Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-04-25
five HUNDRED A DAY.
The Stacks OF Petitions For Office
Received at
TIE DEPARTMENT AT WASHINGTON.
Russians As Fighters-.-Fun For The
Pawnbrokers at the
Capital.
LATE GOSSIP FROM THE CAPITAL.
Spscidi 10 The RS yis,er.

plicatons for office have come to this de-
partment since the new administration
come into power?' your correspondent
asked Of an old employe of the department
yesterday.
That is pretty hard to say he said with
laugh. 81 should think they had averaged
about 400 or 500 a day. Some think they
run as high as SEQ day. don't mean by
that that there are petitions about 500
different offices each day, but that we get
about 500 letters and communications q
| day about the various offices for which there
| is contest.
And these 500 petitions day represent
| how many offices asked torY'
| 81 think that there are about three or
four communications for every office, on
| an average In some cases there are many
more, in some there are less. We probably
get communications about hundred offices
a day 1t is seven weeks since the new ad.
ministration come into power. In that
time there have been applications for prob
ably 1000 or 5000 offices. At this rate we
| will get applications for about $4,000 Of
| them in the first year.
"And for the 900 or 5000 applied for
how many have been filed?
About 5000 Of them have been filled,
some of them having been left over from the
last administration. ] suppose about ten
per cent OF the number for which applica-
lions have been made since the new admin
isuation have been filled by the new admin
istration.
"ih his must make very large amount Of
extra work for the department, does it
notY
Yes. great deal We are catching up
slowly, however. We are working nights,
YOU know. When We began night work we
bad about ten thousand papers to dispose of.
| We have kept up our regular work and have
| disposed of about 1900 of these papers.
| Ne shall catch up by about the end OF next
month, if We meet with no pullbacks."
Russians rs Fighters.
The prospects OF war between EHg'and
and Russia are watched with good deal OF
interest here. The fighting qualities Of the
two nations and of the men OF each are
| talked over and there Is general feeling
tlat while Englishmen have a reputation
for hard fighting they will find the Russians
| equally brave when ii comes to question
| OF personal hand to hand fighting qualities.
| In this connection the peculiar evidences OF
personal bravery of the Russians in personal
| encounters is matter OF some interest. In
no countries are duels more frequent or
| more murderous than IN Russia, the Rus
slams being, especially wh,n i'll their cups,
as Guarrelsome among themselves as they
are proverbially courteous 10 foreigners.
| The mode of combat universally adopted is
| that termed the duel la barrere; the OPP
ponents being put at fifteen PAGES, with
| liberty TO advance five PAGES each at a given
signal, and TO fire at will Should one of
| them fire and miss his adversary is entitled
to complete his five PAGES before returning
the shot Many cases have been known in
which duelist, though mortally wounded,
| has vet retained sufficient strength to take
steady aim and fire with fatal effect. The
great Russian poet PushkIn, was
killed in duel Ia barriere.
after severely wounding his antagonist.
| In the Baltic provinces Il system prevails
which, at first sight appears even more
murderous The sdyersaries are placed
| only three PAGES apart, the pistols are held
with the mu2zles pointing upward and are
| brought down and discharged AT gwen
| signal 1t may appear almost impossible
| for two men TO miss each other al so short
a distance but this is not the case. Each
| { the opponents is so desperately anxious
| 10 gain even ;he slightest fraction of a se,.
| ond on his adversary that, on the signal be-
lpg given the weapOrs are often brought
| aoau wi,h 20 hurried and violent Jerk
hat the bullets bury themselves in the
( Cund
| Fan FOR TIA. Pawubrokers.
| il is an i'll wind that blows nobody good.
! he hotel keepers and pawnbrokers are
| pretty vel satisfied with this rush tor Office
| md its results The hotel men clean oit
| the office seekers of their ready cash, aud
| [: en- they seek their uncles Tor temporary
| "a d. and in so doing they are following
| practice which the families OF many Illus
rious Office holders before them have
il aueuratet There is pawn shop in
Washington which has some property which
q alleged to some descendant Of the Wash
ngton family, and other illus'rious families,
both Of this and OF other countries. In hts
rent talk about his treasures Washington
pawn broker displayed little hunting case
watch of hammered gold, hand made, not
more than inch and quarter in diameter
and about as thick one way as the other
! unique and curious thing which the news
paper man was assured belonged TO Martha
Washington, having been made present TO
her BY some notable in England. la an.
other case We're collected trnkets IN stIll
greater quantities, but OF less value. Hun
dreds of silver watches were thrown togeth-
or in heaps with silver spoons, mugs and
drinking cups, some OF antique pattern. In
vet another safe was a collection OF George
Washipg,on's plate, foil dinner set very
eayy, with the letter w. engraved upon
each piece, and very large drinking cup
marked "B. W." which belonged TO Bush
rod Washington. This Washington sill
vel" the proprietor said, he held in pledge
for $50 loaned to the lady who owns
il an heir of the Washington family.
! LIS intrinsic value, he says is about $500,
but its value by association is, Of course,
much greater. There is also in one of the
safes an immense Bible on velIun, giving
the Scriptures in twelves different languages.
II is several hundred years old. The clasps
are Of heavy parchment or leather. Some
of the diamonds aud other precious stones
were exquisite; there were diamond rings
of antique and curious pattern, and there
were settings Of rubies, csrbuncles and 9th
| or prec GUS stones. There was a ring set
with cluster Of very large diamonds which
| crcled the reporter finger up 10 the hrs.
Joint, and was SO heavy as to be uncom,
Portable There was jeweIed necklace OF
hammered gold, which was worn BY one OF
the tayorites in the court OF Louis \ ~
and pair OF Truscan gold earrings OF hns
| film texture more than two inches iong'
which were once worn By an empress 30
the proprietor Of the shop SAID and their
appt arance bore out his statement
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