Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-02
Figures that Talk.

Figures that Talk.
By the sworn tabular statement published In
this column yesterday it was shown that the
average daily circulation Of The EVENING STAR
last week WIS ,775 greater than for the cor
responding week in 1888. This is a very graft
tying exhibit, and indicates in a perfectly plain
and conclusive manner the steady and rapid
growth Of the paper, and the firm hold it has
On the confidence of the people Of Washington.
It does not, however, tell the whole story of
progress
comparison Of the circulation and adver-
Using patronage Of tine paper for the month Of
June. 1889, with that of June, 1888, and for the
first six months Of this year with the corre-
spending portion q. 1888, is even more signif-
cant and convincing, since the periods thus
covered are longer, and the constant and large
increase in the two branches Of business is
thereby more clearly and firmly demonstrated.
To illustrate: The average daily circulation for
June, 1888, was q, 453, while during June this
year It was 80, 173, showing the very hand
some increase 2, 72O ,ies,-this, too, in the
face of the fact that there were abnormally
large demands for daily papers during a large
part Of June, 1888, consequent upon the sittings
of the two great natl ,al political conventions
held in Chicago that month. And no less salts
factory has been t.. gtowth of the advertising
business Of the 3 ,per June of this year, as
compared with that of the corresponding
month last year. In June, 1889, the number of
new advertisements printed in the columns of
The STAR was 8, 529, against 4, COG in June last
year, showing the handsome increase in that
department for q single month of no less than
923 new announcements.
But evidences Of permanent growth are not
to be found alone in a comparison covering
merely thirty days. The exhibit for the first
six months Of the two years shows an average
increase in circulation of 3,177 copies, while
the number Of new advertisements printed
during the first six months of this year ex-
ceeded those of the corresponding period last
year by 4,612, or an average increase month
By month of 76S.
These figures need no comment on the part
Of The STAR. They show what the public
think Of 1t as newspaper and as an advertising
medium, and that testimony it submits as more
substantial and convincing than any thing it
could Itself say on the subject Other papers
can blow their own horn, to their hearts con-
tent The popular voice speaks for The STAR.
The report that Major Lydecker is real
angry, don't you know, to be ordered away sew
eral thousand miles from the scene of his club
room inspection of tunnel excavation, is calcu-
lated to alarm both the big United States and
the little District, each of whom has contrib
uted a million dollars to be buried in the ground
and lost by Major Lydecker, and each of whom
Is deeply interested in removing that officer as
far as possible from tunnels and club-rooms.
The pleasure of the majors presence
at the capital is too expensive
luxury, and despite his dissatisfaction
ii must be firmly, if reluctantly insisted that
he go. 1t msy be added that Major Lydecker's
anger Is unreasonable. II it be sweet and
pleasant for the patriot and soldier to die for
ones country it ought to be sweet and pleasant
for patriotic major to travel for the good o.:
his country and for the good of his country's
capital Major Lydecker's lot is not an I'M
happy one. His neglect has wasted two mil
lions Of dollars. He is punished by fine
OF $780, payable on easy terms in
monthly installments of S1Oo, and
is 'banished" to Vancouver, which ranks next to
the Preside at San Francisco as the most agree
able post on the Pacific coast. This exile is not
TO q solitude ''where rolls the Oregon and
hears no sound save its own dashing," but to
picturesque situation on the banks of the Co
lumbia, close to one Of the Oldest towns in the
region, and connected by narrow-gauge rail-
road with Portland, six miles distant the Sec
ond largest city on the Pacific coast. 1t may
be added a. Of special interest to the exile that
the society is considered to be excellent
There is nothing pathetic in such banishme mt,
or In any feature Of Major Lydecker's case
The District OF Columbia is the only party to
the tunnel transaction deserving public SYM
patty. The government exacts from il mil
lion dollars to pay for worthless work for which
1t Is not responsible and from which it has
derived no benefit II is punished by a heavy
fine for no fault Of its own. It has pleaded for
water and has received instead a million dol
lars debt I. would like, if it could, to ex-
change punishments with Major Lydecker.
1t may be well to wait or Captain Rockwelrs
written report to his employers, in which he
viii be likely to confine himself to a cool and
measured recital OF facts, before forming a
dnal opinion on the affair Of the Clyde steamer
Ozama in Haytian waters. But the story this
officer tells orally Of his adventure. and espe-
eially OF Captain Kellogg's share in il. is re-
freshing 70 the ears Of Americans, SO long ac-
eustomed to hear their navy derided as worth
less because of the stinginess Of Congress in
providing for its improvement Evidently We
are not TO be bullied, at any rate by little
Hayt. So far as the navy and its officers are
concerned, however, an opposing force even
vastly superior has not modified the vigor with
which the national honor has been maintained.
The Kellogg incident carries the mind back to
the day when Captain Ingraham on his sloop
st. Louis took his position off Smyrna and pro-
posed to blow the blue lights out of a whole
Austrian feet because a man who had declared
his intentions to become an American citizen
had been roughly handled. The grit on the
part Of our Yankee officers ought In all fair
ness 70 have something substantial in the way
Of ships and armament behind it. The Ameri-
can people, when occasion demands an act of
special gallantry, have, however, reason to feel
proud Of their navy in spite of its present in
significant proportions. As the Juvenile patient
said Of his pill: sits little but-oh, my-'