70 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



tribution and partly by mail directly to their destinations. The 

 number of boxes shipped was 965, a decrease from the preceding 

 year of 929. Of these boxes, 419 were for depositories of full sets of 

 United States governmental documents and the contents of the re- 

 mainder were for depositories of partial sets and for distribution to 

 various establishments and individuals. The number of mail 

 packages was 117,700. 



As stated last year, when a decrease in the work of the office was 

 reported, the falling off in the amount of material handled is due 

 to the interruption of the interchange of publications between the 

 United States and many countries owing to the foreign wars. Ship- 

 ments to nearly all the European countries, as well as to China and 

 places bordering on the Mediterranean, have been suspended tem- 

 porarily. Through special efforts, however, it has been possible dur- 

 ing the latter part of the year to forward large consignments to 

 Sweden and Switzerland. Transmissions were made to Finland 

 and the Soviet Republic almost to the end of the fiscal year, but 

 when those countries became involved in the European war, further 

 shipments to them were suspended. One large consignment was for- 

 warded to Spain during the year and several others were sent to 

 Portugal. Owing to the conditions abroad, however, the Institution 

 cannot follow any regular schedule in the sending of boxes to those 

 two countries. With the exception of one or two short suspensions, 

 there has been no interruption to the transmission of shipments to 

 and from Great Britain, although, owing to the shortage of cargo 

 space, it has not been possible to dispatch consignments as promptly 

 as before the war. 



The British Museum and the London School of Economics and 

 Political Science, both depositories of United States governmental 

 documents, have requested that no further consignments be for- 

 warded to them until the close of the war, because of the possibility 

 of destruction of the material through the bombings of London. 

 The Edinburgh Public Library and the St. Andrews University also 

 have asked that publications for them be stored until the cessation 

 of hostilities. No other requests for the withholding of transmissions 

 have been made by British establishments. 



The very large number of packages for shipment abroad that are 

 being held here awaiting the cessation of the war has over- 

 taxed the space in the Exchange rooms to such an extent that it has 

 been necessary to construct a storage shed in the grounds in the 

 rear of the Smithsonian Building for storing the books. The struc- 

 ture is made of corrugated iron and is substantially built. When 

 the emergency is over, the shed will be used for the storage of empty 

 packing boxes. 



