Evening Star Newspaper, June 25, 1922, Page 57

Part 4—8 Pages l FICTION l | E . MAGAZINE SECTION Sunday Shar. WASHINGTON, D. C, i T SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 25, 1922, Nation’s Big Li_'brary, Combines Beauty, Usefulness, Inspiration Wonderful Structure Houses About Three Million Vol- umes, Representing More Than Eighty Languages—I1as102 Miles of Shelving in Use — Whole Block Was Razed to Make Room for Building. BY JAMES A. BUCHANAN. {E Congressional Library is the . most beautiful edifice of its kind in the world. It is also the third largest. The structure faces the Capitol of the mation. An catire block was razed to procure the site. The building was started in 1589 and completed in 1897. The cost, exclusive of the site, was more than six million dollars. Itallan renais- sance is the style of architecture. The building has three. storles and » dome. The building proper covers nearly three and one-half acres of ground, bsmg 470x340 feet. There are four large inner courts, 150x75 to 100 feet. The two thousand windows add in making it the best lighted Li- brary in the world. There is the great central rotunda, which is the reading room. From this radiate the bookstacks and the numerous galleries and pavilions. White granite from New Hampshire was used for the exterior walls, the inner courts being constructed of Maryland granite and white enam- eled bricks. On the ground floor is the superin- tendent's office. The first floor con- tains the reading room, the librarian’s room, the room devoted to the use of senators and representatives, the map room and the periodical reading room. On the second floor are the pavilions and galleries where one finds the ex- hibits of engravings and other collec- tions. such as rare books, portraits of the Presidents and other distinguished personages, first editions, etc. * % % * ‘HE dome, pronounced by critics the most beautiful of its kind in existence, is finished in black copper, the panels being gilded with a thick oating of gold leaf. While to the average reader this gold-leaf roof may seem to have been a bit of ex- travagance, yet it really has proved to be a most economic and satisfac- tory roofing. The cresting of the dome above the lantern, which is 185 feet from the ground, terminates ip gilded finial, representing the torch of science, ever burning. There are thirty-three windows in the corner pavilion and the west facade, where one sees' carved heads ropresenting races of mankind. The types employed are: Russian Slav, ond European, brunette European, modern Greek, Persian, Circassian, Hindoo, Hungarian, Jew, Arab, Turk, modern Egyptian, Abyssinian, Malay, Polynesian, Australian, Negrito, Zulu, Papuan, Sudan Negro, Akka, Fue- slan, Botocudo, Pueblo Indian, Eski- mo, Plains Indian, Samoyede, Korean, Japanese, Ainu, Burmese, Tibetan and Chinese. JUST below the stairway leading to the main entrance of the build- ing is the celebrated bronze fountain, “ourt of Neptune,” strikingly béau- tiful and composed of tritcns, sea nymphs, frogs, seahorses, turtles and serpeats. There are sixteen rounded ‘pillars with Corinthian capltals at the en- tranee pavillon. Four colossal at- lantes support the pediment, on which arp sculptured American eagles with supporting figures of children. The ne colossal portraits in granite rep- esent Emerson and Irving, Goethe, Franklin, Macaulay, Hawthorne, Scott, * ¥ K Demesthenes and Dante.. Over the entrance are sculptures typifying Literature, Science and Art. The oronse doors Tepresent Printing, ‘whieh shows Minerva presiding over the “diffusion of the products of the typographical art.” Thereisa legend, “Homage to Gutenberg,” the inventor of printing. Another bronze door represents Writing. Here is shown a mother structing her child from the writ- ten record of the scroll. There is an Egyptian scribe with his stylus, a Jewlish patriarch, a Greek with his lyre and a Christlan with his cross. The bronze door, Tradition, typifies a woman reciting her story to a boy, while her listeners are four repre- sentative types of mankind—a Norse warrior, with winged cap and battle ax; a shepherd, with his crook; a primitive man, with his stone ax, and an American Indian, with his arrows. The Indian figure Is a por- . trait of Chief Joseph of the Nexz Perces. JENTERING the vestibule, one faces: the beautiful central stair hall, | lined with fine Italian marble and; polished to a high degree. On the! sides are rounded columns with carv- ed capitals of Corinthian design. The