Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-02-08
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
Correspondence of the Bulletin.
.W.cu1NcToN n n Fab

Correspondence of the Bulletin.
WASHINGTON. d. c., Feb. /, rs.
The severest storm of the winter Wis
tied us yesterday. The day opened
with heavy fall of snow which soon
afterwards changed into rain and which
continued to fall steadily throughout
the day, with gale of wind that did
much damage, and effectually barred all
shipping from coming into port. The
sad news of another shipwreck off the
North Carolina coast near the scene Of
the late Huron disaster is not calcula-
ted to give us exalted ideas of the econ
omy practiced by Congress towards our
life-saying service, and the 200 lives lost
yesterday, we presume, are no offset to
the parsimony which leaves most dan
gerOus coast nearly unprotected with
life-saving apparatus The Senate has
adjourned over till Monday, owing to
the lack of business upon the calender,
and the inability of the Senators to pre-
pare themselves for further attack up
on the interminable silver question.
The Matthews Resolutions exhausted
their powers for the time being, and
now the Bland bill promises us another
deluge of the pro and the con of sub
iect on which every man one meets here
is wise in his own conceit.
We have, in our letters, often ridicul-
ed the vagaries and eccentricities Of
Doctor Mary Walker, and we have al
ways regarded her oddities as merely
laughing matter, putting them on the
same footing we would the childishdess
of the aged and decrepid But we now
think she goes. a step beyond the sim
ple-hearted when she protests against
Congressional interference with the
Mormon polygamists, on the ground
that the Utah system of marriage is an
Improvement on mongamy, and a more
enlightened phase Of the social evil.
And we are astonished that Mrs. Spen-
GER, another prominent advocate of
woman's rights, should join in the pro-
test on the ground that Congress was
composed in part of practical polyga-
mists. Mrs. Spencer is clcar-headed,
able woman, and should realize that the
people will not sustain her in such ex-
IRENE, unwarranted assertions. OF
course DR.. Mary's extreme views will
be laughed at for the time being, and
forgotten as quick as she is when out
of sight, but Mrs Spencer's views have
weight, just as do those of one her asso-
ciates who advocated at one time an cx-
IRENE free love doctrine Murphy open
ed his temperance ball here on Sunday
last to the largest audience ever in Lin
coin Hall. Hundreds were unable to
gain admittance, and policemen were
stationed at the door to prevent attemp-
ted ingress. His lecture was full of ell
oquence, pathos and telling hits, and by
the time he concluded his audience were
in state of highest enthusiasm, cheer
ing and applauding him again and again.
He is to remain here for four weeks,
lecturing daily in the public halls and
churches and Young Mems Christian
Association rooms SO far, he has had
much success, and if he can only be the
means of prohibiting liquors from the
Capitol, he will have proved public
benefactor: With liquors barred from
the Capitol, restaurants and committee
rooms, we fancy many OF the solons will
moderate their appetites to the I'M
doubted good of their constituents and
the country. We have never seen a
body of legislators here or in the States
but what offered fine field for the tenn
perance lecturer, and we certainly give
Murphy our wishes that he may sue
ceed in removing the sign-boards of the
whisky sellers, which are carried in the
faces of many of our lawmakers.
On the 10Th ultimo, Miss Bertha Won
Hillern finished her second great walk.
completing 100 miles in ten minutes less
than % hours. the time to which she
was limited. The large Odd Fellows
Hall was filled with admiring, enthusi-
astic ladies during the last four hours
of her walk, who applauded her vigor-
ously at the end of each mile, and at
the conclusion crowned her with a
wreath of flowers SO easily does Miss
Won Hillern accomplish her feats, which
are so nearly incredible to the ordinary
mortal, that old soldiers should see for
themselves how she does it. Our young
ladies are making a nine days wonder
out of this matter, and are giving sweep
ing displays of pedestrianism all over
the city. But we do not learn that they
are discarding heels to their shoes, or
initiating Miss Won Hillern's great tenn
perance and prudence in diet, and we
predict that at the end Of the nine days
not one of the dozen walking clubs late
ly organized will be in existence, as the
plain diet essential to prolonged effort
will starve out all the members.
The House has been considering the
West Point Appropriation Bill, which
invoked extended and interesting de-
bate Ben Butler expressed the opin-
ion, in his speech, that the Indians, not
our troops, did the chasing in the West,
and that % of our Army officers are in
this city trying to escape the govt. He
was very severe on our Army system,
and said that his son, now in West
Point should not remain in the army to
go into garrison life with nothing to do,
but lay lump of sugar on the table,
and bet whether fly will first light up
on the lump of sugar of one of his com
rades. He was sending him to West
Point, because in the next generation
there will be war. and he wanted his
son stamped with the patent nobility,
given by military education at West
Point. Old Ben. like Genl Harvey,
seems ayerse to garrison duty, and
doubtless shares the latter's expressed
belief, that the reason why we failed
in the beginning of our Civil War was
because the brains Of our generals had
become ossitied commanding two COM
pany posts on the frontiers. y Mr. But
Ter will throw bricks, and seemingly
cares little whom they hit, and his
fri al poco ,,pop thn 70 +io tnnJo,,
cies of West Point will find a good
many admirers. 1t is somewhat singu-
lar that in nearly every instance our
successful generals were those who had
escaped the pernicious effects of garri-
son duty FELIX.
The Feeling About the Railroad Law.
Cedar Rapids Republican,
We are advised by a gentleman just
from the capital that the feeling seems