Loop City Northwestern
«*• W. BURLEIGH; Publisher.
WUP CTTT, . . . NEBRASKA.
.Fashions in Woman.
There are fashions not paly In wom
en's clothes but in womejf themselves.
A certain style of woman becomes
the vogue. Lydia Languish reads sen
timental novels, dissolves in tears at
s moment's notice, and finds elope
ment a necessary spice for marriage.
A century later Lydia's clinging type
goes out,—with “leg-o’-mutton sleeves,
—and the athletic girl takes the cen
ter of the stage, with her short skirt,
her long stride and her loud voice.
The dominant note of the early twen
tieth century woman is her ability to
be interesting. Be she plain or beau
tiful, blonde, “strawberry” or bru
nette, she must be pleasant. To listen
well is not enough; she must have
a quick wit and a clever tongue,
which should be kind as well. The
dull, the quiet, the simpering are out
of fashion, and even the athletic girl
must look to her laurels, lest the en
tertaining one prove her successful
rival with the exacting sex. One mod
ern freak of the mode deserves soon
to pass away, remarks the Youth’s
Companion. The modern woman re
fuses to grow old. At first sight that
seems a worthy ambition. But with
the banishment of caps and shoulder
capes something of the gentleness,
grace and wisdom of old age has also
been lost In place of those lovely ac
companiments of advanced years we
find other things which make their
bearer a nondescript travesty of
youth, whose hat complexion and
conduct are as gay as they are unbe
coming. Somebody once said that
the finest thing God ever made was
a beautiful old woman. It behooves
us not to let her dignity and calm,
her poise, sagacity and charm go out
of fashion.
The Ute “Uprising.”
Persons familiar with real Indian
uprisings have been amused at the
amount of attention attracted to the
recent attempted migration of 300
Utes from their reservation in Utah
to more fertile land in Wyoming. It
could hardly be called an uprising in
the old sense, says Youth's Compan
ion. The Indians had no warlike pur
pose. They were simply seeking a
place of residence where it will be
possible to get food. It is 15 years
Since there has been anything which,
can properly be called an uprising,
and that culminated in the fight at
Wounded Knee, S. D„ In 1890. The
campaign of Gen. Miles for the cap
ture of Geronlmo in 1886 was really
the last serious conflict between the
Whites and the red men. To go far
ther back, troops were called out at
the time of the massacre of the Meek
er family by the White river Utes in
1879, and the Sioux and Cheyennes
were so troublesome in 1876 that they
had to be attacked in tbe campaign
which resulted in the Custer massa
cre. These were grave disturbances;
but so many of the Indians now speak
English, wear civilized clothing and
cultivate the land, that the red man
who has any disposition to take to
the war-path has practically disap
peared. «
Prof. Phelps of Yale is quoted as
saying that if all the undergraduates
In America should be placed in one
room and tested by a common exam
ination on the supposedly familiar
stories of the Old Testament, such
instances as Adam, Eve and the Gar
den of Eden, Noah, Samson, David
and Goliah, Moses and Pharaoh, the
results would be a magnificent con
tribution to American humor. No
doubt. And a great many graduates
and other persons who pride them
selves on a liberal education might
safely be included in the list of ignor
amuses on the subject. There is a
ivast amount of ignorance concerning
Ithe greatest book that was ever pub
lished.
The Michigan supreme court has
decided that the evidence submitted
by phonograph is admissible. The
question was raised in a case where
a hotel proprietor was trying to
prove how the value of his property
had been diminished by the prox
imity of a railroad and the blowing
of whistles and the shunting of cars.
The phonograph won the case. We
Relieve the admission of such evi
dence to be a novelty. Higher courts
blight overrule the decision. Imagine,
aays the Utica Observer, if you can,
the supreme court of the United
States listening to a phonograph!
The wife of a Cincinnati minister
has recently been voted a salary by
her husband's congregation. The min
ister’s wife as a rule earns everything
the gets, and then, half of the time,
hhe does not get it, says the Minneap
olis Journal. The Cincinnati example
Is worth thinking about
Having seen several of the new
Printer hats, we can’t find it in our
heart exclaims the Topeka Capital,
to criticise Hetty Green for sticking
|o her old one.
