

686 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



nection therewith as may be of public interest, and to report by bill or 

 otherwise. 



February 21, 1865. Mr. FOOT, from the Committee on 

 Public Buildings and Grounds, submitted the following re- 

 port : 



The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Public 

 Buildings and Grounds, to which was referred the resolution passed Feb- 

 ruary 2, 1865, respectfully report: 

 That they visited the building, inquired into the origin of the fire, the 



character and extent of the loss sustained, and requested the regents, through 



the secretary, to furnish a written report on the subject of investigation. 



In accordance with this request the following report was presented : 



REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OK K !:;!: NTS OF THE 

 SMITHSONIAN INMIinioN K HI. A 1 I V K 'I 1 II K FIRE. 



The special committee appointed l.y the board a* it.- meeting. ,, n .January 

 28, 1865, to inquire into the origin of the lire at the Smithsonian Institution, 

 to ascertain the extent and character of the !..-< BUttained, and to make 

 suggestions as to what measures should be adopted for the repair and im- 

 provement of the building, respectfully report that they have peri'm-med 

 the duty assigned them, so far as tin- time and their means of information 

 would permit. 



I. THE ORIGIN OF Till! II UK. 



The testimony has been taken of all persons connected with the establish- 

 ment that had any knowledge of the occurrence, and a written account of 

 the whole is herewith submitted ; also a report from Colonel B. S. Alex- 

 ander, United States army, who superintended the tire proofing of the main 

 building, of his examinationof the flues connected with the accident. 



It is evident, from the concurrent testimony thus obtained, that the firo 

 commenced in the southwest part of the roof of the main building, in tin: 

 woodwork immediately under the slate covering, and that it was kindled 

 by the heated air or sparks from a stove which had been temporarily plaeed 

 in the room immediately below. The pipe >f this stove had been inserted. 

 by mistake, into a brick furrin^paee n-emblini; a Hue, which opened un- 

 der the rafters instead of into the chimney flue, within a few i&ches of the latter. 

 By whom the hole into which the pipe \\a< inserted was originally made is 

 not known, but it is remembered that a >to\-e-pipc was put into it a> fa- 

 back as 1854, at the time of the exhibition held by the Mechanics' Institute 

 in the building. No fire, however, had been in this room for ten year- pre- 

 vious to Monday, 15th January, when the machinist and carpenter of the 

 institution were engaged, with .-everal other of the employes, in reari-an^iiiL; 

 the pictures of the gallery, the wat her at the time being unusually cold. 

 These persons, for temporary convenience, set up the stove above mentioned, 

 intending to remove it as soon as their task was finished. A coal fire, kin- 

 dled with wood, had been burning in this stove for eight days previous to 

 the conflagration, yet it appears from the testimony that no evidence of com- 

 bustion was observed by a person who passed through the loft six hours 

 before the breaking out of the flames. It is probable, however, that tin: 

 wood had been undergoing a process of charring for several days. 



On account of the very expensive style of architecture selected for the 

 building, and the limited means at the command of the board, the plan had 

 been at first adopted of finishing the interior of the whole edifice with wood 

 and plaster. A large portion, however, of the interior wookwork of the 

 main building, after the roof and exterior had been finished, gavo way and 

 fell; whereupon the regents ordered the removal of the woodwork and its 

 place supplied with incombustible materials. Thus the main building was 

 rendered fire-proof, with the exception of the supports of the roof, which. 

 being covered with slate, was assumed to be safe. The only danger of the 



