Evening star., 1927-02-06
Capital Sidelights

extremely rare collections of Amert-
cana, documents and early editions
that would be of inCalculable value to
students of history and broadly edu'
cative offered for purchase. but with
the library having entirely inadequate
funds for this purpose.
Herbert Putnam, the librarian, had
heart-to-heart talk on the subject
with members of the House appropria'
tions committee. The only hope seems
to be for wealthy Americans interest
ed in preservation of such papers and
volumes and in making the Library
of Congress unequaled anywhere In
the world to purchase these offerings
and present them to the National
Library. .se- r. a.s" 5.-
They include autograph lettesT OF
Washington, Adams, jefferson and
their contemporaries and such historic
collections like the papers of Livings-
ton; the collection of Blathwayt, Secre-
tary of State and commissioners Of
trade and plantations in the last quar-
tier of the eighteenth century; the pa
perS of Lord Shelbourne, the best
friend the colonies had in the cabinets
of England from the time of the stamp
act through the Revolutions; papers of
Gen. Nathaniel Greene, Sir Henry
Ol fIhiU
British forces during the Revolution.
Librarian Putnam emphasizes that,
being the law library of the Supreme
Court of the United States the Iii
brary of Congress should have the pre-
eminent collection of the original ses-
sion laws of the United States. Re-
Gently he had to pass on to Yale Uni-
versity, in modification. AN offer of
some 800 volumes of French litera-
ture that would have been of great
value to olarship-seventeent and
eighteenth century literature.
Since the beginning of the library in
the year 1900. the Government has
spent in acquisition of material or
collections about So, 900 900, while be-
tween So, 900, 900 and $9,00O 900 has
been put into the building, so that
the connoisseur occasionally com.
ments that your frame has cost
more than your picture -
-& r. y ~ -
The greatest dome in the world
that on the United States Capitol-is
going to get it's new coat of preserva-
tive metallic paint. A total of 62,766
square yards Is to receive two coats,
at an estimated cost OF 81 cents per
square yard, or a total cost of
.$23,223.42. .s l-
For the time being at least the
proposition to build out. the east front
of the Capitol as originally designed
by Thomas Hugh Walter, facing 1T
with marble and taking down the iron
dome and reproducing it in masonry,
has been abandoned. -
This Is a reminder that the dome
was originally constructed of wood
covered with copper. This was re.
placed In 1856, and the weight of the
iron used was 5000, 200 pounds. The
of Freedom, which is f9 feet inches
high and weighs l2 .9s5 pounds. 1
4 " * ~ +T4 4"
Illustrating the very effective old
laws which are being researched in
compilation of the code, of laws for
the District of Columbia, Harry A.
Hegafty, who is. in charge of the
codification under Chairman Fitzger.
aid of the House committee. gave the
House appropriations Committee the
following specific example,
"A case arose in the District of
Columbia where mans~had married
the second time and had died He
had set of children by his first wife,
and the children by the first wife
wanted to put that widow out imme.
diately. and If it had not been for
an act passed way back in Charles
IT'S time. they wouId have succeeded.
They gave the widow the right to stay
In the house 40 days. So a great many
or those Old acts are Just as beneficial
as they are detrimental, but neither
Congress nor anybody else has ever
Elegislated on the subject"
.iNS y
|. Two very great conveniences for
members of Congress have been in.
vented by j. Martin Mckee, for "A
years an employe at the Capitol. fore
man OF the House folding room. the
Importance of which is empha sized by
the fact that more than 25 900 bags of
mall matter-nrostiy books ana s3octI.
ments-are shipped annually from the
House of Representatives alone.
These inventions are a new style OF
mailing tag and staunch cardboard
liners for the. mail bags
For years previous to 1890 mail bags
were not equipped with iron slots to
hold the tag on which the address is
written, nor had they strips attached
by which to close the bags. The mem
bers of Congress had to find their own
strings. A wooden tag i "a by inches
was furnished for the address to be
WAhbUu Oil. III the SbS Il SfOI To
hold a folded strip of paper on which
the address was written was attached
to the bags, also cords with "a patent
fastener. Slips of paper were fur.
nished by the Post Office Department.
about by inches, TO be folded and
slipped into the slot after the address
had been written. It required consid-
erable time to fold these so that they
would slip into the metal holder in
Within few months Mf. Mckee
devised a tag by S1a inches, made OF
light cardboard. flexible and eendur9
able, which fits snugly into the slot,
easy to address, which resulted in the
saving of much time and labor 1t
was so practical that II has since been
in daily and general use .a9
AS members of" Congress send out
many sacks OF books, some Of them
specially bound for them att the Gov
ernment printing offfce, method Of
safely packing them in bags was I'M
portant. Mr.. Mckee during 1912
made a pattern and put into use a
heavy cardboard contaiher that, 'just
fits the inside Of the mail saclss II
does not break OF burst open. is ial.
most, as staunch as leather trunk
and protects the contents from water
and dampness, is easy to pack and
handle, and adds very little to the
weight. These are furnished at cost
to members of Congress and are be
ing used now largely instead of the
\. ~. -.