Evening star., 1935-10-13
Continued From Fifth Page.)

masterpiece in Venitian tile Minerva, l"
she's wearing gown exactly the
color of mine-you know. the one I
wore at my debut"
Near the foot of the steps leading up
to this mural is the case containing the
half million dollar Gutenberg Bible,
brought from the Monastery of St.
Paul, in Carinthia, as part of col
lection of 5000 books for which Con-
gress appropriated a million and a
half dollars. The first book printed
in Europe from movable type, it is
known as the 42-line Bible, printed at
Mainz, Germany. by Johann Guten-
berg (the St. Blasius-St. Paul copy 1,
and is one of the three perfect copies
on vellum surviving.
"'Biblia Latina indeed" exclaimed
a woman visitor. who felt she knew her
classics. why, there must be some
mistake-I positively know that the
first Bible was printed in German!"
SELDOM do such incidents enliven
the day-but then there was the
man who was positive that John Han
cock was left-handed.
I'VE have a photograph Of John
Hancock sitting at his writing desk,
offered the guard. Suppose we go over
and take look at it" They found the
the famous "signer" holding his pen
in his right hand while the left was
oeing used to steady the sheet of paper
"Oh, well, that don't prove anything, II
said the contender. That's just con-
tentional picture he posed for"
The mecca of all visitors coming to
the Congressional Library is the
Shrine Of Liberty" where the orig
irlal parchments of both the Declara-
ton of Independence and the Consti-
tuition rest permanently on exhibit
Until they found their present sanctu-
ary, these documents had been housed
in 10 different cities-Philadelphia,
Lancaster, York. Trenton, Princeton,
New York, Annapolis, Baltimore,
Leesburg, and in the State Depart
ment at Washington.
George McNamara, veteran of Brit
ish and American Armies. stands vigil
at the shrine and declares he wouldn't
change posts with anybody in the
States. Although his gray-blue eyes
never waver from the passing crowds,
he manages many interesting observa-
tionS "on the side"
Most folks are a bit hazy about
the part of American history con-
nected with these documents" he in
forms, "one wants to see Christopher
Columbus signature on the Declara-
tion-and another asks me to point
out where Lindbergh signed the Con-
stitution. Some count the IL States
that ratified the Constitution, figure
out the missing thirteenth State, and
ask why Rhode Island isn't repre-
sented. Because tell them, Rhode
Island was very jealous of her States
Rights, and 1t was only after the other
States threatened to treat her as q
foreign nation that she consented to
ratify.' A lot Of people like to know
that the pink marble in the body of
the shrine came from Tennessee, the
green marble in the floor from
Greece and the columns from Italy
They like to understand how the
documents are preserved between two
plates Of glass with yellow gelatine be-
tween to filter out the actynic rays
which fade the pink-and they ask
If the doors and trimmings are solid
gold"
MIR. MCNAMARA has been on duty
AA at the shrine for the past nine
years. During that time, a large
number of prominent Americans and
distinguished foreigners have in
spected the priceless relics.
Premier Ramsay Macdonald and
his daughter Ishbel were among the
most interested. Mr.. Macdonald re-
GREETED that the ink had faded on
the Constitution, making it less leg
ible than the British Magma Carta
of 1915"
II remember the day Kerensky came
in, escorted by the most of our Slavic
department. 1t seemed natural that
the leader of the first Russian revo-
luton should want to see the Decla-
ration. There was Ras Destu, son-in-
law of King Halle Selassie, dark
skinned, but of regal bearing. And
the brother of Japan's Emperor-de-
scendant of the sun who paid his trib-
ute In silence.
"Only once have I had any real
trouble. It was with wild-looking
man who tried to break into the docu-
mentS, claiming they had been stolen
from him and that he'd come to get
them. They took him away and we
afterward learned that he had escaped
from q lunatic asylum.
EMIL LUDWIG, eminent biographer
- and historian, stood in the visi-
tors gallery with Mr.. Roberts, SUPER
intendent of the reading room, look
ing down into the well Of readers.
L