Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 March 1899 — WASHINGTON. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON.

Because they are not expressly mentioned in the reward bill passed by Congress the auditor of the Navy Department has decided that the volunteers who served in the marine corps during the recent war will not receive extra pay. The quartermaster's department at Washington has received a report from Santiago, saying that out of more than 300 disinterments of the remains of soldiers to be brought to this country 26 per cent are unknown dead. It is expected the percentage of unknown will be much less than this when the list is complete. A dispatch from Washington says: “In view of the early exchange of ratification of the treaty of peace with Spain the State Department will make immediate arrangements for reopening its consulate in that country. It is the understanding that the President will reappoint practically all of the officials who were withdrawn upon the outbreak of war. Instructions will be given to the consuls to do everything in their power to promote cordial relations between Spain and the United States, and especially devote their attention to re-establishing satisfactory trade relations.” The Postoffice Department is constantly receiving a large amount of evidence tending to show the popularity of the rural free delivery system where it has been tried, and the desire for the extension of the service to other territory where it is not yet in operation. The original appropriation by the last Congress under President Cleveland’s administration for the trial of the system was $50,000, and the Fiftyfourth Congress followed this with an appropriation of $150,000 to continue the experiment. The Congress just ended increased this amount to $300,000, aud the system is now considered practically a permanent feature of the Postoffice Department.