National Republican., 1884-02-29
ON THE AVENUE.
Small rs1h About Men ana measures.

ON lhE a. EN- OE.
Small Talk About Men ANA Measures.
al don't blame Mr.. Holman for declining
to have anything more TO do with Mr.. Dana"
said a warm friend of the Indiana statesman.
" You see tho SIN took an old battered patent
medicine cut and worked it up in one of its
editions as a portrait of Judge Holman. He
could have endured that IL it had gone no
further, but some hoartless emissary of that
organization known as the Pictorial Asso-
ciated Press got hold Of the old thing and had
it electrotyped and sold copies to nearly every
weekly paper in the west. Now, Judge Hol-
man has an idea that the production of this
alleged portrait of himself and its subsequent
duplication was part of q scheme to break
down his influence with western delegates to
the next democratic national convention. l
don't blame him. sab, for cutting Mr.. Dana.
Had he done right he would have shot him on
sight, sah."
go
When Commissioner West, in discussing the
liquor license bill the other day, made the
assertion that more money was collected at
tax of so cents than when the impost was SO
gallon the statement was hardly credited,
but an examination of the report OF the COM
missioner of internal revenue shows that in
1867, when the tax was at the higher figure,
the amount collected from spirits
distilled from materials, other than
apples, peaches, or grapes, amounted to
sos, ,296,2 ,26i3l; in 1865, with the same
tax, the collection from the same source was
but 3,410O92.74. The following year the
tax was reduced to so cents, and as the result
the amount collected was $33,225,212l1 and
in 1870 it was SIS, 1888, ,1s4.13.
"rhis comparison shows" said gentleman
who mas had considerable experience in the
internal revenue department, that you may
make an impost so excessive that it will be
an incentive to fraud to evade its payment,
while if the tax be moderate the return will
be generally honest and the amount due will
be collected"
~
"You know" said the OK governor of Mary
land, " that there are a lot Of extra men ly-
! ing around the capitol all the time waiting
| for Architect Clark to give them something
to do. Whenever there Is snow storm they
all get few hours work, shoveling snow of
the walks. Sometimes Clark thinks the steps
somewhere ought to be fixed or the roof
rnended, and then some Of them get a job
Once in while Clark concludes to paint some
part of the building, and then these mon
make few dollars; but when Clark omits TO
think of anything that needs doing for long
time these supernumeraries don't fare we'll.
They did havo little scheme for such sea-
sons but it has fallen through now. You
know that there is q fish pond at the west
entrance Of the capitol?'
ayes"
"Well, when tho 'supers' get pretty hungry
one of them would run to Clark, all out of
breath, and exclaim that there was a catfish
in the pond. Then he wouldadd, with great
excitement, that this catfish would cat up
all the spawn Of the goldfish and kill tho
goldfish themselves. Clark would say that
he guessed it wasn't catfish, but that the
man had probably seen a cigar stump floating
around in the pond. The the man would go
out and get some more of his fellows, oil of
whom had seen the catfish sure enough. 1t
would never do to have the catfish destroy
all the goldfish, and SO orders would be
given to drain the pond. There would
be five or six laborers, a foreman, and clerk
to keep the time. They would get the
goldfish out in bucket, then they would
let the water out of the pond, wash
the green slime from the walls, rear
range the rocks in tho bottom, let the
water in again. and then put back the
bucket of goldfish. 1t would take about q
week, and it would cost from $3.50 to 5000
each time The supernumeraries played this
OH Clark three or four times year for
several years. 1t has cost, altogether, $4,000
for the government to get catfish out Of that
pond. Probably there was never any catfish
in the place, but if there was he cost the
United States more that fifteen pensioned
veterans"
"Why can't these men work the scheme
any more?'
Just this way: Clark has tumbled. Abou
two months ago one of the mon rushed up to
him, with mouth wide open and eyes bulg
ing out ofhs head, and announced that there
was catfish in the pond, Guess it's cigar
stump said Clark. No It amt said the
man, it's catfish, sure enough; 1 saw him,
and he'll eat up all the goldfish spawn and
kill the goldfish Then Clark said Well,
: never mind; / can buy goldfish for 81 a
dozen, and I'll just buy couple of dozen
and give the catfish picnic. He can't cat
more than two dozen, and that's as many as
} thore is in the pond. That'll be cheaper than
cleaning the pond out at $500 a time There
hasn't been catfish seen in the pond since,
-
Mme. Sembrich, the now famous soprano o
tho Abbey Italian opera company, is tn,
only one of the lady principals of that organ
ization who does not have pet Of some kline
travelling with her. Nilsson has q Yer!
ugly pug, Scalchi toy terrier, an'
7 Fursch- Madi parrot that swear
| most horribly in French Nine. Valler
dotes on slim little greyhound, but Nine
Sembrich's only pet is her husband, VIII
accompanies her. Signors Stagno and De
0 Puente have the finest collection Of sword
and other weapons, Campanini is the bes
: Judge of wine, and Manager Mayer has tn
I most sublime gall of any one in the line Q
, Italian grand opera, either in this country o
: abroad.
!, go
t eve have commenced to back water on tn
i tariff question in dead earnest" said demo
i cratic representative last night.
r THE action Of the ways and means con
, niftaa fb;a oftarnnnn inR;cotou that Wa n,