arches are adorned with marble| rosettes, palm leaves and foliated dg- signs. The height of this entrance hall is sevesdy-two feet. There are twenty-six miniature marble flgures, representing in- em- blematic sculpture the various arts and sciences. In the south stairway railing the sculptures are: Mechanic with cog-wheel, hunter with rabbit, vintager with grapes and wine-glass, farmer with sickle and sheaf of 'wheat, fisherman with rod and fish, soldier with helmet, chemist with blowpipe and cook with steaming: pot. " The buttress figures are of [America and Africa, supporting & lobe showing these continents. On he balustrade above are Comedy, and Poetzn * kK k The figures of the north stairway are: Gardener with rake and spade; entomologist with net and specimen case; student with mortar-board, cap and book; printer in paper cap with press and type; musician with lyre and music book; physician with mor- tar, retort and serpent; electriclan with telephone and electric light, and astronomer with telescope, globe and compasses. On the buttress are Eu- rope (with lyre, book and column) and Asia (with dragon vase). The balustrade figures are Painting, Architecture and Sculpture. In the cove of the ceiling are Martiny's fly- ing half-figures supporting the de- vice of lamp and book. Tablets bear the names of Moses, Herodotus, Dante, Homer, Milton, Bacon, Aris: totle, Goethe, Shakespeare, Moliere, Cervantes, Hugo, Scott, Cooper, Long- fellow, Tennyson, Gibbon and Ban- croft. \ * ok k% 7THE points of the compass radlate from a conventional sun inlald in brass in the floor, surrounded by the signs of the zodiac. At either side are the pavilions and corridors with paint ings to depict that which goes to make up an education. Here one may gaze upon beautiful decorations showing the muse of lyric poetry, Uriel, Boy of ‘Winnader, Comus, Adonis, Endymion, Ganymede, joy and memory, Paris at the court of Menelaus and Helen, Bellerophen, Pergeus, Prometheus, The- seus, Achilles, Hercules, Jason, Orpheus, government, good administration, peace and prosperity, corrupt legislation, anarchy, the - cairn, oral tradition, hieroglyphics, the pictograph, the ‘manuseript, the printing press, floating scroll bearers, the family, labor, study, recreation, rest, religion, Clio-history, Thalia-gayety, pastoral life and comedy, Enterpe—lyric poetry, mistress of song; ‘Terpsichore—choral dance; Urania— astronomy; Calliope—epic poetry and eloquence; Erato—love poetry; Poly- hymnia—inspired song, sacred music. In the reading room devoted to the use of members of the House of Repre- sentatives are rich and beautiful mosaic mantels. Law is represented by.a ‘woman of radiant countenance with the aegis, enthroned upon & dais, while at her .feet are doves of peace, a bound volume of the statutes and the scales of justice. In her hand she holds the palm branch toward truth with. her llies, peace bearing & twig of olive, artisan’s cap and hammer, while interposed is's sword halting , fraud, discord: with malign serpents,.-and violence . with R 8 iif That devoted to hjstory shows the recording pen and gold-clasped volume. The panels contain the names of greht historians such as Herodotus, Thucy- dides, Polybius, Livy, Tacitus, Baeda, de Comines, Hume, Gibbon, Niebuhr, BY W. D. HORNADAY. SAN ANTONIO, Tex:, June 24. ITH a tuning fork and & flying ‘mammal a scientist rids the world of one of > its deadliest diseases. The dark and secretive bat, with its wings of velvet and sable, performs this service while the world sleeps. Ma- laria, the disease that competes With tuberculosis and cancer in its heavy toll of life, has found its demise when science protects and shelters the bat as the natural enémy of the malarial mosquito. Preparing a home-- for. bats and safeguarding the life of each bat with a fine of $5 to $200 were the results of Dr. Charles A .R. Camp- bell's discoveries and sclentific work ! with, bats and mosquitoes. It was in San Antonio, the home of. Dr. Camp- bell, that the first bat roost was built for the purpose of ridding the city of the pestilential malarial mosquito. For years and years Dr. Campbell experimented ¢n bats to discover why they were immune to ‘the disease that wrought su¢h havoc with human beings. The Tesults of his research have received world-wide ‘attention of scientists. ! 