Omaha daily bee., 1889-10-14
SUSPENDED BY THE NECK,
Manderson's Re Rated Pension
Hung Up indefinitely.
SWAPS AS THE SOFT WIND BLOW;
The Senator Didn't Want IL Anyhow
Kidding the White House of Rats
Assistant Secretary Bache-
lor's Mystic Signs.
WARRINGTON BUREAU THE OMAHA BEE, \
513 FOURTEENTH STREET.

WARRINGTON BUREAU THE OMAHA BEE,
5l3 FOURTEENTH STREET, :
WAsuINdToN, ID. O., Oct h.
Senator Manderson's re-rated pension has
been "hung up' indefinitely.
As a pensioner he stands tonight exactly
as he did a year or more ago.
Furthermore, the correspondence between
him and the secretary of the interior on the
subject has been closed. II will be remem-
bered that when, about three months ago,
Senator Manderson received certificate
showing that by an unsolicited re.ratng he
was given 81, 900 or s., 900 retroactive pension
money he refused to accept it till he had
passed a regular examination before med
ical board and it might be regularly shown
that he was entitled to what was given him.
Upon the retirement of Commissioner Tan
ner he returned the draft for the money to
the secretary of the interior, together with a
letter setting forth the facts, all of which
has been published ip THE BEE. In reply,
Secretary Noble, on September 25, gave it as
his official opinion that the re-ratng
having been without application and without
medical examination, was not in pursuance
of the usual practice, was not in compliance
with the rules and was therefore unwar-
Manderson, made October Z, the certificate
was cancelled and as pensioner he re.
turned to his former standing.
To-day's Post publishes Senator Mander-
sons letter of October to Secretary Noble
together with an interview with him on the
subject. 1t all occupies almost IA column on
the first page of the Post and is under these
headlines, which indicate the tenor of the
whole publications
decides against Senator Henderson. The
certificate is returned. The senator's letter
surrendering the money made public in full.
He wanted an examination, but did not get
it. His comments on department methods"
In the course of the interview Senator
Henderson says:
In making my original draft of the letter
to the secretary l went into the matter of re-
rating pensions at some length, but cut out
that part of it when | mailed it, as somewhat
irrelevant. l went into the matter to show
that the granting of pension is not mat
ter of charity but merely the consummation
of a contract the United States government
made with the men who went into the civil
war to defend the union. The government
practically said to these men by the act of
congress that was passed:
"'Your lives for the stability of the govern
ment. If you come out well and safe there
is no liability on our part but if you receive
injuries, then, as far as possible, we will
make you reparation.'
Nov that reparatlon can be practically
made in but one way, and that is by giving
money reparation, which from the magnitude
of the aggregate number of contracts must
be limited. If it were said that only the in
dIgent should receive this reparatlon, then
slur would be cast upon every pensoner of
the government, and as matter of justice
the reward should be sufficient for his sup
port. But that is not the case. The pen
sloners of the government are not paupers,
and indigence is not and should not be
necessary qualification of the penSioner, and
the idea that seems to be current to that ef
feet is far from correct. l said In my former
letter to the commissioner of pensions l did
not seek this rerating Of my pension and
knew nothing of it until the newspapers
opened upon me with mass Of abuse for
that with which l had nothing to do. l did
not think it possible that such abuse could be
heaped upon the men who went to the front
during the war under such circumstances
as attended my own case. l now drop the
matter, and so far as any present intentions
are concerned, l will not further call the
case up"
REMUNERATIvE RAT KILLING.
For great many years the executive man
sion has been infested with vast number
of rats Many of these unwelcomed resi-
dents of the mansion have been domiciled
within its confines during many decades.
Lately the inroads of the rodents have be-
come so great as to become very annoying to
the occupants, and Major Ernest, the new
superintendent of the building and grounds,
is giving the matter his especial attention, as
did Colonel Wilson, his predecessor in Of
fee, just before his transfer To-day's Her
aid says:
''The burrowng of the rats has under
mined certain portions of the basement wall,
while they have even invaded the executive
bed room as well as the other apartments
in the upper stories On Wednesday a con-
tract was entered into by Major Ernest with
w. H. Hosmer, of this city, to rid the entire
building Of rats. The contract allows Mr..
Hosmer $40 day with time unlimited. Fer
rets and dogs are to be used in the work of
extermination and the Job is to proceed until
it is completed, if it takes all winter, the gov
ernment to pay for all losses of ferrets, ETC."
While examining the building Thursday
Mrs. Harrison requested the contractor to
begin work at once in her room, as there
was one impudent fellow who nightly invaded
the apartment and gyrated around to her an
noyance. The work will begin early Monday
and the ferrets used will be brought from
New York.
BACHELORS MYSTERIOUS MARKS.
1t is stated that Assistant Secretary Bache-
lor, of the treasury who hears the applicants
for places in that great department, has de-
vised n system of marks legible only to
the appointment clerk so that when
papers are placed on file their value may be
easily known without re-reading them.
These marks are cabalistic. They are Greek
to the ordinary observer, and the candidate
and his congressman who may call them up
from time TO time. In common parlance they
mean: "COuslder," "a CO." mo go,n "sure
pop" etc. SO an an anxious pleader for
place may Gull his papers over, weigh them
in his partial scale, wonder if this will hit
tue mark or whether on the whole he had
better omit that, and finally return all to the
file clerk with the sigh of mingled satsfac-
tion and fear that goes with the hope de-
ferred of the office seekers. Meanwhile the
appointment clerk sees on the application the
secret lead penciled ring Of MIR. Bachelor
that would put the hopeful out of his sus-
pense if he could only decpher and trans