Evening star., 1898-06-18

Written for The Evening Star
Il have no doubt there is as much pat
riotism these days as there was when
was young" remarked an old citizen to Il
Star reporter, in speaking of the early
days of Washington. but there is a diff
ferent way OF showing it. Take our Fourth
of July celebrations and compare them
with what they are now. The city coun-
ellis always provided for public display OF
fireworks and in many instances Congress
added To the appropriation. The result was
we had a very fine time in a pyrotechnic
way. The fireworks were always displayed
either on the monument lot or the White
House lot which is now known Grand
Army place. The city councils generally
appropriated about six hundred dollars and
Congress frequently added five hundred
dollars to the fund. which was increased
by private contributions, SO that the whole
thing cost about couple of thousand dol
lars. Quite a large sum to consume in fire
works and set pieces. L admit, but it paid,
/ always thought, for ii was a very pa
triotic show. and patriotism is a thing 1t
pays to cultivate, even if the temporary eX-
penditure is somewhat large The AFFAIR
was always in the hands OF a pubic COM
mittee. appointed at citizens meeting.
What gave it its Importance as celebra-
ton was that it under public auspices
he turnout TO witness the fireworks. as 1t
was always called, was immense. In those
days the government manufactured "A
great deal of its ammunition in the old
armory building now the home of the fish
commission. and at the arsenal, then. as
now, at the foot of 112 street. Both OF
these establishments made the fireworks
which were used. thus giving employment
to many There is much more money spent
nowadays for fireworks. but there is no
public patriotism involved. every one SEEM
ing to go on his own hook, as far as cele-
brating the glorious Fourth is involved
There may be some benefit in the depart
ure. but old-fa shioned folks like me cannot
understand it, even if the younger genera
tion do
* x X K Z
THE schemes of conducting warfare as
suggested to the War Department" ex-
planned an ordnance officer to a Star re-
porter. are surprising in their ingenuity
and cruelty. and there seems to be no end
to them. Many of them are the suggestions
of persons who know nothing about the
subject either by observation, training
reading or experience. and some of them
are positively amusing as well entirely
impracticable. One of the plans which
came in this week carried off the palm.
The man who sent it said he had had an
extensive experience a whaler in the
arctics just as if that experience fitted him
in any way TO carry d civilized warfare.
His plan required that the War Department
should ascertain the exact locations where
the Spanish were liable 10 engage us in
land battles, and then inform him, when,
according TO his claim. he would be respon-
sible for the rest. His plan, he said would
work in Cuba, the Philippines, the Cmted
States or anywhere else. IL consisted IN
laying a series Of wires under the ground
in every conceivable place where the Span
ish by any possibility might engage US
Every here and there We're to be the ENDS
TO the wires so stuck up that tney could
be readily found, to which an electric cur
rent could be attached. This current. he
proposed. should be contributed by all the
electrical companies. car companies tele-
graph and telephone companies and users
of electricity in any and every form. or
by immense dynamos put up by the govern
mert in the case there We're TO be battles
In foreign lands He proposed to have an
electrical current ready to connect with
his underground wires everywhere. When
the time for battle arrived our forces were
to Withdraw to some of the places where
the underground wires had been arranged.
Each soldier in our armies was to be re-
Quired TO carry his pockets full of iron and
steel filings, and at a given time ordered
to retreat. AS he rctreated he was TO
throw the filings on the ground and then
Just as the Spanish had got on the prepared
land strewn with iron filings. the electric
current was to be turned and. .alI the invad-
ing army electrocuted at the next instant.
was a 5ASoL SSiASAtS' DuI IL Will HOl De
adopted
"At the close of each term of the Circuit
End Equity Courts the public is informed
that the juries present bouquet of
flowers to the judges holding the courts
q box of cigars or cane to the clerks of
the court" observed member of the bar
to a Star reporter, but they are never in
formed wnere the money comes from
" f,,
5uries in giving these presents being gen.
orally understood as their own gift. and
the money which paid the bills coming out
OF their own pockets. Now to those of
Is who are behind the scenes as it were
there Is no such idea, for We know that
every cent of ii comes out of fund which
the Juries, TO my mind as we'll as TO the
minds OF many other lawyers who have
looked into the subject Illegally assess
upon the htigants. The pay for Jurors is
fixed bylaw, the same as other salaries are
provided for. and don't think they should
be allowed to collect anything more In
oideh tunes custom grew up by which the
party OF parties winning a suit were COM
PEELED to pay for the tobacco which q iury
was supposed to use during the trial of
the cause There was no more law for it
than there was that the jurors should
muict winning liugants for the shoe leath-
or which they wore during the trial but
somehow the practice has been kept up
and at the end of every trial, at least upon
the rendition of each verdict the lawyers
Tor the winning party can be seen going
70 the foreman of each jury and handing
blm - or 30 cents for tobacco money al
th"ugh 1t frequently happens that no MEM
Der OF the jury uses tobacco in any form
some Juries render two and three verdicts
In a day. and, indeed. in some instances
even more 1t Is easy to be seen that dur
Ing a term of a court this amounts to a
considerable sum, always being over $50
and sometimes as high $40. The tobacco
money is kept by the foreman until the
end of The term, when it is divided up.
minus the amount required to pay for the
presents TO the judge and court clerks II
Is custom that is wrong in every partict1-
Jar. and the sooner some judge sits down on
II hard the better il will be for all hands -
In recent tour during an inspection Of
the camps at Chickamauga, Tampa in Viz
ginia and elsewhere" said an official of the
Inspector generals Office TO a Star reporter.
curing which time i saw and visited
camps containing over G7.OOD men, / was
forcibiy struck with one thing and that is
tnat army songs are no more. II is true /
heard singing now and then in the camps