228 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



the oeilino- and plastering of the upper hall of the main building-. By 

 the close of the fiscal year 1892 this work was practically completed, 

 though with the expenditure of only a part of the appropriation, and 

 in his report for that year Secretary Langley states: 



I would especially urge that the balance of this appropriation, unexpended by 

 reason of a limiting clause introduced in the act, on account of which the money is 

 not available for certain repairs originally contemplated, should be now made avail- 

 able by Congress for increasing the storage room in the east wing of the building, 

 and at the same time that certain rooms be fitted for the special needs of the Gov- 

 ernment Exchange Bureau, now occupying rooms in the main building urgently 

 needed for other purposes. 



This request was granted by Congress in the sundry civil act for 

 1894, as follows: 



For completing the repairs upon the Smithsonian l)uilding, and for such other 

 work as is needed to protect the l)uilding from further deterioration and to place it 

 in proper sanitary condition, any unexpended balance remaining to the credit of the 

 appropriation for fireproofing, etc., shall l)e availal^le for the purposes above stated; 

 this work to be done under the direction of the Architect of the Capitol and in accord- 

 ance with the approval of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. (Stat. 

 XXVII, 582.) 



The use made of the unexpended balance ai)ove referred to is thus 

 described in the report of the Secretary for 1893: 



A restrictive clause contained in the appropriation of August 30, 1890, for repairs 

 to the Smithsonian building w as removed by a clause in the sundry civil act for the 

 year ending June 30, 1894, so that a portion of the amount unexpended became avail- 

 able for making necessary repairs to the roof of the eastern wing and improving the 

 sanitary condition of the building, as well as for increasing the space available for 

 storing documents and handling the Government exchanges. The plumbing in the 

 eastern part of the building has been thoroughly overhauled and a suite of dark and 

 damp rooms in the basement, on the south side, has been transformed into well- 

 lighted and comfortable offices, thus freeing several rooms upon the first floor, needed 

 for other purposes, and making it possible to handle more expeditiously the great 

 number of books passing through the exchange office, though even with these new 

 rooms additional storeroom for the Government exchanges will be called for at no 

 distant day. 



Other small changes at the east end of the building, made mainly 

 at the expense of the Smithsonian fund, are described as follows in the 

 reports for 1894 and 1895: 



The narrow windows and the small diamond panes of glass admit so little light 

 that in winter days some of the rooms where clerical work is carried on need to be 

 artificially lighted, and in all cases the occupants lose the advantage of w^hat ought 

 to be abundant light, considering their open surroundings in the middle of a park. 

 I think it well to state that while I should have made many more changes in the 

 interest of the comfort and health of the clerical occupants of the building if I had 

 had the means to do so, I have never felt at liberty to alter the external appearance 

 of the building when alteration could possibly be avoided, and I have therefore never 

 authorized the enlargement of any of the apertures in the stone w'ork or made any 

 changes of this kind which could be understood as modifying the structural features 

 (except in improving the sanitary conditions of the basement), and when any change 



