Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 January 1898 — WAS-INCTON COSSIP [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WAS-INCTON COSSIP

The Government of the United State« owns in the city of Washington 1,600,000 volumes of literature. Of these about onehalf, or 787,715, are in the congressional library. The remainder are scattered through the various executive departments. The daily number of readers in the congressional library averages 3,32Q> About 700 persons, including the mem* bers of both houses and high officials of the Government, are entitled to draw ‘ books and take them away from the build- J ing, and the average number loaned out in such a way is 1,446. It is a favorably ’ commentary upon the honesty and care of : our public men that during a period of , thirty years the number of books lost or not returned was only five in a thousand, j Large numbers of petitions, by many signatures and uniform in thcifß phraseology, are being presented to the* House of Representatives. They ask the passage of a series of laws to protect the morals of the public. For example, to prohibit gambling in stocks, produce, racing pools and other forms of speculation 1 by telegraph, to prohibit the transmission N of stock quotations for speculative purposes, and the transmission in the mails of newspapers containing pictures or descriptions of prize fights, to prohibit the exhibition of kinetoscope reproductions of prize fights and other brutalizing spectacles, and to prohibit the transportation from State to State of materials for such exhibitions. * • » The ladies of the cabinet are-decidedly put out by the edict that forbade their New 1 ear’s receptions and the dinners that were to precede and follow. They do not see any occasion for it. The President did not ask or even suggest a suspension of social affairs. He told the members of his cabinet he should close the White House for thirty days, although he « did not think it was necessary for them 1 to follow his example, but without con- j suiting their wives, they agreed to do so. j The husbands have since had an unhappy x time, and the Washington social world I has offered them no sympathy. * * ♦ The opposition to the ratification of the Hawaiian treaty has simmered down almost entirely to the sugar trust, the Louisiana planters and the beet-root sugar manufacturers. There are a few Senators ,who oppose the treaty on principle, as they believe it inexpedient for the United States to assume the responsibility of governing any detached territory, and several on the Democratic side have joined the opposition because they regard annexation as a Republican measure. * * * Chairman Loud of the House Committee on Postoffices has been working during the recess on the report of the committee on the Loud bill, and has practically completed it. He believes that the measure will effect a saving of at least $10,600,000 annually, and will wipe out the enormous deficit that confronts the Potsofflce Department every year. Mr. Loud believes the bill is much stronger this session than i last, and, while not absolutely confident, thinks it will finally carry. * • • The agents of the Cuban junta in Washington justify the assassination of Col. Ruiz as necessary to intimidate the cowardly and corrupt men in their ranks who are likely to be allured into making terms with the Spanish authorities cither through fear or bribery. They saythat hereafter no Spanish agent will dare approach an insurgent camp, and that it will be dangerous for any stranger to do so.

The distressing death of Miss Leila Herbert has caused a shock to her many friends and acquaintances in Washington. She was a young woman of beautiful character, gentle, amiable and generous, and was generally beloved and admired. Those who knew her best believe that her suicide was dne to fear that she might be a permanent cripple. * * * . The pension certificate of the Rev. L. J. Keith of Vincennes, Ind., will be canceled, because the holder has informed ’ the bureau that, he does not consider himself longer entitled to a pension, his disability having disappeared, and has asked that his name be dropped from the rolls. There is only one other such case on record. • * * Secretary Wilson is greatly interested in legislation for the establishment of postal savings banks because he believes they are necessary to the prosperity of tho farmers. It is sometimes an all day’s job, he says, for a farmer to go to the town where the nearest bank is situated, while there is a postoffice in every village. * » ♦ The copyright department is a most important branch of the-Government, and indicates an enormous increase in literary and musical compositions and in designs which are susceptible to copyright. In 1870 the number of copyrights granted was 5,621; in 1880, 20,686; in 1890, 42758; in 1896, 72,470.

The recent report of the Comptroller of the Currency sho-ws that the savings banks of the United States are mostly confined to the northeastern section of the country. Nearly 80 per cent of the num-' ber of banks and amount of deposits is represented by New York and New Egland. • « ♦ The committee appointed by the Society of the Army of the Tennessee to secure the erection of a monument to Gen. George B. McClellan at Mjashington has held its first meeting and elected Adjt. Gen. Ruggles chairman. * * * Ink erasers are not allowed in either the War or the Navy Department except under the direction of a chief of bureau, and no one is allowed to erase an entry in any official record book without explanations and express permission. * * * Dr. Sheldon Jackson, the Alaska expert, says that there is so much gold in Alaska that persons who go there ten years hence will have ns good a chance as those who go next spring. » » « Postmaster General Gary and Secretary Gage have promised to assist in laying the corner stone of the new postoffice building in Chicago on the 4th of next July. • * * There is a very favorable outlook for the passage of the bankruptcy bill, and even the opponents of the measure concede their conviction that it will pass both houses. * * « The sale of postage stamps for the last quarter of the year 1897 was the largest to th# history of the country,