Philadelphia F. L. Mr. Thomson writes: "The library has now the largest circulation in the world, having issued 1,349,070 v. during the year ending Dec. 31, 1896." The Chestnut Hill branch of the library was opened Feb. 1. This branch was formerly the Christian Hall Library Company of Chestnut Hill, but has now been transferred to the management of the Free Library, which has added about 2000 v. to the 8000 books in the original collection. Philadelphia Mercantile L. (74th rpt.-year ending Jan. 1, '97.) Added 3134; total 179,922. Issued 70,737; no. visitors 285,553 (Sundays and holidays 12,950). Receipts $19,379.22; expenses $17,296.21. Pittsburgh, Pa. Carnegie L. At a recent board meeting the trustees voted to appropriate $100 for the present year in aid of the work of the A. L. A. Publishing Section. Mr. G. A. Macbeth, chairman of the library committee, introduced the resolution and explained that at the Cleveland meeting of the A. L. A. he had been much impressed with Mr. Iles' plans for the appraisal of literature, and that he thought the work of the Publishing Section deserved the practical support of libraries. Portland (Ore.) L. A. (Rpt., 1896.) Added 963; total 23,887. Issued, home use 31,579 (fict. 69.7%). Membership 582. Receipts, general fund $3575.79, book fund $1877.30; expenses, general fund $3568.02, book fund $1648.96. "The financial condition of the association has compelled the most rigid economy in current expenses, including reductions in salaries, and it is believed that the directors have gone as far in that direction as possible, without injury to the library. Increasing use is being made of the library for purposes of reference and research by members of study clubs and by private students." There has been an increase of 26.6% over the circulation of the preceding year, and a de crease of 1.2% in the issue of fiction. Providence (R. I.) P. L. On Feb. 16 a special meeting of the trustees was held, and it was formally voted to accept the gift of $200,000, made by John Nicholas Brown, for a new library building. The only conditions imposed by Mr. Brown in connection with his magnificent gift are that the trustees shall raise the $100,000 balance necessary to complete the building already designed, and that they shall have removed all the buildings now situated on the library property where the new structure is to stand. The need of better accommodations for the library have been long before the people of Providence, and have already been presented in the JOURNAL by Mr. Foster (L. J. 21: 364-368). The structure planned to meet the needs of the library, was, however, much beyond the means at the disposal of the trustees, and the only course practicable seemed to be the construction of a part of the building, cramping and injuring its full usefulness. In the spring of 1890 Mr. Foster issued an appeal to the people of Providence, reciting these facts and asking subscriptions toward the necessary $300,000, but only $1013 was received in response. Now Mr. Brown's generosity removes the difficulties and clears the way to the establishment of the library in a spacious, fitting, and permanent home. Quincy (Ill.) F. P. L. The circulation for January, 7802, was the largest for one month in the history of the library. The Quincy Medical Association on Feb. 10 made application for a room in the library, in which they would be glad to establish a medical library for reference use. The application was granted, and the association has put its collection in charge of the library. Richmond, Va. Rosemary L. The trustees announce that unless more subscribers are secured for the library, and its income is materially increased by June 1, it will be necessary to close it for lack of funds on that date. The library was established in 1891, with an endowment of $4000 from Mrs. Thomas Nelson Page; membership dues were fixed at $3 yearly. Its receipts have never exceeded $1oco a year, and its expenses amount to about $1800. Salem (Mass.) P. L. (8th rpt. - year ending Dec. 31, '96.) Added 2371; total 33,078. 2330 v. have been bound at a total cost of $1038.15, an average of 44%1⁄2 c. per v. Issued, home use 109,117 (fict. 84.62 %); reading-room attendance 50,000. There are now 179 periodicals on file, of which 22 are gifts. Receipts $16,606 05; expenses $12,441.74. library should be known so that any person or "Feeling it important that the needs of the persons who may contemplate giving or betell just what direction such gift should take, queathing money to the library may be able to the trustees present with this report a plan for an addition to the library building which, in using the library and which can be economitheir opinion, will be satisfactory to the public cally conducted and be reasonably safe against fire." Three plans are shown, one for each floor, by which provision is made for housing 100,000 v., instead of as at present 35,000, for a reference-room with space for 15,000 v. for a class or study room, and for a women's or children's reading-room. The cost of this addition is estimated at $50,000. Scranton (Pa.) P. L. (6th rpt.