A vaudeville performer in New
York allows an automobile to ran
Inver him. He differs from the rest
of us in having some option in the
matter.
A Binghamton man says that he
has solved the riddle of the sphinx,
but perhaps be will realize that he
hasn’t after he getB Bober
to the Just is never lost
aan piautus. And it isn’t a bad idea
l» t«~atch lb—to a large dog, tor ex
Grace Brown to
Chester Gillette
Woman’s Simple Documents That Made
a Criminal Case Famous and Virtually
Sealed the Fate of a Murderer
When Read to the Jury
That Tried Him for
His Life.
Herkimer, N. Y.—Printed below are
letters which, within the past few
weeks, have become known almost
from one end ol the country to the
other as "Grace Brown’s letters.”
They need no introduction, save per
haps the statement that these are the
letters which were read at the trial
of Chester Gillette.
They formed the most remarkable
feature of that case. The whole struc
ture of the prosecuting attorney was
built upon them. It passes under
standing why the murderer of the
girl should have preserved a series of
documents which, it is safe to say,
spelled his doom from the moment
they were placed in the hands of a
Jury of 12 men. It is inconceivable
that Gillette kept them for their
pathos, or the gentleness of charac
ter which they revealed, for he is not
the kind of a man to whom such
things appeal. It is utterly improb
able that he ever recognized in them
a simple literary beauty, although
such they do possess in an unusual
degree—the more unusual when it is
remembered that Grace Brown was
a country girl of plain education, who
had worked as a factory hand.
Yet somehow Gillette kept them,
and the American public has come into
the possession of one of the most re
markable series of documents that
ever appeared in a criminal case. As
a revelation of character, as the writ
ten record of a tortured soul, they
have already taken a place unique in
the annals of real life tragedies.
Here are the letters:
"l SHOULD HAVE KNOWN”
“But Somehow I Have Trusted You
More Than Any One Else.”
South Otselic, June 21st, 1906,
Wednesday Night—My Dear Chester:
I am just ready for bed and am so 111
I could not help writing to you.
Chester, I came home because 1
thought I could trust you. I don't
think now I will be here after next
Friday. This girl wrote me that you
seemed to be having an awfully good
time and she guessed that my coming
home had done you good, as you had
not seemed so cheerful in weeks. She
also said that you spent most of your
time with that detestable Grace Hill.
Now, Chester, she does not know
I dislike Miss Hill and so did not
write that because she knew it would
make me feel* badly, but just because
she didn't think. I should have
known, Chester, that you did not care
for me. But somehow I have trusted
you more than anyone else. When
ever the other girls have said hateful
things to me of you I could not be
lieve them. You told me—even prom
ised me—you would have nothing to
do with her while I was gone.
Perhaps, Chester, you don't think
or you can’t help making me grieve,
but 1 wish things were different. You
may say you do, too, but you can't
possibly wish so more than I. I have
been very brave since I came home,
but to-night I am very discouraged.
Chester, if I could only die. I know
how you feei about this affair and I
wish for your sake you need not be
troubled. If I die I hope you can then
be happy. I hope I can die. The doc
tor says I will, and then you can do
just as you like. I am not the least
bit offended with you, only I am a lit
tle blue to-night and I feel this way.
I miss you. Oh, dear, you don’t
know how much I miss you. Honest
ly, dear, I am coming back next week
unless you can come for me right
away. I am so lonesome I can’t-stand
It. Week ago to-night we were to
gether. Don’t you remember how I
cried, dear? I have cried like that
nearly all the time since I left Cort
land. I am awfully blue. '
Don’t you think I am awfully brave?
