80 1915, after some
discussion, an act was passed authorizing
the committee to draw from the treasury
the sum OF S23,350 to be applied to the
purchase. This collection contained not
quite 1000 volumes, and. has been described
by Mr.. Spofford as ''an admirable selection
of the best ancient and modern literature
up 10 the beginning Of the present CEN
tmrvI'
The catalogue of the collection was pre-
pared by Jefferson himself, and published
In 1915 The system of classification used
was based upon Lord Bacon's division of
knowledge, and this system was MAIN
tanned In the arrangement of the books
on the shelves and in the catalogues of the
library till 1864.
Removal to Washington.
Early in May, 1915, the Jefferson library
was packed in wagons and sent to Wash
ington. 1t was first placed In a room. in
the hotel building temporarily occupied by
Congress, and remained there for three
years while the north wing of the Capitol
was being rebuilt 1t was then, in 1919,
removed to rooms in the north wing Of the
Capitol, and ultimately placed in the long
hall occupying the western front of the
newly erected center of the Capitol. and
here it remained-except for a short period
after the fire of 1851, when it was tempo
rarily housed in adjoining committee
rooms-until the removal to the new build
ing.
For period of thirty-six years. from the
foundation of the existing collection by
the acquisition CT Jefferson's library, the
library increased gradually, mainly by pur-
chase, until 1t numbered $1,000 volumes,
being an average annual increase of over
l 300 volumes.
fire broke out in one of the galleries of