Ten Years in Washington or, Inside Life and Scenes in Our National Capital as a Woman Sees Them ... to Which Is Added a Full Account of the Life and Death of President James A. Garfield

CHAPTER XIII.

Chapter 13113 wordsPublic domain

THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY.

Inside the Library—The Librarian—Sketch of Mr. Spofford—How Congressional Speeches are Manufactured—“Spofford” in Congress—The Library Building—Diagram—Dimensions of the Hall—The Iron Book Cases—The Law Library—Five Miles of Book Shelves—Silent Study—“Abstracting” Books—Amusing Adventure—A Senator in a Quandary—Making Love Under Difficulties—Library Regulations—Privileged Persons—Novels and their Readers—Books of Reference—Compared with the British Museum—Curious Old Newspapers—Files of Domestic and Foreign Papers—One Hundred Defunct Journals—An Incident of the War of 1814—Putting it to the Vote—“Carried Unanimously”—35,000 Volumes Destroyed—Treasurers of Art Consumed—The New Library—The Next Appropriation, 127