I am doing so much better than I
thought I should. I think about
you, dear, all the time and wonder
what you are doing. I am so fright
ened, dear. Maude has invited me
down for next Tuesday, but I don’t
think I can go. Oh, say, if you post
« letter to me Tuesday morning I will
get it Tuesday night. Well, dear,
they are calling me to dinner and I
will stop. Please write or I will be
crazy. Be a good kid and God bless
you. Lovingly,
THE KID.
P. S.—I am crying.
“THERE ARE SO MANYNOOKS”
“1 Have Been Bidding Good-bye
to Some Places To-day.”
South Otselic, July 6, Thursday
Night—My Dear Chester: If you take
the 9:45 train from the Lehigh, there,
you will get here about 11. I am sorry
I could not go to Hamilton, dear, but
papa and mamma did not want me to,
and there are so many things I have
had to work hard for in the last two
weeks. They think I am just going
out there to Deruyter for a visit. Now,
dear, when I get there I will go at
once to the hotel, and I don’t think
I will see any of the people. If I do,
and they ask me to come to the house,
I will say something so they won't
mistrust anything—tell them I have a
friend coming from Cortland and that
we were to meet there to go to a
funeral or wedding in some town far
ther along. Awfully stupid, but we
were invited to come, and so I had to
cut my vacation a little short and go.
Will that be O. K.. doar?
You must come in the morning, for
I have had to make you don’t know
how many new plans since your last
letter, in order to meet you Monday.
I dislike waiting until Monday, but
now that I have to, I don’t think it
anything but fair that you should come
up Monday morning. But, dear, you
must see the necessity yourself of get
ting here and not making me wait
If you dislike the Idea of coming Mon
day morning and can get a train up
there Sunday night, you would come
up Sunday night and be there to meet
me. Perhaps that would be the best
way. All I care is that I don’t want
to wait there all day or half a day.
I think there is a train that leaves
the Lehigh at six something Sunday
night. I do not know what I would
do if you were not to come. I am
about crazy. I have been bidding
good-by to some places to-day. There
are so many nooks, dear, and all of
them so dear to me. I have lived here
nearly all my life.
First I said good-by to the spring
house with its great masses of green
moss; then the apple tree where we
had our playhouse; then the “Bee
hive,” a cute little house in the or
chard. and, of course all the neighbors
that have mended my dresses from a
little tot up to save me a threshing I
really deserved.
“Oh, dear, you don't realize what all
this means to me. I know I shall
never see any of them again, and
mamma, great Heaven, how I do love
mamma! I don't know what I will
do without her. She is never cross
and she always helps me so much.
Sometimes I think if I tell mamma—
but I can’t. She has trouble enough
as it is, and I couldn’t break her heart
like that.
If I came back dead, perhaps, if she
doesn’t know, she won’t be angry with
me. I will never be happy again, dear.
I wish I could die. You will never
know what you have made me suffer,
dear. I miss you and want to see
you, but I wish I could die. I am go
ing to bed now, dear. Please come
and don’t make me wait there. If
you had made plans for something
Sunday, you must come Monday morn
ing.
Please think, dear, that I had to give
up a whole summer’s pleasure and you
surely will be brave enough to give
up one evening for me. I shall expect
and look for you Monday forenoon.
Heaven bless you until then.
Lovingly and with kisses,
THE KrD.
P. S.—Please come up Sunday night,
dear.
“CAN’T YOU COME TO ME?”
"Chester, I Need You More Than
You Think I Do.”
South Otselic, June 26, 1906, Monday
Night—Dear Chester: I am much too
tired to write a decent letter or even
follow the line, but I have been un
easy all day, and I can’t go to sleep
because I am sorry I sent you such a
AS AN EMERGENCY OVERCOAT.
Deep Breathing Best Substitute for
Extra Clothing in a Pinch.
“No It wasn’t carelessness so much
as Ignorance,” said the physician,
whose patient was explaining that he
caught the cold by getting chilled be
muse he neglected to wear his over
coat one frostj' evening. “If you’d
only realize that deep breathing was
a perfectly successful substitute for
an overcoat in an emergency the
chances are ten to oife you wouldn’t
have got chilled.”
