94 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



The quarters occupied tor storage liaviug beeu found too small for the 

 purpose, a uew building was leased on the 15th of June of the ]>resent 

 year, and the transfer made a short time thereafter. 



In February, 1895, an order was issued defining more particularly the 

 duties of the engineer. 



The chief clerk makes a statement in his report regarding the records 

 of his office, from w^hich the following is taken : 



The originals of all requisitions for purchases, etc., are bound into 

 volumes of convenient size, for ready reference. A record is kept of all 

 bills and vouchers for expenditures on account of appropriations, and 

 every such bill or voucher has a reference to the number of the requisi- 

 tion authorizing the expenditure. Applications for leaves of absence 

 are filed in this office, and a record is kept of those granted, also of all 

 matters pertaining to the personnel of the Museum, except applications 

 for employment, which, after receiving proper action, are filed in the 

 office of the Secretary. Ai)plications for the use of the lecture hall and 

 the stereopticon are also duly recorded. The files of the office contain 

 letters on all subjects pertaining to administrative and financial mat- 

 ters. Letters and documents of all kinds are given a distinctive num- 

 ber, and the letters are carefully indexed under the name of the writer 

 and the subject, the card system being used. When two or more let- 

 ters relate to one subject, they are given the same number and are filed 

 together. It is intended eventually to enter upon the card catalogue 

 all letters contained m the press-copy books, as well as those received 

 and filed. One series of press-copy books contains letters relating to 

 general Museum business, another contains letters pertaining to the 

 })ersonnel of the Museum, and in still another series are copied letters 

 addressed to the Secretary, transmitting vouchers for payment. There 

 is in this office, also, a record of all legislative matters relating to the 

 Museum, and complete sets of books of estimates, digests of laws, etc. 



DIVISION OF CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS. 



This branch of the administrative work remains under the charge of 

 Mr. R. I. Geare. The force is practically the same as last year, 

 although the occasions upon which it has been necessary to call upon 

 this office for assistance in matters outside of its own work have beeu 

 much more numerous than in any previous year. There has been an 

 increase of over 1,000 in the number of letters and other official i^apers 

 prepared for signature, compared with the preceding year. 



A special feature of the correspondence has been in the direction of 

 obtaining accessions to the library of the National Museum. Special 

 circular letters were prepared and invitations extended to the State 

 universities, agricultural colleges, and experiment stations, as well as 

 to a number of foreign institutions and S(;ientific societies, to exchange 

 publications with the Museum or to complete partial sets already in 

 the library. The result of the correspondence has beeu very grati- 

 fying. 



