im) to impose any restriction or censorship upon admittance to the
reading-room. Even if the books suffered, the room must continue to be
free. The great mass of well-behaved people must not be annoyed by
measures intended to exclude a few rogues. The result vindicated the
sagacity, as well as the charity, of this view. The officers in charge,
not being permitted to adopt any sweeping measures of prevention, simply
redoubled their vigilance, and finally caught one or two offenders and
"made examples of them;" and the nuisance was immediately abated, though
perhaps not entirely and permanently abolished.

The report of 1900, after mentioning the great (legitimate) wear and
tear of the books, of which 12,000 had to be re-bound, adds:--

"The decorum of the visitors has been excellent, and it is remarkable,
in view of such a very large number of persons visiting the room, that
so few mutilations and injuries occur to the periodicals and books, and
that so few books, probably not more than half a dozen in the course of
a year, and those of small consequence, are stolen."

It seems then, after all, that Peter Cooper's faith in the people was
justified.

The great hall in the basement is another noteworthy feature, and worthy
of wider imitation than it has yet received. Such a hall, if located
upstairs in such a building, would have been open to three objections:
it would have monopolized, for occasional use only, space which was
required for constant use; it would have been intolerably noisy, by
reason of the roar and rattle in the streets which surround the building
on all sides; and it would have been dangerous, as all such places are,
when great audiences must make their exit by going down stairs. Nothing
has ever been invented that will prevent people from being crushed and
trampled when they are crowding down a stairway. In all these respects,
the great hall of the Cooper Union is admirable. It occupies space not
otherwise valuable. It is quiet, and acoustically perfect. The means of
exit and entrance are ample and safe. Even in case of an unreasoning
panic, there is little danger that a crowd, tumbling up the stone
stairways to the street, would cause the horrible maiming and killing
which so often attend the efforts of a frightened multitude to get down.
Finally, the ventilation is excellent, for the simple reason that
natural or automatic ventilation of such a large, low basement room
could not be expected, and co