Morning journal and courier., 1880-07-09

Neither Chicago or St. Louis was satisfied
 with the returns of the census enumerators, and in both cities another census has been
 taken. It has been discovered that Chicago
 has 501, ,97S inhabitants instead of 47S, GOO, as
 reported by the enumerators, and now the
 Chicagoans are comparatively happy, for they felt sure that they numbered half million
 at least. In St. Louis the enumerators re-
 ported only 375, ,00O but the letter carriers
 who took another census found 24, 300 names
 which had been overlooked, and there is joy
 in St. Louis, though it is tempered by the
 fact that Chicago is still 1O0,0 900 ahead.
 Two doctors and Anthony Comstock think
 that Mir. Ducret, Comstock's secretary, was
 poisoned by something on a porous plaster
 sent to Mir. Comstock in an envelope, which
 Ducret opened. The unfortunate secretary
 is in dreadful condition, and has been con- fined to his bed for seven weeks. During that time his disease has been accompanied by constant faking off of the skin, and the fever has continued very high with but brief intervals. His joints began to swell, first on the left side, until it was found necessary to open the swelling at the left knee joint, and the left arm has become stiff at the elbow. At present the right knee is greatly swollen, and similar operation will have to be per formed The patient is helpless and is in most to skeleton, and his physicians fear that he will not have strength to withstand the disease, which they do not understand, except that it is a case of blood poisoning. Mir Comstock thinks he knows who sent the alleged poison to him. If there is anyone who would do such thing he should be hung or, perhaps elected Governor, as Dr. Blackburn was
 An estimate has been made at the Govern ment printing office of the amount and cost of the work which was ordered by Congress previous to its last adjournment and which remained unperformed at the close of the last fiscal year. The aggregate estima- ted expense of the work is more than five hundred and seventy-seven thousand dollars. The total amount of the approprla- ton for this work is seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, leaving but little over one hundred and eighty-two thousand to cover the cost of the entire work of the next ses- sion of Congress. This large amount of de- layed work is accounted for by the fact that the appropriations for the last fiscal year were insufficient, and portion of the work that should have been done before the expiration of the year was necessarily put back until the appropriations for this year became available. Besides this the prices of paper and all print ing material have advanced 25 per cent. since the estimates were made for this year ,and the work ordered by Congress is almost unprece- dentedly large. In last March House reso- lution went into effect, requiring that every bill reported from House committee should be accompanied by written report. This brought the number of reports to be printed up to l, TOO for that session alone. Previous ly 700 reports for an entire session had been considered large number. The work for the Postofice department is rapidly increasing, and the same is true to less degree of all the other departments Congress will be com pelled to exercise greater liberality toward the Government pginting office hereafter or in dulge with less prodigality it's taste for print ing public documents. Unfortunately there is no reason to believe there will be any less printing done.