Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1917-01-12

case of war with some nation which
| might attempt to seize it for it's own
purposes, or, failing to seize it, might
attempt its destruction to prevent it's
use by the United States.
Plans already have been made for
the adequate terrifying and garrison
ing of the Isthmian Canal zone. Big
guns already are in place on the is
lands off the two ocean entrances, the
Atlantic and the Pacific. It may be,
as some army officers view it, that the
| present forts outlying the waterway
| entrances are strong enough to hold
off any navy which might attempt to
approach the canal. OF course any
enemy trying to get to the canal by
sea would necessarily first be COM
| PEELED to defeat our navy before an.
attack could be made on the forts. So.
in sense, the forts a4e second line
of defense, but congress is to be asked
| to make them as powerful as if they
| were a first line of defense.
Today on the isth1aus of Panama
there is a brigade of troops commando
| GU ny dig OCu OldI CllCC 1ks 1LOWdIuSs
| It is intended before long to throw
whole division on the isthmus and of
course to put it in command of ma
| jor general. In the various armies of
the world a division is an elastic
thing. 1t is probable that when our
army's full representation arrives on
the isthmus there will be about $4,000
men there stationed.
Must Be Defended on Land.
The problem of the defense of the
canal is not in the one-tenth part one
Of keeping an enemy away from
the entrances. 1t is realized that If
the canal everqis to- be attacked, the
attempt probably will be made by
landing force which would be put
ashore some 80 or 40 miles on one
side or the other of the waterway, and
would then attempt to force it's way
overland from the canals banks So
| it is that big force of men is pre-
sumed to be necessary as a waterway
guard. If war came the forces at
present contemplated for peace times
probably would have to be doubled.
The government today is studying
the problem as to where to locate its
troops in the Canal Zone. Two re-
ports already have been turned in
by officers of rank, and as they are at
variance one with the other, another
report by another ranking officer act
ing Independently will be turned in
in the near future. Not only the health
of the troops, but the strategic value
of the positions which they occupy
must be considered when sites are Sc
lected for garrisons either small or
large.
Library Of Congress.
The people of the United States
have a library Of 2,451, 974 books to
which they have only infrequent oppor-
tunities of access. They also have
housed with the books 154,2OO maps
and charts, 77O,248 volumes and pieces
Of music and 392, 9O5 prints.
These are the treasures in the keep.
ing of Herbert Putnam, librarian of
congress, and they constitute the con-
gressional library's collections. Dur.
ing the year that has just passed 49,
101 books have been added to Uncle
Sans shelves.
The congressional library, housed in
a building said to be the most beau
tiful in the world, is almost entirely
reference library. The rule is that
only the president senators and rep
resentatives in congress, cabinet Off
GERS and other high officials of govern
ment may take books from the library
shelves for perusal in Office or home.
The rule is violated frequently, always
under the cover of the excuse that
the books taken are intended for the
use of some person who comes within
the rule. In other words, private sec
retaries and clerks to the favored ones
can get books for perusal at their ease.
Take it all in all, however, the reg
ulations are quite strictly observed.
Every American citizen can read any
book in the congressional library, pro-
vided he chooses to go to the Ii
brary to turn it's big reading room into
study. This reading room, by the
way, is commanding bit Of architec-
ture with it's huge dome which lets in
soft reading light and with it's many
beautiful bits Of sculpture, it's carvings
and it's tints and colors.
Books of Great Value There.
It has been said that any American
citizen can read any book in the Ii
brary if he will go to the reading room.
So he can, but it is probable that if he
wants to see certain books he must
read them under guard. There are in
the possession of the library printed
books and manuscripts each worth a
kings ransom. The fear in the. con-
gressional library is always as the
fear iss in other libraries, that some
precious thing may be stolen.
Take for instance the original copy
of what is called the Elephant Edition
Of Audubon. Presumably the name
Elephant Edition comes from the size
of the volume. 1t is huge book and