(Sept. 25-Oct. 2), the tions in Atlantic City (March 5-6) each with an attendance of about 250, the Madison (Wis.) summer conference (July 22-31); and the annual midwinter meetings of a half dozen library bodies at Chicago in New Year's week. All of these attract workers from a dozen or more states and some have programmes as rich and substantial as the national conference. can Library Association, held in 1915 | Mountains at Berkeley, Cal., June 3-9, as guests Pennsylvania-New Jersey Associaof the University of California and under the presidency of Hiller C. Wellman of the Springfield (Mass.) City Library Association, with an attendance of 779. Mr. Wellman's address reflected a very palpable conservatism in estimating the true function of the public library. While it did not in set terms disapprove a multitude of latter day library activities (some of them rather hippodromic), yet the implication was obvious that exhibits, museums, games, dances, parties, fly-swatting contests, victrola recitals, moving pictures, and other similar work widely done in the name of the public library were distinctly apart and aside from its fundamental obligation-that of making accessible to all men the best thought of mankind whether found in the classic works of an older civilization, in the master intellects of a later day or in the lesser current writing of the hour. This conservatism was reinforced by Dr. Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress, in a stimulating address "Per Contra," which maintained that the provision of large quantities of current and certainly ephemeral fiction was neither a necessary, economical nor wholesome function of the library. Dr. Putnam was indeed one with Emerson so far as this class of book is concerned in definitely suggesting that libraries would do well to buy no novels less than a year old. The "Papers and Proceedings" form the July, 1915, number (358 p.) of the Association's Bulletin. In electing Miss Mary W. Plummer president, the Association for the second time chose a woman for this post. The other officers named are: vice-presidents, Walter L. Brown and Dr. Chalmers Hadley; secretary, George B. Utley; members of executive board, M. S. Dudgeon and Samuel H. Ranck. Through an energetic committee the Association presented an interesting and highly creditable exhibit at the Panama-Pacific International Expo Buildings.-The dedication and occupancy of the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard gives ample, safe and splendid housing to the largest and richest college library in the land (for full description of the building see Library Journal, x1, 325). By the building of the central part at a cost of $200,000 with a capacity for 210,000 volumes and 250 readers; the University of Missouri makes a promising start towards adequate accommodation for its growing libraries. Trinity College, Hartford, dedicated a convenient and handsome building in November, 1914. On April 27, the St. Paul Public Library was destroyed by fire, involving a loss of 130,000 volumes. The building and contents were valued at $450,000, insured for $259,000. A new and better building is under construction. A striking and, in certain æsthetic aspects, a deplorable example of the influence of private benevolence on the public architecture of an entire country is observed in the printed circular, "Notes on the Erection of Bildings," issued by the Carnegie Corporation as a suggestive guide to communities receiving Carnegie gifts. Excellent as is the advice and experience summarized and set forth in the text and plans, it is undeniable that such pressure from this particular source must have done much to standardize the construction and exteriors of small library buildings and to produce the now familiar Bibliotheca Carnegiana as a distinct architectural type. Book Buying. An interesting experiment in cooperative international sition. book buying has just been completed Other important meetings were by seven American libraries which those of the New York Library Asso- for two years have maintained a ciation at Squirrel Inn, Catskill traveling agent in South America. He visited every country on that continent and spent about $36,000 for 9,000 volumes, 30,000 newspapers and 17 manuscripts, assessing the cost equitably among the participants. The Northwestern University Bulletin | for Sept. 3, 1915, is given over to a full account of this journey. Appointments. The more important appointments of the year are those of Willard Austen, librarian of Cornell University in succession to George W. Harris, retired as librarian emeritus after a continuous service of 42 years; W. W. Bishop, librarian of the University of Michigan; Paul M. Paine, librarian of the Syracuse (N. Y.) Public Library, succeeded Dr. E. W. Mundy, retired after 35 years; C. B. Galbreath reappointed librarian of the Ohio State Library (a position which he successfully filled from 1896 to 1911) after a pathetic interregnum due to partisan politics; Joseph L. Necrology.