10 WASHINGTON GOSSIP TIMELY TATTLINGS FROM THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. PRESIDENTS LITTLE JOKE "Has Elevated the Bench"—Supreme Court Justices May Retire— Some Possible Changes in Senate Committees. Irtnip-T WASHINGTON . \1 17/ President Roose- JIIiY'hV/ veJt j t > <Mllarl >' I A claims tbut he ha». 1 / \ done much to ele -1 1/1 vilte *he hencb. Pi He does not claim V /jyfW / that this is tlue s0 j much to his ap \Cj pointments as to at*/ / the fact that his candidacy at vari ous times has re sulted in taking m«n off the bench. The other day he met Judge Richards, whom he appointed some time ago as a federal circuit judge, and after receiving the latter's congratulations on his victory, lie laughingly said: "Well, judge, I have certainly been the means of elevating the bench in my career." "Why. how is that?" asked the Judge. "Well, you see I have been the means »112 taking several men off it, and then < have placed you upon it." The men who left the bench on ac count of Mr. Roosevelt, were Judge Parker, Judge Van Wyck and Judpe Herrick, all of New York, and all mem bers of the New York judiciary. Judge Parker resigned to accept the demo cratic nomination for the presidency and run against Mr. Roosevelt. Judge Herrick resigned to become candidate for governor of New York against the republican candidate, Lieut. Gov. Htg gins, and it is well known that he was selected because it appeared that Mr. Roosevelt's popularity would increase the vote of the republican candidate. Judge Van Wyck resigned to run against Mr. Roosevelt for governor of New York in 1898. So that the president in his po litical career caused three vacancies on the bench. Mr. Roosevelt will have further op portunity probably of placing men on the bench before his next term is con cluded. as there will doubtless be several changes in the federal judiciary from members of the district court up to the supreme bench. Justices to Retire. —7p». n M HERE is consider / I i able talk of retire / ' Ij \ ments from the su / |g|J !\ preme bench at an I Kl Justice Fuller bar; v rea ched the ape fKjt; ~L' when, under the ' aw ' ran r(,, ' rf ' from active serv ice and enjoy full salary the rest of his life. The law permits a supreme justice to retire when he reaches the age of 70 or when he has served 20 years. Chief Justice Fuller will be 72 years of age next February. He was appointed chief justice in April, 1888, and although he has not served 20 years, he is still eligible for retire ment on account of age. It is under stood that the chief justice has not been in the most robust health and is think ing of giving up the arduous work of his position. Associate Justice John Marshall Har lan is another member of the supreme bench who is eligible for retirement, both for age and for length of service. He was 71 years of age last June, and took his seat on the supreme bench in December, 1877. He will have com pleted 27 years as a supreme court justice on the 10th of December. He lias been one of the strongest men phys ically of all the justices, but is now be ginning to show his age. He has been an exceptionally hard-working member of the bench, and is still insistent on do ing his full share of the duties of the court. He has led an active outdoor life, which accounts for his fine physical con dition. and still at his advanced age is one of the most enthusiastic golf play ers at the national capital. There has been considerable talk of his retiring, but unless advancing years should tell on him more rapidly than they have, he may remain to complete 30 years of service. The next one of the associate justices who can retire for age in the near fu ture is Justice Brown, who will be 70 years of age on March 2, 1906. He has been on the supreme bench for 14 years. Then comes Justice Brewer, who will reach the age of 70 in June, 1907. He was commissioned an associate justice in De cember. 1889. and has 15 years to his credit. Associate Justice Peckham was appointed in 1895, and will reach the age of 70 in November, 1908. The members of the court are comparative!*- young men. Justice McKenna is 61, Justice White 59, Justice Holmes 63 and Justice Day 55. Senate Committee Changes. <A* \ Hoar, of Massa \ chusetts, the elec ' ' 0 n Senator 10>P * sr-\ Fairbanks to the I '*Vi)V vii _L !| vlce I )res >dpncy and I, i SP's! a fiw changes \ ' in the se!ia,e 'hat \ ' / have resulted from \la W / 'he recent election \nq \JJ will bring about a \\\/ reorganization of that body. It la probable that the full rearrangement of committees will be postponed until next congress, but the vacancy at the head of the Judiciary committee caused by the death of Senator Hoar will be filled by the designation of Senator Or ville H. Piatt, of Connecticut. Mr. Piatt has for many years been the rank ing member next to the chairman on this committee, and his preeminent qualifications for the chairmanship is recognized by everyone. He is one of the solid, conservative and able states men whose record is absolutely clear and of the highest grade. He is not on* of the orators of the senate, and does not trouble that body with many lengthy speeches. When he does make an ad dress. it is full of meat and not a