The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-01-13
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
Some Ways of Having the Govern
ment send Your kilograms.
Maine's ShIpbuIlding Rival on the
Pacific Coast.
The country's Participation in the
Next international Exposition.
Especial to the Press. j

committees to get hold of something to re.
port upon and to report it, Outside of pub.
lie building bills, perhaps no subject is GOV.
cred deeper with proposed measures than the
government telegraph scheme. Both House
and Senate have plenty before them. There
are the same differences in all, and three
sorts of measures in all have been intro.
duced There are couple in the House Of
one sort. and those have been brought in by
MARYLAND and Missouri members They
simply extend the supervision given to the
Inter State Commission over railroads to the
field of telegraph. This is a compromise
between the extremes. The extremes are
seen in the bills of Sawyer, Edmunds. Dawes
and Cullom.
Telegraph Bills
Senator Sawyer, who got for his committee
after hard fight the handling Of whatever
legislation there was on the subject, ha:
framed bill that goes into every detail. His
is the postal telegraph pure and simple. HI
proposes to have every post Office equipped
SO that man can come into it, write tele-
gram on government note head, put tele
gram stamp ON it and have it go just as i
he should step in and send letter in thai
eral at the head of it and permits him 10 buy
all the new devices he wants TO help run the
system. The scheme is based principally,
however, on the probability that some con-
tracing by existing companies VIII be done
The government is to keep only, three
rest to the operating companies. The
operating companies charges are fixed
at 20 cents for 100 words within 800 miles
The CullOm bill makes the rates a little low
er. but distinctly forbids the purchase, OF any
existing lines. Here the fight will come
mainly, in the talk.
Senator Cullom and Senator Edmunds
each go to the extent of providing for fouI
great trunk lines of telegraph, and arranges
for a board to locate them Senator Dawes
has introduced bill, fathered by Mr.. Hub.
bard of telephone fame He became ac-
quainted with Mr. Dawes in the House q
years ago, during Mr.. Dawes's first years
there, when he was known as the young
senator from Massachusetts. Beck OF Ken
lucky and Dawes were together on the COM
mittee when Cadwallader Washburn's re-
port on such proposition first set the move
ment going
The most interesting foreigners in town
are the Coreans. A whole embassy of eight
have come. They are new even TO Washing
tonians. The peopleh ere have become pret-
ty well acquainted with the long silk blouses,
cloth shoes, wide. baggy trousers, and big,
square black caps of the Chinese; the swar-
thy faces of the japanese. their only distinc-
tion as they stand in American clothing. The
Russian Minister, in his droskey, is become
familiar, but the people from THE hermit
country" have created great curiosity.
LAUNDERING In Washington Territory.
The report of Eugene Semper, Governor
of Washington Territory, tells an interest
ing story of the lumbermen's doings out
there. He says that when they began to
chop, they left stumps 10 feet and 20 feet
high and took nothing but the big timber
He says some Eastern lumbermen visited
the mills and logging sections out there and
expressed surprise at the extrayagant
methods, both inside and outside the mills.
The size of the stump has now decreased,
and the band saws and sash gangs are being
introduced. The yearly cut of Washington
Territory in 1887 was 100000 odd feet.
Shipbuilding is coming up there consider
ably, Governor Semper says. Shlpyards,
with facilities for the construction Of large
vessels, exist at nearly all the large milling
establishments and at Seattle and Tacoma,
on Puget Sound, at Gray's HarDor and
Shoalwater Bay, and at SkomOkawa, on the
Columbia river.
The industry has been very greatly stimu-
lated during the last year to meet demand
for vessels in the lumber-carrying trade.
Timber ships, for convenience Of storage,
are built generally with one deck, and TO
meet this exigency must be unusually well
timbered and supplied with knees. All raw
materials for their construction are found
here and the number of skilled wOrkmen is
every year growing greater The industry
has become so permanent that most OF the
yards are putting in expensive special ma
chinery ard all modern appliances for saw
ing labor and securing accuracy of design.
As most vessels built here are intended for
coasters, the tendency of late has been to
the schooner-rig, three and four masts being
put into some of them.
A large proportion OF the later additions
to the lumber fleet have auxiliary steam
power, and are enabled by means thereof to
make more voyages than heretofore. The
yellow fir of the North Pacific coast ranks
next to oak for strength and durability, and
constitutes excellent material for shipbuild-
ing The young growth of this wood can be
obtained in any length and of any size, for
spars, keels and kelsons.. The keel of a
steam schooner, now on the stocks at Sko-
mokawa, is 16x19 inches square and 150 feet
long The stick from which it was hewn
was $50 feet long, Al feet in diameter at the
butt. and 2 feet at the top. Planks for the
sides of vessels can be obtained of great
length and very straight grain; and deck
planks made from the very large trees han
died by our mills, are sawn so that the grain
of the wood is vertical, this causing it to
wear without splintering. There are about
800 men employed in shipbuilding 10 this
employment readily.
The number of vessels of various kinds
built during the fiscal year, as shown by the
report of the custom house at Port Towns
end, is 29 and their net tonnage is 4,S54.36
against IA vessels and 1,642.29 tons In 1885,
the date of last report. l have advices OF
ships that are to be put on the stocks during
the next fiscal year that will raise the fig
ures of this year very considerably, not only
as to number of craft of different rigs and
means of propulsion, but as to average net
tonnage.
There is great need of a dry dock on Puget
Sound, not only to accommodate our mer.
chant marine, but for the use of government
vsssels; and it is to be hoped that as the
questions of rehabilitating our navy and in
creasing our means of coast defence are now
being prominently considered, the strategic
importance of the coast of Washington Ter
rstory, it being on the borders of a possible
belligerent and in proximity to formidable
naval station OF foreign power, Will not be
overlooked.
The International Exhibition.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12.-The President
today transmitted to Congress the report
from the Secretary of State in relation to
the International Exhibition at Paris in 1889
Mr.. Bayard's communication was accom-
panied by note from the Ministry OF France
extending an invitation to this government
W pdiliclpdt6 III Tue plOPOsSu SCASOAoeiVh
Secretary Bayard recommends that Congress
be asked to enact law authorizing the
President, with the advice and consent OF
the Senate to appoint commissioner gen.
eral to represent the United States in the
proposed exhibition.
Maine Pensioners.
The following Maine pensions have been
granted;
Samuel father of Samuel Thorn, West Sumner
Sarah E., widow of Nathaniel J. Emerson
Ellen S., widow of Simeon II. Adams, Wilton.
ORIGINAL.
Lewis Caryille. Biddeford
Charles NJ. Shinney, Dantorth.
John j. Lambert, navy, Kittery.
Michael McNaly, National Military Home
Togus.
Elwell Mason, South Berwick.
INCREASE.
Geo. w. Roberts, Lincoln.
Owen O. Keff, National Military Home.
John Witham, I'd, Freedom.
John +. Rand, Cornish.
Notes.
A post Office has been established at Cedar
Grove, Lincoln county, Me-, and VIM. g.
Ford was today appointed postmaster at that