Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 January 1886 — WASHINGTON. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON.

Several members of the Cabinet have hit upon a happy scheme to avoid the trouble imposed upon them bv persistent autograph fiends. They have had stamps prepared having on their faces the name of their respective departments and a facsimile of their signatures. All autograph books are turned over to the private secretaries, who apply the stamp to the page selected, and after blotting the mpression it has the appearance of having been written by the Cabinet officers. No thought of a stamp enters the autograph hunter’s mind, and he leaves with his book in his pocket, happy in the belief that he has added the signature of One more great man to his list. It is understood that Secretary Whitney is entirely satisfied of the seaworthiness of the Dolphin as shown in her recent trial trip, and will formally accept the vessel as soon as certain preliminaries can be arranged. It is not thought necessary to have another sea trial. Coil John D. Peck, a special agent of the Treasury Department, reports that the Government has been robbed of hundreds of thousands of dollars at Chicago by the free importation of potato starch under the name of farina flour... .Stephen Merritt, the New York undertaker who had charge

of the funeral of Gen. Grant, will receive fyom the Treasury Department a cheek for $12,000, leaving $2,163 to be covered by a special appropriation. L.