Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-02-19
Notes from the Capital.
NJ OLSON, February Is, 1879.

20 be used in defining tramp There
wasa great deal otqui bling on small points,
aud the section continuing Ills clause was
ameuded and re-amenned, patched aud re-
patched The section as amended gives q
perfect pen picture of modern tramp,
presume. and states mlnutely whether a
genuine tramp wears a hickory shirt or
whether an old vest usuIps the functions
1T 'h's galmert. The blll provides that a
tramp sha i he taken before Jus ice of the
peace or Judge OF a municipal court, and
upon convection, sba ! be sentenced to hard
la'or upon the county farm of the county,
or at any place in town or city where be il.
arrested, ,or a time not exceeding six
months, or conf ned in the county Jail for "a
time no, exceeding four months. la case
the tramp shall refuse to work thenihe shall
be placed in The hands of the sheriff who
shall administer to MIR Tramp not less than
twenty, nor more than fifty lashes The
bill a.so provides that the LABOR of the
tramp may be let ous IN case there is no la
Dor for him to perform in the place where he
IS arrested. The bill was ordered 10 "A tn ird
reading Wednesday evening, subs antially
as introduce d. except the whippi ng clause
which was voted down by about a two.
thlIds vote. AS the bill stands, it provides
for no punsL meut in case the tramp refuses
to work except confinem ent in jnil If this
bill should become law, its practical work
ings would be TO lengtheR the time of the
tramp in Jail, which would think, encour-
age tramps TO emlgrate to Wisconsin. The
bill falls far short of what the people of
Wisconsin expected from the legislature on
this question, and if the Senate does not
amt nj the bill providing other punishment
than failing, tear that the year 1879 will
witness more tramping in this state than
ever before.
The joint resolution amending the consti
tuition and providing to- bienulal sessions
of the legislature was ordered to third
reading in the Assembly last Friday even
ing b.! an almost unanimous vote, Mr..
Hutchinson of tue NJ .disou d strict, casting
the only vo lie against it. An active effort
is being made to defeat it in the Senate by
those interested in hotels and boarding
houses here. Biennial sessions would be-
cad blow 10 the hash vendors of tie capitol
city.
Hon. Geo L. Frost, member of the AS
sembly from Iowa county, died at the Villas
House last Saturday morning. This makes
the third member of the legislature that has
been called to his long home, since the com
IN encement of the year. As in the case o.
MIR. Potter, the state will bear the expenses
of the funeral. His remains were accom-
panied home by committee composed of
his fellow members this Saturday even
ing. Mr.. Frost was in his 49th year,
aud graduate OF Yale College. He was
lawyer by lrofession.
1t will be remem bered that the self pro.
pel'lng steam wagon, "Oshkosh' which
successfully made trip from Green Bay to
Madison last summer, was not awarded the
prize of $4,000, because in the estimation
OF the committee appointed by the state,
the wagon did not come up TO the requires
ments of the law in certain particulars and
was not a practicable machine for farm and
road work. The owners of the machine
have carried their claim to the legislature,
and in order to convince The members that
the machine is o. K. ,,itis to be brought here
furnished with free ride no doubt, in
considerati on of which they are expected to
vote away $4,000 of the state funds
Messrs. Daniel Hall, Jesse Stone, Jose pb
Sahck and F. P Brook, of Watertown, visit.
ed Madison last week in the interest oil
the appropriation bill for the Central Fair
DOW pending in the legislature. Sena.
tor Bennett is doing his best to secure tht
appropriation, and is manipulating the bill
with great deal of sagacity. l will no
pretend to say, however, what the fate o.
| the bill will be. This legislature is a YER,
economical one, and is not very liberia " i'll
its appropriations, except when votinI
stationery, postage stamps or blue book
for it's members. Then it is generous to
fault.
All the Fire Insurance Company tina
done business in Wisconsin last year, hav
reported to the Insurance Department
Their premium receipts aggregate 81 sos,
| 577.8l and their losses 1892, 524.l8, leavin,
balance in their favor of S,l6, $50, 6;
| The companies estimate that the cost o
running the insurance business outside tn,
| losses, in the way of salaries, taxes, com
missions, etc., is 334 per cent. of the gros
premium receipts. Assuming that the per
J centage is correct, the companies have left
i after paying all expenses and losses, bu
Il