The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-03-07
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NO. 48
FAX'S FROM WASHINGTON.

/. Egos FAX'S FROM WASHINGTON. ohA
B. F. BUTLER'S LAST BRICK-MR. PRIDE
MoRE's ARGUMENT ON PA
i WASHINGTON BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIoNi
| PATENT OFFICE FIRE, &C., &C.
H., i, WASHINGTON, D. c., Feb, ~, 1873.
Messrs. Editors: AT the commencement
Of this session OF Congress, 1t was stated,
apparently, authoritatiyely, that Gen., B..iF.
4 Butler, had his hat full of bricks, and would
throw them around promiscuously., Mr..
Clark, the architect at the CAPITOL being
most humane and tender-hearted gentleman,
caused barrier to be erected between the
lobby and the ''chosen ones, . thinking thus
| to protect the lobbyists from being struck
by any Of the bats rebounding, from the
heads of members that the Gen. might use
as targets. As a surer protection for the
lockers on Of the mental battle daily waged
in the s'cave Of the winds,'' Mr.. Speaker
Randall subsequently, issued an order expel-
| ling the lobbyists. The field OF battle being
thus cleared OF innocent parties, the Hon. B.
F. Butler SHE'D one of his bricks at the mem
Der from the Staunton district las Judge Jno.
| I. Harris is generally spoken Of here,) on
Wednesday. last, during the debate on the
Louisiana contested election case, From
some cause, the Generals aim was not accl,-
rate, and quick as thought Judge Harris re-
piled to his ''brick, " in bright sparkling
repartee, delivered in his nonchalant style
which not only brought down the, house,
galleries included, but for the second time,
the caustic wit from Massachusetts was
placed Aors de combat, by Judge, Harris.
The discontinue Of Butler by Judge Harris
was the subject of general remark in all the
hotel lobbies on Wednesday night, and many
laugh was enjoyed over the superiority of
Shenandoah Valley ''brick" to those of Mas.
sachusetts.
Hon. A. L. Pridemore made a speech. be-
fore the committee on patents, last week, in
favor Of the agriculturists. The subject is
one, in which the large majority Of your read
ers are directly Interested. The main. point
made was about as follows That the time
guaranteeing inventors. exclusive right of
sale and manufacture Of agricultural imple-
ments should be reduced one-half. It is said
that Mr.. Pridemore made most excellent
argument, scholarly and logical. citing, many
cases where injustice was done the farmers
by the, existing patent laws. In ~, 80,
The 22nd was celebrated in grand style.
The people had two heroes to worship. the
saviour of his country-W Washington; and the
saviour Of the people Murphy. The admir-.
ers Of the former celebrated in the City Hall,
under the auspices of che coolest Inhabitant
Association. The Farewell address. Of
Washington was read by Mr.. Andrew Roth.
we'll, years ago proof reader on the National
Inteiligencer. The temperance people pa
raded the streets and held a mass meeting
at night in the, Northern Liberties market;
about 5000 men were in line of procession.
The entire affair was creditable,, but honest
ly speaking, taking the assumed number of
converts, and the advantages here. at hand
to make an imposing display, it fell far short
Of the temperance demonstration at Har-
risonburg, in which the Stauptonians ssss-
ted, February 22d, 1875. None of the musi-
clans on the last named occasion wet their
whistles with beer between tunes. !.
s'Its an i'll wind which blows no one. good''
was strikingly exemplifed in the late Patent
| Office fire. An appropriation Of $45, 900 was
made to restore as many Of the models as
possible Gen. Spear, Commissioner Of Pat
ents, has already expended s26, 900 Of the
appropriation. and as a result over 10000
models are now restored better than new,
a. least better looking, as the painters have
certainly 'sPhnnixed'' the restored models
in a great deal more handsome style, than
the uninjured ones. The workmen, some
$50 men, are under the immediate supervis-
ion OF Col. Gill, A. S. Richmond, and Mr..
Ford. These gentlemen being practical ma
chinists are entitled to great credit for the
amount of work performed. The mode OF
restoration is briefly as follows: tile models
are first identified by experts, then placed
in the hands Of the scourers who use brush
es similar to stove brushes, only the bristles
are steel, who remove the rust and dirt.
Then they pass through the baths OF lime
acid and oil, thence to the skilled meclan-
les, finally to the painters. The wages paid
to the workmen are 100, $500 and 2,50per
day, and "trip through the ''burnt district
showed good many Of the laborers at $3.50
per day to have been formerly professional
men, whilst many OF the skilled mechanics
in better days commanded from "a to 81 per
day. Yet the laborers and mechanics appear
glad to have an opportunity to earn even
the small wages allowed. About the hard
est position in the Patent Office, for several
months has beer filed by Major J. W. Bah
sin, the appointments clerk. His office has
been beseiged daily by an army Of applicants
for work, and as each applicant would make
his Special plea, the Majors face showed
plainly how truly panied he was when Ne
would reply 'there is really no more room
to put you to work. fi4 a7ahi hfloA
In Beau Hickman's lifetime, lie was tie
curiosity of Washington. Poor old Beau. IS
the kindly remark Of all who purchased his
acquaintance. We have here nova cnrios-
ity from the other end OF the string, that is,
if Beau was poor, this Oddly is very veal
thy. 1 refer to Mrs Myra Gaines, The vis-
itor to Washington should manage to drop
into the lobby Of the Metropolitan Hotel any
morning Or evening, and they will notice .
little old woman apparently about sixty
years Of age, not dressed in the height Of
fashion, moving around among tile men with
| the freedom of a DR.. Mary Walker. She at
tracts attention by the blonde wig which
adorns her head as well as her fearless and
free manner. She owns nearly all OF New
Orleans and is now attempting to get slice
Of Baltimore. But don't believe all Of her
wealth justites her to sit among a crowd of
men, cross-legged reading a newspaper
p Shenandoah Valley clay make better
sbrickn than Massachusetts, clay. There
now, after that moral pun, WON'T your tour
ist correspondent let up on ''rruefax' ASIA
nome deplumse 1t has always been remark
ed that Ohio river water caused people TO
act queerly, that now happens as d true fax.
Aff tl<tL.