Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-12-26

hand sarcophagus.
II this be treason make the most of it.
I've already had an Indian outbreak
this winter. and do not mind a little
set-to with the government. rs | had
funds left over after adjusting the In
dian difficulty
- The New York custom house is tri-
ufnph of Inconvenience. miracle Of
misfits and architectural deformiti-s. 1t
is sort of compromise. 50 far Us com
fort goes, between the massive. rectan-
gular residence of the cave dweller and
the root cellar Of the renaissance.
There is Nno room in it, no elevator, no
effort to be freproof above the first
floor, no light, no air. no method, no
comfort aud no economy Venerable
officials and employees who We're there to
show Henry Hudson over the building
are still usiIAg the same tin cuspidors
made Of the Inverted lid of the tin din
ner pail of the past The same sand is
IN them yet.
Monarchies have risen, fourished and
decayed. kings have been born, cut their
eye teeth, reigned a few lonesome weeks
and moldered back into plebeian dust.
Emperors have risen, and in a few years
practically dictated to the world for
time, but their dust is in the mighty
brick yard of the past, and the winds of
heaven are whistling through the tat
tered upholstery of their vacant thrones,
but the gray sand in the tin cuspidor of
the custom house of the United States
smiles mockingly at the swift and hungry
centuries.
\ The custom house is ornamented with
S,big granite porch, supported by the gov
ernment and row of massive fiuted col
umns as devoid of beauty as the ami
mated drumstick of the antique chorus
girl. This porch is expensive, but with
out use or beauty. In this respect it re-
sepbles the average case of typhoid
initiative Englishman.
The first thing encountered in the in.
terror is n rotunda, which presents the
bright and ever changing scenery no
uceable from the bottom of a drilled
well. 1t started out to be the arena for
cock fight, changed its mind and sought
to be dry cistern; then securing a DO
htical pull it proceeded to become the
rotunda OF the custom house. and every
effort 30 remove it has so far proved un-
awaiting.
\ Entering the large corner room where
sits the collector of the portland other
dutfable beverages found Mr.. Err
hardt with his back to the fire and his
face to the foe.
He comes down about 6. m. and
works till o'clock in the evening, lunch
ing in his office.
By hanging around till about o'clock
was invited to lunch with him. Hon.
James W. Hustled sat and conversed
while we ate. The artist will kindly
make a rather pleasing drawing of the
three scholarly gentlemen as they APP
peared at the time.
A man went by the door and looked
cautiously in. Afterward l heard him
say to another man that he understood
the Sutherland sisters were lunching to-
gether today. They then. both of them,
burst into low, coarse laugh.
The correspondence room is q very
busy place, and hundreds of letters in
tended for the collectors private eye are
carefully opened and read by Mr.. JEFF
fries. who came to New York in the fall
OF l402, and at once went to work at his
present job. i refer to this matter of
correspondence because great many
people think that by marking a letter to
a high official as private or personal
1t will lie read only by him and i'm
mediately placed under his pillow at
night. The collector can, however. have
no secrets during Office hours, at least
through the mails and hardly viva voce.
The cashiers room interested me q
good deal. 1t always does wherever
go So, with the collector to vouch for
me, ! went through the little dingy
offices and dens where az high as a
million and a half per DAY Is handled.
This money, as Col Jones explained, is
either in the form of a specially certified
check or currency, and the latter is con-
stantly assorted into the proper denomi-
nations, so that Mt the time for handing
over to the sub-treasury at evening,
quarters are in their proper parcels, duly
counted, so likewise small change and
large up to the ten thousand dollar bill
which i held in my hand quite a while,
meantime asking Col Jones to notice
what a peculiarly notified appearance
the sky had.
However, with suspicion growing,
dare say, out of his long and busy con-
tact with sharpers and men of little
principle, he watched me eagerly, no
nced, and sent an employee to the window
to look at the peculiarly mottled appear
ance of the sky.
One OF the best experts on bills and
silver cOunterfeits in the country. no
doubt, has his little cage in the cashiers
once. lie cannot always explain why
he does not like bill or a silver niece.
but he knows he does not choose any of
It, and test shows that he is correct.
Long after had left this department Col.
Jones showed me $50 bill, and asked
me II saw anything peculiar about it.
SAID no, did not, aside from the fact
that a $50 bill always did have "A novel
appearance TO me.
We'll. said he, ''that il n counter
felt II was detected just after Won
went out"
l convinced him after a while that I
did not do it, though
The bill had been dimly photographed
and then all the work. back ana front
carefully done over with pen. 1t was
pretty good looking bill. Mr.. Urban
ae'ected 1t while nervous person would |
F engaged in calculating the words
Jack Robinson. Mr.. Urban is one If
tne men who holds his Office by right Of
etsrnai fitness, and nobody ever vent
ures 10 ask him what his politics NAV
De or used to be- 1t ia z secret hetween
1t should be-
Ii q man could make himself absolute
" Unnecessary to his employer or his gov