— year ending Dec. 31, '96.) Added 3157; total 27,943. Isref. use 4102. sued, home use 155,072 (fict. and juv. 79.81%); New registration 3846; total cards in use 8366. Receipts, $11,533; expenses $10,716.82. Sheboygan, Wis. The common council on Feb. 15 passed an ordinance providing that seven per cent. of all license money received be used to establish a free public library. The late James H. Mead bequeathed $20,000 to be used for a free library by the city. This money is invested, and when it becomes available, will be used in aid of the library. ous friends, the number of books grew steadily, keeping pace with the registration and the demand for literature. It thus resulted that from average daily loans of 113 volumes in January, from a stock of 3721 volumes, the issues of the library rose almost uninterruptedly to an average of 416 volumes daily from a stock of 8270 volumes in November. At the end of the year, much to the surprise of every one, and not the least to the board of trustees, it appeared that the total use of the library had aggregated Washington, D. C. Crandall public document bill. In the Washington Post of Feb. 23 a communication was printed from Mr. Pitman Pulsifer, private secretary of Senator Hale and clerk of the committee on printing, opposing the provisions of Mr. Crandall's bill to improve the printing and binding methods of the public documents," on the ground that what it seeks to accomplish is already provided for by the existing law, passed Jan. 12, 1895. Mr. Crandall, in the Post of Feb. 25, answers this letter fully, reciting the insufficiency of exist-100,446 volumes; that the average daily circuing provisions and describing the short and simple solution of the difficulties supplied by the proposed bill. This solution lies in taking the executive reports and serial works out of the numbered series of the congressional documents. It is true there is no law for this numbering, but it is a very ancient custom, and if Congress refuses to take the responsibility of abolishing it, is it reasonable to expect the Public Printer to do so?" The results of the present system, "which make the public documents grotesquely unusable and an affront to the intelligence of the country, will, in all probability, never be cured until Congress enacts positive prohibitory legislation of the kind embodied in the so-called Crandall bill." 66 lation had been 333.7 volumes; that the number of persons registered as borrowers reached 6666; that the number of volumes in the library had increased to 8531, and that there was a surplus in the treasury sufficient to pay the expenses of the opening month of 1897." Washington, D. C. U. S. Congressional L. On Feb. 10 two clerks employed in the Congressional Library were arrested by the Secret Service officers, charged with theft of many of the most valuable autograph letters and documents deposited in the library. The men arrested, Philip McElhone and Lewis McK. Turner, were committed to jail in default of $3000 bail. The robberies, it has been ascertained, were effected by means of duplicate keys, and have been in progress, it is said, since last August. The room in which the stolen documents were kept was one of the upper cham to the change of quarters to the new building is believed to have facilitated the thefts. One of the most important documents stolen was a diary of George Washington of 1784, and a letter of inquiry concerning this, received from a New York Washington (D. C.) F. L. (1st rpt. - year ending Dec. 31, '96.) 'The library was opened to the public on Jan. 6, 1896, with 3151 v.; there were added during the year 5380 v., mak-bers of the library, and the confusion incident ing the total number now in the library 8351." The registration amounts to 6666 persons. There were issued for home use 83,066 v. (fict. 77%), and 636 non-fiction cards are in use. After the first few months free access was given to all books, a concession that has proved "bene-dealer to whom it had been offered, was the ficial to the public and economical to the library." Only one book is unaccounted for. There are two travelling libraries in use, one of 100 v. loaned to the Y. M. C. A., the other, 30 v., in use by the Workingmen's Club. "These volumes are loaned under the most liberal conditions, being issued on a single card which is renewed every 14 days. The association borrowing the volumes (which are in all cases duplicates) is not required to keep an exact record of the circulation and is not held responsible for the loss of any volume, it being believed that losses of this character, unavoidable even under the best management, will be compensated for by the resultant good from the circulation of the volumes." Gen. Greely, president of the association, says: "It cannot fail to be a source of gratification, and especially of wonder, that this association, beginning its active work Jan. 6. 