Evening star., 1925-12-26

t v,
is of almost indispensable value in
| every office of every branch OF the
Government, and testimony from all
| the bic libraries of the country shows
| that il is the most used book on ref
erence tables patronized by the pub
lie.
Just after the Christmas holidays
Congress is going 10 pass. practically
unanimously. an additional appropria-
lion Of 81 500 for completing the pub
lcation Of Dernla nent biographlcal
edition of the Congressional Directory,
/ for which all the libraries of the coun-
try have been waiting impatiently for
"A wears, This new edition will he a
complete record of every one of the
more than 21.000 individuals. who
ever sat in the American Congress
from l71i to 1925, much more ac-
curate than any compilation ever
printed 1t will contain information
not to be found anywhere else, repre-
senting more than 20 years of care
full research. to be handed down TO
posterity. about the men who have
made and administered our laws "S
a self governing people.
Continental Congress Record.
1t viii contain the corrected bio
graphic sketches of all those who
served in the Continental Congress
from September ), IVA. TO October
2l 1888. and in the Congress of the
United States from the First to the
SiXty-eighth Congress, or from March
I. 1888. to March 3. 1925.
This permanent directory. on which
A trained force has been working
since last March. under concurrent
resolution, is entirely distinct rom
the regular session Congressional IN
rectory Usually there are about %
600 copies printed for the full edition
Of the regular session directory. with
two editions in short session and
usually three editions in the long ses-
sion Of each Congress. There were
70 900 copies printed of the preilm-
mary edition of the SiXtv-n.nth Con
greSs. which came out three week.
ago and which will be reprinted i'm
mediately after the holidays.
The permanent biographical direc-
tory has not been printed since 1911
and has not been thoroughly revised
for many wears. So many errors were
found in il that the joint committee
on printing decided it should be thor
o,lChlv rewritten after a most careful
investigation to get the records OF
each man straight for poSterltN. AS
= result of that the name of senator
George II. Moses, chairman of the
come known throughout the length
and breadth OF this land, for he has
sent letters TO the family and friends
of every man who has ever Deen IN
Congress In some cases the CORE
spondence has run into more IMAM :"
letters 10 get the facts straight about
one individual.
Example OF Errors.
AZ an example of the gross errors
that have been corrected, IL mas oeeh
found that one man lived for Il Years
after the Biographical Directory had
! him killed off. and. in fact, Went
through the Civil War with dlstin-
/ euished service after the date OF ms
| death as recorded. rms was Eiu9
r. Dunham. The old book said he
. died ON Valley Farm Indiana. October
TX 1855 The study made under d.
,,oction of Senator Nose: disclosed that
! he served as colonel Of the 5oth IN
! diana Volunteers during the olvl' war
and died in Jeffersonville, Ind. \ovem-
! her % 1877 and is buried in walnut
! Ridge Cemetery.
! Srain he old book was silent as
10 the fate of Samuel !. furhn,' vi
Florida who served in the Forty
! fonrth Congress and was sworn in
! With T-ncIe Joe Cannon. Senator
) Moses sIeuths found the old gentle
I man still living at II Grant place IN
l Washington.
Tben there was the record of Sock
!Iess Jcrrv'' simpson of Indiana. 1t was
recorded that he died in lSo-. Inc
noer,,,, ster at Wichita. kans.. has pro
duced evidence TO snow that tne co ~,
rect date of his death was October -,
! 1905 FL
Then in looking UP the case OF Ed
ward w Mctiaughey, who came from
! EocllviIle Ind. and served In the
/ T,yenty-ninth Congress and was re-
alocted to the Thirty-first Congress: IL
! was discovered that the lslchard W.
! McGaughey also recorded Tor the
-rI,irtv.f.rst Congress was the same IN
| ,li,.idI,.l This mistake was made in
tbe F,nyard edition through printer
/ error in picking up a capital X instead
of A ca pitaI T., making the copy fd.
/ instead Of Ed. y study OF the Rouse
! Journal for that Congress dlscloSeu
/ this mistake.
Case of John Vance.
The same sort of mistake was
/ made in the case of one John Vance
! in the Seventeenth Congress. Tfls
/ win he explained in the new book,
: which will say that in previous edi-
/ tions the name appeared as John
! Vance instead of Joseph Vance. 1t IS
! believed .hat this is an error arising
! through a printers blunder In the
/ first issue of the Congressional Dlrec-
/ tory for the Seventeenth Congress
! caused by the typesetter CARRYING the
! name Of john as it appeared in the
! name of Sloane. just above, down TO
| Vance. The House Journal does me-
] show that a John Vance" ever was
! A Rsprese nta tive from Ohio. but in the
] same directory. under the alpha betical
! list of boarding houses, with the mem
! bers in each, the list of hoarders 1T
| Miss Polk's home included Joseph
| Vance. but not John Vance.
Again we have the case of Henry
Wilson Of Massa achusetts, once Vice
! President. who died November %.
! 1875. A footnote for the Forty fourth
I Congress says that Mr.. Wilson died in
! the preceding Congress. But that
! Forty-third Congress expired on
! March 3. 1875. and the Forty-fourth
Congress began on March A. 1875. If
| Mr. Wilson died on November %. 1878.
/ he belongs in the record of the Forty
has been made.
AS each Of these cases is studied
| the records with all correspondence
| are put in separate envelopes in alpha :
! betiCal order. so that the full data on
every man who ever sat in Congress is
preserved and made available Tor rel
erence by future generations.
From all over the country librari
ans of the leading libraries are writ
ing TO Senator Moses regarding the
Forthcoming permanent biographical
directory, saying that the old edition
, is in constant use on their reference
! tables and that no book in the IL
braries Is used as much. There is a
Nationwide impatience for the pub
lication of the new edition, and mem-
bers OF Congress expect they will have