The National tribune., 1886-04-01
- Now lovely woman scants her dress,
With bandages the sick TO bless;
And stoOps 30 far to wars alarms
Her vow frocS Is under arms ~
DIR. MILBURS's PRAYERS.

Rev. Dr. Milburn, the "blnd preacher"
Chaplain of the House. is attracting much at
ten1ion both in and out of Washington by the
very decided originality of his prayers. His
inyocatiOns are always new, and sometimes
startling. as for instance, the other day when
he prayed: :" Rid the land, we beseech thee, of
all gamesters, whether they gamble with dice,
or cards, or chips. or with wheat, or stocks, or
corn, or cotton. Deliver US from the influence
and power of robbers, who, enticing their vic
tins to boards of trade and stock exchanges
and bucket-shops name their practices of plum
der 'shearing the lambs" Any current event
of Importance is likely TO be taken as the sub
ject or text for his prayer. One day last week
he prayed that the people of this country might
be wise enough not to send their sons and
daughters 10 foreign countries to be educated;
and another day, that we might not bring to
this country the arStocratic and snobbiSh ways
and ideas Of foreign nations. Most of his
prayers of late are printed in full in the Con-
JrcSsj0RGl Record, on motion of one or more
members.
DR.. Milburn's prayers are not lOng-rarely
more than two or three minutes. He appreCi-
ates the fact that the Congressman do not want
a Chaplain who, like the Pharisees of old, is
fond Of being heard for his much speaking.
The Chaplain of the House in the last Congress
used 10 discharge his duty in an exceedingly
dry and pcrlunctory manner. His prayers
were all alike-two or three sentences of his
own, followed by "a recitation Of the Lords
Prayer. and closing with the benediction. Very
little attention was paid to his HiniStratiOns.
4 few devOut Members, out Of reverence for the
act of worship generally arose to their feet, but
four-titths OF them remained sitting, and many
even engaged In writing or reading newspapers
during prayers. DIR. Milburns manner com
mands the utmost respect and reverence. When
ne appears at the desk every Member arises to
hls feet and stands quiet and attentive during
the invocation His voice is clear and sonorous,
and every word he utters can be distinctly
heard IN the rem0test corner Of the gallery.
DIR. Milburn served term as Chaplain Of the
House nearly 40 years ago.
MORE ROOM FOR THE GOVERNMENT.
The Government mas paid sixty or seventy
million dollars for its public buildings in Wash
ington, and yet there is constant demand for
more room. All the Departments are crowded
to such degree that many Of the Bureaus are
compelled to seek quarters elsewhere. Not less
than 20 private buildings in various parts of
the city are occupied in whole or in part for
Government uses. The Governmental ma
| chincry seems to increase with the growth of
the country, and increased facilities for its ac-
commodation are constantly needed. Three
i'm ortant building projects are now under con-
sidoraton and all Of them seem indispensable.
In the Senate few days ago Mr.. Morrill, intro
duced bill to appropriate 100000 for an adj
GlliOn 10 the w mite House, or Executive Man
sion. A plan for the proposed improvement has
already been prepared. 1t is proposed to devote
the present building wholly to official use, and
! the new building. connected with the former
by corridor, will be private, for the occupancy
OF the Presidents household. There is very little
! privacy, such as every family should have,
under the present arrangement. The Post
Office Department has outgrOwn its building
! The business of the Department is three times
rs great rs when it was erected. 1t is proposed
| to purchase the entire block Immediately west
! of the building. The site and building will
! cost fully million. This improvement will
/ have to be made sometime, and perhaps there
| Will never be better time TO do 1t than now.
| The third project is a site and building for q
| national library. The present rooms of the
| Congressional Library, as it is called, in the
| Capitol building, are wholly INADEQUATE. All
the cases and shelves are full, and thousands of
| books and pamphlets lie in heaps upon the
| floor. 1t is proposed to expend from 52,00o000
| TO 900 for site and building that will
| for all time be a credit to the Nation. The
bill passed the Senate in the last Congress, but
the House, after higgling over it for days,
| allowed il to be dumped into the debris as un-
| finished business at the close of the session.
! Better success in the present Congress is hoped
| for.
| DEvoE GETS A BACKSET.
| Prof. A. J. Devoe has received backset as
a weather prophet For some time past he has
! been running opposition to the Signal Service
Bureau, claiming TO have made important dis
coveries in meteorological science that enabled
him n forecast the Weather wifi q greater de-