Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-10

| worth about six hundred millions Of dollars
is owned by the fifteen cities of New York,
! Chicago, Philadelphia, ST. Louis, Boston.
Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburg,
New Orleans, Detroit. Milwaukee and Wash
| ington The maintenance and development
of these parks costs over s12,00o,O00 an
| nually.
| The American cities are leading the world
| today in expenditure for public libraries.
| In this great work they are, of course,
| greatly helped by Mr.. Carnegie. In 1903 he
gave $3,7SS,500 for new libraries in Phila-
| delphia. Washington, d. c., and other cities.
In addition. fifty Carnegie libraries are
being built in New York city at cost of
| $5,2CO,C00, while a magnificent new home is
| being erected for the New York Public Lii
brary at q cost of S5,000,000. The Leland
| Stanford University received 100000 last
| year for a new library, and other colleges
| got large gifts for the improvement of their
libraries Altogether, it is safe to say that
| at least $50, 100000 is being spent at present
| in America to create libraries and i'm
prove old ones. The cost of maintaining
| Americas libraries is nearly S12,000,000 an
nually.
Great Libraries.
America has not yet the finest library in
the world. but 1t will be surprising if she
| does not have it within q genera ton. AL
| ready the Congressional Library at Wash
ington ties with the Royal Library at Ber
lin for fourth place among the libraries of
the world in number of volumes. The
Bibliotheque National, the British Museum
and the Imperial Library at st. Petersburg
surpass it. Harvard University comes
fifth on the list having more volumes than
any other university in the world. The
famous Bodleian at oxford has only $4,000
to Harvards $4,000. Four great libraries
! York Public Library, the New York City
Library, Columbia University Library and
the Mercantile Library. Together they
have over 100000 volumes-a total ex-
Tod prl,- t,.- tI,a liott w nal
and the British Museum
If America has not yet the best library
in the world, she can lay claim to the
best hospital. That is the verdict of Sir
Felix Semon, the distinguished throat
specialist. who is one of the best authori-
ties the subject. He has worked and
studied in the best hospitals in London,
Berlin, Vienna and Paris; but when he in
spected the Mount Sinai Hospital, in New
York city. during his recent visit to Amer
lea, he said:
This is unquestionably the finest hospital
in the world. There is none to equal it in
London. which prides itself on its hospitals,
above everything else The buildings are
better adapted for hospital purposes than
any 1 have seen, and the equipment is
magnificent. You give to the poor patients
luxuries and medical comforts which the
rich cannot purchase in London. 1t Is all
magnficent-wonderful. There is nothing
like 1t anywhere.
Caring for the Poor.
Foreign visitors to America sometimes
say that the struggle for success is keener
and more cruel here than anywhere else
that life is strenuous race with each
man for himself and the devil take the
hindmost." But there is no country
earth where the man who is down and
OUT is more carefully and kindly looked
after Paupers dependent upon the munich
palities are far better treated in America
than in any European country, and their
cost TO the taxpayers per head is much
higher. They have all the comforts they
need to make life endurable, and they
are even given a good many luxuries that
would make the old world bundles lift up
their hands in horror Yet the number
of paupers in the United States is small
when compared with that of European
countries. According to the last returns,
they numbered 1905, of whom SO. "A per
cent of foreign extraction. Great
Britain, with not much more than half
the population, has considerably over
100000 paupers.
| European cities have built up great sys-
| TENS of public and private philanthropy,
but they cannot compare in the number