lawyer in the body leaves the chamber during its delivery. Mr. Piatt is known Internationally as the author of the "Piatt amendment" which has been incorporated in the or ganic law of the republic of Cuba and which virtually gives the United States a protectorate over the island. It per mits the I'nited States to prevent Cuba from swamping herself in debt, and pre vents her forming an alliance with any other foreign power. The Connecticut senator has been chairman of the com mittee on Cuban relations, but as most of the important legislation concerning the relations between this country and Cuba has been accomplished, the posi tion of chairman of the committee on the judiciary w ill be more commensurate with his ability and experience. Senator Piatt is a typical New Eng lander, tall, angular and cold on the ex terior. He is a warm-hearted gentle man. howeve., to those who have pene trated his Nev England reserve. He is a fisherman and a hunter of note, and has a lodge in the Adirondacks to which he retires every year to indulge in his favorite recreation and rest from the grind of senatorial duties. Corteiy ou in Demand. y —„ ATI ON A L Chair /. ' \\ " man Cort el you / Jr: \ is now paying the ' /fla.'tk./ \\ ! penalty of great rVjflkrVh 1 ness. After several C months of close ap plication and ardu " U8 work he bt- Ueved himself en \Stiitled to a vaca tion. He laid his plans for an imme diate trip abroad, but found that there were demands upon his time that compelled h'm lo indefi nitely postpone the rest !>.<• contem plated. He then arranged \ < take a hunting trip as a diversion at* dream of a few weeks' quail and deer Mlooting in Virginia. The republican loaders, however, had other plans such as jubilee dinners and meetings at which he wa? expected to be present. As national chairman he could not decline these en tertainments, and again his programme of rest was interfered with. Mr, Cortelyou takes everything philo sophically, and lives on the hope of some time getting away from political wor ries and really enjoying a period of rest. Such an experience will be rather odd for him. as since 1897, when he became assistant secretary to President McKin ley. and a year later secretary, he has had very little opportunity of enjoying the recreation and rest which ordinary mortals account as necessary. He has been in the habit of devoting from 16 to 18 hours every day to his work. That application did not seem to have any effect upon him, for he would show up at the white house at nine o'clock in the morning as fresh and energetic as though he had retired at nine in the evening, instead of two hours after mid night. The long strain, however, is tell ing even on Mr. Cortelyou. and the tre mendous work he performed during the late campaign has added five or ten years to his age. If Chairman Cortelyou can get away he will either goto the West Indies or Europe, and remain there until the 4th of March. He will then enter Presi dent Roosevelt's cabinet as postmaster general. If be tlesires to indulge bis ap petite for work, he will not be disap pointed in that position. Of all the heads of departments in Washington the postmaster general is the busiest and. if so inclined, can putin more hour.i of work than any of his colleagues. The Jefferson Bible. -j HERE is a tre -3 T mendous demand / \ upon congressmen / • tk\ j (ls| now for copies /y\ 'he "Jefferson ■M-Mi "ft * W'le." as it is : iPrM/; - called, or to be more accurate "The Life and Mor '/-'J/ a ' s J es " s °f Naz \rf Iv \ areth." This is a work of Thomas Jefferson, and is now the property of the I'nited States national museum in this city. At the last session of congress a resolution was adopted to print a tacsimile of this In terest ing book for the use of congress. The photolithographic process was used, and 9.000 copies of the book, as prepared by Mr. Jefferson, were printed, 3,000 for the use of the senate and 6,000 for the use of the house. The volume is an exact facsimile of the one found in Jefferson's library and is bound in full red leather. It contains two manuscript leaves in the handwrit ing of Jefferson, and the title page in that stateman's own handwriting which reads: "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, extracted textually from the Gospel in Greek, Latin, French and English." The compilation consists of parallel columns of extracts from the Gospels in the origins,' Greek, the Latin, the French and English. There are no comments, and the book is of use only to those versed in these languages. It is generally valued, however, as a remark able curiosity, and the demand for it is something unprecedented in the hisiory of Kove/nment documents. CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1904. BIG FLOATING FAIR. WESTERN TOWN IS GOING AFTEB THE ORIENTAL. TRADE. Seattle, Wash., Proposes to Show the Asiatics What We Have to Sell ■—•"The Fair" to Sail Next Year. Seattle, Wash.