2 It took a great many years for Dr. Campbell to be sure of the ~ause for the differénce between -the suséepti- bility of tlie bat‘and that of other mammals: The great diffefence ‘In the anatomy of the bat 'was found to be In its relatively mueh larger spleen. It is to this that Dr. Camp- bell attributes the ability of the bat to thrive on the malarial earriérs and consume large numbers of engorged mosquitoes without being affected. * % % % IN his experiments witk bats Dr. Campbell has come scross several pecullar characteristics. For in- [ stance, bats ‘abhor jazz. A’ 'phnno«( 'graph; a Jass fecord and a smalliboy You Can Look At Rare Prinls Unlil You Are Dizzr | Guizot, Von Banke, Bancroft and Mot- | ley. On the left is mythology, and be- side her a winged sphinx and Pan- dora’s box. 'To the right is the figure symbolic of tradition, while by her side sits a young poet, who will sing 1lodge infested with bats so startled the mammals in the early morning hours, as they returned to roost, that they flew two miles away, entered another hunting lodge and never re- turned to the one in which they had been living for two years. The explanation of this is that the ear of the bat is so delicate that dis- cordant or strident noises are the most irritating of sensations. So finely tuned is the ear drum of the mammal that no sound below high C will vibrate the drum. Dr. Campbell ascertained this with the use of a tuning fork. A farmer in eastern Texas was Josing great num- bers of cattle from:the effects of the mosquitoes thriving in and around the watering tanks on his farm. He imported bats and soon had a thriv- ing colony, but the mosquitoes did not decrease in number. An investigation showed that the mosquitoes sang & note below high C, and the blind bats were unable to héar and catch them. Another odd thing about bats is that they deposit their dead in bat cemeteries. Heaps of bones found in caves inhabited by bats and in the roosts prove that the bats have a *{ teeling for order and sanitation. The remarkable value of bats as a health service was demonstrated in San’ Antonio, when the malaria-in- fested swamp region around Lake Mitchell, where there was abundant grasing for cattle, was experimented on. It has been sald that formerly it was impossible to build fences around this land bordering thé lake strong enough to hold the cattle. The myr- iads of mosquitoes were not only dangerous on account of their germ- carrying propensities, but they were too painful even for beasts having shoe-leather hides to endure. Dr. Campbell erected a bat roost on a fise in the nelghborhood of the Igke, and in a year'the place was cleared - - A One Hundredth OfAll There Is o See the story she tells. Back of mythology are the pyramids of Egypt, back of history the Parthenon of Greece, and beyond . tradition the Colosseum of Rome. The seven primary colors are shown in the_ ceiling panels, as fol-! had taken their places. The grazing | 1and is now Inhabited by fine healthy cattle, and the farm land is irrigated from the waters of the lake. Malaria is almost unknown among the people dwelling in that locality. * K ok % IT reauires ten to fourteen days for the malarial parasite to develop in the blood of the mosquito after the insect has been infected. With mil- lions of bats flying about each night in search of just such important atoms as mosquitoes, there is little chance that a mosquito lives ten days after it is old enough to fly abroad at night. : : After the success of this campaign against malaria, bat roosts were es- tablished in the southwestern out- skirts of San Antonio. This was so successful in ridding that portion of the city of mosquitoes that the state erected another at the Southwestern Insane Asylum in San Antonlo. An- other was erected at the West Texas Military Academy in Alamo Heights. The residents of the heights took up a collection among themiselves to put up this roost. Summer homes and firms are now taking up the idea and all about that city the country residents are taking this precaution against malaria. Famous naturalists all over the world have become interested and duplicated the scientific construction of the roost as designed by Dr. Camp- bell. The health boards of San-An- tonfo, of Bexer county, and of the state have investigated the mafter and commended Dr. Campbell on his research work, and the legislature of Texas passed the following resolu- tion: 3 “Whereas Dr. C. £. R. Campbell of San. Antonio has rendered the state of Texas and humanity valuable serv- ice in his original and ‘conclusive ex- Happy Homes Provided for Bats ~ In. Campaign for Public Health lows: Indigo, the light of science; | blue, thé light of