New-York tribune., 1907-04-23
FOR ANOTHER HALL.
NO PLACE FOR RECORDS.
Ellison Suggests Nesc Building for
the County Papers.

Vow that the Han Of Records erected az a cost
~ 100000 and designed TO relieve the overbur-
sened County Courthouse OF the records that II
nbounds is finished il is discovered that there
Is no room in Il for Zecords over in the County
Courthouse exposed 10 the constant danger of fire
and rotting away in cellars and attics, in corners
% rooms and n aicoves, lie the records OF the
,,o1.n-v Clerk in maze that appears to he hope
less Corporation Counsel Ellison suggested yes
tsrdav tllat the Sinking Fund Commission be asked
A. once 20 provide fo- new freprOof building for
the county records.
Three floors in the Hall OF Records
c,7ed b. the Corporation Counsel and his various
assistants In -four other Offices in different parts
~ TIE ci,y more than two hundred men en-
p;oyei ia bureaus - his department All Of these.
Nj Ellison says should be brought 10 the Hall OF
Eecorcs. II this dc,se. and the same magnih-
cert scale Of o.ce -ocls carried out. II is difl
cuif what Ioo-' would remain FOR the records
that have been actually transferred TO the build
fng-those o. the Register and the Surrogate These
records in the building by statute as are those
a. the Law Department.
The answer. far this department. Is con-
cerned." said Mr. Ellison yesterday. TO the people
who scy that our allowance Of room should he
euced make room for the County Clerks rec
ords IS that We must have more room. not less
Three bureaus OF the Law Department. are far
away from headquarters at present. man comes
me, say. matter involving penalty. l
cannot answer him. ! must send him TO the as
sistant 81 charge OF that bureau in Nassau street.
and -nust then him again.
NO Il il true that the conditions in the County
Courthouse arc terrible. The city would have saved
money X = had been torn down years ago But
tie remedy lies with the Sinking Fund Commits
F.on. u can take for the preservation OF
fbs County Clerks records by providing for a
17erfoa: building 10 contain them. Certainly my
departures; give UP none Of its space
why. in some cf oEr rooms five Of my assist
sn's aTs quorterei. We badly crowded here,
al voI must remember that the records of the
IHw Department here too They relate to
s7e-y ::eee 81 litigation il which the city has been
'o7oernod TIE! Involve every title TO every piece
r r-Hl estate The city owns Certainly they are
saa County CTc=k
want all my bureaus 20 be in this building
ihrF sfcnIC be here In the bureau OF street open
.:hS, a. West Broadway and Chambers street a
einrloys forty-eight at No. 2S5 Broadway In the
s s,.s IS bureau there are twenty In the tene,
-, 4De.-r bureau uptown: are hfty more All
.a9'.ia = "a be here The work of the Law Department
seTsafor Grady has introduced bill. which has
passed the Senate. providing for the mandatory
orls What they really want is TO get Andrevs's
nlceau over here Andrews was appointed by the
providing for his bureau and giving its head sal
Grady was TO be taken care Of but II didn't turn
nit that way, and Andrews got the appointment
ias5e"d Te Now Senator Grady wants to get him over
The bin referred TO by AIr Ellison is Senate bin
PROVIDES for the Is nem m Ss Iha n1H
records 10 the Hall Of Records. and. as IL is city
legislation, Will have TO 10 the Mayor for ap-
proval II thought most unlikely yesterday
that lle would sign il. IL would undo many Of the
measures he has had adopted
The agitation for the preservation and rescue OF
the records began ten years ago. when a committee
of the bar. headed by s. StanwOOd Mencken ap-
Iealed 10 the Legislature to pass h for the cree
ion OF hreproof building for their preservation.
The Hall OF Records stands the result OF that
hil. II wes begun in 1890: II has only just been
completed. The breath OF scandal has blown upon
y many times during its construction: its cost
has been estimated as third ~ that Of the State
CapitOl al Albany.
The records OF the County Clerk 60 back three
hundred wears Aside from the absolutely indis-
pensable nature u the records that in daily
by lawyers. there documents OF Colonial and
Revolutionary days. whose bibliOgraphica and his
torcal value is inestimable
The Older documents lie pine shelves in the at
tc. Open gas 5ets furnish the only light. and the
repeated appeals Of Peter J. DOolng, the County
Clerk. for appropriations for steel shelves and
electric lights have fallen upon deaf ears in the
Board OF Estimate and Apportionment-
The records that in daily use are in cellar
below the basement, that lawyers fond Of re-
ferring another black hole OF Calcutta. To
save them n a fire would be impossible. and
fhefe VIII be nothing 10 save. because the papers
rotting away IN the dampness that infests the
place. Young clerks frequently there,
watched and more than one has been seen
stealing quiet smoke while engaged in dry