“I’ve tried d«»p breathing every
morning for a year," replied the pa
tient. “Do it regular as clockwork,
along with a cold bath. Was told that
they would make me impervious to
colds. And here’s the result, with
the first cool spell of the fall.”
“I’m not talking about deep breath
ing as a regular exercise,” said the
physician. “That’s well enough, of
course, if properly mixed with enough
exercise to make it natural. I’m sug
. gesting it merely for emergencies.
About this time of year colds are fiy
The Wa
O, little maid, the way is long,
And you are young and none too strong;
For all the brightness of your eyes.
Your lips are meek, and sorrow wise.
Your feet are slow, like pilgrim feet.
And white, with dust of field and street;
Should you not say your beads?—for lo!
, Lonely and strange the road you go.
The sun has set. and night comes down
Between us, and the far off town
Shall you not fear a little? You,
So young and fair may sadly rue
To be alone with none to guard,
quent because people get caught Just
as you did, and can’t think of any
way to keep warm except running a
race or getting up a brisk fight with
somebody, which isn’t always conven
ient.
“In such a case, deep breathing is
the best substitute for an overcoat
there is. I was going down the state
by trolley the other day, minus an
overcoat, because it didn't seem cold
and the closed cars were on. But
when I struck the Sea View line we
found nothing but an open car, and
it wasn’t many minutes before I was
wishing I had a fur coat with me.
OgACEf Billy) Brown/
^Ghester Gillette
hateful letter this mornmg, so I am
going to write and ask your forgive
ness, dear. I was cross and wrote
things I ought not to have written. I
am sorry, dear, and I shall never feel
quite right about all this until you
write and say you forgive me. I was
ill and did not realize what I was writ
ing, and then this morning mamma
gave my letters to papa before I was
down. I should not have had it posted
but it went long before I was awake.
I am very tired to-night, dear. 1 have
been helping mamma sew to-day. My
sister is making me a new white Peter
Pan suit, and I do get so tired having
it fitted, and then there are other
ried and tired. I never liked to have
dresses fitted, and now it is ten times
worse. Oh! Chester, you will never
know how glad I shall be when this
worry is all over. I am making myself
ill over it. Maybe there is no use to
worry, but I do and I guess everyone
does. I am quite brave to-night, and
I always feel better after I write you,
Chester, so I hope you mind the hate
ful things I say and I hope you won’t
mind my writing so much. Where do
vou suppose we will be two weeks
from to-night? I wish you would write
and tell me, dear, all about your com
ing. I am awfully afraid I can't go
to Hamilton. Chester.
Papa can't take me and I am nerv
ous about going alone. You see I
would have to ride quite a distance
before I could take the train and then
there is a long wait, and, Chester, I
am getting awfully sensitive. If I
can't go up there what shall I do? Do
you think it would be wise to come
back there? Could you come to Der
uyter and meet me? I have relatives
there, but perhaps I could arrange it
somehow. I was pleased yesterday
morning. You know I have a lot of
bed quilts—six, I guess—and I was
asking mamma where they were and
saying I wished I had a dozen, when
my little sister said: “Just you and
someone else will not need so many.”
Of course my face got crimson and
the rest of the family roared. Mam
ma is so nice about fixing my dresses;
she has them all up now in nice shape.
You remember the white dress I wore
and you once asked me why I didn’t
have a new yoke. Well, she has al
most made a new dress out of that.
I am afraid the time will seem awfully
long before I see you, Chester. I wish
you would always post your letters in
the morning after you write them or
the same night. They are a day later
here if you wait until noon. Of
course I will be glad to get them, only
I dislike waiting for them.
Oh! dear, I do get so blue, Chester.
Please don’t wait until the last of the
week before you come. Can’t you come
the first of the week? Chester, I need
you more than you think I do. I really
think it will be impossible for me to
stay here any longer than this week.
I want to please you, but I think,
Chester, it would be very unwise.
