E l 111 61
Washington Whisperings
NEWS NOTES OF INTEREST FROM
VARIOUS SECTIONS.
Interesting Bits of Newt Gathered
at the National Capital.
AIL SUBJECTS TOUGHED UPON
Religious, Social, Agricultural, Polit
ical and Other Matters Given
Due Consideration.
Cupid of late has beeu very busy
In and about Beatrice.
William Steele of Nebraska City. 72
years of ago, was stricken with paral
ysis at bis home In that city and died
shortly after.
Three Norfolk men cashed bogus
checks for Wm. Wright of Omaha,
now being hunted for bigamy. The
victims were 1). Rees, $2U; James
Pierce, $20, and William Bonier, $10.
The "curfew ordinance" was passed
by the city council of Seward. This
will require the youngsters under the
age of 1C to be under the paternal roof
in good season at night.
Herman llerold, one of the oldest
and best known citizens, died at his
home in riattsmouth as the result of
a tree falling upon him which he had
just cut down.
Some details of the approaching
meeting of the Southwestern Nebras
ka Teachers' association are being
given out. McCook is the place of the
meeting, which will be held Thursday,
Friday and Saturday, April 1, 2 and 3.
County Attorney Ramsey of Cass
county Hied a complaint against John
Clarence for the murder of John P.
ThacHcr on Jan. 15 last, near the vil
lage of Union, in that county. The
complaint charges Clarence with
murder in tho first degree.
Fire destroyed all tiie buildings on
tho west side of the square at Garri
son, consisting of four frames and one
brick building. The fire started in
Will Vanderkoll's hardware store
while he was attempting to light a
gasoline lamp.
At a meeting of the board of super
visors of Fremont county a resolution
was adopted approving of the bounda
Ties of the proposed new drainage dis
trict, directing the election of seven
directors and fixing March 16 as the
date of their election.
Farmers in the section of the state
about Arborville have placed high
values on their farms, many as high
as $100 per acre, and all are selling.
Some who have sold are investing in
Deuel county, Nebraska, lands, while
others are buying in Texas and North
Dakota.
Mrs. Edward Wehn dramatically
killed herself a- Seward. Setting fire
to her house in several different
places, she went to the garret, lighted
her own clothes and hanged herself to
a rafter. The firemen quickly put out
the flames, and after a search found
the woman's partly cremated corpse.
Twenty Fremont men havo formed
a syndicate and will develop several
thousand acres of land In Tevas, with
the object of converting it into a fruit
farm. They will send P. B. Cumings
former manager at Fremont for the
Nebraska Telephone company, to su
iiervlse the development and Mr
Cumings will move to Texas.
Corn sold on the Omaha cash mar
ket Thursday for more than five times
the price quoted by men who bought
it at their country elevators out over
(Nebraska fifteen years ago, this
month. Yellow corn brought 59Ve
and white corn as high as CAc. This
is not merely a quoted price, but
many car loads were sold at COfftCl'c
George Blckert, a young German
farmer residing four miles southwest
of Elm wood, received a terrible Injury
to his left eye that may result in los
ing the Bight of that member. He was
1 rimming up the trunk of a treo he
had Just felled, when a short limb
flew up, r.trlklng him fairly In the eye,
cutting the eyeball.
Word was received In Alliance from
tho southeast hills that Frank Etch
'Ihnlcr and his 17-year-old son were
lost and frozen to death during the
recent severe storm, while en route
from Alliance. The family had only
recently taken up land in that section
and was not very familiar with the
country.
Nebraska will send a representative
delegation, headed by Gov. Shallon
berger, to the seventeenth National
Irrigation Congress in Spokane, Aug
9 to 14, when government officials and
experts In their lines will discuss for
estry, deep waterway, reclamation of
swamp and arid land, good roads
homo building, education and otlier
problems.
