Show A PRICELESS RE RELIC LIC GUARDING THE declaration OF independence grois cameles ness iia has characterized the care e of the fer many yea Ye arThe s the jsames name hurt have N berly aly all faded from sight ill in one of the corridors of the senate wing of the capitol 1 a statue in marble of john hancock ancock II on the granite pedestal Is an inscription winch which reads lie ile wrote his lis name where all nations behold it and all time shall not efface it this of course refers to the revolution ke alution au rry auy y patriot whose bold appears conspicuously on the declaration of independence the history of that period baates that several of the signers while sympathizing with the colonists in their struggle were w ere a little timid or hesitating about signing their names as they would bo be punished as principals in the revolt in case the revolt bo be unsuccessful not so with II ancock grasping a goose quill and using plenty of ink he wrote his name at the top of the column lie wrote so boldly and distinctly that the name of john hancock was as easily been as an electric light on a dark night every schoolboy Is familiar with hancocks handwriting and as one of the signers of the declaration of independence the name of hancock ancock II Is familiar famili arto 0 o a great many people who probably could not give the name of any other of the patriots who signed with him hence the sculptor or designer of the statue was led to declare that he ile wrote his name where all time shall not efface it however true this may be as sentiment the fact is that hancocks IIan cocks name is now almost entirely effaced from the declaration of independence it can be seen by the aid of a strong glass but is so illegible that a it stranger to the document or the style of handwriting would have difficulty in read ing the name correctly other names attached to the document have lave faded out entirely and can no more bo be read than if they had been written jen of the sixty or more names which mere were written not more than ten can now iro he read and they have faded to a it pale acely color As to the others there are faint traces of writing but nothing in the form of a signature can be distinguished sufficiently to enable any anyone one to read them some are only partially obliterated and by supplying missing charac characters tem anyone any one familiar with the document can make out the name which should be there but no longer is except in a very indistinct way considering the priceless character of the declaration of independence as a historical document it is astonishing that from the beginning proper care should not liae lave been taken to preserve it from the ravages rai ages of time and at least from misuse during recent years it has been jealously guarded in the library of the department of state and precautions taken to prevent any further injury it is now between two large plates of french glass ia in a hard bard wood case all of which is hermetically cally scaled so as to keep out air and dust no atmosphere or other influence cau call now reach the precious document which in showing a decent respect for forthe the opinions of mankind proclaimed the rea ans tor for the separation the handsome liand some wooden case in which the declaration Is kept is in an upright position fastened to a latticed partition with two doors in front opening outward the tile doors open only far enough to i view the document and exclude the light except such as admitted by reflection this is done out of abundance of caution for it is doubtful it if sunlight could affect it in ili its present condition yet the present custodians are determined to spare no pains to prevent further damage the general belief of visitors to the library is that the fading of the document is probably due to a poor quality of ink used and that such v writing w would naturally fade in the course of time this is only partially true there have been pro served specimens of colonial penmanship antedating the declaration of independence by many years which are still clear and distinctly legible and will continue legible for another generation the present condition of the tile declaration is duo due to misuse prior to 1877 it was kept at the interior department and was guarded with less care than the caveat in the patent for a flour sifter no special effort was made to keep it from injury such as Is now being done and in 1878 it was loaned to the philadelphia centennial exposition and exhibited in independence hall during the centennial year 3 ear an attempt was made to take a letter press copy of it which was successful in extracting much of the color from the writing and in borne some places the writing shortly afterward disappeared altogether ly conceivable that so dangerous tin anex ex ent should have been attempted gratify the people who desired faish it could only damage the orl forlai i nal aau give h e no promise that the copies could I 1 atis satisfactory factory it is unlikely that the D atlon ration of independence will ever again be placed on exhibition iu in connection with any event no matter how important by an executive order it is to remain in the elate state department and wl will I 1 not be loaned for any purpose no matter how flow Nr worthy orthy alio custodian believes es that there will be no further fading of the document I 1 id Is long as it remains undisturbed hut but to liim him and to every visitor it is a matter of regret that the attempt to make a letterpress litter copy should lia have e been permitted it boks worse than some of the manuscripts 1 in n the british museum which aie are three tit t men as old washington cor milwaukee wisconsin |