If I should stay here and anything
should happen I would always regret
it for your sake. You do not know
papa as well as I do, and I would not
like you to be disgraced here. We
have both suffered enough and I
would rather go away quietly. In a
measure I will suffer tne more, but
I will not cdmplain if you will not get
cross and will come for me. I must
close. Write me Wednesday night,
dear, and tell me what you think
about everything. Let’s not leave all
our plans until the last moment, and,
above all, please write and say you
forgive me for that letter I sent you
this morning. I am sorry and if I were
there I know you would say it would
be all O. K.
Lovingly,
THE KID.
“MY LITTLE SISTER CAME”
“I Told Her 1 Guessed My Fortune
Was Pretty Well Told Now.”
South Otselic, June 23d, 1906, Sun
day Night—My Dear Chester: I was
glad to hear from you and surprised as
well. I thought you would rather
have my letters affectionate, but yours
was so businesslike that I have come
to the conclusion that you wish mine
to be that way. I may tell you,
though, that I am not a business wom
an, and so presume that these letters
will not satisfy you any more than
the others did. I would not like to
have you think I was not glad to hear
from you, for I was very glad, but it
was not the kind of letter I had hoped
to get from you.
I think, pardon me, that I under
stand my position and that it is rather
unnecessary for you to be so fright
fully frank in showing it to me. I
can see my position as keenly as any
one, I think. You say' you were sur
prised, but you thought I would be
discouraged. I don’t see why I should
be discouraged. What words have I
had from you since I came home to
encourage me?
You write as though I was the one
to blame because the girls wouldn’t
come. I invited them here because I
thought I wouldn’t be so lonesome. I
am sure I cannot help it because
mamma is away. As to the financial
difficulty, I am the one who will be
most afTected by that. You say “your
trip.” Won’t it be your trip as well as
mine? I understand how you feel
about the affair. You consider me as
something troublesome that you both
ered with. You think if it wasn't for
me you could do as yoi^ liked all sum
mer and not be obliged to give up
your position there. I know how yon
feel, but once in awhile you make me
see these things a great deal more
plainly than ever.
vuesier, i uuu i suppose you win
ever know how I regret being all this
trouble to you. I know you hate me,
and I can’t blame you one bit. My
whole life is ruined, and in a measure
yours is, too. Of course, it’s worse
for me than for you, but the world
and you, too, may think I am the one
to blame, but somehow I can’t, just
simply can’t think that I am, Chester.
I said No so many times, dear. Of
course, the world will not know that,
but it’s true all the same.
My little sister came up Just a min
ute ago with her hands full of daisies
and asked if I didn't want my fortune
told. I told her I guessed it was
pretty well told now. I don’t want
you to mind this letter, for I am blue
to-night and get so mad when the girls
write things about me. Your letter
was nice, and I was glad to get it. I
simply feel “out of sorts” to-night
When you are cross, just think I
am sick and can’t help all this. If
you were me, you couldn’t help find
ing fault, I know. I don’t dare think
how glad I will be to see you. If you
wrote me a letter like this I wouldn’t
write in a long time, but I know you
won’t tease me in that way. You will
just forget it and be your own dear
self. You know I always am cross in
the beginning. It was that way Sat
urday night, so don't be angry, dear.
Lovingly. KID.
yfarers.
For hearts of evil men are hard,
And beauty works such sinful charm—
Surely, you need have fear of harm?
ifer face smiled through the dimness.
"Nay,
Shall we not wend the s.-;fsame way?
Like me, you seek the town, and so,
I fear not darkness, as we go.
Nor evil men. While you are nigh
Harm cannot reach me! . . . With a cry
He caught her hand, “Good night! I pray
God shield you, dear!” and fled away.
—Madeline Bridges in Smart Set.
Instead ot Bitting there and absorb
ing a cold, however, which I'll bet
most of the people on the car did, I
simply began to take long, deep
breaths, as deep as I could. When I
got off the car, instead of being stiff
from cold, I was warm and comfort
able from the extra oxygen I‘d drawn
into my lungs, combined with the
extra physical exertion involved.
