Evening star., 1896-11-14
llE6&aEf'FSS &fEE2SS2o E2Sl
ag $, DiHH"'S:SEEN>

year of the war. the great attraction of
which was his celebrated pair of trained
mules. which he valued at s25,G00.'
= 4. K X x
Some of the old furniture in use in the
departments. and particularly in the older
departments. would today, if it could be
sold, bring many times what 1t COST" re-
marked an expert on antique furniture who
had been allowed to examine it. Il was
much surprised he said, "to 6nd so much
Old furniture in the State Department.
There are tables and desks in use there
which have beer used almost since the or
ganiZat.on of the government The same
Is the case in the Treasury, War and Navy
departments. In many of the rooms OF
the latter there are a number of desks and
tables that have been in constant use for
from sixty to sevcnty-hve years. and they
are as sound they were a half century
ago, barring a few dents ard scratches
caused by moving them about.
The Interior Department, Department of
Justice and Agricultural Department are
practically new institutions as compared
with the other departments. but even they
have some fine antiques. Originally the De-
partment of Agriculture did its business on
ore cesk. with the aid Of one table. That
department then consisted of one man, and
n srna II man at that. He had q room in the
basement of tine Patent Office building In
a few years three men were employed,
and next came Mr.. Joseph Wilson, who was
made chief of the other three. Afterward
he was designated as commissioner of agri-
culture, and he had six clerks allowed him.
The force grew steadily until before MI.
wilson passed away it bad grown into hun
dreds. and finally got so large that a sepa-
rate building had to he erected for it. That
original desk and chair is still in daily use
in the Department OF Agriculture The bu-
reau of education, later on. did it's business
on one desk with one chair"
x * X
Turkeys are now being fattened for
Thanksgiving That day may be consid-
cred to usher i'll this noble bird as a deli
cscy for the dinner table. For some rea-
son turkeys are never really good until the
cold weather sets in, the meat does not
seem to nave the same flavor before frost
that it does afterward
Perhaps the finest turkeys are those
raised in Pennsylvania. where the people
know more about good living than in any
ether section of the country. Many OF
these birds are sent from the west to our
markets, but they are inferior in flavor to
those grown in the east. Farmers in this
part of the country take great care i'll
feeding their fowls. a branch of the busi-
less which is neglected in the west. A
large proportion of the turkeys sold here
come from Maryland and Virginia, which
produce very fine birds.
The turkeys we eat came from Mexico
originally. They were taken from there to
Europe by the Spaniards. who bred them
for the table. They were liked much
that they spread ali over the old world. and
We're afterward brought across the sea
again and domesticated in the United
States. Cur wild turkey which is a very
delicious bird, belongs to an entirely differ
ent species. It has no white meat at all
even it's breast being dark. The wild tur
KEY can still be found in Mexico, and is the
same as our tame bird.