The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-08-12
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9. 1875.


When / returned to the city found it
in Autter of excitement on account of
the capture Of the gentle Avery,of whisky
fraud fame. But as had known the
extravagant style of living he and his in
dulged in the news of his detection did not
exactly oyerwhelm me, and l only hoped
that the good work might go on until the
whole swarm of dishonest officials, whose
daily admonition is Let US prey" would
be securely Gagged, When the news
reached US, though, on Saturday, that the
thieves guilty of the SAT 800 steal, from
the Cash room of the Treasury, were
caught | must confess that the prevailing
excitement took hold of me also and was
as glad and relieved as though / had been
one of the poor fellows who, for the last
six weeks, have been silently Swallowed"
day and night.
As the amount of bail required for each
Of the persons arrested is 100000, it is
reasonable to suppose that the evidence
against them is of pretty conclusive kind,
and that the real 'confiscators" have been
caught. The three men arrested, so far,
are b. B. Halleck, q clerk in the cash
room and fine locking, gentlemanly per-
son; w. Fl. Gilman, the keeper of su-
perior kind of restaurant, and of an ap-
pearance more that Of gentle shep-
whisky and such like vanities; and
Il. w. Brown,-alias 'Peg-leg Brown
whose reputation is of the shadiest kind.
and illustrates the sad truth that the child
rem of the most excellent people sometimes
70 hn khn hlaalrook rs hlao
sheep He is the son Of an eminent jour-
nalist and honorable gentleman; enlisted
during the war, lost leg in the battle of
the Wilderness, then became clerk in one
of the departments, but took to bad com
pany and evil ways. was implicated in
some discreditable affair, was discharged,
and has now sunk into the position of gam
bier, stool pigeon for gambling hells, and
beat generally.
The prevailing opinion is that Halleck
took the package, gave it to Brown, and
then made division of the spoil at Gilman
restaurant Three women-wh ose names
/ could not ascertain-were arrested also;
and by the time the mail brings you this
letter the telegraph will probably have
given you all the particulars.
But there, you'll hear enough of the af
ldI lLOh OIuOL SOulOCoS SO L IL uOG MI III
space with the particulars, but make some
original remarks in the meteorological line
The truth is that Gen. Myers, the weather
chief, has followed our iIlustrious presi
dents example In going for repose from hi
arduous duties, and that his subordinate
have made nice muss oft, as the wealth
err all over the country will attest. w,
have had showers of such volume and du
ration hara fb OF nonpla ho0op 20 lonly n,
their bibles, trying to compare our atmos
pheric state with the report of Sargean
Noah, to find out whether something al
ter the ark pattern had best be construct
ed at once or might be put off day long
err The gardens look up grateful
for wet fayors received, but the farm
ers look solemn and discouraged, and fin
their only consolation in a revivin
camp-meeting or two, while the Germa
population of our district, and patrons c
Schuetzenfests in general, mourn owe
lager spoilt and sausages neglected on al
count Of postponement of the fest fc
rainy reasons. It's to begin to-day, though
and as promises of all kinds of fun an
frolic are held out | may be tempted
take sly peep at the cheerful crowd u.
self, and shall report accordingly.
One of our standing amusements, ju
now. is our Marine band and its leade
Our daily papers are making war upon Il
concern, and one Sunday sheet, the sic
liest in the lot, is up in arms in its defens
Of course the public enjoy the tussle al
if the thing is kept up we will probab
have the much needed change for whit
the press is clamoring The facts in Il
case are that some officers picked up
man by the name Of Schneider-no relate
to Rip Van Wrinkles companion of tn
name-and had him installed leader of tt
our national band. The man is a fl
clarionet player, but no more able to vie
the directors baton than some of our sire
harpists. Moreover, he can not spe
either English or German, only vile Fren
and lower-class Italian, must employ
interpreter, and gets into no end of u
pleasantness with the men on that q
count. Now, since the "Centennial"
drawing nigh, the American eagle begi
to plume himself and spread his wing
wants his musical representative
be something worth listening to, al
demands u leader who can and will put ii
corps upon such footing that foreit
bands will not throw it altogether into Il
shade. The ofhcers,on the other hand,g
him (Schneider) here; he is sort of e
plant on their hands, and they can not s
their way out of the difficulty. So the W
wages, and / am curious TO see Which 81
will come in winner.
Meanwhile another push is being ma
to finish that standing reproach to Anne
can gratitude, the Washington monumeI
| mus confess that had taken no speci
interest in the subject until friend insi,
ed upon tour of inspection, and saw 4
grand pillar with its unsightly, incomple
topclose to my eyes, The sight awake
feelings of mingled admiration and sham
and makes one long, heart and soul, to s
it completed. / wish every American G
zen could nave the subject brought hon
to him as it was to me, for then, | am c.
tain, but short time would elapse Defol
this tribute of respect would be an accor
plished fact. 1t is seventy feet square
the base, | believe, and so far, It's fe
high. Will not you western great hear
help to push it to completion?
II Mann