Appendix III. 



REPORT ON THE OPERATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL 

 EXCHANGE SERVICE FOR THE YEAR ENDING .ONE 30, 

 1901. 



Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report upon the opera- 

 tions of the International Exchange Service for the year ending June 30, 

 1901: 



The equipment of the five rooms in the south basement of the Smith- 

 sonian building, which have been used exclusively by the International 

 Exchange Service during the last eight years, consists of such furniture 

 and appliances as are necessary to the work, chiefly among which are tiers 

 of upright bins opening in front and occupying nearly all the wall space of 

 two rooms, into which packages of publications for distribution abroad are 

 temporarily placed until a sufficient quantity has accumulated to constitute 

 a shipment to the respective distributing bureau of each country. 



Much space is required for geographically arranging and for recording 

 parcels, for which purpose several large counters are arranged in the center 

 of each of three of the rooms which are devoted to this part of the work. 



There are also cases containing indexes and acknowledgments and a 

 card record of all packages sent to and received from each correspondent, 

 correspondence files, library shelves for current directories of the principal 

 cities of the world, desks, copying presses, typewriting machines, etc. 



The property acquired during the year consisted principally of boxes, 

 packing materials, stationery, and other necessary supplies, costing in the 

 aggregate $2,339.53. 



The rooms assigned to the Exchange Service have for a long time been 

 inadequate to the increasing demands, but no additional space was avail- 

 able until the recent changes in the heating plant of the Institution made 

 it possible to add 360 square feet to the shipping department. This alteration 

 made it necessary to change the brick walls, construct an area window, 

 lay new flooring, and build additional bins. These expenses and those 

 incurred on account of laying new floors in the entire suite of exchange 

 offices during the early part of the present fiscal year were borne by the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and no part of them were paid from the Congres- 

 sional appropriation for support of the International Exchanges. 



Considering the fact that almost every fast steamer leaving New York 



for foreign ports takes a consignment of international exchanges from the 



Smithsonian Institution, it is not surprising that there should be some 



losses every year. During the last twelve months, however, there has 



been but one instance of either loss or damage, and the year's record is 



therefore one of the best in this regard. 



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