Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-04-13

the palace of the Elysee. The vases
stand seven feet high and are of II
deep blue. characteristic OF the finest
Sevres ware, as well as In happy nc.
cord with the prevailing colors OF the
blue room. The vases Will now remain
n permanent possession of the White
House. along with several other nOta-
BILE decorations given by foreign gov.
, ernments.
The condition of war which has cx-
listed between the United States aud
Spain since April ~. 1898. Terminated
Tuesday when the last formalitics for
the restoration OF peace were per-
formed by the exchange Of ratiaca
ti0ns of the peace treaty. COlnciden'
with this President Mckinley issued
his proclamation declaring that the
war was at nn end and the appoint.
ment OF Bellnmy Storer was deter
mined upon as United States minister
to Spain. The principal ceremony Of
the day occurred In the reception roou'
mt the White House. where the en-
change Of ratiticatiOns took plnce ut :
o'clock. In anticipation Of the his
toric character of the event. many
| members OF the Cabinet and officials
prominent In the administration gath,
cred ut the White House.
The ambassadors of the European
nations who nrc stationed here nre boy.
cOttlng the new Mexican ambassador.
Mr.. Asplrcz. Although lie IL an cdu.
Gated and accomplished gentleman,
they have snuhbcd him systematically
and pointcdly. The reason is thnt the
great European powers We're not
pleased when the Mexican legation nj
Washington was elevated to an EN-
bassy on an equality with their own.
They made no formal prot st. but there
was II good deal of dissa tisfnctIOn eX-
pressed privately that the reprcscn.
tntive OF no small u nation as Mexico
should he accorded the same diplo-
matte distinction by our government
that their ambassadors received. The
respect felt for the late Minister Ro-
nero was so great that the Europeans
would not object to him. but when a
man without diplomatic experience.
like Mr.. Aspiroz came. II boycott was
decided upon. The Mexican govern
ment Will not overlook the slight upon
Its representative. but the matter has
: Sot yet been brought to Its attention.
The recently appointed assistan,
treasurer ut New Orleans IL evidently
II tartar. His name Is &. J. Bell. nni
, he was selected for the office as n com
promise candidate to satisfy the vari'
, Gus factions 0e the Republican party
and the protection and gold standard
Democrats. As soon as Mr.. Bell took
charge of the office lie removed the
cashier and placed his son In that pO.
sltion. and has since been making
other changes. turning out experienced
clerks and book keepers and replacing
them with people of his own selection.
When the matter was reported to the
| Treasury department lie was notified
! that his action was unlawful and In
| violation of the civil service act ana
the rules o: the department. He made
no reply officially. but intimatcd pri.
| vately that as long as he was respon-
sible for the money he proposed to So
lect the men. civil service rules to the
contrary Notwithstanding. As ndmOn.
itions In writing seemed TO have no eff
feet upon him. Assistant Secretary
Vanderllp went to New Orleans few
days ago to see Ia he could not straight
en- the matter out. But Mr.. Bell de-
clined to recognize him. He says he
\ takes his orders only from the Presi-
dent of the United States or the secre-
| tary of the treasury. Mr.. Vandcrlip
| Is now on his way home and will have
an Interesting experience to relate. MIR.
Bell will probably be invited to Wash
ington or his resignation will be asked
for.
Admiral O'Ncill. chief of the ord
nance bureau OF the Navy Depart
ment. has prepared the specifications
| for 24,0OO tons Of armor, costing np'
proximntely S0.OOO,OOO for the six bat
| tleships authorized by Congress mt the
last two sessions. and will invite bids
| for furnishing 1t. There are only two
! establishments in the United States
which are competent to undertake so
grcnt n contract. the Carnegies and the
Bethlehem Company, and both have
heretofore refused TO furnish nrmor
for less than 500 ton. That IL the
limit plnced by Congress upon the cost
for the first three bittfesh'ps. and for
the other three the limit ls $500 a ton.
II. Is therefore the opinion of. the de-
partment that no bids will be offered
within these limits. but the. officials
consider It to be their duty to. go ahead
and call for proposals just as II II was
reasonable to expect them.7 The ord
nance officers of the navy do not favor
tile erection of II plant by the govern
ment to make nrmor. for the reason
that 1t would be several years before
the machinery could be made and
placed in working order. and by That
time somebody might inven; some I'M
provemcnt that would make It prac-
tically worthless. The officials think
that by the time the armor plant was
completed we would want n new one
built on different designs. and that the
81, 100000 or Si,O00,OOO 1t would cost
would be practically wasted. Further
more, they believe it would be an i'll
justice of the grossest Kind for the
government to go into competition
with the private companies. Some
years ago, Mt the urgent solicitation of
the naval officials. the Carnegie and
Bethlehem companies erected splendid
plants at II cost of several million dol
lars each. in order to supply armor for
our battlcships. 1t was an act OF pa
triotsm, because the demand for arm
or Is limited, and confined exclusively
to the United States and other govern