-E. S. Willcox, for 24 years librarian of the Peoria (Ill.) Public Library, died March 30 (Lib. Jour., xl, 330). Esther E. Burdick, for 20 years librarian of the Jersey City Public Library, died May 25. George T. Little, for 32 years librarian of Bowdoin College, died Aug. 6. Luther S. Livingston, librarian | Wheeler, librarian of the Reuben Mcof the Widener collection, Harvard College Library, died Dec. 23, 1914 (Lib. Jour., xl, 145); he is succeeded in that new and interesting post by George P. Winship. John Edmands, dean of American librarians, died Oct. 17, aged 95. Cataloging Millan Free Library, Youngstown, O.; Herbert S. Hirshberg, librarian of the Toledo (O.) Public Library; Asa D. Dickinson, library organizer for the province of the Punjab, India, under appointment from the University of Lahore. BIBLIOGRAPHY FELLOWS, J. D.-"Cataloging Rules Pre- Library Instruction EVANS, H. R.-"Library Instruction in FAY, Lucy E., and EATON, Annie T.- Lists and Indexes ASHLEY, F. W.. comp.-Catalogue of the MOTH, A.-Technical Terms Used in Index. A committee of the Library State Documents REECE, E. J.-"State Documents for Libraries." (Univ. of Ill. Bull., xii, No. 36.) WYER, J. I., Jr.-"Government Documents (State and City)." (A. L. A. Manual of Library Economy, ch. 23.) Library Statistics American Library Annual, 1914-15. (R. "Public, Society and School Libraries in General BASCOM, E. L.-"Book Selection." (A. MUDGE, I. G.-"Bibliography." (A. L. A. RICHARDSON, E. C.-Biblical Libraries. WARD, G. O.-"The High-School Library." XXXIII. CHRONOLOGY AND NECROLOGY AMERICAN CHRONOLOGY JANUARY 2. The Senate passes the Immigration bill with amendments. Four German reservists travelling under false passports are taken from the Norwegian-American liner Bergenfjord in New York Bay. 4.-The Hamburg-American liner Dacia, purchased by Edward N. Breitung, is admitted to American registry. 5. The U. S. Supreme Court hands down a final decision in the Danbury Hatters Case affirming the decision of the lower courts. 6.-Representative A. Mitchell Palmer of Pennsylvania charges Senator Boies Penrose with bribery and corruption before the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections. A fire in the New York subway, due to defective insulation, causes one death and injuries to more than 200 persons. 7.-The House rejects the Senate amendment to the Immigration bill providing for the exclusion of negroes. Great Britain replies to the protest of the United States on interference with American commerce. 8.-President Wilson defends his policies and attacks the Republican party in a Jackson Day speech at Indianapolis. 9.-General Villa signs an agreement with Gen. Hugh L. Scott at El Paso, Tex., to end conditions on the Mexican border threatening American territory. 12.-The House rejects a constitutional amendment extending the suffrage to women. Eighty of 114 men indicted for election frauds in Terre Haute, Ind., plead guilty. 14. -Governor Blease of South Carolina resigns, five days before the expiry of his term. 18. The Senate rejects a resolution designed to provide for prohibition in the District of Columbia. 19. One striker is killed and 19 shot by guards at the Liebig Fertilizer Works at Carteret, N. J. The U. S. Supreme Court issues an order suspending the execution of the death sentence on Leo M. Frank, twice convicted of murder in the Georgia courts. 22.-President Wilson holds a hearing on the Immigration bill. Twenty-eight deputy sheriffs on guard at the Liebig Fertilizer Works at Carteret, N. J., are arrested, charged with the murder of strikers. 23. The Senate Democrats in caucus make the Ship Purchase bill a party measure. 24. Secretary of State Bryan publishes a letter to Senator Wm. J. Stone (Mo.) defending the United States Government against charges of discrimination against Germany and her allies. 25.-Germany protests to the United States against the sale of hydroaeroplanes to the Allies. The German collier KD-3, formerly the British collier Farn, is interned at San Juan, Porto Rico. Telephone communication is established between New York and San Francisco, a distance of 3,400 miles. 28.-President Wilson vetoes the Immigration bill. The German auxiliary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich sinks the American bark William P. Frye in the South Atlantic. 29.-Secretary Bryan informs the German Ambassador that hydroaeroplanes sold to belligerents cannot be classed as war vessels. 31. The American steamship Dacia, formerly of the Hamburg-American Line, sails from Galveston with cotton for Rotterdam. FEBRUARY 1.-Seven Democratic opponents of the Ship Purchase bill desert the Administration and move to recommit the bill. The Canadian Government agrees to pay $15,000 in settlement of claims for the shooting of two American hunters on the Niagara River by Canadian militiamen. The Cunard liner Orduna, Liverpool to New York, touches at Queenstown flying the American flag. 2. The Jones Philippines bill is reported to the Senate with a recommendation for immediate passage. Werner Horn, a German, attempts unsuccessfully to blow up the CanadianPacific Railroad bridge at Vanceboro, Me. 4. The House fails to pass the Immigration bill over the President's veto. A caucus of the House Democrats reelected to the Sixty-fourth Congress renominates Champ Clark for speaker and chooses Claude W. Kitchin (N. C.) as Democratic floor leader. 6. The Cunard liner Lusitania arrives at Liverpool, having flown the American flag during her passage through the Irish Sea. 9. The American steamer Wilhelmina with a cargo of food for Germany puts into Falmouth, England. 