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The Wingham Advance Times, 1924-12-18, Page 2MENT4ARY. BX"• ISABEL, AliMSTBONG. NLESS .governments and departments of government can be induced to refrain from issuing such exhaustive official reports and Canadian writers from blossoming on: every concession and turning out prolific stores of literature annually, "a, beautiful, dignified and noble Canadian institution is going to be :,vamped. Even while day by day the tower of the, riew`Dominion Parliament Buildings in Ottawa is climbing higher and higher towards Completion, the old Parliamentary Library, providentially saved in the fire of 1916, is struggling with the difficult pro- blem of where to find sufficient room to accommodate the continually growing collection of books, bound reports and records, and files of leading Canadian news- papers. Already the tower seems to those standing near the base almost to pierce the winter sky. But it will probably be next September before it is capped and crowned, socarefully must each stone be laid in building for permanency,. In the meantime,. the joint Librarians of Parliament, Messrs. Tach' and Burrell, and the members of their staff are patiently waiting for the day when the nation will give them addi- tional space for the more adequate housing of the treasures in books of which they Not that they would have disfiguring extensions or wings to mar the archi- tectural perfection of the library, which on this score alone, apart from all others, ranks as one of the richest jewels in Canada's casket, and evokes the admiration of r� A Real National Treasure Fine; regard for detail was expressed by the builders of the seventies to the ., extent orchaste hand -carving of every narrow panel dividing the book cases, thereby providing a worthy setting for the volumes in rich bindings. Throughout all the past fifty years of the life of the library, special attention bas been given to bindings of books as well as contents with the resultant glow of subdued browns, reds, greens arid .blues and glints of gold leaf to give the wealth of coloring of rugs of the Orient. *The venerable age of the marquetry floor into which the hard woods of Canada have been deftly fitted would scarcely explain the unevenness. Has it been thus worn by the heavy tread of the makers of the Dominion's laws? The real explanation is the floods of water which swept in during the fire to a depth of several feet and caused the bulging irregularities. Among the statues of Canadian statesmen which are a feature of Parliament Hill stands one of "Victoria the Good" representing her towards the close of her life, the queenly old woman, weighed down but unbowed by thecares of long years and human sorrows. The central feature of the library is Victoria of quite another era, the slender young queen• of nineteen at the time of her coronation, sculptured in gleaming white marble a statue as graceful as one of classic Greece. Nearby, a bust of the queen is placed on a pedestal at one side of a corridor entrance, and across one of Albert, the Prince Consort. A bust of Sit Etienne Tache companions that of Sandfield Macdonald and it is interesting to note in this connection that the Tache who is joint librarian with Hon. Martin Burrell is great nephew `of Sir Etienne, distinguished in Canadian history. During the early days of its career, the library served the purpose of a work- shop. Within its walls were shaped and carved the blocks and ornamentations of stone for the old main buildings: It was formally opened with a sumptuous ball during the Alexander Mackenzie regime, between 187a and 1878, the period of the building. The years which have intervened have witnessed the accumulation of almost half a million books, including all official publications in Canada, the collection of records dating back to the beginning of history in "British North America." There is a complete set of the Hansards of the Imperial Parliament and: of the Hansards and other official records of the "sister dominions" in more recent years. News- paper files of leading papers, lodged in the vaults below the main floor date back to the be- ginning of these publications in the middle of the eighteerith century. While "official records" take precedence, large sections are devoted to history, philosophy, the fine arts and belle lettres and a collection of "Canadian authors" growing by leaps and bounds. No matter how obscure the Canadian writer, he or she is assured a public presentation in at least one place of honor— the Parliamentary Library at Ottawa. The custom in the past has been to send a copyright copy of a book as soon as it appeared to the Parliamentary Library at Ottawa and another to the Brit- • ish Museum, Mr. Tache, the general librarian, recently ex- pressed regret for the lapse of this regulation and the con- sequent possibility of publica- tions being lost in process of time. Who enjoy the privileges: and derive direct benefits from the Library of Parliament?. Cabinet ministers and their departments of government,. senators, members of the. Com- mons, people, whateyer