The Daily Tombstone., 1886-11-13
WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON. Nov. 13.

MR EDIToR.--Notwithstanding the fact that the election held upon Tues day last was the first Congressional ele> tion under the present admimistr; = ton there probably never was an ele'- ton day in which less interest was manife,ted by the Department clerks in the result Comparatively few of the clerks went to their homes to vote work in the offices went on as usual and no one would have guessed from going through ths departments that an election was in progress. No money wa, collected, and very few reduced rate tickets for voters going hem !, were is uei by tie Campaign Commit tees.
 As the time for Congress to convene aPproache the President finds that in order 10 enable him to properly at 'ead 10 his public duties thtt he should be free from interruption and he has accordingly issued an order to the eff .ct that during he time that inter venes between the 10th of Nov,mber and the time of the meeting of Cong ress ke will deny himself to visitors ex :ept upon public business of impor- tance. This will not however be con sruei to include applications or reco- mendations for office. He states at his reason for giving the notification at an eariJ date lis desire to diSp SC i'll advance of the plea that trip to Washington has been made in isnor- ance Of the ar:ar cement. The usual public receptions at 1.30 o'clock on Mondays, Wednesdays and will be con l tinuad as heretOf re
 A good story comes from the Comp troller's office, and I will relate it as an evidence of the alertness evinced by that official Tn the detection of frauds in his oliie. It seems that in examining the pay rolls recently it w discovered that upon some of the roll; one of the l,b5rcfs had signed | his name, while On others he had made his mark. Su$pectiag Ina. this i discrepancy must conceal great i fraud, all oi the accounts were su-- ] pended, and the nian WAS notified c; i the discovery. lie at once wrote thc cumProller. ir which Yc called attcn- lion to the fact that the vouchers were unlformly sisued with a cross up to i certain date, but thereafter with his autograph, and in explanation oi ;hc mystery explained that he had been attending d night school and had learned to write.
 The woodman with his axe makes q pretty figure in poetry, but he is much 10 slow for the street contrac- tor. During the progress of the work in extending the streets in the northwestern section of the city, it has been found necessary to remove a large number of sturdy oak trees, and it was at once decided 10 blast them out. While it has been common to remove stumps by blasting, the blast ing of entire trees Is novelty which has attracted large crowds 10 the scene of operations. The process con sists of conining within cavity di- rectly beneath the tree, q can con- taining eight or ten pounds of Judson powder, which is fired by the use of Il fuse. When the explosion occurs dull rumbiing sound is heard and the huge tree is lifted into the air. Tine powder reed in this work is slow in action, and lifts trunk stump and all from the ground. The contractor says that while dynamite is quicker in action that 1t would not produce such satisfactory results. II.