10. The Senate adjourns the debate on the Ship Purchase bill after a continuous session of 52 hours, 10 minutes. Great Britain replies to the American note of protest on the seizure and detention of American cargoes destined for neutral European ports. The United States sends a note to Germany warning her that she will be held to strict accountability for unjustified attacks on American shipping; and a note to Great Britain protesting against the use of the American flag by British vessels. 11. The Interstate Commerce Commission in part reverses an earlier ruling in the intermountain rate cases. The cargo of the American steamer Wilhelmina is seized at Falmouth, England, and held for a British prize court. 12. Henry van Dyke, U. S. Minister to The Netherlands and Luxemburg, reports interference by German officials with his diplomatic correspondence with Luxemburg; the United States sends a protest to the German Government. 13. The Senate Democrats in caucus agree to press a special rule for the limitation of debate on the Ship Purchase bill. 15. The House passes the Child Labor bill, prohibiting the shipment of the products of child labor in interstate commerce. A caucus of the House Democrats agrees on a compromise Ship Purchase bill. 16. The House passes the Ship Purchase bill as an amendment to a bill already adopted by the Senate. Germany presents a note to the United States agreeing to modify its policy of submarine warfare in case England permits the shipment of foodstuffs to Germany for the use of civilians. 18. The Ship Purchase bill adopted by the House is sent to conference. The Cotton Futures Act goes into effect. 19. Great Britain replies to the American notes relating to the use of neutral flags and the seizure of the Wilhelmina. 20. The United States addresses to the German and British Governments identic notes proposing a modus vivendi for the termination of the German submarine warfare and the British food blockade. The American steamer Evelyn, with cotton for Bremen, is sunk by a German mine off Borkum Island. 28. The American steamer Dacia, with cotton for Germany, is seized by a French cruiser in the English Channel and taken to Brest. MARCH 1.-Germany replies to the note of the United States proposing a modus vivendi with Great Britain with a qualified acceptance of its suggestions. A Federal grand jury at New York indicts five officials of the HamburgAmerican Line for conspiracy to defraud the United States in swearing to false manifests to secure clearance papers for vessels dispatched to supply German warships on the high seas. 2. The Senate confirms the nominations of Joseph E. Davies, Edward N. Hurley, Wm. J. Harris and W. H. Parry as members of the Federal Trade Commission. President Wilson nominates Robert W. Woolley of Virginia as Director of the Mint. An explosion in the Leyland mines of the New River and Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Co., near Quinnimont, W. Va., causes the death of over 100 miners. 3. Both Houses of Congress pass a resolution extending the power of the President to protect the neutrality of the United States. President Wilson nominates Samuel Lyle Rogers of North Carolina as Director of the Census. A Federal grand jury at Boston finds three indictments against Werner Horn, dynamiter of the international railway bridge at Vanceboro, Me. A slide in Culebra Cut closes the Panama Canal to navigation. 4. The Senate confirms the promotions of Col. George W. Goethals and Brig. Gen. Wm. C. Gorgas to the rank of major-general, and of Col. H. F. Hodges and Col. Wm. L. Sibert to the rank of brigadier-general. President Wilson signs the Seamen's Act. The third session of the Sixty-third Congress ends. 5.-The United States addresses notes to Great Britain and France asking for details of the plan for cutting off Ger The Panama-Pacific International Ex-many's seaborne trade. position is opened at San Francisco. 22. -President Wilson nominates Joseph E. Davies, Edward N. Hurley, Wm. J. Harris, Wm. II. Parry and George Rublee as members of the Federal Trade Commission. 23. The U. S. Supreme Court hands down a decision limiting the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission to search and seize private papers of railroad companies. The American steamer Carib, with cotton for Bremen, is sunk by a mine off the German coast. 25.-The Senate adopts an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriation bill establishing a Federal system of rural credits. 27. The Ship Purchase bill is reported to both Houses and in the Senate is definitely abandoned. 6. President Wilson appoints George Rublee of New Hampshire a member of the Federal Trade Commission during the recess of Congress. 8. The U. S. Supreme Court hands down decisions in the North Dakota and West Virginia rate cases. Oscar Wenderoth, Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, resigns as of June 1. Carl Ruroede at New York pleads guilty to passport frauds and is sentenced to three years' imprisonment. 10.-President Wilson raises to the rank of admiral Rear-Adms. Frank F. Fletcher, Thos. B. Howard, and Walter C. Cowles. The German auxiliary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich enters the port of Newport News, reporting the sinking of 11 vessels, among them the American bark William P. Frye, in the South Atlantic on Jan. 28. 