Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/275

Rh remove the application form from the pneumatic tube, obtain the book, place it in its waggon, and grip it on the cable, when it is carried to the delivery room at the rate of 500 feet a minute. Close to the delivery room counter is a well, running the whole height and depth of the stackrooms. In this live little elevators, one for each floor of the stack, are continually working. When the book waggon approaches the well it automati

cally slips the cable and slides upon the elevator; if the latter is at work, the waggon is held until it is free. If it is not busy, the shock of the waggon running upon it releases a pin, and the motor below elevates or lowers as the case may be to a window at the delivery desk, where it stops. The books are returned in a similar manner, and as the car comes back to its station it is released from the cable and slides readily into its place.

The chief glory of the delivery room is its decoration. The ceiling is heavily raftered, and