The morning call., 1894-04-01
AROUND THE CORRIDORS.

SHOW many people live in San Francisco, do
you suppose, who are aware that the United
States has law which authorizes he issuance
of a medal of honor for conspicuous acts OF
bravery on the battle. field ?" said prominent
army Officer at the Palace yesterday. "This law
was passed 10 1862, and. though Its pro-
visions only authorized the ISSUANCE of 10000
of these priced emblems. the last list printed
by the War Department. in 1886. showed that
up to that time only 1147 of the original mum.
Der had been issued. When the STYLE and sub
stance OF the proposed medal was under
discussion it was thought best to follow the
example of England, Germany and several
other foreign Governments and divest the
medal of any intrinsic value, and the English
pattern, of bronze, was therefore chosen. The
cost of these medals is only So 40 each, and
there are at present stored away in the War
Department nearly 5000 OF them, which, IL
the spirit of the law is maintained, it will
require more than 100 years 10 exhaust. AL
though there have been some departures from
the prescribed standard OF merit the award Of
these medals has never been the result OF DO
litical Interference or favOritism. They are
heritages OF brave soldiers only and can be
merited only by acts Of more than ordinary
bravery, and if the roll OF honor of the United
States should be examined to-day 1t would be
found to compare favorably with that of any
other nation. The largest number ever
awarded at any one time was $50. and they
were given in bulk on January "a. 1865, to the
various companies Of the Twenty-seventh
Maine Infantry, which, though their time OF
enlistment had expired volunteered on July 1,
1868, to remain in service In the deadly battle
of @ itysburg. Since 1886 many more medals
have been issued. the total to date being 1922.
and OF these large majority were issued to
soldiers in the ranks, the statistics showing
that the great bulk OF the medals have gone to
enlisted men, sergeants c0rporalS and privates,
and not to officers"
Judge o. L. Bradley, who is connected with
the ostoffice Department in Cincinnati, is in
the city. de states that proposition has been
made TO the authorities in that department TO
establish a pneumatic tube service between
the postoffice and the various branch stations
and suburbs on the pattern of the Berlin "tube
mail" Experts aver, the Judge says, that the
use OF these tubes will work great revolution
In the postal service, and that It will be gen.
orally adopted within the next decade. The
tube proposed will pattern after the largest In
use, it measuring eight inches upon its inside
diameter. The tube now in use in Berlin is but
two and half inches In diameter, while that at
Philadelphia is four inches. The tube pro-
posed is seamless, with perfectly smooth In
terror. The mai is to be carried through these
ing long trains holding letters. These carriers
can be increased and the heaviest mail can be
easily handled by this method. A number of
powerful boilers would be needed to drive the
carriers through the tubes. The Berlin tube
maip' has been In use for number Of years.
1t is sixteen English miles long and the carriers
fly at the rate OF fifty-three feet second.
Each train consists of fifteen carriers, holding
800 letters. The Chicago Post0ffice will also
be equipped with the pneumatic tube syst IN
and tile plans have already been prepared TO
carry 4,366,5o letters daily between the main
office and the twelve carrier stations
"Kansas climate and Kansas soil seem to be
favorites with the Russian immigrant 10 par
ticular," said A. l.. Helps. land agent Of
Salina, that state, yesterday. sit Is only few
weeks ago that }. P. Pomeroy, a Boston
millionaire. sailed for Russia for the purpose OF
organizing colony Of Catholics and Lutheran
Mennonites, which he proposes to bring TO
Kansas and locate. Pomer0y's father was the
principal stakeholder in the Union Pacific road
and at his death he owned $4,000 acres Of land
in various counties In northwestern Kansas.
This land came into the possession OF the son
and he has tried numerous schemes to sell his
property to the lapdless OF other States. but