1896, in two small rented rooms, with only 3151 books, mostly gifts, should in the first year circulate upwards of 100,000 volumes. No effort was made to stimulate the circulation; indeed, the small number of volumes at the beginning constrained the board of trustees to decline the issuance of non-fiction and teachers' cards, for fear that the ordinary demands could not be met by the stock in hand. From month to month, however, through gener means of revealing the whole affair. This dealer had a short time previously received a letter offering for sale certain autograph letters. Later two young men called upon him and he made some purchases. After this there was further communication, and then came an offer of the Washington diary. He became suspicious and wrote a letter to one of the senators, inquiring if any of the government's collection of documents were missing. The senator replied negatively, apparently not concerning himself much about the inquiry. This did not satisfy the dealer, whose suspicion was further aroused by the low price put on the diary. The Secretary of the Treasury was written to, and at last the Secret Service officers started to investigate. Inquiry at the different departments showed that nothing of the nature described had been stolen. Then the detectives went to the capitol and an examination of the autograph files by Librarian Spofford resulted in the discovery that nearly 100 documents were missing. Proofs were finally traced to Turner and McElhone, who were described by the New York dealer, and both men, on examination, admitted having offered the documents for sale, but said that they had not abstracted them from the library. A number of the stolen documents, 350 in all, were returned to Chief Hazen, of the Secret Service, from his officers in New York on Feb. 16, hav-tung, and presented by him to the City Library ing been recovered from the various dealers of Frankfort. The collection includes over and other persons who had bought them from 6000 v., and is especially rich in German hisTurner and McElhone. The actual number of tory, philology, and literature from the 15th documents stolen has not yet been stated. It century to modern times. The library is to is said that a special congressional committee be kept as a separate collection and will be will be appointed to investigate the matter. known as the Gustav Freytag Library. Johannesburg, South Africa. The Johannesburg Public Library will soon remove to a fine new building, which has been in process of construction for some time past, and which will cost $ICO,000. Its present quarters are cramped and inadequate. Williamsburg, Mass. Meekins L. The library building given to the town of Williamsburg by the late Stephen Meekins was dedicated on the evening of Feb. 1. The exercises were held at the Congregational church. The building, which cost about $12,000, is one story, 40 by 50 feet, and of classic design. The Leipzig. The library of the late Prof. Émile exterior walls are of rock-faced granite with Du Bois Reymond, of Berlin, has recently been Ohio sandstone trimmings. Entrance to the main hall is through a lobby with polished put upon the market by Gustave Fock, of Leipgranite columns on each side. The main hallzig. The collection comprises about 14.000 is in the centre of the building, 22 feet long and physics, philosophy, and allied sciences; many volumes and pamphlets relating to physiology, 12 feet wide, covered by a dome and ceiling of them contain comments and annotations by light of stained glass. To the right of this Prof. Du Bois Reymond. It includes also a hall is the stack-room, 16 by 30 feet and 12 feet number of valuable sets of scientific journals high, this being the uniform height of all the and series. The collection is priced at 22,000 m. rooms. The stacks are built to accommodate 10,000 volumes, but they can be raised and the capacity doubled. At the further end of the hall is the private office of the librarian, 10 by 12 feet. At the left of the front entrance is the reading-room, 22 by 16 feet, and back of this is the reference-room, 15 by 16 feet. The rooms are lighted with large plate-glass windows, which have ornamental transoms of stained glass. The building is heated with hot air and lighted with gas. In the basement is the town vault. The library starts work with about 8000 V., 2400 of which were transferred from the local library association. FOREIGN. Aberdeen (Scotl.) P. L. (12th rpt. -year ending Sept. 30, '96.) Added 1938; total 45,221 (21,104 in ref. dept.). Issued, home use 199,500 (fict. 50.93%); ref. use 15.769; readingroom 52,529. There were 8398 borrowers' tickets issued, of which 676 were extra non-fiction cards. The plan of allowing free access to a large collection of books in the reference-room has worked well, and has led to the exhibition, for choice and examination in open cases, of all new books added to the various departments. Electric light was installed in the library building during the year. Since January the library has been recognized as a branch of the Emigrants' Information Office, established at Westminster under the direction of the Colonial Office for the purpose of supplying intending emigrants with accurate and trustworthy information respecting the colonies. The result has been the dissemination of a large number of governmental circulars and handbooks, and there is reason to think that in this way a considerable service has been rendered to many in the town and surrounding districts." Frankfort-on-Main. The library of Gustav Freytag was recently purchased by Leopold Sonneman, proprietor of the Frankfürter Zei G. Hedeler, of Leipzig, offers for sale a fine private collection of works on electricity, gathered since 1850 by a well-known electrician and engineer. It contains 2000 books and about 5000 pamphlets and periodicals, and is rich in publications relating to early telegraphy; of recent issues it includes only rarer and more expensive works. The collection is fully cataloged. Gifts and Bequests. Battle Creek, Mich. By the will of Charles Willard, who died on Feb. 1, the sum of $40,ooo is bequeathed to Battle Creek for a public library. Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. By the will of the late Peter Kerlen, of St. Thomas, Pa, the library of Franklin and Marshall College will receive about $10,000 as an endowment for the purchase of books. This is the second gift the library of the college has received this year, the first being the De Peyster library building, work on which has already begun. University of Texas, Austin. On Feb. 22, Swante Palm, of Austin, presented to the university library his valuable private library of 25,000 v. Mr. Palm, who was born in Sweden in 1815, has lived in Texas for 53 years, and for the past 31 years has been Swedish viceconsul in Austin; in 1883 King Oscar of Sweden conferred upon him the order of Knights of Warsaw. His library is a miscellaneous collection, with a special tendency toward works on art. Winona, Minn. On Feb. 6, W. H. Laird, of Winona, offered to present to the city of Winona a public library building to cost $40,000, on condition that the city furnish the site, and also increase the tax levy for the support of the library from of a mill to one mill for a period of 10 years, the tax levy after that period to be never less than mill. Librarians. BULLOCK, Miss Edna Dean, of the New York State Library School, class of '94, has recently gone to Nebraska City, Neb., to organize the public library and supervise its arrangement in the new quarters provided by Mr. Joy Morton. Miss Sutermeister is a graduate of the New York State Library School, class of '90. DYCHE-BENNETT. On Feb. 11, Miss May L. Bennett, of the Armour Institute Library staff, was married to William A. Dyche, mayor of Evanston, Ill. Miss Bennett was a member of the New York State Library School, class of '94 (undergraduate), and was active in library work in Chicago, being for over a year secretary of the Chicago Library Club. MACK, Miss Katharine M., for two years assistant-in-charge of the Astral branch of the Pratt Institute Free Library, has been appointed librarian of the Public Library of Westfield, N. Y. METCALF, Miss Anna, librarian of the Harris Institute Library of Woonsocket, R. I., has been granted six months' leave of absence for foreign travel. She will go abroad on March 31, and will spend much of the summer in Germany. During her absence Miss Ama H. Ward, of Amherst, Mass., will have charge of the Institute library. ROBBINS, Miss Mary E., of the New York State Library School, class of '92, is arranging and cataloging the Port Jervis (N. Y.) Free Library. STOCKWELL, George W. C., of the New York State Library School, class of '95 (undergraduate), is cataloging and classifying the Y. M. C. A. Library of Ware, Mass. Cataloging and Classification. ALDEN, H. W. The decimal index in the drafting-room. (In American Machinist, Feb. 4, 1897, 20: 99.) 41⁄2 col. Mr. Alden describes his method of indexing drawings and patterns. "I do not propose the adoption of that part of Mr. Dewey's classification devoted to mechanical engineering, because it is far too general in its nature at pres of any drafting-room forms too small a part of the general subject of mechanical engineering to permit the use of even a perfect classification of that subject, as the subdivisions would have to be carried too far." Mrs. W. M. Cornutt has been elected librarian. BURCHARD, E. L., librarian of the Field Co-ent, and not sufficiently subdivided. The work lumbian Museum, of Chicago, has recently severed his connection with that institution, and Mr. Juul Dieserud, formerly assistant librarian, has received the appointment as his successor. Mr. Dieserud holds three degrees from the Royal University of Christiania, Norway, where for years he applied himself to the study of philology, ancient and modern. He has been with Mr. Burchard as his only assistant since the opening of the museum. The library now numbers 8000 books and about the same number of pamphlets, all on scientific subjects. DAVIS, Miss Florence, has been appointed librarian of the Rockville (Ct.) Free Library, succeeding Miss Keating, resigned. Miss Davis has had several years' experience in the Hartford (Ct.) Public Library. DELAP-SUTERMEISTER. Miss Louise M. Sutermeister, librarian of the Eau Claire (Wis.) Public Library, was married on Dec. 24, 1896, to Silas Charles Delap, of Kansas City, Mo. BRÜMMER, Franz. Lexikon der deutschen Dichter und Prosaisten der 19. Jahrhunderts. 4th ed., enl. Leipzig, Reclam, 1896. 