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712 has hitherto been the case, and when they shall have been properly laid out and ornamented, they will form an appropriate setting for the National Capitol.

Congress, on the 10th day of June, 1872, appropriated the sum of $15,000 for, the purpose of constructing a pneumatic tube to connect the Capitol with the Government Printing-Office, for the transmission of books, packages, &c., "the money to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and the work to be done under the supervision of the architect of the Capitol extension." Pursuant to this provision of law, a contract for the construction of such tube was awarded by said architect on the 20th of June, 1872, and the same was approved by this Department. It was stipulated, in said contract, that the tube should be completed and ready for use on or before the 30th day of June, 1873; but, on the 26th of March last, a resolution was adopted by the Senate, directing me to report to that body, at its next session, all the information in my possession in regard to the non-completion of the tube, the amount expended in its construction, and other circumstances connected therewith. To enable me to answer the resolution intelligently, I designated Joseph Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, O. E. Babcock, Superintendent of Public Buildings, and A. M. Clapp, Congressional Printer, as a committee to examine the work done and report to me their views in relation thereto. A copy of their report, together with a detailed statement of all the circumstances connected with the construction of the tube, will be laid before the Senate at its approaching session. The first attempt to lay the tube was unsuccessful, owing to various causes. The contractor, however, is now making another endeavor to construct such a tube as will accomplish the purposes intended, and informs me that the tube will, probably, be completed before the 1st of January next. His present operations are conducted at his own expense, so that no further appropriation by Congress will be necessary to its completion.

During the year ending June 30, 1873, there were under treatment at the Government Hospital for the Insane 762 patients, of whom 413 were from the Army and Navy, and 573 were males. Two hundred and one patients were admitted during said year; 66 were discharged as recovered, 24 as improved, and 7 as unimproved. The recoveries were 68 per cent. of the discharges including, and 46 per cent. excluding deaths. During the same period 45 patients died, leaving under treatment at the close of said year, 620 patients, of whom 468 were males. Sixty-nine of those treated during said year were private or pay-patients, of