WATERBURY, Conn., Jan. 5.?It was left for a generous citizen of the City of New-York, whose ancestors were Connecticut born and bred, and who himself breathed the free air of the Naugatuck Valley in his youth, to give to the City of Waterbury its most prominent institution of culture, intelligence, education, and general information. It was in 1868 that Silas Bronson's bequest of $200,000 was received.
For a quarter of a century the citizens of the Brass City have been broadened and strengthened in mind by the fruits of the distinguished munificence of her son, but it had been reserved for the close of 1894 to witness the culmination of Mr. Bronson's idea of what Waterbury should cherish as its chief possession. In fact, last week witnessed the placing of the final touches to the artistic finish of the finest free public building in the State of Connecticut.
Its site has been well chosen on a tract of land centrally located on what has already become generally known as Library Park. A broad field with a sloping lawn, intended to be highly cultivated, falling gently to the street, is a fit setting. Then again, by the construction of the building on the site of Waterbury's earliest cemetery, it becomes in a measure a memorial to those who have long gone before. It virtually rests on the bones of the fathers and mothers, of Waterbury, for, although an effort was made to transfer all remains to other cemeteries, bodies were uncovered to the last, and the final shovelful of earth displaced crumbling bones.
The noble structure, which is marked by dignity and grace, was designed by and constructed under the supervision of New-York architects. Its style is that of the Italian Renaissance, and the materials of which it is built are brick, terra-cotta, and tile. The effect is broad and the masterly conception impresses all beholders with its strength. The felicitous treatment and the historical accuracy in the materials used please the scholar as well as the unlearned. The light and shade effect of its rich colors is most charming. Its tiled roof has a low pitch; it has a great overhanging main cornice, and its large windows are gracefully and effectively put in. Its washed brick walls, with their pitted surfaces and the horizontal banding of its courses, are elements of strength at once discernible.
The structure is really two buildings, one for the use of the public and the administrative departments of the library, and the other a repository capable of holding 220,000 volumes, although there are at present only about 70,000 therein. It can readily be seen that the building was practically built for all time. This second structure is accessible to employees only.
The main building has a handsome porch of gigantic proportions, and combining a porte-cochere. The two buildings together preserve a harmonious whole.
The entire structure is 150 feet long, and the main building 68 feet deep. The book stack is 40 feet deep, and four stories high, each 7% feet in the clear. The main building has three 15-feet stories. The entire cost of the building was $80,000, within all appropriations, a cost of 12 cents for each cubic foot of contents, which is generally considered to be a very economical construction.
The public gain entrance to their own through the porch already alluded to, which is on the side of the building, All enter into a generous hallway or main room, at the end of which are situated the counters from which are issued, without charge to the citizens of Waterbury, the books which one man has generously given to entertain and instruct thousands. Near by gracefully arise the main stairways. To the left are rooms for the Board of Agents, and a reading room 18x20 feet in size, for women. On the right and running nearly across the front of the building, with a mammoth bay window and many other means for light, is the main reading room. where the papers and periodicals are filed at all times. A fine view of the lawns and street can be obtained from this room, while from the hallway, which has just been left, one can look off to the rear, obtaining a broad sweep across the hills for miles, for from this direction the building occupies a considerable eminence on one side of a broad valley. Opening from the hall is the librarians' study, from which is also visible the pretty landscape just spoken of., Here Librarian Homer F. Bas- sett, a veteran student, deep thinker, and broad scholar, performs the executive duties of his office. He has speaking tubes to all parts of his domain.
On the second floor are many places of interest for the student and researcher. Here, in large and separate rooms, are libraries for the purpose of reference, patent library, a law library, and a cataloguer's room.
The top floor, lighted from both sides and roof, is not yet occupied, but it is designed for a museum of natural history and fine arts, at such a time as Waterbury in its growing cultures shall arrive at an estate that shall warrant the expenditure money along these lines. The building is heated throughout with low-pressure steam bollers and lighted with electricity. Handsome drop brackets and chandeliers are on every side. The interior walls are decorated in handsome tints of solid colors.
Among the recent pieces of work and the chief interior decorations are the handsome mantels and fireplaces in the two principal rooms. Waterbury has no decorations that approach these works of art. In highly-polished marble, in broad slabs and noble borders of polished quartered oak, they are a crowning glory of the magnificent temple. The mantel and fireplace in the hallway is about ten feet high and fully as broad. The back and the floor are of Sienna marble, a yellowish shaded product with black seams. There is a heavy border of oak, with graceful pillars either side. Above the silver bronzed iron fireplace is a bronze tablet bearing the following inscription:
Silas Bronson was born in Waterbury, West Farms, February XV., MDCCLXXXVIII., died in the City of New York, November XX V.,?: MDCCCLXVII. An enterprising merchant in busy centres of trade, he was not forgetful of his native town, but bequeathed to it the fruit of his industry for the establishment of a free public library, seeking thereby "to encourage and sustain good order and sound morals." Let all who read these books and find help and comfort in them cherish his memory.
Built into the south wall of the reading room on the front is a larger but somewhat simpler mantel and fireplace, but none the less graceful in design and conception. It covers a space about 9 feet high and 11 feet broad. The whole is a flat surface of lovely Nubian marble, and on the hearth is the same polished, yellowish body, with its broad, shadowy red veins. Over the fireplace, cut in the marble, is the following inspiring inscription:
"Cease not to learn until thou cease to live,
Think that day lost wherein thou,
Nor 'gainst no lesson that new grace may give,
To make thyself learneder, wiser, better.
--Pibrac.
On each side are deep settees of oak, upholstered in black leather, cozy nooks for tired patrons.
In 1868, Silas Bronson left to the City of Waterbury $200,000, conditioned as follows:<p"For the promotion of the education and intelligence and general information of the inhabitants of the City of Waterbury, in the County of New-Haven and State of Connecticut, in whose well-being and prosperity I feel a warm interest, and to encourage and sustain in said city good order and sound morals, which I deem largely dependent upon intellectual and moral culture, I do hereby bequeath to said City of Waterbury, in its corporate character, and by whatever name it may be designated in the act or acts of its incorporation, the sum of $200,000; the same to be employed and expended in the establishment of a library for the common use of all the inhabitants of said elty, who shall at all reasonable and proper times have access to and use of the books and periodicals composing such library. And in order to secure the proper care and maintenance of such library and the preservation thereof, just and proper access thereto, and the suitable use thereof by such inhabitants, I authorize such corporation and the legally constituted authorities thereof, to make due regulations therefor, provide a suitable location and appoint the necessary officers and agents, and provide for their just compensation."
The trust has been well cared for, and a board of agents has so judiciously invested the funds, and so economically administered its affairs that the City of Waterbury has never been called upon for a single cent for support, and its sole gift to the library has been the site upon which the new building now stands.
The present Board of Agents, elected by the Court of Common Council, is as follows: President, John O'Neill; Secretary, Lewis A. Platt; Treasurer, Frederick J. Kingsbury; S. W. Kellogg, J. W. Webster, B. H. Fitzpatrick, A. S. Case, James Horigan, Emmet Riordan, D. F. Webster, Joseph Weis and D. F. Maltby.