Benjamin Marquis, who was arrest
ed In Kansas City on the charge of
negotiating a worthless check for
$S00 through the Bank of Hols'ein
In Adams county, was brought to Has
tings and will be arraigned. He say
he Is in debt between $12,000 and
$15,000. most of which 1s represented
by what he terms overdrafts on the
Bank of Chappelle, in Deuel county
Monday morning John Bolander of
Florence, a farm hand, drove Wlllard
Shipley's team to Omaha. Hnd neither
Bolander nor the team has been seen
since. Mr. Shipley is offering a rc
ward for the return of the team, and
would not mind seeing Bolander again
or a few moments.
Charles Uott of Norfolk, ugrd 3. bled
to death, making four children in the
family of John Bott to die within ten
days. Three succumbed to scarlet fe
ver, the last bleeding to death as a re
nilt of his condition following fever,
The four dead were half the children
In tho family.
AMPTON HOADS, VA
Battleship races, ship
against ship, and squad
ron against squadron,
marked the final leg of
the cruise of the Atlantic
fleet when the United Slates armada
started from Gibraltar for home. The
maneuvers of the lici t, re-enforced by
nine warships from home waters, were
the most elaborate ever undertaken
by United States war vessels. And
when the lighting craft cast anchor
here February 22, they wore in fit con
dition to steam out to face an enemy.
l'he program for the reception of
the fleet on its return to Hampton
Hon ds was elaborate and worthy of
the proud record made by the ships.
It practically reversed the program
carried out when the fleet sailed.
President Roosevelt, on board the
Mayflower, anchored between the
Horseshoe and Lynn Haven bay, re
viewed the fleet as It passed In. Rear
Admiral Sperry, the ot her commanders
and executive officers, then wetit
aboard the Mayflower to receive the
president's greetings, after which the
president In turn visited the flagship
of each division and met the assem
bled officers and six representative
Roosevelt Is Ready for Moving Day
tice under practically battle
turns, and new records have
made.
NEW RECORDS FOR SAILING.
None Other to Compare with Achieve
ment of Our Fleet.
SLNCH the fabled cruise of the Ar
gonauts of old there have been
many famous cruises in history, but
uone that can compare, either In mag
nitude of vessels or In length of miles,
to the great world cruise Just finished
by our fleet.
When Admiral Rojestvensky took
his doomed ships from the Baltic to
the Sea of Japan, this was heralded
to all the world as the greatest armed
crulso in history, and so it. was up
to that time. Yet apart from the sin
gular fact that these Russian fighting
shlpB were foredoomed to disaster,
what a miserable achievement it was
as compared to the magnificent, resist
less, onward sweep of our own fight
ing ships!
From first to last the cruise of the
Russian fleet was attended by mis
haps, false starts, falso alarms, egre
gious blunders and humiliations of
eondl-I Then there were those ambitious
been naval projects of the great Napoleon
I resulting In the famous French cruises
to Kgypt and afterward to the West
Indies imil back, only to end In tboso
ever memorable disasters to French
sea power at the battle of the Nile
and at Trafalgar.
Second Spanish Armada,
C.uning down to more modern
times, no one can have forgotten that
111 fated cruise of another Spaulsh ar
mada under Admiral Cervera. which
r-nded In the total loss of Spanish oea
power at Santiago de Cuba.
All these cruises, like that of Ro
jestvensky, were remarkable not only
for their tragic endings, but for tho
series of blunders, follies and mis
haps that attended them from first to
last.
How different In comparison with
Nelson and Blake, or even such an
early long war crulso as that achieved
by old Admiral Drake when he sailed
his puny fighting ships all the way
from England around the Horn and up
to our own waters near what is no'w
Drake's bay!
When President Roosevelt gave bis
first order that the Atlantic fli t
Iff WA
M.: flitter
WASHINGTON The Roosevelt day
in the White House Is fast Hear
ing Its end. On Pennsylvania avenue
directly in front of the president's
home the carpenters are at work build
ing th stand from which In u few days
the next president of the United States
will view the parade marching ill his
honor. Within the While House the
packing of the household belongings Is
practically completed. The presiden
tial books, pictures, lilies and shot
guns, rods and whips, and odds and
nds of ever) thing known to a man of
diversified tastes and pursuits are
ndy for shipment to Oyster Bay.