—This place comes to the lront with a twentieth century development of the exposition idea that promises to have an important bearing on the oriental trade that everyone has heard so much about in the last few years. Instead of waiting for people to come to a lair the Soa'- tle people, or, rather the Northwestern Commercial company of Seattle, pro poses to send the lair t- the people — exclusively to people who have money to buy goods. The exposition was to have been started out this month, in stalled on the steamship Victoria, but the Kusso-Japanese war upset the scheme and the sailing date of the floating fair as been postponed to November 15, 1905. The idea is to offer American com mercial houses an opportunity to send representatives to establish permanent agencies and also to make immediate sales to the countries bordering 011 the Pacific ocean, which contain the larger portion of ihe world's population, and which are in direct water communica tion with the I'nited States. The floating industrial exhibition will visit the cities of Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki (Port Arthur and Vladivostok if war conditions permit), Shanghai. Hong kong. Manila, Singapore, Colombo, Mauritius, Delagoa Bay (or Valparaiso and Callao, South America), Cape Town, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Honolulu. The steamship will remain from two to ten days in each of the places named, according to their importance, thus giving ample opportunities to all interested to visit ST 10 A M SHIP "VICTORIA." (It Will Carry Seattle's Floating Fair to Asiatic l'orts.j the exhibits. The American consul at all of the cities to be visited will be informed in advance of the exhibition and its purpose and announcements will be made in the public press of the names of the firms whose representa tives are 011 board the vessel, their line of business, etc., and the consuls will be requested to see that importing and exporting merchants in the inte rior and adjacent cities will be fully advised of this exhibition. The itinerary of the vessel is ar ranged with a view of taking advan tage of the time of year that is most seasonable, with reference to weather and climatic conditions, to afford, apart from the exhibition purpose of the tour, a health-invigorating cruise. Exhibitors will be awarded 100 to 500 cubic feet of space and will be permit ted to carry five tons of cargo if de sired. The lower decks, where the ex hibits are to be arranged, will be gor geously decorated, brilliantly lighted and supplied with power. While in port the exhibition will be open from eight a. m.to eleven p. m. The crew will be at the disposal of the exhibitors in arranging and caring for the exhib its. All exhibits will be set up be fore leaving Seattle and will remain in place until the voyage is ended. Only ihe exhibitors and their exhibits will be carried. While there are ac commodations for 216 first-class pas sengers the number will be limited to 100 actual exhibitors, but 25 of these may have the opportunity to take their wives. Anchoring to Icbergs. It has been found that the currents round the coast of Newfoundland make at times a wide difference in the direc tion of the drift of icebergs and thatol the flat or pan ice. which, having no great depth, ia governed in its motions by the surface currents and the winds. The icebergs, the larger part of which are submerged to a great depth, follow only the movement of the ocean water as a whole and are uninfluenced by the winds, i hus a huge iceberg may often be seen majestically maintaining its slow advance in opposition to the wind and across the general motion of the fields of flat ice surrounding it. The sealers often take advantage of this fact by mooring their vessels to an iceberg to prevent their ship drilting to lee ward. The movement of these great mountains of ice is practically irre sistible. Dilution Extraordinary. A member of the French Academy re ported that 25 experiments 011 animals showed each time that poisoned blood is active even after dilution one trillion one million times. The strength of the average homeopathic dose is from about the third to the sixth decimal. This demonstrates that those who say that there is no medicine in a homoeopathic dose betray ignorance. The Doukhobors Improving. A Canadian government agent whc has just returned to England says the Doukhobors in Canada are making progress. "They no longer work their women instead of their cattle in tue fields." Big Investment. The capital invested in the mineral water industry in Great Britain is near ly 176,000,000. A NEW UNSINKABLE BOAT. Many Requirements Have Been Met by the Invention of a Danish Engineer. Washington.—Unsinkable life boats are numerous, yet when the test comes these unsinkable boats do not fulfill their requirements. The navy department and the life saving service are just now interested in experiments which are be ing made with the Englehardt unsink able life boat, the invention of ("apt. Englehardt. a Danish marine engineer. The Englehardt boat is said not only to be unsinkable. but is collapsible and can be stowed in small space 011 the decks. Few of the great passenger A NOVELTY IN LIFE BOATS. (It Is Saiil to He Not Only Unsinkable, But Is Collapsible.; carrying steamships are able to carry sufficient boats for lack of room. The ordinary boats in caseof accidents are liable to be stove when being low ered. or when lowered to be overcrowd ed and swamped. The Englehardt col lapsible boats, it is