The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-08-23
CONGRESSES DEAD LIBRARIAN
AMAZING MEMORY OF THE LATE
1TNSWORTH n. SPOFF0RD.

Scholar whose vast store OF InI0fmn'
ton Was ut me Service OF Every One
Curious Tests Of His Learning.
WASHINGTON. Aug. IA nan who will
he missed 10 Ainsworth r.. Spofford. Librarian
of Congress between the years lse<and 1897.
and from 1897 until his death in New Hamp-
sbire the other day Chief Assistant Libra
rien OF Congress-. All told he had been
attached to the National Library in one
capacity or another, but for the greater part
Of tLa time as it's head. for forty-six years,
s,v.ng been appointed to o place In the
library by President Lincoln in 1881.
He will be missed by q good many Diff
ferent classes Of people here. but chiefly
by the legislators. More than a generation
OF Representatives in Congress, end par
ticllarly the new fellows. were In the habit
Of leaning upon the brusque hammered.
book absorbed Spofford. Yet during all
the period. nearly half a century. which
the librarian spent in Warrington nobody
ever succeeded in finding out what his
politics were.
II is doubtful II he leaned toward any
party. He was a student n o keen critic
OF the game. bue he never dipped into It TO
the extent Of revealing even q symptom Of
partisanship.
The difficulties underlying such neutrality
may better DO understood when II Is stated
tina; Republicans and Democrats alike in
Congress lent ear to his wisdom when they
found themselves in tight pinchcs. He
never gave unsolicited advice, but whom he
was approached by q man DESTROYS OF
profting by his experience and counsel he
never considered tho party end Of the prop
osition but told wha. he thought Of the stu
alton in a streight from the shoulder. take
Il or leave it manner that could admit Of no
doubt ns to his meaning. =
Nor did 1t make the ~slightest difference
to him whether his advice was followed or
not. Probably Sponord did not know. in
one case out OF hundred. whether or not
his counsel had been adopted. He was
that unusual combination. q book sub
merged man who was yet always in close
touch. ~ith tho doings Of the world. but
be considered the affair at an end when q
public man asked him what he thought OF
a certain situation In politics. got the answer
and went his way.
He was well beloved for his sound sense
and his humor and q certain quaintness OF
temperament and disposition by q line Of
public men extending from Thad Stevens
10 Theodore Roosevelt. He was con-
sidered one Of the most learned men In the
world. He wal the court Of last resort in
Washington as to knotty points Of par
liamentary procedure. He wrote q stand
ard book on that subject. and II was no
unusual thing for Speakers Of the House
like Blaine and Keller and Crisp and Hem
derson and Cannon to ask Spodord to help
them to unravel knotty parliamentary
kinks that came up.
He will be missed and mourned too by
hundreds Of Washington young men whom
he aided in getting an education. He had
a way d mapping out regular university
courses Of reading for promising appear
ing young chaps introduced to him who
couldn't afford to go to college and who
did their studying in accordance with his
directions after working hours. Scores
Of men who were put through the mill in
this way under Spofford's guidance hav
made good in many fields.
Perhaps he will be remembered longer
for his amazing memory than for any other
reason. He could not. as was said OF
Macaulay. remember the happenings on the
day when he was born. nor did he perform
such Macaulay feats as committing the
whole OF Milton or Homer or the Bible to
memory. Nevertheless it was said Of
Spofford by scholars both Of this country
and Of Europe that probably he possessed
the most phenomenal memory Of any nan
that ever lived.
He not only knew books but he knew
their contents. 1t a worth while TO see
the tall, loose jointed old man with the
swarthy skin OF an Indian engaged in read
ing a book. What the average man gets
out Of q boob by careful reading Sponord
absorbed by skimming.
When the Library Of Congress was still
in the Capitol you would come upon the
librarian standing in some dim, out Of
the way book heaped aisle. with four or
FIVE ponderous books under his arms and
another opened before him. He would be
quite unconscious Of what was happening
around him while occupied with the job
Of extracting the meat from the book be-
fore his eyes.
He would turn the pages over rapidly.
picking out the facts as the crab man picks
out the meat and often muttering to him.
self as he futtered the pages. He'd 60
through the book to the last page. including
addenda and errata. and then he'd fling 1t
into one OF the he lps OF books in the aisle
ehL a uP, do III hoIhiy OinpioyCNo
used TO term IL. one Of the other books In
der his arm
Not a word could be got out of him. even
II the man waiting to address him were q
naughty United States Senator. until he'd
quite finished ekimming the books he held
closely grippe1 under his arms. 'for fear
they'd get away from him. a. We said
BY the men under him. Then, the last
book sobbled up. in a way Of speaking,
he'd emerge from a sort Of daze and step
back 70 the world Of affairs again.
Everything that his mind absorbed by this
skimming process stuck there. This was
proved hundreds Of times by m%arvelling
friends Of the librarian, who could not see
how anybody could get the heart out Of q
book by rifiing over the pages in that
manner.
Every time they tested him. a they
often did and often on wagers with friends,
too, they found hat he knew the contents
Of the book he had merely SKINNED as
thoroughly as II he'd spent a laborious
week in reading 1t. Not only that. he'd
eren remember the number Of the page
IN Uhick . -zs.-t- f-S -. 49, --I~-4~l