their age, position or rank, who are Parliament Bundmg Ottawa —View from the south;Cower partially compld. visitors from all corners of the globe. In the 'past summer and autumn, thousands of tourists, Iarge numbers of these motor- ists from across the line, stopped over in the Dominion capital with one very definite object in view, to see the Parliament Buildings. From all over Can- ada came pilgrims to "get a close up" of their own seat of government. Guests from the Mother Country and sister Do- minions paid their respects and strangers from many lands. One guide in particular with a fine feeling for dramatic effect has made a point of winding up his personally conducted tours through the buildings with the entrance rotunda under the centre tower, then through the "Hall of Fame" with its high, gracefully vaulted ceiling to the library as a grand climax. He draws `attention to the gray sandstone,' quarried in On- tario and Quebec, used for the outside walls of the new main buildings which have replaced those lost in the fire on a bitter February night in. war -time. Inside, the buildings are com- pletely lined with fossilized lime- stone which was brought for the purpose from Manitoba. Quebec contributed the white marble of the floors and the highly polished black marble for relief. It was only necessary to go a -field for the mottled green granite, used with discretion for ornamentation and pleasing contrast. In the centre of the rotunda under the tower rises a stately pillar enriched at the base with carvings and merging at the top into fan -shaped arches which form, the roof. "This pillar, dedicated in July 1917 on the fiftieth anniversary of Confederation," says the guide, "represents Great Britain rising out of the sea, guarded by Father Neptune, as you 'will note in the carving at the base, and supported by her colonies, as symbolized by the arches. "The geometrical arrangement of the black marble surrounding the pillar repre- sents the points of the compass pointing oiit`to Britain's possessions over the Seven Seas, symbolized by the wavy circle of green marble." According to the inscription on the pillar, the Dominion of Canada, the Parlia- ment and the people dedicated the buildings in process of construction to replace those destroyed in the fire "as a memorial of the deeds of their forefathers and of the valour of those Canadians who in the Great War fought for Liberties of Canada, the Empire and of humanity." Down at the end of the Hall of Fame, directly facing the centre pillar and main entrance under the tower, are the portals to the stately library which led the way in the erection of the first Parliament Buildings, and stands as a memorial to the deeds of the pioneers, the faith in their own country, the courage and the apprecia- tion of the value of beauty in national life of the men of the seventies who planned and put their ideals into effect. In the old days before the fire, the Library was a dominating feature of the majestic buildings which housed the Parliament of Canada The addition of an extra story in the new buildings has hidden from the front the "House of Books," and rather dwarfed it looking to east or west. To obtain a real appreciation of the circular building,`tapering fluently to a peak one hundred and forty or one hundred and fifty feet above the ground, it must be seen from across the Ottawa River, above which it has been placed high on a cliff. - Entering from the main building through the heavy double doors which helped to save its life in the fire, the first impression obtained is one of harmony of pro- portion, soaring height, and richness of coloring and ornamentation. From base to dome the round inner chamber climbs one hundred and thirty feet, the walls com- pletely lined to a height of forty-five or fifty feet by shelves filled with books, these made accessible by galleries with wrought iron railings. Above a circle of tall wiin down --suggesting the Gothic—admit the light and from these the roof arches, a symphony of blue pillared in soft gray. An octagon effect is achieved by eight corridors which afford entrance and divide the outer circle of the rotunda into a series of eight book -lined alcoves, used as offices for the staff or studies for senators and members who are making research during the session. Each corridor is enriched in front and along its walls by a series of hand -carved panels and above these medallions of conventionalized floral or leaf design, with the exception of the two facing medallions nearest the interior. These represent mythological animals, Parliament Building, Ottawa—Main Entrance Hall look- ing towards North Corridor. In the centre of the rotunda, under the tower, rises a stately pillar.. enriched at the base with carvings and merging at .the top into fan -shaped arches which form the roof. House of Commons Chamber from the Speaker's Gallery. sponsored by senators Or members, students and writers from far and near. When the House is in session, senators and members have right of way and continually there are calls upon the resources from the members, private secretaries, and