Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1905 — WASHINGTON LETTER [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON LETTER

[Special Correspondence.] Assistant Sergeant at Arms Stewart of the United States senate lias ordered a silver band for the gavel that Is used by Senator Frye in calling senators to order. This gavel Is unlike most of the symbols of authority wielded by presiding officers. It consists of a piece of ivory shaped like an hourglass. Nobody lctiows the origin or age of the gavel, save that it lias been used in the senate for move than 1 100 years. It is yellow with age and is slick and smooth as the result of long handling. “The history of this gavel,” said Mr. Stewart the other day, “is wrapped in mystery. We have tntjced it back far enough to know that it came to Washington from Philadelphia in 1801, and has been on the vice president’s table evey since. I have just ordered a silver band with an inscription for the gavel. It will bear the date 1801. One hundred years after the arrival of this gavel in Washington we bought an inkstand for the use of the presiding officer-in the senate. The stand and the gavel are the only pieces of furniture allowed permanently on his desk in the senate.” Telegraph MeK«osr?n to, Alaska. ."So' much pressure has been brought to bear upon the government to induce the officials to facilitate the transmission of social and domestic messages between people in the United States and people in the interior of Alaska that it lias been decided to reduce for such messages the telegraph tolls between Valdes and such Alaskan points as are reached by the government lines. Messages not exceeding ten words may be sent via Valdes to or from other Alaskan points at a toll of 50 Cents, or twenty-five words for sl. The exchange of such mfeSffij&s is to be limited to two each month between any two persons. It is expected the government will not be able to handle the messages at those rates at a profit, but the arrangement has been sanctioned by the cabinet in the interest of the people. To Contlnne Doty. Paymaster General 11. T. M. Harris, chief of the bureau of supplies and accounts of the navy department, will by law be placed on the retired list for age next month. Paymaster General Harris, although so near the retiring age of sixty-two years, still enjoys the maximum of health and strength, and his friends believe it would be a pity for him to relinquish active work at this time. After conferring with the president about the matter Secretary Morton announced that Paymaster General Harris would he continued on active duty as chief of the bureau for an indefinite length of time after his nominal retirement. Gift of France. M. Jusserand, the French ambassador to the United States, on behalf of the people of France, will present to congress on Feb. 22 a bronze bust of George Washington mounted on a beautiful marble pedestal. The bust is a replica of the original made in 1823 by Sculptor David d’Angers. who was aided in his work by General Lafayette. That bust Was placed in the capitol here and was destroyed in the fire of 1851. National Rendezvous. A suitable national rendezvous in this city for the members of the Spanish war volunteer service and the many military and patriotic societies of the United States is the purpose of a committee formed in September last after the convention of the United Spanish War Veterans at St. Louis, of which Captain William A. English is president. Delegates from the various associations and military bodies interested will meet here inauguration week to perfect a national organization and lease property available for club purposes and a daily meeting place for nonresident members. Gavel For Fairbanks. Vice President Elect Fairbanks has received a gavel made from a single piece of red cedar. The tree from which it was cut grew on the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain, and the gavel was whittled out with a penknife by Edward P. Hatch. L'Enfant's Grave. Major Peter Charles L'Enfant was the talented French engineer who, more than a century ago, designed Washington as the most beautiful city of the new world. While the national capital has expanded and blossomed like a great architectural rose along the artistic lines suggested by his genius, the remains' of L'Enfant have lain for sev-enty-five years in a neglected rural grave near Bladensburg, Md., six miles from Washington, with nothing but an ancient cedar tree to mark the spot. Now the citizens of Washington are at work upon a movement to honor the talented if eccentric Frenchman appropriately. It is proposed that the grave of L’Enfant be marked with a simple thick stone of slate, briefly inscribed, and that a shaft or monument be erected in one of the prominent central parks of Washington. Bfachea to Be Tried Again. The prosecution of August W. Machen for postal frauds did not end when he was sent to the penitentiary at Moundsville, Va„ for two years. Thirteen other Indictments are standing against him, and he will be brought back from Moundsville within a month to stand trial for conspiracy to defraud the government in connection with the letting of the contract for carriers’ satchels to the Postal Lock and Device company of New York while he was superintendent of free delivery. Other defendants named in this indictment are W. G. Crawford, agent for the device company; George E. Lorenz, who was convicted with Macben in the first case, and Mrs. Lorenz. CARL SCHOFIELD.