depository libraries, which receive the folios from the superintendent of documents, Government Printing Office. The bibliography of North American geology for 1909 was completed and issued as Bulletin 444. It contained 1,305 author entries, an increase of 90 over the volume for 1908. The bibliography for 1910, with 1,410 author entries, will be ready for the printer in July, and will be published as Bulletin 495. A part of the time of the assistant librarian has been devoted to the preparation of indexes and of data to be incorporated in Professional Paper 71 ("Index to the stratigraphy of North America "). The personnel of the library consisted of the librarian, the assistant librarian, 2 cataloguers, and 3 other persons. A fire in the store directly under the Survey library on Sunday afternoon, July 31, 1910, greatly endangered the library. Fortunately no books were destroyed, but the bindings of 200 or more were seriously damaged. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF MINES. JOSEPH A. HOLMES, Director. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BUREAU OF MINES. The Bureau of Mines was established by an act of Congress (36 Stat., 369) approved May 16, 1910, and effective July 1, 1910. The demand for special recognition and aid from the Federal Government for the mining industry had been increasing for a number of years, especially among the metal-mining interests in the Western States, and from time to time bills looking to the creation of a national bureau or department of mines had been introduced in Congress by representatives of those States. At the time of the passage of the act establishing the bureau, however, the factors that were most effective in calling attention to the advisability of action by the Government were disasters in coal mines and a growing realization of the waste of both life and resources in the varied mining and metallurgical industries of this country. ORGANIC ACT. The act establishing the bureau reads as follows: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby established in the Department of the Interior a bureau, to be called the Bureau of Mines, and a director of said bureau, who shall be thoroughly equipped for the duties of said office by technical education and experience and who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall receive a salary of six thousand dollars per annum; and there shall also be in the said bureau such experts and other employees as may from time to time be authorized by Congress. SEC. 2. That it shall be the province and duty of said bureau and its director, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to make diligent investigation of the methods of mining, especially in relation to the safety of miners, and the appliances best adapted to prevent accidents, the possible improvement of conditions under which mining operations are carried on, the treatment of ores and other mineral substances, the use of explosives and electricity, the prevention of accidents, and other inquiries and technologic investigations pertinent to said industries, and from time to time make such public reports of the work, investigations, and information obtained as the Secretary of said department may direct, with the recommendations of such bureau. SEC. 3. That the Secretary of the Interior shall provide the said bureau with furnished offices in the city of Washington, with such books, records, stationery, and appliances, and such assistants, clerks, stenographers, typewriters, and other employees as may be necessary for the proper discharge of the duties imposed by this Act upon such bureau, fixing the compensation of such clerks and employees within appropriations made for that purpose. SEC. 4. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to transfer to the Bureau of Mines from the United States Geological Survey the supervision of the investigation of structural materials and the analyzing and testing of coals, lignites, and other mineral fuel substances and the investigation as to the causes of mine explosions; and the appropriations made for such investigations may be expended under the supervision of the Director of the Bureau 385 11355°-INT 1911-VOL 1-25 |