2 V., 477, 455 p. (Reclam's Universal Bibl., nos. 1981 5 m. 1990 and 3531-3540.) cl. Contains biographies of 4800 authors, an increase of 1400 over those in the third edition. The list of pseudonyms also has been considerably enlarged. CARNEGIE F. L., Allegheny, Pa. Catalogue of fiction: Supplement no. I, includir g additions from Jan., 1895, to Jan., 1897. Authors-titles. 58 p. O. In the preface Mr. Stevenson explains his reasons for withdrawing from circulation some of the trashier class of novels; following is a "list of books no longer on the shelves," in which is recorded the names of the authors who have been dropped. These include Alger, "Robert Appleton," C. M. Braeme, "G. Colmore," Martha Finley, May Agnes Fleming, Fosdick ("Harry Castlemon "), A. C. Gunter, Mrs. Holmes, E. P. Roe, L. Rousselet, Mrs. Southworth, Mrs. Terhune ("Marion Harland"), Augusta Evans Wilson, Virginia Woods. The CARNEGIE L. (Pittsburgh) Bulletin for February contains a short reading list (2 p.) on Richard Wagner. A CHURCH reference library. (In Outlook, Feb. 20, 1897, 55548.) 2 p. A classified comprehensive list of books helpful to Sunday-school teachers and others interested in Bible study. DENVER (Colo.) P. L. has recently issued "Trades Assembly list no. 1," a list of books, magazines, articles, etc., dealing with the history of labor unions (53 titles), of which copies have been distributed to 2000 members of local labor unions. "Trades Assembly list no. 2" relates to money, banking, bimetallism, etc., and includes 131 titles; it is compiled by F. D. Tandy. The report of the teachers' institute held in Denver, Oct. 31, 1896, compiled by Mr. Dana and published by School District no. I, Denver, contains, p. 42-52, an interesting "list of books on drawing, art, and allied subjects in the Public Library." LOWELL (Mass.) CITY L. Bulletin for February contains Reference list no. 3, on municipal government (9 p.). NEW BEDFORD (Mass.) F. P. L. Bulletin for N. Y. F. L. OF The General SOCIETY OF ME. Monthly bulletin of new books, no. 1: additions during January - February, 1897. PATERSON (N. J.) F. P. L. Bulletin for January contains reference lists on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and a classed list on Italian painting supplied with brief critical notes by Prof. J. C. Van Dyke, of Rutgers College. The PROVIDENCE (R. I.) P. L. Bulletin for February contains reference lists 41 and 42, on Mendelssohn and the oratorio of Elijah," and " Schubert," and special catalog no. II, listing additions to the " School duplicate collection." The SALEM (Mass.) P. L. Bulletin devotes its chief special reading list in the February number to London; there are also short lists on Philip Gilbert Hamerton and the Best books of 1895 literature. The SOMERVILLE (Mass.) P. L. Bulletin for February lists all the German books in the library, and has also a short reading list on Cuba. The WALTHAM (Mass.) P. L. Bulletin for February has a special classed list on Germany, embracing history, biography, historical fiction, travel, literature, and art (6 p.). CHANGED TITLES. "The land o' the leal," by David Lyall, [Dodd, N. Y.], is the same as "Heather from the brae," by David Lyall [Revell, N. Y.], except that it has three additional stories, and the stories are differently grouped. Is there no way of stopping such frauds upon the public? JOHN EDMANDS. FULL NAMES. The following are supplied by Harvard College Library: Camp, Cyrus Carpenter (Labor, capital, and money; their just relations); Farnham, Amos W: (Oswego normal method of teaching geography); Franceschi, Francesco (Santa Barbara exotic flora); Giffin, W: Milford (Supplementary work in arithmetic. Pt. I. Lines); Howe, Herbert Alonzo (Elements of descrip N. Y. MERCANTILE L. Bulletin of new books, tive astronomy); no. 17, October, 1896. 44 p. O. The N. Y. P. L. Bulletin for February contains among other interesting notes a 6-p. list of "periodicals relating to language and philology in the New York Public Library and Columbia University Library." The OSTERHOUT F. L. (Wilkesbarre, Pa.) Newsletter continues in its February number the excellent series of reading notes on English history from Edward 1. to Richard II. The OTIS L. (Norwich, Cts) Bulletin for January has a short reference list on the History of the Christian Church, compiled at the request of a local Epworth League. In the February number is a short reading list on English literature, to be used in connection with the series of lectures on the subject delivered by Mr. Richard Burton. Howell, Edwin Cull, and Young, Franklin Knowles (The minor tactics of chess); Jackson, Robert Tracy (Methods of labelling trees and plants); Kelsey, Francis Willey (The Presbyterian church and the University of Michigan); Lighthill, E: Bunford, and August P. (A popular treatise on deafness); Pidgin, C: Felton (The lord of the sea); Smith, J: L. (Mapa de la isla de Cuba); Wenley, Robert M: (Contemporary theology and theism); Wetmore, C: A: (Treatise on wine production); Wright, C: Herbert, and Wing, C: B: (A manual of bridge drafting). "An Spahr, C: Barzillai, Ph.D., author of essay on the present distribution of wealth in the United States." N. Y. [c. 1896.] W: J. J. |