“Just remember that When you
get caught in such a situation, a reg
ular deep breathing exercise will Bave
you many a cold like this. Ordinarily
deep breathing exercises want to be
provided for by exercises that will
make them natural. But In an emer
gency they’re worth trying any time."
—Boston Globe.
Libel on Omar.
In a recent case of some notoriety
that was tried before United States
Commissioner Shields in New York a
lawyer who is noted for his flowery
oratory was defending the accused.
Wishing to emphasize the tender re
lation that had existed between hia
client and the complainant he ex
claimed, in the middle of an impas
sioned speech: ’’What does Omar
say on this subject? ‘A dog and a
bone and a hank of hair and thou
singing beside me in the wilderness.’"
And to this day he doesn’t understand
why his respectfully attentive audi
ence laughed.
Jefferson Davis Statue.
A large bronze statue of Jefferson
Davis, president of the confederate
states, is being completed at an es
tablishment in Providence, R. I., and
will be unveiled in Richmond, Va., on
June 3, 1907, at the annual reunion of
the United Confederate Veterans’ as
sociation.
...■mum i ■ ■rum—ninnmiiMTili
Our Washington Letter
One of the Ways Devised by Congress to Spend Uncle Sam's Money
—Government Biologist Records Tones Heard in the Wildwood—
Other News Notes from the Capital.
“us. I,
TREASURY
WASHINGTON—If any gentleman contem
plates building himself a striking sort of a home
he should not construct it after the form ami
style of the Washington monument. Costs tw>
much to keep it up. The secretary of the treafs
ury has just sent to congress an estimate of th 3
amount he will need during the next year for the
upkeep of the monument and it totals $11,820.
This, of course, includes the elevator and machin
ery, but after all no one would care for a hous-s
555 feet high without an elevator in it. and there
fore the cost of maintaining an elevator must bo
considered by anyone contemplating that kind of
a habitation.
The Washington monument has an elevator
running up through its middle and stairs winding
around the elevator shaft and between it and the walls, or skin, of the biulc
Ing. And it has an engine house underground not far away. It has engines,
boilers and dynamos, and likewise a heating plant, including oil stoves for
the elevator car and the bottom and top floors of the monument. Among tha
articles bought for the monument are fuel, waste, lights, oil, packing, tools,
matches, paints, brushes, brooms, lanterns, rope, nails, screws and lead.
To run the thing there is a force of men consisting of one boss, down 01
the books as the custodian, at $100 a month; one steam engineer, at $80 a
month; one assistant steam engineer, at $70 a month; one foreman, at $55
a month; one elevator conductor, at $75 a month; one attendant on the bot
tom floor, at $60 a month; one attendant on the top floor, at $60 a month;
three night and day watchmen, at $60 a month apiece. So that with ruc
ning the elevator, preventing people from committing suicide by jumping out
of the windows at the top, as some fool every little while attempts to do. and
keeping an eye on the property to prevent it from being stolen, the monu
ment costs a tidy sum every year.
The watchmen, if you ask what in the world they find to do to kill timo
between pay days, will assure you that if they were not “Johnny on the spot ’
all the while, the monument would be all chipped off and carried away in a
few weeks by the great American brotherhood of rubbernecks, from whom
Washington receives more visits than any other city in the country.
GOVERNMENT EXPERT WRITES BIRDS’ MUSH
Henry Oldys, assistant biologist in the de
partment of agriculture, has 1,000 samples of
bird music written in popular form so that it
is possible for the human voice exactly to imi
tate the songsters of the field and the forest. He
has recorded the actual tones, setting them in the
proper musical key, and their reproduction is
easy for anybody who can read musical symbols.
Mr. Oldys has been gathering bird language
for 13 years and during most of that time has
been devoting his expert knowledge of the sub
ject to official reports which find their way in
the government archives. He has extended the
work of other eminent naturalists and to-day is
foremost among those who have made a study of
this unique branch of science.
