The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-05-23

Introductory to a structure OF such
huge proportions. The architects on
the contrary, felt the room adequate
IN itself and everywhere bore in
mind the needs OF a living organism.
They kept the hallway and CORR
doris severe and simple Tney Iait.
the floors in marble and uinE To
Withstand the tread OF generations
They decorated the ceilings richly.
but they made no contracts for
mural paintings. a conspicuous con
trast from the example Of the Boston
and the Congressional Libraries. In
this instance it was felt wiser TO leave
blank panels which may be filled
as the artistics consciousness of the
city. the commemorative needs OF the
day and h private munificence
Of the hour may suggest.
AS a mechanism, as a masterpiece
Of convenience, the library is believed
to be without equal in the world. 1t
has facilities both ordinary and eN-
traordinary never before attempted.
There is a reading room for the
blind. There is a charming little
room for children, with diminutiNa
| chairs and low tables. quite in the
manner of a nursery, over which 4
motherly superintendent viii have
charge. There are eight private
rooms for the use Of scholars. 1t
was remembered, for instance. that
Rear Admiral Mahan wrote his mon
Umental works on the influence OF
sea power almost entirely in the pub
lie rooms of the Astor Library.
But the crowning glory Of the edi-
flee is the great reading room, the
largest in the world, on the top floor
at the rear, surmounting the stack
room. 1T runs 295 feet in length,
II feet in width and stands fifty
feet high, with ceilings painted to
simulate the cloud-drifted sky. Bi-
secting it is a double, rood-Screen 4
feet wide and divided into arches,
the purpose of which is to serve Tie
delivery staff, to each member Ct
which one of the arches is appor-
toned. Gustave Kebbe has described
this screen n part DIS follows:
Elegant in proportion. simple and
disnified in design, with beautiful
carved Co%rinthian columns and grace
fully arched doors, it carries the
beholder back to the old English
abbeys. The material is quartercd
American oak. Woodwork plays a
conspicuous part in the color scheme
Of the whole building. 1t blends with
the marbles and the Mosaic and re-
fleets the tone of the cell
ings. Nearly half a million square
feet of Circassian walnut, French
walnut, and Indiana oak have been
used, but the proportion of native to
foreign wood is as five to one. The
care spent upon this detal! york was
one Of the causes that contributed to
the length of time it took the library
to rise. "A century hence said
John Carrere, the classic p,-fection
attained by the artisans VINO executed
this carving, then softancd by the
patina Of time, will have rendered
this work an antique tha> Will be
much appreciated. How could such
a result have been hastily attained?
Time is indeed precious, but it is eco
nomically expended when the result IS
SO satisfactory"
The books themselves, the treasure
around which the rest of the library
is built, are housed in a stack room
directly beneath the main reading
room, comprised of seven stories.
each seven feet high. They ave an
impressive monOtony of perspective,
regular, severe and almost surgically
asceptic. The framework is latticed
steel and the shelves of bronze. No
reader, however privileged, will be
allowed inside. His call slip viii
come down to the attendants through
one of many pneumatic tubes, and
elevators will carry the book he
wishes back to him. There are GO
miles of shelves in the stack room
alone and - miles more in other
rooms devoted to special departments,
making 80 miles of shelf room in all.
Unlike SC many modern buildings
the New York Public Library is built
as the ancients buiIt, for eternity. The
vault of the rotunda is a true vault,
not a veneer hung from supports
above. The walls are solid masonry.
The root is masonry, thing and metal.
Steel has only been used where the
ancients Would have used wood. he
millions that went into it will endure,
and as the library is enriche from
year to year by gift and legacy it viii
grow in beauty and usefulness.
MOVEMENTS OF RETIRING
AID @ AhnR % a.