The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1894-05-05
BASEMENT SECRETS
Strange Things to Be Seen In the
United States Treasury.
Especial washington Letter i

How the rats penetrate stone wall
two feet thick no man knoweth. They
do not burrow under the foundation
stones, for that would require digging
qualifications superior even to those
possessed by the Minnesota gophers.
But, somehow, the rodents have solved
the problem, have entered the treasury
department building, and are obeying
the law of nature, toincrease and null
tiply. BY this time. they are like unto
those possessors of Scriptural mad
man, for their name is legion. lwcnt
down in the basement the other day
with one of the guides, and saw things
wonderful even to an old timer. Every
evening after the clerks have left the
building, the charwomen take posses
sion and clean the rooms. About one
thousand of the clerks bring lunches
with them every day, and throw the
remnants in their baskets with waste
paper and other refuse OF the Office.
The charwomen carry all of the con-
tents of those baskets down to the
basement and the aggregate from the
waste baskets fills an immense bin.
There, all night, the rats hold high
carnival, for the bin Is their banquet
ing hell Inasmuch as the leavings in
the papers do not satisfy their thou
sands of little and big hungers, they
assail the woodwork In the files, clos
cts, chairs, desks and other furniture.
They eat valuable papers sometimes, or
used to. Lately all of the flles for
storing valuable papers have been
made of iron, and thereby the little
rapacious fellows arc barred.
The hundreds of pounds of waste
paper ought not to be called absolute
ly wasted; for every day there are deft
hands at work separating the finer pa
per from the coarser and pressing the
whole into bags for shipment to the
factories where new and clean paper
is made and again sold to the govern
ment. There is q paper maker who
has contract with the secretary OF
the treasury, and he pays for the
waste paper so that the government
does not lose it entirely. All of the
thick, heavy brown paper and paste
board which comes wrapped around
express packages from oil parts of the
country is separated from the finer
qualities, and they say that this ma
terial makes the finest kind of paste
board for boxes. The women who
handle this waste paper are. experts
and can tell at glance or q touch the
quality of the paper and what to do
with each little piece.
In the southwest corner Of the base
ment is cabinet shop which is valu.
able to the government. They do not
make presidential cabinets down here
under the ground and away from the
noise and hustle of Pennsylvania ave
nue., but they make all sorts Of flrni.
ture. This cabinet shop is probably
the best equipped one in Washington
and probably less than hundred peo
pie in this city know of Its existence
Here are all of the choicest and latest
bits of machinery for woodwork, and
there are lathes, betting, mortices, II
fact all that first-class workman
could desire or expect to have in .
well ordered shop. The varnisher wa.
at work on very handsome desk II
the vanishing room which adjoins the
cabinet shop.
He said: ''See that little round plug
near the corner of the desk. That wa.
made by rat when Daniel Manning
was secretary. This was the secre
tary's desk, and he occasionally left
pieces of lunch in that drawer. Al
night the old rat discovered the fact