Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-12-11
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Slow PrcSress OF Coast Defense Work.
An Erterprising Fellow The
Menetary Commission.
;fsnrcIal Coyrcspondencc.l

L
army. particularly in coast defense
work. which is ascrbed to consrcSSion-
al shortsishtcdnoss, though somo one
else appears to be culpablc in ut least
contrihutory degree, is shown in Score
tary Ayers recent action revoking the
orders 10 n battery of the Fourth artll-
lcrv to garrison Fort Delaware and
Finu's Point. III. aud postponinG
the occupation of these Important places
guarding the entrance TO the Delaware
uutil next S,riuE. This is duo TO al Of
i;cial report that the old quarters there
are absolutely uuinhabitnhle, and there
fore several hundred thousand dollars
worth If suuSaud their mounts nro left
without the care they would have were
;yoons available in tho vicinity, and the
,neu will not have tho advantage OF be-
co,uinS familiar With tho weapons, not
TO ,uontion the defenSclcss position i'll
which Philadelphia is loft. OF course
courr1ss will be asked TO appropriate
money for quarters. aud this demand is
cmuhasizcd by tho failure of the do
nart,nent to man the posts, but many
persons will wonder that the proper Of
t!cials never Thought of this phase OF
the matter several months ago.
An Enterprising Fellow.
There is M enterprising individual III
town who for months past has been try
ing 10 obtain an audience with certain
hish official, but the high official, being
well aware of the nature of the enter
prising individuals wishes, has persist
emily avoided him. This person. how
ever, is versatile as we'll rs enterpris-
ing. One day recently he won't over to
Baltimore and called up, over the long
distance telephone, the high official,
who, being aware of no possible reason
why he should not answer call over
the long distance telephone, which indi-
Gated that there must be matters OF I'M
portance that demanded his attention,
responded
rs that General A.?" asked Balti-
more.
Eyes. What do you want?' asked
General A.
"This is Mr.. 8. want to speak to
YOU about little matter. " Then Mr.
B. proceeded to tell his business.
Come, come, interrupted General
A., this is no matter for the tele-
phone.
"Well, when can I see you, then?"
asked B.
Come to my Office at 10 o'clock to-
morrow, growled the general.
And the interview took place.
Monetary Commission Hard at Work.
The monetary commission is constant
" at work, and it will be some weeks
vet before all the questions it has under
consideration are disposed OF.
The members of the commission are
all well known men, but the most noted
of their number is the chairman OF the
commission, ex-senator Edmunds OF
Vermont who for 20 years was con-
spicuous figure in the senate and regard
ed as the leading lawyer CT that body.
The active part he took i'll the debates
on the Pacific railway funding act and
antitrust laws is still remembered, and
he was the author of the "Edmunds
law" which aimed to suppress polyg-
amy in Utah. He was, too, q member
of the electoral commission and one OF
those who took part il the trial of An
drew johnson. Senator Edmunds' vol
untary resignation of his seat in the
senate was subject Of surprise and
wonder at the time Since his retire
ment to private life he has devoted him
self to his law practice and has SEEM
ingly never regretted leaving the senate.
The Library of Congress.
Mr.. Alvord the superintendent of the
art department of the library of con-
gress, is hard at work putting that de-
partment in order and hopes to open 1T
to the public by Jan. l. To assert and
arrange all the prints that have accu-
mulated in the library is, of course,
tremendous undertaking, but when it is
done the collection will be useful to the
student as showing the history and
growth Of the cngraver's art and photog-
raphy in this country.
Mr.. Alvord has any quantity OF ma
terial at his disposal. There are now
stored in the library some $4,000 en-
cravings, II, 900 photographs and 90, 900
woodcuts, besides a quantity Of other
pictures that have not been classified. 1t
would naturally, if it were possible, be
quite useless to display all of these, but
from them have been selected about
1000 prints which will be framed and
hung III the gallery.
The library has rich and very in
teresting collection of political cartoons,
and among its treasures are more than
300 rare old eDsravings, copies OF the
old masters, which were purchased Ill
the early days of the library. But just
when and by whom these pictures were
bought is not known. Surely the person
who had the tcnerity to use govern
nent funds for so aesthetic purpose as
the acquiring of rare old prints must
have been man of courage and strong
convictions, for utilitarian ideas govern
ed the government expenditures in the
early days, and the fathers were opposed
as a rule to the appropriating of public
moneys for the purpose Of buying works
of art, regarding such outlay as encour-
agemeDt to likeness and the reckless ex-
pending of peoples money.
CARL SCHoFIEI4D.
a Feathered Surgeon.
A story is told which would indicate