The cartoons, jind there must bo 25
or 30 of I hem lli.it have had places of
romlticnco on the lops of the low
bookshelves In the library, doubtless
will have places of equal prominence
in the big "den" In the Oyster Buy
home. These cartoons are prized by
Mr. Roosevelt above many of his more
ostly belongings. They are among
the few presents he has consented to
ecelve.
The cartoon which has held the spe
ial place of honor Is one showing an
ild farmer, representing the American
sailornien selected from the division.
The cruise has been a practice trip
throughout, but It remained for the
final lap to institute the maneuvers
and tests planned. The intention was
to givo tho vessels the severest trials
at the finish of their long journey, in
order that any defects in them might
be demonstrated.
In addition to the 1 battleships that
composed the fleet, there were the
Yankton and Panther, two storeshlps,
and two colliers. Those were started
ahead from Gibraltar. Ri fore thoy
hail negotiated much of the distance
westward across the Atlantic they
were met by the welcoming fleet sent
out from the United States. This
consisted of the battleships Maine,
New Hampshire, Idaho and Missis
sippi, the armored cruisers Montana
and North Carolina, and the scout
cruisers Salem, Birmingham and Ches
ter. When they joined the others it
made a fleet of 20 battleships, five
powerful cruisers and two smaller
righting craft. As soon as the war
bhips were assembled the real work
of the homeward cruise was under
taken. Admiral Sperry had framed
an elaborate program. In which all the
vessels took part.
Wlolc the fleet, or the mnin body of
it. Jogged along at a ace that brought
It Into Hampton Roads February 22.
the Individual ships were put throuslt
speed trials and endurance tests.
Ships of similar class raced to deter
mine individual excellency, while bat
tleships of different designs were test
ed one against the other to determine
the superiority of style.
There were also races between
squadrons, nnd battle- maneuvers, in
which squadrons and divisions partici
pated. There also was gunnery prac-
all kinds. Kven after the Russian
ships had at last got out Into the open
sea after their ludicrous battle with
the British trawlers on the Dogger
banks they had to put into every neu
tral port ulong the way for coal and
provisions, only to be humored or or
dered out again, according to the good
will of tho various port authorities.
Then nearly six months had to be
spent nt Madagascar in refitting, yet
during all that time, so Admiral Ho
jestvensky's second in command has
testified, none of the crews of any of
tin Russian war ships was drilhd In
target practice.
In short, nothing could lie more dif
ferent than this sad record of the Rus
sian fleet commanders while steaming
around Africa and up Into the China
seas nnd our own proud record while
our lf battleships, two cruisers, six
torpedo boats and an auxiliary fleet
of unpply ships and colliers steamed
around the world.
Significant Historical Fact.
To the historian It cannot but ap
pear as a significant thing that all
other previous great cruises in his
tory, wilh the exception of those un
dertaken by Fngllsh-Rpeaking sailors,
have only resulted In disaster nnd
shame. There was the great cruise
of the Spanish armada, for Instance,
launched against England by Philip IL
of Spain, which ended in such uttei
rout and disaster.
About the same tlmo in the far east
the Japanese conqueror. Hideyoshl, un
dertook to subjugate Korea and China
with a formidable fleet of some 750
war Junks, many of them armed with
brnss cannon, yet bis fleet, too, was
overcome In fair fight by the ((un
billed war fleets of China and Korea.
common people, seated before his open
fire reading the president's message.
The cartoon Is called "His Favorite
Author." It was to this farmer Mr.
Roosevelt once pointed when he said
In effect that he could not stand for a
"second elective term" as president be
cause "that man wouldn't like it."
Tho ineslili'iit has declined to re
ceive any gifts or great Intrinsic value
since be has come Into high office. He
has had things given him which
money cannot buy, at least from him.
