Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-12-18
GREAT LIBRARY
VAST STOREH0USE
Thousands of Volumes Being
Added to Congressional
Collection.
, MANY TREASURES THERE

Washington, Dec. 17.--Gifts from
many sources have brought more
than $4,000 volumes to the library Of
congress during the year, and COM
prised more than one-fourth of the
additions to its shelves. Retaining its
place as the third greatest library in
the world, and the greatest in the
western world, the library now con-
tains 2,45l,974 books, l54,200 maps
and charts, 770,248 volumes and pieces
of music and 3o2,905 prints. g.,
For large additions to the Chinese,
Japanese and Korean collections the
library acknowledges debt to DR..
Walter T. Swingle of the Bureau OF
Plant Industry, who visited the far
east in 1915 and. .puschased on behalf
OF the library a total of 5,8o2 volumes,
including early Chinese books printed
from blocks; Chinese historical and
descriptive works covering the period
of first contact with Europeans; early
Chinese dictionaries and encyclo-
pedias; Chinese works on natural his
tory and pharmacopoeias; geographi-
cal works; the writings of Confucius
and the works of famous scholars;
and a good copy of the Oldest ia
panese printed work extant, probably
dating from the beginning of the thir-
teenth century; and large collection
of the writings OF Kaibara, the Ben
jamin Franklin of Japan.
The Lincoln documents which have
been presented to the library are of
exceptional interest. These consist
of the original draft of Lincoln's sec
ond inaugural address, and his two
drafts of the Gettysburg address pre-
sented by Clarence L. Hay, who had
them from his father, the late John
Hay; and a memorandum as to the
improbability of his reelection,
presented by Miss Helen Nicolay.
As a rule the American composer
and the American music publisher are
beginning to prefer the national to
local library as the permanent Gus
todian of manuscript scores. The
chief of the music division records
not only gifts of autograph scores of
American composers, but promises OF
gifts to come.
In the document division an effort
was made to complet- the files OF Of
fetal publications of the Latin-Ameri-
can countries, and it was excep-
tionally fruitful through a visit to
these countries by the law librarian,
DR.. T. NJ. Borchard The library's
collection of Latin-American docu-
ments may now be considered one Of
its important features.
A number of Yiddish books came
to the library in the two Deinard col
lections. The Yiddish literature in
the United States assumes re-
spectacle place as compared to other
literature; and even if the predictions
Of some come true that the Yiddish
tongue will be dead before long, the
Yiddish literature will still offer a
wide and interesting field for his
torians, philologists, and students of
comparative literature.
The portion of the librarj now
classified under the new classification
contains l,548,S00 volumes. Great
progress has been made in eliminat-
ing remnants of the old classification
Depository libraries containing
complete sets of the Library Of Con-
gress catalogue cards now number
forty-eight, while forty Libraries of
the United States government have
partial depository sets.
The adoption of Uniform type for
the use of the blind seems imminent
to The assistant in charge Of the read
ing room for the bliLd. 1t is antici-
pated that an agreement may be ar
rived at between the British and
American co-workers which will re-
suit in the solution of this problem.
In the forty-hve years during which
the copyright work has been. part
OF the business of the Library OF Con-
gress, the number OF entries totalled
2,932, ,597. During the last nineteen
wears the net receints of the office