messengers. Even when the House sits till seven o'clock in the morning for a budget or other important debate, thelibrary staff must be on duty every minute of the time to give prompt service. Between sessions, the majority of calls come from the departments of government located ie. Ottawa. "Borrowing" is permitted by those fortunate enough to be vouched for by cabinet .ministers, senators and members and these privileges even extend to cut of town, except under very special circumstances, the books are not allowed to go a great distance. During the holiday season, Ottawa is a Mecca for students intent upon obtain- ing materialfor thesis writing; authors from all over the continent, and a particularly large quota from the United States, frequently spend weeks and months in research work with the Parliamentary Library as their base. They find available most com- plete records of every description in both English and French. Prof. Wilson, of Dalhousie University, Halifax, for example, has spent the greater part of the past year in the library, delving into "holes and cornets" of records and old newspapers for a book on the Baldwin -Lafontaine period in Canadian history, covering the years from 1825-67. While the Parliamentary Library had a miraculous escape in the great fire which demolished the. Parliament Buildings in 1916, there war some loss, apart from the marks left upon the: floor. Some twenty or twenty-five thousand volumes were hopelessly damaged. Another less keenly felt by those deeply interested in the Parliamentary Library as a great repository for authentic Canadian and other Empire records occurred some years ago. Records, documents, official publications and books carefully collected over a period of years from families of deceased members, senators and public men in various positions, as well as from other sources had been painstakingly set in order and catalogued and shelved in a six story building rented for the purpose. The services were enlisted by the government then in office of American efficiency experts to re -organize the civil service and features in connection with departments of government. One of their "services" was to order withdrawal from the rented building and the destruction of the invaluable records and documents stored there, in the interests of economy! a3bleart Ettlockb Or a ebittl' route A. man sal in: his dingy office onv the second floor of a great building inthe heart of a.great city. The building was his, and he hadhelped to make the great city what it was, so that he could look through cl:rty panes on the alleys that bounded his field, of vision, and: could say to himself: "Look at this great city, I, and those who are like me, have builded this great city—have set in notion these thousand wheels that roar without ceasing' and have driven out God's atmo- sphere with a composition of our own, Great are the builders of ci- ties, for their power endureth beyond that of other men. Not that he did say all this, even to himself, for it would have been wasted time and breath to say it, and time was .money and breath was preci- ous, and money and valuable articles should be used sparingly, But he did think of the great building that towered above him, and groaned because the topfloor was vacant. Elsewhere the struc- ture was filled with, men, women and .children, toiling, toiling for ex- istence, and bringing in to this man, sitting alone in the only unrent- able corner of the building, great revenues. And he felt bitter towards the world of toil that wouldnot pay him for his top floor. Such a waste of good space meant so much less interest on his money,; meant that ire would have to raise the rent in other parts of his building, or —charge the tenants extra for heat; but he couldn't do that; his leas- es, drawn up to pinch the tenants, pinched him there, so he sat knitt- ing his brows and making figures on a piece of dirty paper with a penny cedar pencil. • It was Christmas eve, and trade was brisk in the great "em- porium" which occupied the first and much of the second floor in this building. Men, women and children were doing their belated Christ- mas shopping, buying, buying, buying. Some were buying to pay off old social obligations and greet new ones; some were .buying because; they wanted to outdo somdone else; more were spending their money because it was the custom, and a few were preparing to make others :happy. But the man was not buying. He; let others do that. It was a better business operation to sell with the boom, and he would be ready to buy on the second day of January. Christmas was the 25th day of December to him,, one of those waste places in the world of llusiness called holidays, which only served.to upset the habits and disturb the digestions of employees who ought to be grinding out more money for their employers. Hehad no family—this' man in the dingy office—it had been hard enough to provide for himself, let alone having a family to eat up his savings., There were too,' many families in the world; they were poor investments, all outgo and no income. And he, made figures with his penny