Authors havo sent ibelr books with
their autographs Inscribed upon the
blank page. These almost Invariably
have been taken gratefully and In
most cases there has been a return
gift of a copy of one of the Roosevelt
books, generally "The Wilderness
Hunter."
Thousands of valuable presents have
been offered that have been declined
courteously, but firmly. There have
been some things which have come
from nionarclis, articles of an Innocu
ous kind, and (hey have been taken in
the spirit In which they were given.
King Menellk's gift was innocuous as
long as It was kept behind bars. It
consisted of two lions which are now
In the Washington zoo.
If President Roosevelt had taken all
the horses offered him ho would have
as many as a Sioux Indian chief has
ponies, and that would mean enough
to eat up all the bunch grass in half a
day's trail. He has been content with
two or three favorites of his own purchasing.
Tom Cat Is Devoted to His Old Home
N EXAMPLE of devotion seldom
witnessed In a dumb nnluial Is
enacted every day by an old white cat
hat stravs about I lie corner of New
Jersey nveiiue and C street.
Born In the old Baltimore & Ohio
railroad station, that occupied that
tile for years, Tom, the untamed
eline, has never left the coiner, and
ven while the old structure was being
razed be managed to make his bed In
the building until the last wall hnd
been pulled down.
Now thai the site has been com
pletely tilled up and grad'-d, leaving
no vestige or the otici famous depot,
this old cat still remains and makes
his home beneath the chair r I he
switchman at this crossing.
At night Tom quietiy leaves Ills
friend when the last car has passed
and wanders off down C street to a
near-by lumber yard, where In- has
made his bed since the destruction of
his birthplace.
Ai five o'clock every morning; back
he comes nnd tnkes his accustomed
place beneath the chair, where his
saucer of milk awaits him. No matter
how inclement the weather, Tom al
ways manages to find his way to the
switchman's stand, and there remains
all day.
Tom was the only member of a
family of six kittens who refused to
depart from the depot when workmen
began to demolish it, and despite the
ract that nothing remains to mark the
once famous structure, this feline
creature Is so strongly attached to the
surroundings that he cannot be in
duced to forego an uncomfortable
home for luxurious quarters uptown.
During the recent snowstorm thtt
lasted two or three days, said Mr.
Nichols, the cat was late one morning
In reporting at the little platform
where the chair Is located, and he waa
Just preparing to go down the street,
to bring him out or his loft when he
heard the wanderer calling for help.
He was stranded in a pile of snow
and trying vainly to resumo his Jour
nev to the favorite spot on the corner.
House Parliamentarian No Longer Shy
should start for its "practice cruise'
to the Pacific from Hampton roads, all
tho European naval experts on tho
continent permitted themselves to
doubt whether our ships could ever be
got ready in time, and whether the
long cruise could ever be accom
plished without serious disasters. Rut
every English speaking sailorman
knew in his heart that tho great fleet
would be all ready and would start
exactly on time, to the minute, as It did
Had Confidence in Fleet.
What Is more, we all knew that the
great fleet would swing around the
world, looking In at the Hawaiian is
lands, the Philippines, Into China and
Japan, and back again without th
slightest shade of doubt in the soul
of any American that the fleet would
always acquit Itself well and achieve
wliiit it set out to do.
Tills, Indeed, is the great thing that
has been accomplished by the fleet.
For tho first time in history tho Pa
cific ocean has been put into commis
sion. This Is a great, fact, a great
achievement, the results of which can
never bo changed or lost. Henceforth
in the world's history tho Pacific
ocean, which first came into Interna
tional prominence only with Dewey's
great victory in Manila bay and the
Japanese victories in their own wa
ters, will loom up iu historical Impor
tance as did the Mediterranean before
Columbus' great cruise opened up the
Atlantic."