claimed, combine the requirements of economy in space with the utmost carrying capacity. Should emergencies arise the Engle hardt boats need not be launched. Only the lashings have to be cut, and when the ship has sunk the boats will be found floating on the water like rafts. Two men or boys can. in a few seconds, extend t.he sides of the boats simply by lifting in the cross beams and thus con verting the ral't-shaped boat into a life boat that will hold bread, water tanks, oars and supplies enough to support the passengers a considerable number of days. The invention is a pontoon-shaped boat of wood or iron ar.d filled with kapok, in water-tight cushions, which are placed in water-tight compartments. Kapok combines the greatest floating capacity with the best weight and will sustain from 30 to 35 times its own weight in water. The boat has a superstructuie which ran be folded up or erected, the whole surrounded by a fender also filled with kapok, in water-tight cushions. In ex tending the boat, the oars are released, an oval-shaped thwart supplied with cross-thwarts will slide into position and stanchions and other parts drop into their places automatically. The mech anism is simple and not easily put out of order. The boat, according to advices re ceived at the department of commerce and labor, from Ernest L. Harris, com mercial agent at Eibenstock, Germany has been subjected to exhaustive test? and has successfully withstood r.ll oi them. THE SPIRAL PUTTEE. Latest Ingenious Invention of Eng lish Tailors to Make Outdoor Life Comfortable. London. —Among the latest inven tions by English tailors calculated tc make outdoor life more comfortable is the spiral puttee. This is shaped to THE PUTTEE IN POSITION. (Showing How It Is Worn to Secure ' Outdoor Comfort.) wind spirally around the leg from ankle to knee, hence its name. It. comes with or without spats, the latter, when so ordered, being detachable. They may be had in America. Our Smallest Coin. The half-cent piece was a coin of the smallest denomination ever made by this country. II enjoys the distinction also of being the first coin issued and the first whose denomination was dis continued. Quantities of Material. Two million bricks will be used In the new Rockefeller building in Cleve land; 40.000 square feet of glass will be put into windows, and the steel alone will cost? 130,000. SWORD OF FREDERICK EVIDENCE THAT WASHINGTON RECEIVED SUCH A PRESENT. "From the Oldest General to the Great est General in the World"— History of This Val uable Relic. Washington.—The story that Fred erick the Great sent George Washing ton a sword with the characteristic and epigrammatic message, "From the old est general to the greatest general in the world," has been familiar from our earliest childhood, it is a plain nar rative, as given by members of the Washington family, who alone have auy knowledge, real or traditional, of the fact, says a writer in the Evening Star. The appraisers' list of the per sonal effects of Washington, made at Mount Vernon, May, 1800, contains thUl item: "Swords and blades. $12,000." Among these, which were chiefly pres ents, was the one sent by the king of Prussia. Tne personal effects of Washington were divided among the heirs, but a large proportion were left at Mount Vernon for Mrs. Washington, who was still living. Upon her death Justice Bushrod Washington took pos session of the' mansion, for he was his uncle's chief heir and the one to whom he intrusted his papers. Bushrod Wash ington lived :i0 years at Mount Ver non, and bequeathed the estate and personal property, save an occasional gift, to his nephew, Col. John Augus tine Washington, who also lived there HO years. There was an immense ac cumulation of papers and relics— PRESENTED BY FREDERICK ("From the Oldest to the Greatest Gen eral of the World."} among other souvenirs of interest was the sword of Frederick. Maj. Lewis Washington, of Belle Air, Jefferson county, Va., visited his cousin at Mount Vernon in 1858. At this time he was the owner of two of the five swords willed by Gen. Wash ington to his nephews—one direct from his grandfather, William Augus tine Washington; the other, that one which Justice Bushrod Washington re ceived and had willed to his father, George Corbin Washington. Maj. Washington admired the elegant dress sword sent by the king and offered in exchange for it, being perfectly satis fied as to its authenticity, the Bushrod Washington sword. During his life this beautiful rapier was seen by many neighbors and friends at his home. Some years atter his death his widow, Mrs. Ella Bassett Washington, sold it, with other valuable Washington relics, to the state of New York. These are now deposited in tne library at Albany, in the catalogue will be seen: "No. ■*, dress sword of Washing ton," which, through tthe courtesy of officials, I am permitted to reproduce. The sword acquired by Col. Washing ton in this exchange was sold a few years since by his son. Lawrence Washington, of Alexandria, to John H. Havermeyer. of New York, who presented it to Mount Vernon, being thus happily returned to its original abode. When Col. John A. Washington dis posed of the home of our first presi dent to the Ladies' Mount