The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-01-24
Library Of Congress
By Dave Leahy

reseatatives and calling his officer
: around him propounded this question
this manner:
Gentlemen, shall We allow this hal
Dor of yankee democracy to stand?"
NO. no." they shouted.
Then said the admiral, burn it up.
There being no kindling wood availabl
the British took the books from tn
library and used them to feed the blaz
that burned the Capitol. This was i
1874
About this time Thomas Jefferson, VIII
was really the father of the library, be
came financially embarrassed and offere
his library containing 1000 volumes t
the United Statse for s23. Goa book bar
gain in those days, Daniel Webste
scorning the idea that the United State
should go into the book business op
posed the purchase and was ably an,
bitterly reinforced by Cyrus King, a mas
sachusetts federalist of some note, who
however, had another cause for his op
position-a cause that will be understood
from the resolution he sought to hay,
passed TO the effect that the nation mus
! hot encourage the reading of books o.
an athiestical. irreligious or immoral ten
/ doncy.
Both Webster and King were defeated
Jefferson's library was purchased and
moved from Monticello to Washington ir
| wagons, railroads being unknown at that
time
Webster hi lot nv, ~
this will be my plea TO you for your
forgiveness for him. One night in 1926
he met some congenial statesmen at a
tavern and remained out later than good
form would now admit in Wichita. In
the wee small hours he started homeward
and in rounding a corner he saw a
strange light at the capitol showing that
he was not as blind as tradition would
have him-and gave alarm of fire. A
blaze had started in the library but
thanks TO Dan Websters late hours. the
fame was put out by the fire department
before it had good start,
In the early development of the library
statesmen were rather unfriendIy TO
poets and the work of only one of them
good Bobbie Burns-was allowed in the
the country have proved themselves TO
be unworthily small towards poets. |
will exemplify this by Gazing attention
to the somewhat remarkable fact that
even now Ireland's favorite poet-happy
little Tom Moore-has the disrleasure OF
the American government and his name
is nowhere to De seen in The building
This has arisen out of the fact that
when Moore visited this country years
ago he did not like Washington and roast
ed it when he reached homel
The first catalogue in the library. or
more properly speaking, OF the library
is still extant 1t shows that when it
was printed, in 1906 / believe, there were
in the library only 212 folios. ia quar-
tos, SIS octavos seven duedecimos and
seven maps. Value was attached to the
size rather than to the merits of the
books, for the rules show that the fol-
lowing penalties We're inflicted fer keep
ing books out longer than the time
limit allowed: IS per day for folios, 81
per day for quartos and 81 per day for
octavos. If this rule prevailed / know
who would now own the house and lot
IF one David Leahy-the school board
would.
Christmas eve fifty-two years ago the
asst fire occurred in the library and 80 900
If. the 5000 then in tho collection were
destroyed
The congressional library is now to this
country what the Bibliotheque Rationale
$ to France with this exception that the
has a great deal more books
While We have vastly more manuscripts,
maps, pieces of music. etchirgs, engrav-
ngs and photographs. This is largely
ue to the fact that the congressional
library is the depository OF American
copyrights
The library, as you know. is under the
ONT anagement of a committee Of the
ouse and senate of congress. Mr.. Put
ara, the lbrarion is. however. practic-
lily sole manager. as Professor is at
he Smithsonian Institution The house
nd senate each have ma gnificent read
~ rooms at the building and the capitol
connected by tunnel, with a pneuma-
c carrying apparatus. which enables
.gislative member to ask for and receive
book from the library within two min
ties.
No books are given out now except to
he president and vice-presdent of the
nited States, ex-pres:dents. cabinet Of
GERS. members Of the house and senate.
nd the chief officers of the two bodies.