Mat 30, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



831 



The United States Geological Survey had 

 another close call on Sunday, May 18, in a de- 

 structive fire that practically gutted the base- 

 ment of the entire building vrhich it occupies. 

 Owing to the congested condition of the store 

 rooms and document rooms and to the escape 

 of gas, the fire proved to be most stubborn and 

 dilEcult to handle and resulted in the collapse 

 of some 20 firemen, among them the chief of 

 the Washington fire department. There was 

 little flame, but the smoke poured in dense vol- 

 umes from the Survey building, suffocating the 

 firemen, who, however, fought desperately to 

 keep the fire confined within the basement. 

 The chief of the fire department states that 

 had it got past the staircase which the men 

 were holding and into the elevator shafts prob- 

 ably the entire building and possibly other ad- 

 jacent buildings would have been consumed. 

 The destruction, as it was, resulted in a loss 

 of about $75,000, mostly in topographic maps, 

 geologic folios, and reports, which, however, 

 can be replaced. The unpublished data and 

 other material in the upper floors of the build- 

 ing, having an estimated value between four 

 and a half and five million dollars, were fortu- 

 nately unharmed. " The only thing that saved 

 the rest of the survey building from total de- 

 struction," said Director Smith in an inter- 

 view, " was the efiicieney of the Washington 

 fire department, aided as it was by some fire- 

 proof doors leading from the basement to the 

 upper hall, which had been erected on the 

 recommendations of the chief of the fire de- 

 partment and the fire marshal. In its present 

 quarters, after installing every possible safe- 

 guard, it appears that the government must 

 rely upon the bravery and efficiency of the 

 Washing-ton fire department." The survey's 

 campaign of last winter resulted in the author- 

 ization by congress of a new survey building 

 to cost $2,596,000, but work on it can not begin 

 until the money is made available in the next 

 appropriation bill. Then, according to the 

 usual time required in the construction of 

 government buildings, it will be from three to 

 four years before the survey can get out of its 

 present quarters. 



As a result of the fire in the Greological Sur- 

 vey building the director has announced a 

 " fire sale " of geologic folios. The entire 

 basement, in which the folios were stored, was 

 filled with dense smoke and many of the folios 

 were burned, others scorched, and all more or 

 less damaged by water. With the approval of 

 Secretary Lane the director announces that he 

 will sell the entire remaining stock of some 

 150,000 folios, four fifths of which are prob- 

 ably as near perfect as goods usually offered 

 in a smoke or fire sale, at the nominal price of 

 5 cents each. The regular retail price of the 

 standard folios is 25 cents, but a few unusually 

 large folios have sold for 50 cents, and the reg- 

 ular price of the " field edition " of the later 

 folios, a more convenient form for use in the 

 field, is 50 cents. All these are now to be had 

 at 5 cents each, but no wholesale rate applies. 

 The stock includes probably 50,000 to 100,000 

 copies on which the real damage is practically 

 negligible. Application should be made to the 

 director, U. S. Geological Survey, Washing- 

 ton, D. C, and remittance made by money 

 order or in coin. Lists will be sent on appli- 

 cation. 



An exhibition by the Pennsylvania Forestry 

 Association was held in Horticultural Hall, 

 Philadelphia, May 19 to 24. The association 

 had arranged to make this exhibition as com- 

 prehensive as possible and, to that end, had 

 included specimens of various woods, barks, 

 leaves, seeds and other indicative features, 

 growing seedlings, forest animals, fish, birds 

 and insects of Pennsylvania, uses of lumber, 

 wood preservation, wood substitutes, utiliza- 

 tion of waste forest products. Exhibits were 

 received from: Pennsylvania Department of 

 Forestry, Chestnut Tree Blight Commission, 

 Pennsylvania Fish Protective Association, 

 Lumberman's Exchange of the City of Phila- 

 delphia, Pennsylvania State College, Pennsyl- 

 vania State Museum, University of Pennsyl- 

 vania, U. S. Forest Service, and a number of 

 important associations or corporations inter- 

 ested in forest preservation, lumber produc- 

 tion, etc. A series of addresses (some lib- 

 erally illustrated) was given by men prom- 



