The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-11

S7S,500 and the latter $11,990.667. The biggest single gift was MT. Rocke- feller's $7.000,000 for a post graduate medical college and hospital In Chi cago. The total of the gifts and be- quests of sums above $5.0OO during last year exceeded $S5. 100000. They were for an infinite variety of educational and benevolent institutions through out the country. and, with few eXcep- tions, the donors bestowed the money wisely and founi out some new thing that needed doing. In most cases the charity was confined to America; but. besires MT. Carnegie's foreign gifts. John D. Rockefeller gave $500,000 for a"cha."'rgical research in Egypt and Babylonia. and Henry Phipps, of New York, gave large sums for the benefit of the teeming millions of British In- dia.
 The vast sums given by the multi millionaires are, however, only drop in the bucket of money that America spends for great and good works. The States and the cities pour out hundreds of millions for schools, parks, play grounds. hospitals and other bene.'- cient institutions. Since it became Greater New York the metropolis has spent the round total of $15S,000, 900 on education, the Identification of the city, philanthropy and public health. Park property worth about six hun dred millions of dollars Is owned by the fifteen cities of New York, Chicago. Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, Balti- more, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburg. New Orleans, Detroit, Milwaukee and Washington. The maintenance and development of these parks costs over $12, ,000, 900 annually.
 The American cities arc leading thA world to-day in expenditure for public libraries. In this work they are, of course, greatly helped by MT. Carnegie. In 1903 he gave $3,7SS,500 for new N- braries in Philade iphia, Washington D. C., and other cities. In addition. fifty Carnegie libraries are being built in New York City at a cost of $5.20O,- 900, while a magnificent new home IS being erected for the New York Public Library at a cost of $5,000.000. The Leland Stanford University received $2.000. 900 last year for a new library. and other colleges got large gifts for the improvement of their libraries. Altogether, 1t is safe to say that at least $50,000,000 is being spent at pres ent in America to create new libraries and improve old ones. The cost of maintaining Americas libraries is nearly $12,000.000 annually.
 America has not yet got the finest library in the world. but 1t will be sur prising If she does not have 1t within | a generation. Already the Congress sional Library at Washington ties with the Royal Library at Berlin for fourth h place among the libraries of the world in number of volumes. The Biblio- theque National, the British Museum and the Imperial Library at St. Peters l burg surpass it. Harvard University y comes fifth on the list. having more volumes than any other university in the world. The famous Bodleian at Oxford has only 550,O0O to Harvard s ! 910,000. Four great libraries are available for New York City-the New
 York Public Library, the New York City Library. Columbia University Li- brary and the Mercantile Liabry To- gether they have over 100000 vol umes-a total exceeded only by the Bibliotheque National and the British Museum.
 If America has not yet got the best library in the world. she can lay claim to the best hospitaf.~ That is the yer dict of Sir Felix Semon, the disting- uished throat specialist, who is one of the best authorities on the subject. He has worked and studied in the best hospitals in London, Berlin, Vienna and Paris; but when he inspected the Mount Sinai Hospital. in New York