Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1900 — WASHINGTON GOSSIP [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WASHINGTON GOSSIP

The “war room” is still maintained at Jhe White House, .and maps of Cuba, Porto Rico mid the Philippine Islands still hang on the wall. Col. Montgomery, who ia n sort of military secretary to the President, keeps tip the practice that was commenced at the beginning of tho war and marks the position mid the movement of every regiment mid detached ba trillion and man-of-war and transport in the service by menus of different colored flags mounted upon pins. By a siiigle glance at the. map of .the-- Philippines, soy lastance, th- Pie-id'mt enn locate every company or battery in the army and every ship, and transport in the navy, and the flags arc moved as thg, changes are reported to the a Ijntant genera! or the bureau of navigation, for all the dispatches they receive are forwardcdMo the President promptly. Each flag bears an inscription to show what it represents. Ihns the President can obtain ail the information concerning the movements of the army and navy without a guide. . Out of 88,000 civil employes of the Government of the United States whose names appear in the blue book, 2,582 bear the name of Smith, and 474 the Mine of John Smith. The Joneses are next in nilnlber. 1,523 being on the pay roll, with 1,102 Browns and‘l,oo4 Johnsons. Eighteen people of the name of George Washington are serving their country in official positions and fifty-two ordinary Washingtons. Two persons of the name of William McKinley are on Uncle Sam’s pay roll. One draws a salary of $4,166 a month as President and the other SIOO a month as engineer in the Louisville custom house. There are for- - ty-eight Bryans, and three of them were , christened William. We used to have two Grover Clevelands in the public service, but only one now, who is assistant farmer at Fort Peck Indian agency and receives a salary of SIBO a mouth. Qunlify ations prescrilied by the Postoffice Department for rural' free delivery carriers stipulate that they must be able to read and write, be energetic, furnish a horse and buggy and be willing to travel twenty miles or more each day, rain or shine, give bond to the amount of SSOO, and be satisfied to receive in return a salary of about SSOO a year. The department is paying carriers at present on the average S4OO a year, but within the next thirty days will raise the maximum to SSOO. .Appointments are made almost invariably upon the - recommendation of Congressmen, the Representative having the privilege to recommend the carriers in his district; These recommendations are respected, without regard to the polities of the Congressman, provided the applicant meets the requirements. Director Merriam of the census bureau has appointed over 50,000 enumerators. This great army of census takers will have time to drill and learn their business. AH the blanks have been sent out from Washington, several trainloads of them, covering all the many and varied branches of inquiries. Every enumerator has been equipped with a portfolio, an outfit of stationery and all the tools necessary to record the answers that will be given to each question, and circulars of instruction and explanation of the minutest nature have J>een forwarded for the study of Col. Merriam’s great army. So Clear and comprehensive are these instructions that an enumerator must be very stupid if he cannot understand them. Every fine day in Washington, in one of the northwest sections, can be seen the pathetic figure of the Rev. William H. Milbnrn, the blind chaplain of the Senate, walking for recreation. His duties at the Capitol are brief, and these little outings are possible frequently. It is said of this veteran clergyman that he won his appointment years ago by his faithfulness to conscience in reproving a party of profane Senators and Representatives on a steainiioat. They stopped playing cards and drinking and suggested that he shonld apply for the chaplaincy of the Senate. There is need of additional men in tho Philippines, and it will be necessary to o(H-n adcHtional recruiting offices and increase the facilities two fold for getting enlisted men. The .number of men required to replace soldiers discharged from service with the force under Gen. MacArthur is fully 1IM» per week. There are 3,500 vacancies in the enlisted force, a number which is daily increasing, with scant prospect that the present rate of enlist meat* will ever replace. It is proposed to establish new recruiting offices at (><>ints throughout tho country where men are likely to lie secured. The opinion of the Supreme Court affirming the coustitntionnlity of the inheritance tax was a surprise to many learned lawyers, who expected a decision similar to that in tho income tax case. They reasoned on the theorjTthat if it is unlawful for the Federal Government to Impose a direct tax upon a mark's pn>|>crty when he is living it should lie equally unlawful to impose a tax when he is dead. The court, however, makes the distinction very clear. Jacoli De Haven loaned the Government ot the United Ntntes $50,000 128 yeans ago, and now Uncle Sam is to pay the money to his heirs after litigation which tins been carried on for generations. The claim against the Government, with interest, amounts to $3,000,000. and this is to be divided among the De Haven heirs. Senator Pettus adheres to ’the oldfushiondd custom of keeping his office in his hat, and when he starts out from home in the morning it is filled with letters and p.i|iern, whicli he distribute* among the different departments as he works his way downtown. He gathers a good many papers on th* route and when ho arrives nt the capitol his old black broad-brimmed slouch hat Is bulging with letters and documents. When he takes it off he dumps the content;! upon his desk in the Senate chamber nntL sends it to the cioak room by a oats