Vernon Association of the Union, he gave pos session early in the year 1860. He carefully packed his valuable pa pers in barrels, of which there were 12. He left them in the care of his friend, Mr. Upton Herbert, first super intendent of Mount Vernon, thinking, in the disturbed state of the country, they would be safer than at any other place. Col. Washington's sad death occurred in 1861, and these papers re mained at Mount Vernon until Mr. Her bert left his office. In 1866 he removed them to Alexandria and stored them in an old bank building; this building in 1868 was burned and nearly all the pa pers and documents were destroyed. Of documentary proof I have not found any. though the search is not yet complete. The archives of Ger many may yield all we need. One interesting item of circumstan tial evidence came to me a few months ago. A German artist, vigorous and full of reminiscence, at the ripe age of 88. resented a reflection on Wash ington as a general and vaunted Fred erick the Great. When told that old story was a mytu. he replied with fine contempt: "Oh, yes, you say so It America, but I heard it at my moth er's knee, and at her mother's. If false, who gave it to the mothers ol Germany?" Amazon Rubber. The rubber exported from the Amazon river in the season of 1903-4 amounted to 67,314.116 pounds. BOX HELD KING'S HEART. Vary Interesting Old Belie in the Ca thedral Church at Rouen, France. Paris,—ln the splendid cathedral church of Kouen is a suite of three or four rooms containing what is known as the "tresor." This is a collection; of very valuable and interesting relics, forming Quite a little museum, to which admission may be obtained for the mod est. fee of 25 centimes. To an Anglo- Saxon quite the most interesting article in the collection is the plain leaden, casket in which was buried the heart of the famous King Richard Coeur d» Lion, who, It will be remembered, was HISTORIC LEADEN CASKET. (It Xleld the Heart of the Famous Rich ard Coeur de Leon.) siain by a bolt from the crossbow of Bertrand De Gourdon at the siege of the castle of Chains. His body was buried at the feet of his father in the abbey of Frontrevautt, near Tours, but his heart, incased in two leaden caskets, was placed in the Cathedral of Rouen, "the faithful city." The exact place of the burial seems to have been forgotten in the passage of centuries, but It was re discovered in 1840, placed in anew cof fer and reburied in the choir. The inner case is in comparatively good condition, the inscription being perfectly legible after the lapse of all these centuries. The Latin is some what peculiar, and it is curious to find, that at a period when art-working in. metals was at an advanced stage the engraver of the inscription on the colter which was to contain the heart of such a high and mighty potentate did not take the trouble to ascertain what space he required for the king's name, so that he had to carry over the terminal let ter to the next line. It is noteworthy too that Richard is styled "Regis An glorum"—"King of the English," not "of England"—while no mention at all is made of Normandy or Aquitaine. The box is nearly one foot long, eight, inches wide and live inches deep. CANDIDATE FOR A TOGA. Congressman John J. Each May Su ceed Quarles as Senator from That State. La Crosse. Wis.—Of the several men; who are being mentioned as possible successors to Senator Quarles, who will retire next March as a result of the stal wart victory in Wisconsin, none are more favorably known throughout the state than Hon. John J. Esch. It is said, that Gov. La Follette favors State Chair man Connor for the place, but many of HON. JOHN J. ESCH. (A Possible Successor of Senator Quarles,. of Wisconsin.) the governor's friends are in favor of Congressman Esch, and he is a likely winner in the senatorial race. He allied himself with the La Follette forces in. the closing days of the last campaign, Bnd worked hard for the election of the stalwart ticket. He residrs at. this place and represents the Seventh Wisconsin, district in the lower house, where he is now serving his second term. Easy Money for Prima Donnas. Singing for phonographs seems to b» as high-paid musical exercise as there is. A phonograph company has offered a prima donna, who sings at the Metro politan opera house this winter, $14,000 for four songs. That is ?f>.ooo as soon as the songs are sung and J2,000 ayear for four years as a reward for not sing ing into any other macnine. Great arid! many are the means of income of a god dess of grand opera. She could live splendidly on what she can get for using a pill, a perfume, a piano, or a phono graph. Pensioning- Railway Employes. The Pennsylvania railroad has a sys tem by which aged employes are retiree} on a pension. This is a liberal method of providing for men of advanced years who have served the company long and faithfully. Three employes have jusx been retired after faithful service of 42. 45 and 48 years, respectively. A Checking System. In Thibet nearly every public office has two incumbents. One is supposed to be a check on the other. But some times this dual authority does notworH well —In war, for exampl®.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers