Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-06

made with great discrimination, for not
only does the government wish to avoid
unnecessary duplicat on of books, but It
wishes to get bargains. The present chief
of this division, the order division, Is a
woman, Miss Margaret D. McGuffey. for
merly secretary to Librarian Putnam.
There is probably no more important po-
stion held by woman in the government
service.
W. W. Bishop, superintendent of the
reading room at the Library of Congress.
is one. of the most eminent scholars in
the country. and before he Joined the
library staff last year was reference
librarian at Princeton University. He
was previous to that librarian of the
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. His chief
assistants are John G. Morrison and Hugh
A. Morrison, jr.
Miss Esther J. Griffin. who is in charge
of the reading room for the blind. fills q
position Of which she is the first occu-
pant for the reading room for the blind
at the Library Of Congress was estab-
lished after similar institutions had been
popularized in other cities. She took up
the work in 1897. Musical recitals and
readings arranged by her for the benefit
of the blind have not only been produc-
tive Of ntertainment but they have
ELECTED sympathy with movement in
which Miss Griffin is a conspicuous fac
tor-that Of helping the blind to help
themselves. She has attended several
international conferences Of parsons in
tereSted IN IllS cause.
James c. M. Hansen. a Norwegian, has
charge of the catalogue division of the
library, and he has among his assistants
many expert linguists. Books in Japa-
nese. Chinese and other oriental Ian
guageS as well as books in all the Ian
guages of western Europe form part
of the library. and the catalogue division
contains employees familiar with all
tongues. There. are many Russian books
in the library. Mr.. Hansen is a graduate
of Cornpl1 TTpiyorcifv and did c9talOpniOp
for Newbery College and the University
of Wisconsin before he took charge Of
the work at the Library Of Congress in
1897.
One Of the most important collections
is that Of manuscripts. including the
papers Of nine Presidents and many
statesmen and warriors. as well as docu-
ments in foreign languages bearing upon
the history of the country Worthington
c. Ford. one of the most prominent his
torians in the country. In charge of this
division. has resigned to become editor
of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
and his successor has not been named
at this writing. During Mr.. Ford's ad-
ministration. lasting nearly six years, he
has not only increased greatly the coll
lection Of important writings. which are
useful to statesmen and historians. but
he has edited several volumes of the
journals of the Continental Congress
An employee who was an assistant to
Mr.. Spofford in the old library is F. Lee
Philips, who has charge of the maps and
charts division. He is a leading authority
in geographical matters, and Oscar q.
Sonneck. chief of the music division. Is q
leading authority in the photography Of
music and active in Washington Choral
Society circles.
Other experts in their respective lines
are Arthur J. Parsons, chief of the prints
division. and Middleton g. Beasman' the
law librarian. Mr.. Beasman Is the man
who compiled the statutes of the United
States. and perhaps no government
librarian has ever undertaken such a
st,IpendouS task though the Index Medl-
Gus on which Drs. Fletchar and Garri-
son are at work at the Army Medical
Museum, Is another great bibliographlca!
project. Mr.. Beasman Is the librarian OF
the Supreme Court, and his work In COM
piling statutes is a continuation OF that
undertaken by his predecessor, DR.. George
Winfield Scott.
Transfers in the government service are
numerous, and the chief of the period1-
calls division, Claude B. Guittard took up
that work we'll qualified as a librarian by
experience at the coast and geodetic sur
yey. Keeping completed files OF all the
publications that the Library Of Congress
preserves is one Of the greatest Difficult
ties that the chief Of the periodicals dlvi-
sion has to contend with, but 1t is rea-
sonably certain that If copies of any I'M
portant periodicals are Obtainable they
will find their way to the Library of Con-
gress. 1t may be an unfamiliar fact that
there have been hundreds Of documents
issued by the government, of which there
IS not a copy in any government depos-
itory but modern indexes which tell not