11. Governor Whitman of New York signs charges of neglect of duty against the chairman and three other members of the Public Service Commission of the First District. The Central Railroad of New Jersey is found guilty by a jury in the Federal court at Trenton, N. J., on 185 counts charging rebating to the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. 13. The U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati reverses the conviction under the Sherman Act of 27 officials of the National Cash Register Co. 15.-Great Britain delivers replies to the American notes suggesting a modus vivendi with Germany and inquiring the scope of the proposed blockade. 16. The U. S. battleship Pennsylvania is launched at Newport News. 17.-William Müller, German consul at Seattle, and his secretary are served with warrants of arrest charging conspiracy to obtain business secrets of the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Co. 21.-The Hamburg-American liner Odenwald, attempting to sail from San Juan, Porto Rico, without clearance papers, is stopped by shots from the fortress. 22. Ratification of the peace commission treaty between the United States and Russia are exchanged at Washington. 23. The Department of Justice orders a libel of the German steamer Odenwald at San Juan, Porto Rico. 25. The U. S. submarine F-4 is submerged and fails to rise during target practice off Honolulu harbor. 28.-Leon C. Thrasher, an American citizen, is killed in the sinking of the British steamer Falaba by a German submarine in St. George's Channel. 30. The United States addresses a note to Great Britain on the measures proposed for the blockade of Germany. J. P. Morgan & Co. conclude arrangements with the French Government for the issuance of $50,000,000 of one-year bonds in the United States. 31.-The governors of the New York Stock Exchange abolish minimum prices for stocks and all restrictions on trading in bonds. APRIL 5. The United States demands of Germany reparation for the sinking of the American ship William P. Frye. 6.-Germany requests of the United States an investigation of the firing on the German steamer Odenwald at San Juan, Porto Rico. The New York State Constitutional Convention is opened at Albany, under the presidency of Elihu Root. Wm. Hale Thompson, Republican, is elected mayor of Chicago. Donn M. Roberts, Mayor of Terre Haute, Ind., and 24 others are convicted of conspiracy and fraud in the election of November, 1914. 7.-Secretary of State Bryan issues a statement recommending the Democratic party to support prohibition in states where the liquor question is an important issue. 8.-The German reply to the demand of the United States for compensation for the sinking of the William P. Frye is published at Washington. 10.-President Wilson announces the route selected for government railroad in Alaska. The German converted cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich is interned at Newport News. A German note of April 4 complaining of the failure of the United States to obtain a modification of Great Britain's maritime regulations and of the export of munitions to the Allies is given to the press by the German Embassy. 11.-The German auxiliary cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm enters the harbor of Newport News. 12.-The Riggs National Bank of Washington files with the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia an application for an injunction against abuses of power by the Treasury Department. It is announced at Washington that a settlement of the Wilhelmina case has been reached favorable to the contentions of the owners of the cargo. Gen. Victoriano Huerta arrives at New York from Spain. 14. The consent of the British Government to the shipment of two shiploads of German dyes to the United States is announced at Washington. 16. A strike and lockout in the building trades is begun in Chicago. 19. The libel suit of William Barnes against Theodore Roosevelt is opened at Syracuse, N. Y. The U. S. Supreme Court denies an appeal for a writ of habeas corpus for Leo M. Frank, twice convicted of murder in the Georgia courts. 20. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway is put in the hands of receivers. 21. The United States Government replies to the German note criticizing the attitude of the United States towards the European belligerents. 26. The commander of the German converted cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm at Newport News declares his intention to intern the vessel. 28. The United States replies to the German note on the sinking of the William P. Frye accepting the offer of payment but dissenting from the German view of justification for the destruction of the vessel. The appointment of Capt. Wm. S. Benson as Chief of Naval Operations is announced at Washington. A German aeroplane drops three bombs on the American steamer Cushing in the North Sea. 30. The board of arbitration in the wage dispute of the engineers and firemen of 98 western railroads sign an award granting wage increases. MAY 1. The American tank steamer Gulflight, Port Arthur, Tex., to Rouen, is torpedoed without warning by a German |