truth; green, the light of research; yellow, the light of creation; orange, the light of prog- ress; red, the light of poetry, and vio- let, the light of state. by the cultivation of bats, the nat- ural enemy of mosquitoes; and “Whereas the world's greatest san- itarian, Gen. W. C. Gorgas; the board of health of the state of Texas, the San Antonio Medical Society and| other sections have given this nat- ural hygienic measure their unqual- ified indorsement; and “Whereas the Italian government has given special recognition to his work and distinguished service, as well as other forelgn countries; and “Whereas. the colossal economic loss caused by malaria is sufficlent to warrant the state and natlon to give this natural hygienic measure full encouragement; therefore be it “Resolved by the house of repre- sentatives, the' Senate concurring, that the legislature of the state of Texas indorse the work. of Dr. Charles A. R. Campbell in his orig- inal and thoroughly sciemtific work, and respectfilly ‘suggest and -com- mend his. name as worthy of the greatest Nobel prize” * X * % HE malarial diséase ~ destroys almost as much life annually as tuberculosis and cancer, accordipg’.to vital statistics. It is found every- where that.the malarial mosquito lives, and the malarial mosquito lives in. every country im the world that has a warm sesson, including, even Adaska., In tropical countries the lives of the natives are actually shortened by the existénce of in- fected .malarigl mosquitoes, and they are chfefly responsible for the faét that fofsigners often loge their lives in Central Africa and othér hot climates. The service to humanity and the protection of property made possible by Dr. Campbell's research. are "of ‘inestimable value, according and scientists who liave HE celling of the room devoted to _the use of members of the Senate T {1s a gold ground, on which are float- ing female figures. Above the mantel is the shield of the Union, surmounted by the American eagle. On the second floor are paintings of floating female figures, rendered in Pompeifan style on a vermillion back- ground. These show the virtues of fortitude, justice, industry, concordia, prudence, courzge, patriotism and temperance. The other paintings show wisdom, understanding, knowl- edge and philosophy. The small cell- ing panels are symbolic of games played by ancients. Printers’ marks, the distinctive devices answering to trademarks used by printers and pub- lishers, are used as motives. In the vault above the west window are sculptures representing the sibyls, ancient prophetesses who delivered oracles, foretold the future or inter- preted omens. On the border of the grch, in obverse and reverse, is the great seal of the United States. Lit- erature and the fates are also depict- ed. On the walls of the east corridor are portraits of W. H. Prescott, the historian, and J. J. Audubon, the nat- uralist. When the last check-up was made, it showed that on June 30 of last year there were 2,918,256 books and pam- phlets in the library, and it is esti- mated that there will be more than 3,000,000 at the close of the present fiscal year. This, however, does not include more than 2,000,000 other items, such as prints, maps, etc. There are more than eighty languages rep- resented by books in the library, and if the dialects were included this number would run well over the one hundred mark. The largest book: “The Birds of America,” by John J. Audubon, Lon- don, 1827-38, 4 v 99% cm. The small- t' book: Fitsgerald's translation of the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam (thumb-nall size), published by Bur- rows. Brothers, Cleveland; also the New Testament (thumb-nail size), by David Bryce & Son, Glasgow, Scot- land. The oldest book: Durantis Ra- tionale, 1459. e o o HERE have been 1,187,751 copy- rights {ssued in the last ten years. That one may appreciate the im- mensity of the contents of the Con- gressional Library, he can compute how high a monument could be made if the books were placed one upon the other, the average thickness run- ning about one and one-half inches. To house these books the library uses History, Mythology, Literature, Science and Art Have Con- tributed Their Best to the Making of the Famous Congres- sional Library, Vis- ited by People of Washington and Crowds of Tourists. one hundred and two miles of shelv- ing. There are five main book stacks consisting of nine tiers, The most famous collection of books comprises the John Boyd Thatcher collection of Incunabula, printed