The forests of the south and the fastnesses of the west have been the
handbook of this student. He has collected as far as possible all the bird
notes capable of reproduction for human expression. Asked if he would
formulate these in popular form he said that it probably would not be pos
sible, as his samples are short and often disjointed. He thought the com
poser, however, might supplement the work of the scientist.
There is in this collection, then, the possible groundwork for a magnifl-'
cent bird opera. If the blending of notes can successfully be accomplished
the theater goer of the next decade may be treated with a wonderful enter
tainment and may hear in the course of one evening the songs of the feath
ered musicians of the world executed by human vocal chords.
Mr. Oldys explains that many of the bird tones are almost identical with
those of the human. Taking this as a basis he has recorded the symbols
whereby the human can read and the human voice express these harmonious
sounds.
Among the more prevalent birds whose tones are like those of the human
and can be reproduced and written as music are the wood thrush, the che
wink, the song sparrow, the field sparrow, the Baltimore oriole, the wood
peewee and the Carolina wren.
OFFICIALS RESENT SPYtNG BY TELEPHONE.
,
If they are deprived of all personal use, for
whatever purpose, of the telephones in their
office, why should not the private conversations
held on the wire between the office of the secre
tary of the navy and his office and residence in
Baltimore be charged up to Mr. Boneparte, is r.
question that has arisen in the disturbed minds
of a number of chiefs of bureaus in the navy de
partment.
Developments in the navy department have
disclosed to even the highest officials that it is
impossible for them to hold private conversations
over the department telephones. H. C. Gauss,
private secretary of Secretary Bonaparte, has
taken the situation in hand and made private de
tectives of the "hello” girls in the department's
telephone exchange. For some time the operators have been listening ti>
every conversation possible and keeping tab of all those which according to
their judgment have no bearing on business of the department.
Officials were given a surprise when they learned that an “official eaves
dropper” had been appointed, particularly by the secretary’s private secre
tary. The matter of looking after the telephone business of the department
usually falls to the chief clerk, and there is general resentment that censor
ship has thus been put on their conversations.
The detective-like operations became known when a bureau chief received
a note from Mr. Gauss calling his attention to the fact that he had U3ed the
line twic"' in one day for private conversations.
While none of the officials takes the stand that the government should
be charged up with private conversations, they do bitterly resent the method
that has been adopted to “spy” on them, and it is likely that the matter
will be called to the attention of the secretary.
PATENT OFFICIALS DEMAND LARGER QUARTERS.
me inventive Dreea is not dying out In
America. The commissioner of patents at Wash
ington calls loudly for larger quarters, more
clerks and bigger pay for overworked examiners.
There is such a flood of new devices pouring into
the patent office as was never seen before. The
examiners are fairly swamped and are a full
year behind in their work.
Naturally enough, motors and submarine and
aerial navigating devices lead the list. "Modern
man insists upon flying, and the inventor who
adds speed to his passing to and fro upon the
earth, in the air, or in or under the water is cer
tain of'his reward.
The inventors are no believers in the early
coming of peace among the nations, for improve
ments upon weapons and new explosives are well nigh as numerous as new
motors. Yet with all this gunning for gain and racing for fame on the part
of the inventors the chances are that some unconsidered trifle like the wooden
ball with a rubber string or the globe catch for women's purses will w'n the
largest rewards in the future as in the past.
WOULD ABOLISH BILLBOARD PICTURE8.
Maj. Sylvester, superintendent of police, is
to recommend to the district commissioners that
a bill be introduced in congress eliminating pic
tures of every kind and description from the bill
boards of the district.
The recommendation will apply to all the
ater advertisements, posters put up by dry goods
stores setting forth the merits of corsets and
hosiery of various kinds, patent medicine displays
and dozens of other drawings regularly seen on
the boards. It will also affect the use in this
section of the sheets which the United States
navy adopted as a means of attracting young
men to enter the service.
Maj. Sylvester’s idea in recommending the
enforcement of a new law regarding the regula
tion of billboards is to make Washington a clean city.
The recommendation will request that the law be so framed that after
its enactment nothing will be allowed to appear on the billboards except plain
reading matter of a legitimate nature._