APPENDIX TO ACTING SECRETARY'S 

 REPORT. 



Appendix L 



REPORT ON THE UNITED STATES NA 1 lONAL MUSEUM. 



The subject of greatest interest continues to be the construction of the new 

 Museum building, for ^Yhicll the groimd was brolceu in June, 1904. The failure 

 of certain of the quarries to supply granite as rapidly as was expected has 

 caused delay in the erection of the outer walls, but otherwise good progress 

 has been made, and at the close of the year the basement walls, as well as the 

 heavy steel framework and brick arches for the main floor, were approaching 

 completion. 



Until the new building is ready for occupancy the national collections must 

 continue to become more crowded each year, but the interval is now too short 

 to occasion much concern regarding their safety. The staff could, however, be 

 increased to some extent with great advantage at this time, especially in view 

 of the many preparations essential to the transfer of collections, and the impor- 

 tance of placing the salaries of employees on the same basis as in the Executive 

 Departments can not be too strongly emphasized. 



The roofs on the present Museum building remain in as serious a condition 

 as ever, notwithstanding the extensive repairs made and the constant oversight 

 to which they have been subjected. Every expedient thus far applied has 

 failed to accomplish its purpose, and in all heavy rains the leaks still prevail to 

 an alarming degree. Driven thus to drastic measures plans were drawn up 

 and partial contracts entered upon before the close of the year, whereby all the 

 present main roofs will be removed and replaced by metal roofs of the best 

 quality, without the necessity of greatly disturbing the contents of the exhibi- 

 tion halls below. Under the current rate of appropriation for building repaii's 

 the work will have to be extended over two or three years, but in the end the 

 covering of the building will be in even better condition than when it was 

 first put on. 



While the building is constructed entirely of fireproof materials, yet its con- 

 tents, now much crowded, are to a large extent combustible. The dividing walls 

 between the different halls, courts, and ranges are, moreovei", pierced with 

 large openings reaching nearly to the roof, which makes of the building practi- 

 cally one large room over 2 acres in extent. Although every known precaution 

 for the detection and extinguishing of a fire has been introduced, still it has 

 been deemed prudent to isolate the several halls by filling in the openings with 

 fireproof material, and some progress in this direction had been made before 

 the end of the year. 



With such exceptions as have been mentioned the Museum was never in so 

 good a condition as it is to-day. Improvements are to be noted in the exhibition 

 halls, in the I'eserve storage, and in the laboratories and offices. It is the 

 overcrowding and the necessity of trusting to outside storage for the keeping of 

 valuable collections which now gives the most concern. 



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