NATIONAL Ml'SEUM BUILDINGS. 209 



The rafteri^ were net on lire, and before the burning was discovered tlie entire wood- 

 work under the covering was in flames. The progress of tlie fire was so rapid that 

 but few of the contents of the upper rooms could be removed before the roof fell in. 

 The flames soon extended to the large towers, and, as these acted as high chimneys, 

 they greatly increased the intensity of the combustion. The conflagration was only 

 stayed by the incoml)ustible materials of the main building. Had the original plan 

 of constructing the interior of the edifice in wood and plaster been fully carried out, 

 the whole structure would have been destroyed and the valuable library and rich 

 collections of specimens of natural history entirely lost. 



The aperture which deceived the workmen was probably made ])y those who origi- 

 nally plastered the building. It occupied a middle point between two windows, and 

 from its position would naturally lead to the infei'ence that it was designed to con- 

 duct the products of combustion directly into the chimney, from which it was only 

 separated by the thickness of a single brick. For what reason it had not been 

 placed in the middle between the two windows is unknown. It is remembered that 

 some ten years previous to the fire this opening was during several weeks* used for 

 the insertion of a stove pipe, without suspicion of accident at the time; but in the 

 interval the wood had undergone a process of drying which rendered it more com- 

 Inistible. 



Constantly impressed with the fact that the interior of the two w'ings and the con- 

 necting ranges were constructed of combustible material, I have always felt great 

 anxiety on account of the liability to conflagration of these parts of the building. 

 The rest of the edifice, with the exception of the interior of the towers, was sup- 

 posed to be secure from injury of this nature. A night watch was constantly kept, 

 barrels and buckets filled with water were placed at suitable points, and strict rules 

 were adopted prohibiting the carrying of exposed lights, as well as the practice of 

 smoking, in any part of the edifice. That these precautions were unavailing has been 

 seen, the fire having been communicated at a point where danger was least sus- 

 pected, and in a manner which rendered its occurrence sooner or later almost 

 inevitable. 



The weather at the time was extremely cold, and before the engines could be 

 brought into operation the whole of the roof was in flames. Commencing at the 

 west end of the center building, the flames were driven by the wind, which blew 

 from that direction eastwardly, and, fortunately, away from the library, in the west 

 wing. The destruction of the roof of the main building involved that of the con- 

 tents of the rooms immediately beneath it and also those of the three principal 

 towers adjacent. In the former were the Indian portrait gallery, the lecture room, 

 an<l the apparatus room. The first of these contained the large collection of paint- 

 ings by Mr. Stanley and a series of Indian portraits belonging to the Government. 

 The lecture room was constructed on acoustic and optical principles, and not only 

 answered perfectly the ends for which it was immediately intended, but had served 

 also as a model for lecture rooms in various parts of the country. The apparatus 

 room contained the principal part of the articles presented by the late Dr. Robert 

 Hare, and a large number of instruments of recent construction intended both for 

 ilhistrationand original research. 



The losses in the south tower were, first, the contents of the Regents' room, 

 including the personal effects of Smithson; second, those of a large room above it, in 

 which were stored the private library of Reverend Doctor Johns, of \'irginia, and the 

 public library of Beaufort, South Carolina, deposited thereat the request of Hon. Mr. 

 Stanton, for preservation until the end of the war; and, third, in the attic, a targe col- 

 le(;tion of public documents and i-omplete sets of the Smithsonian Reports, intended 

 for distribution. The effects of Smithson had but little intrinsic value, and were 

 chiefly prized as mementos of the founder of the Institution. They consisted of a 

 number of articles of chemical and physical apparatus, such as were used by him in 



NAT MLS 1903 14 