pencil and wondered how he could squeeze the rent of that top floor out of his tenants. The big shop which occupied the lower part! of the building was crowded 'to suffocation. The electric lights hadbeen supplemented by gas, and the fumes from the gas were supplemented by the breaths of thousands of eager shoppers, so that the air inside the big doors. was mephitic, like that of some' great cave. One of the clerks of the doll counter fainted away, and her next neighbor meekly asked the. floor -walker if he couldn't get a window or door open. He was as- tonished at her audacity in speaking to hint, but the sight of the,. fainting girl stirred him a little, and he opened one of the! doors lead- ing into the hallway. There should have been a wire grating at . the door, but porters are always careless, and the wire grating formed part of an ornate window decoration that day, so there was nothing to hinder a diminutive little girl with blonde hair curling out from `unde!r a red hood, and with a little red cloak on'. her, little body, front wandering out into the hall. She stood for a moment irresolute, gazing back into the crowd- ed room and then at the stairway.' She watched the swiftly moving elevator for two or three trips, with wonder in her big, blue eyes, and finally she wandered down: the hall to where a door stood open a lit- tle way. She pushed this door open sturdily, and marched in where sat a scowling old man, making figures with! a penny pencil. "Hello," said she. The old man looked up and the apparition so startled him that he broke the point of the penny pencil. The small person advanced to his knee. "Tate me up," she 'commanded. There was no opposition pos- sible; it was like Napoleon ordering a charge of grenadiers. So the old man obeyed, and the penny pencil dropped to the floor. The lit- tle red hood settled against his arm naturally, and he couldn't pick up the pencil without dislodging the owner of the hood, wlich was manifestly impracticable. "I so tired" she; sighed. "Is 'oo tired?" The old man tried to answer, but surprise had hint by the throat, and he made no sound. "My manna's in dere," she went on;. "She went in dere to see Santy C'aus, an' said at I should stay dere but I so tired. Does 'oo know Santy C'aus?" "See here, little girl," said the old man, having mastered his surprise, "you go right back to your mother." But she refused to budge, and, strange to say, he was not angry, as he ought to have been. "My mamma don't want me now," she said, "She don't never want me we'en she's talkin, to Santy C'ause. Cause why, she's tell - in' him all 'bout pie, 'at's why. An' do you s'pose I'd listen? Maybe I'd det a switch in my tockin' if I dd. Did 'oo ever det a switch in 'oor 'tocking?" The man was beginning to thaw. He was really not angry at all, Here was a small child who was not afraid of him, who really defied him, who did not know that he had money,whose only thought was of Christmas. She went on. "Is Santy C'aus doin' to b'ing 'oo anyfing?" "I don't know," he answered. "Who is Santy Cos?" "Oh -h -h!" she gasped, and the blue eyes were round, as saucers; "Don't 'oo know?" He shook his head. "Well, Santy comes on. Crissmuss, an' he wides inr a sleigh wif weindeers an' he comes wight down. 'e chim'ey an' put fings in 'tot kin's. An' if 'eo's weal dood, he puts nice fings, art' if oo's weal bad he pats a switch. And I fought ev'ybody knew Santy C'use. All dood people do." "No, I don't know hint. Hadn't you better go back to your mother?" "No, 'I tired, an' I want 'oo to hold pie. My papa's doin' to tate me w'ere ey sing to -morrow. An' my papa says tomorrow little boy Jesus comes, an' ev'ybody mus' be glad, 'cause he's come." "Why?" asked the old man, and then he felt ashamed because he asked. ' "Cause he roves ev'ybody, an"'at 'hakes ev'ybody 'ove ev'ybody too, • An' on Crissniuss, ev'ybody sings—and says -Peace on-earf." The red hood nodded, the blue eyes closed, and the midget was asleep, and out of the old mat's inner consciousness a still shall voice finished the quotation- "Good will towards men." Good will towards men. . He didn't quite understand that, Good will towards melt. Surely he could not be charged with ill -will to- wards men.' Ile had kept his debts paid and had been strictly just ie all 'natters. Yet, for all his justice, there was to one to love hint. He looked down at the rosy little face on his arm. There was no rosy little face whose owner cared to reeotnnien dhim to Santa Claus. Was good will towards :nen composed entirely by paying debts and never collecting notes until they were legally due? Wasn't there something beyond that? What was" the good of piling up money, for the sake of piling tip bricks 'nil mortar? Afterwards—what? The old man's head sank on his breast, to his eyes came tears stranger tears, and he felt strong etc longer in that: strength of gold and slyer. Around him gathered the shadows, and the smoke' lowered around the window until the child's golden hair air was the only spot of light in the gloomy room. Out side the great black dragon of a city- (Continued ity(Continued on past page)