A better result even than this en
viable achievement during the fleet's
world cruise, perhaps. Is th moral Im
pression made upon the world at
largo by the majestic appearannu and
elllclency of our ships while under the
eyes of foreign observers.
A SI I Ell C. HINDS, parliamentarian
of the house or representatives. Is
by nature one of those modest and re
liiing men who can tell a speaker how
to bring consternation to bis political
mid parliamentary antagonists when
I lie speaker does not know bow to do
it himself, and the next moment meet
those couloundcd face to face, to hear
some such an expression as this:
"Well, Hinds, If we had had you on
our side we would have won a mile."
Somehow or other the things Hinds
does to members of the house through
the mouth of the speuker in carrying
out his official duties, which are to
help the speaker control the parlia
mentary procedure of the bouse at all
times, never siart a riot, and never
create animosities, resentment or an
tagonism lo himself.
Hut Mr. Hinds Is rapidly getting
over bis modesty. Recently he received
from the presses eight large volumes
labeled "Hinds' Precedents," each of
which Is as large as the standard doc
tor's book, usually found In all well
regulated homes. These volumes are
full of the lore or parliamentary pro
cedure In the house or representatives,
and out of-1 hem Mr. Hinds has already
demonstrated to the satisfaction of
Representative Gardner of Massachu
setts, at any rate, that "a prepon
derance of ihe testimony" in favor of
any ruling by the chair can always be
found to rest on Hinds' side in any
controversy. Recently Mr. Hinds wrote
what he declares was a 10.000-word ex
planation of the rules of the house,
and one well known newspaper boiled
the manuscript down to two lines.
A newspaper man has paraphrased
the old song. "Jane of Maine," so that
it runs as follows:
llln.lH of Maine, lie lu-vT looked the
KMiiii-;
When In- went 'lown to Wnshlimton he
wiim nli v. nliy, sliy.
Hut iiIhm nml alaek. whin Hinds came
Imrk.
lb- hail ii miwKliiy lltll' twlnklo In his
ye
Mr. Hinds declares he now has the
publicity germ as certainly as have
most congressmen.
Washington an Expensive Municipality
t- -t rw.T-m-n -mi r-r-nr... i ; -.-.--imm --m rr- r-ir-r-i 1 -t r mm mm-A
THE pending appropriation bill for
the cost of running the District of
Columbia one year curries $1 l,'.i"4.0:!:i,
being at the rate of $:!.".21 for each in
habitant. This does not include the
cost of new buildings for the govern
ment itseir or the maintenance of such
us now exist, exeepting ihe appropria
tion of $220.0110 for new buildings for
the district
The l'.'OK population of Washington
was :i:::.fM)0. The latest figures ob
tainable from the census bureau show
the cities nearest Washington In size
to be Buffalo, Pittsburg, Cinelntial I, De
troit, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Newark
and .Minneapolis. In none of these
does the per capita cost of main
tenance equal that of Washington.
Milwaukee, with a population' ot 317.-
!M)S, lias a corporate expenditure of
$r. 5-18,14:1, the rate per capita being
117.15.
Minneapolis, with 27a,ii25 inhab
itants, spent, according to last reports,
only $."i,n2l.r;:0, a per capita of J18..14.
Huffalo has a population of over 400..
000. In l'.Wi she had 381.R19. She
spent in lMOii only $T.009.0fil $19.93
per capita.
Detroit spends $7,846,305 a year for
n population of :.r3,r35. Per capita,
$22.20
New Orleans spent $6,575,94!) for a
year of city government for a popula
tion of 31 4.1 1(1. Per capita, $20.93.
Newark, N. J., with a population of
2S!u;:!4, had a budget of $G.833,198 for
1900; per capita, $23.50.
Pittsburg, with a population of 375,
082, spent $I0,935,73S; per capita,
$29.U.
Cincinnati his 345.2:10 Inhabitants,
nnd her total corporate jmynients were
$10.i'i7t?,4S2. The per capita of $30.93
is the highest of any city in the Wash
ington group except Wnshlngtou itself.