before 1500, and the Yudin collection of Russian books. The presidents of the United States are represented by printed books and pamphlets, and all but two, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, are represented by manuscript collections. | There is apparently no way of com- y,pulln( the number of people who | visit the Congressional Library each year, and the number of books, pam- Phlet, etc., furnished to the members of the Senate and House of Represen- tatives 1s held as & confidential mat- ter by the librarian. However, it iy known that works consulted by the lawmakers will run into the thou- sands each year, and in order that they may receive the books as speed- 1ly as possible there is an under- ground tunnel running from the li- brary to the capitol, and a telephonia request from either house of Congress results in the desired volume or vol- umes being placed on a carrier and Immediately dispatched from the li- brary to the Capitol, and a telephonic the laws are made. PAR'HC'ULAR emphasis should be placed upon the excellence of tha card-index system that is employed. By this modern method it is possible to locate any desired book in a very short time. The system has been pronounced by experts to be the best in the world. Previous to the erection of the present edifice books of the Con- gressional Library were housed in a section of the Capitel just west of the rotunda; and owing to the lack of space it was indeed difficult to at- tempt any system of arrangement. This handicap, however, was over- come to a great degree by the won- cating any books. Spofford proba- who, with one or two of his assist- ants, seldom had apy trouble in lo- cating any books. Spoffford proba- bly had a greater memory than any other librarian who ever lived. Hun- dreds, yes, thousands of times, he wa asked where such and such a quota- tion could be found, and he never failed to give the senator or repre- sentative the correct answer. This accomplishment on his part brought him in close conmtact with the mna- tion’s lawmakers, and he never fail- ed to advocate the erection of a suita- ble building, with the result that |finally money w appropriated for this purpose. In the great rotunda thousands every year sit at the circular desks and read the books they have sent for. The readers are young and old You will find the young student dili- gently endeavoring to secure infor- mation that will assist him in iy studies. Next to him may be a gray- haired man who for years has beexy a student, while across the aisle i the typical bookworm who lovet books for the benefit they confer upon mankind. A few seats distant yoy will find two young girls reading 3 book. It may be the latest plece of fiction, & volume of ancient history or a 'work on the fashions of yeary ago. Here they sit afternoons and nights some students, some readers and others who are in search of ideas that will help them in their daily oc- cupations. I the section devoted to periodical are men and women from evers ate, eagerly scanning columns the “home town paper.” The Congressional Library is nc place for those who are courting, be cause great signs bearing the word “silence” are placed in numerows Iparts of every room, and while oc- casionally there may be a hurriet hand squeege between beau and matd, the majority of visitors to th Congressional Library reserve theil manifestations of affection for othe: places. The library is open from 9 a.m. tg 10 p.m. every day in the year excepl the Fourth of July and Christmas day. The library is also open on Sun- days from 2 to 10 p.m. The present librarian is Herber! Putnam, who has as his assistant Ap- pleton P. C. Grifin. These gentle. men receive valuable assistance from H. H. B. Meyer and Miss Florenct Hellman. The Congressional Library is not § circulating library. It is used for ref- erence. It is not possible to measurq in dollars and cents the value of the knowledge secured from this mi nificent institution. It is a natlona ssset. * k%% Size of an Atom. ]DURING a lecture delivered befor¢ the Royal Soclety in London Sit Oliver Lodge gave a striking illustra. tion of the incredible minuteness of the atom. The amount of gold In sea water, although very small, seems considerable when stated in atoms, for 2 single droj of sea water contains 56,000,000 atoms of gold. That stupendous figure, how- ever, indicates merely one-fiftieth of a grain in a ton of sea water. and it would take 100,000,000 atoms to be vis. ible under a microscop of the highes -