plete statistics of birth, deaths, and marriages, so that the preservation of any documents which will in a measure supplement those of the incomplete records kept by the county boards of health and county assessors is important.

The following is the law which was published June 8, 1905 (page 597, Laws of 1905):

AN ACT to provide for the care and preservation of public records. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:

SECTION 1. That any State, county or other official is hereby authorized and empowered to turn over to the Kansas State Historical Society, for permanent preservation therein, any books, records, documents, original papers, or manuscripts, newspaper files and printed books not required by law to be kept in such office as a part of the public records, three years after the current use of the same, or sooner in the discretion of the head of the department. When so surrendered, copies therefrom shall be made and certified by the Secretary of the Historical Society upon the application of any party interested, which certification shall have all the force and effect as if made by the officer originally in custody of them.

SEC. 2. That the State Historical Society is hereby required to make a reference catalogue to the manuscripts, books, and papers so surrendered.-Approved, March 4, 1905.

ALASKA DISTRICT HISTORICAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

The Alaska District Historical Library and Museum takes its origin in the following provisions of "An Act making further provision for a civil government for Alaska," which was approved June 6, 1900: "SEC. 32. For each certificate issued to a member of the bar, authorizing him to practice law in the district, a fee of ten dollars shall be paid to the clerk of the court, which shall be by him promptly remitted to the secretary of the district, and at the same time the clerk shall advise the governor of such remittance. each commission issued to a notary public a fee of ten dollars shall be paid to the secretary of the district. The fees received by the secretary under this section and under chapter seventy-four of title

For

two shall be by him retained and kept in a fund to be known as the district historical library fund. The fund thus collected shall be disbursed on the order of the governor for the purpose of establishing and maintaining the district historical library and museum. The same shall embrace copies of all laws relating to the district, and all papers and periodicals published within the district, and such other matter of historical interest as the governor may consider valuable and appropriate for such collection. The collection shall also embrace such curios relating to the aborigines and the settlers as may be by the governor deemed of historical importance. The collection thus made shall be described by the governor in the annual report of the governor to the Secretary of the Interior, and shall be by him kept in a secure place and turned over to his successor in office. The secretary of the district and the governor shall each annually account to the Secretary of the Interior for all receipts and disbursements in connection with such historical library and museum.

"SEC. 33. The historical library and museum provided for in section thirty-two of this title is hereby made a designated depository of publications of the Government, and shall be supplied with one copy of each of said publications in the same manner as such publications are supplied to other depositories."

The Report of the Governor of the District of Alaska to the Secretary of the Interior for 1904 shows that a substantial library of books and manuscripts has been established at Sitka. Furthermore, Governor Brady reports that a museum of Alaskan objects has been begun.

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA

The Twenty-fifth Biennial Report of the Board of Curators (1905) has been issued by the State Printer.

Mr. John C. Parish is engaged upon a biography of Governor Robert Lucas.

The Society has recently published the Proceedings of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Iowa State Conferences of Charities and Correction. The book contains 279 pages.

The Society will soon publish The Executive Register and Journal of Iowa for 1846-58.

A list or catalog of the duplicates in the library of the Society has been published. These duplicates are offered for sale or exchange.

In their report to the Governor, the Curators have recommended that the permanent annual support of the Society be increased to $15,000.

On Wednesday evening, November 29, 1905, the Board of Curators met to hear the report of Dr. Duren J. H. Ward on the investigation which he has recently conducted among the Musquakie Indians.

At the December meeting of the Board of Curators the following were appointed to represent the Society at the Baltimore and Washington conference of State and local historical societies which has been arranged in connection with the meeting of the American Historical Association: Benj. F. Shambaugh, F. E. Horack, and T. J. Fitzpatrick.

NOTES AND COMMENT

At Panora the Iowa Equal Suffrage Association held its Thirtyfourth Annual Meeting, November 9-11, 1905.

A comprehensive index of the first ten volumes of the American Historical Review is being prepared and will be put on sale about the first of January, 1906.

The Iowa State Teachers' Association held its annual session at Des Moines, December 26-29, 1905.

On October 26, 1905, the Iowa Octogenarian Association held a banquet at Des Moines in commemoration of the fifty-ninth anniversary of the first State election.

Mr. Geo. W. Gearhart has been appointed Scholar in Economics at The State University of Iowa. Mr. Gearhart is a graduate of Parsons College, Iowa.

On June 14-15, 1905, Medford, Massachusetts, celebrated the Two Hundred and Seventy-fifth Anniversary of its founding with civic, literary, and religious ceremonies.

At Des Moines on December 11 and 12, 1905, the Iowa Park and Forestry Association held its Fifth Annual Meeting in the Horticultural Rooms of the State House.

The Bureau of Historical Research established in connection with the Carnegie Institution of Washington has recently changed its name from "Bureau of Historical Research" to "Department of Historical Research."

Mr. Don S. Rathbun, late Fellow in Economics at The State University of Iowa, has accepted a position under the Surgeon General of the War Department at Washington, D. C. Mr. Rathbun is a graduate of Cornell College, Iowa.

The Washington Post Co. (Washington, D. C.) has announced a two volume supplement to the Messages and Papers of the Presi dents which will contain the official messages and popular speeches of President Roosevelt.

Mr. E. C. Nelson, who has recently been appointed Fellow in History at The State University of Iowa, served for a time as Principal of Luther College, Racine, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of both the Iowa State Normal School and The State University of Iowa.

The Burrows Brothers Company (Cleveland, Ohio) have opened a subscription for The Heckewelder Narrative-an account of the Mission of the United Brethren (Moravians) among the Delaware and Mohegan Indians from 1740 to 1808.

In September, 1905, Mr. Clarence W. Wassam was appointed Instructor in Economics and Sociology at The State University of Iowa Mr. Wassam has been active in the Iowa State Conference of Charities and Correction, of which he is at present the Secretary.

The eighth annual convention of the League of Iowa Municipalities was held at Burlington, September 13-14, 1905. The officers elected for the ensuing year are: President, Mayor J. S. Caster, of Burlington; Vice-President, Mayor R. S. McNutt, of Muscatine; and Secretary-Treasurer, F. G. Pierce, of Marshalltown. The next annual meeting will be held at Des Moines. The proceedings are published in the Midland Municipalities for September, 1905.

In a little pamphlet of 48 pages, entitled The Case for an United States Historical Commission, Mr. Lothrop Withington gives an account of his efforts to secure the establishment by Congress of a Commission which "shall collect from public archives and private manuscript collections abroad and in the United States abstracts or copies of important documents illustrating American history and the early history of the United States." A bill to establish such a United States Historical Commission was introduced during the 2d session of the Fifty-eighth Congress by Senator Lodge.