The Colorado statesman., 1922-04-01
PRICELESS GOVERNMENT REG.
oRDs STORED IN "TINDER
BOX" BUILDINGS.
HAZARD OF FIRE EXTREME
Report on the Subject Has Been Made
to congress-Plans for EnIarging
National Botanic Garden-American
Legion Wants Own Building.
By EDWARD 8. CLARK

| lngS where invaluable records of the
government, in many cases non-replace-
able, are stored, were pointed out with
other salient feetures in "a report on
the archives buildings from Lieut.. Col.
q. o. Sheriff., superintendent of pub
lie buildings and grounds, to Senator
Reed Smoot, chairman Of the public
buildings commission
The report summarizes the steps
taken thus far to assure the govern
ment of storage place for its rec
ords. 1t also takes into consideration
the arguments of opponents of the
archives building plan for placement
of the building on land already owned
by the United States government,
ratAer than in the square bounded by
Twelfth and Thirteenth streets, b and
G streets, as is planned in reports to
this time.
| The emphatic part of the report,
however, is that of the fire hazard
existing. For instance, it shows that
the files of the income tax unit, in
cluding more than 100000 conf
DENTAL returns of income, with 10000,
600 related letters, and hundreds of
thousands of valuable maps and spe-
cial reports, are packed and jammed
into annex No. 1. Then there are sew
eral hundred thousand returns and
related papers in courses of audit
which are being temporarily kept in
tho second annex of the unit, which is
characterized as fragile wooden
building erected during the war, in
which the risk of fire is constantly
imminent. In the possibility of fire
there, the report continues. fireplace
able papers, representing hundreds of
millions of dollars of revenue, would
be quickly destroyed and the work of
the government would be irreparably
interrupted.
Priceless Records in Danger.
The report does not overlook the
fact that a serious fire in any of the
| typically hazardous buildings in which
| the records of the United States gov
ernment are stored in Washington
would easily be able to cause a loss
running into hundreds of millions of
dollars, whereas the cost of purchase
of site and the erection of the
building would be such few million
|
look like a pea beside a pumpkin, in
relative comparison.
1t Is not only in the income tax
unit that the hazard to records exists,
according to the report. There are
buildings in which the records of other
activities of the government are stored
where the risk assumes similar pro-
portion. The general accounting office,
under the controller general, is one of
these.
The first definite step was TAX
EN- toward enlargement of the Ma
tional Botanic garden at its pres
ent location, looking forward to max
ing it one of the greatest botanic gar
dens in the world, when Lieut. Col.
Clarence o. Sheriff., officer in charge
of public buildings and. grounds and
executive officer of the Fine Arts COM
mission, assured joint conference of
senators and house members who
would handle the necessary legisla-
ton, that he is ready to turn over to
the Botanic garden the requisite land
already owned by the government.
1t was agreed that land south of
the present site of the Botanic gar
den, which lies on Pennsylvania ave
nue. between First and Third streets,
and following the line of the old
James creek canal bed from Third
street to the capital power plant, and
thence south TO the Potomac river,
joining the grounds of the War college
on the south and Buzzards point on
the east, should be turned ove- to
the jurisdiction of George w. Hess,
director of the Botanic garden, for
development.
This plan for extension of the gar
den, which has long been advocated
by Director Hess, who is ambitious
to develop it into the greatest bo-
tanic garden in the world, and who
has received promises of co-opera-
ton from many foreign countries,
has been approved by Charles Moore,
chairman of the fine arts commits
sion, and Lieutenant Colonel Sheriff.,
the secretary and executive officer. 1t
also works in with the plan recent
ly submitted to congress by Elliott
Woods, architect of the capitol and
member of a special commission
on enlarglng the capitol grounds,
WHO reCoiiiihehuS Sohli ieiehSlNe
development of the area surrounding
the capitol, and especially the for
nation of parkway development
from Union station to the capitol
and thence south of the capitol to
the river. Under Architect Woods
plan, the main portion of the Botanic
garden would be artistically placed
between the Washington navy yard
and the Army War college.
The joint conference OF senate and
house members spent more than three
hours going over the entire area
which it is proposed to turn into