The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-02-05
WASHINGTON 7 T
from Our Regular Correspondence
WASHINGTON, DC,
Eol.rnarr 9 1QSh

At q low estimate the Capital at
Washington has cost first and last
$50,000,000, and yet there is not a fire
proof room in the hugh building from
cellar to garrett. A few years ago.
and in open day, a fire broke out in
the Congressional Library and de-
stroyed its entire contents, compris-
ing books, maps and charts that could
meyer be replaced. because there was
no appliance at hand with which to
extinguish the flames. This lesson,
entailing a loss of some forty thou
sand of the best books obtainable,
should have prompted Congress to
furnish some fire-proof structure for
its library, its records and the valu-
able historical and statistical archives
that are now scattered about in forty
different finder boxes throughout the
city. The other day a citizen from
the country visiting the dome of the
Capital looked owe the railing and
saw flames bursting through the roof
directly over the House of Represen-
t~atives, just as that body was assem-
bling for its daily session. Before the
aforesaid citizen could give an alarm,
and before the thirty able-bodied
Capital policemen could get a bucket
the fire had made sad havoc with the
walls and ceilings of the room in
which it originated, and in which
were stored the valuable records of
the first Congress of the United States,
and those pertaining to the Congress
ses from 1870 to 1900. Had this fire
broken out in the nighttime, it is Just
possible that no vestage of the ma
TONS Capital would remain at this
moment.
The rattle business bids fair 10 be-
come the chief industry of the Inter-
ior Department, and everything of
value, intrinsic and eXtrinsic, from a
thimble to a shot gun, is put up for
the hazard of the die, or rather the
dice. Employees of the gentler per-
suasiou indulge in the pastime Of dice
throwing as one of the prerogatives
of modern Innovations, and as the
prize in this instance was a ~"crazy"
quilt (and a love of a "crazy" quilt at
that,) the danes ratified as DANES were
never known to rattle before. Two
fives and a double six did one ofthem
cast thrice in succession, and the
prize was within her grasp. In an I'M
guarded moment, however, she trans
ferred her hazard and her crazy
quilt to another sister employe, who
naturally possessed an equally strong
affection for crazy quilts in general,
and this crazy quilt in particular.
The cabalistiC 48 from the dice-box
won the coveted prize, but she who
threw it, all at once declined to abide
by her transfer and incontinently
backed out of the bad bargain that
she had so recklessly made. The
female who was out of her ten dollars
was equally persistent in declining to
be out of her crazy quilt, too, and
hence the "ructions" that were raised
about the ears of the heads Of the de-
partments who, glad to get rid of the
affair without compromising the Gov
eminent itself, organized themselves
into solemn judicial conclaves and
gravely adjudicated the matter, citing
the latest as we'll as the earliest legal
and other authorities, tie Declaration
of Independence, the Ordinance Of
1857, and the Constitution of the
Woman's Rights Association, which
was finally decided in favor of the
original dice-thrower, on the ground
that the bargain was not clinched by
the actual payment of the ten dollars.
PHoNo.