The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-02-26
ALBERT BERG BLlTHE.
NOT A WRIT>DISCOMMODE BY HIS
SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE
WITH CHLORA-
DRANK THE WRONG BOTTLE
Secretary of State Explains to the
Readers of The Globe the Manner
of His Almost UndoinG at the Ma
tional Capitalize Saw the
Sights of Washington In Good
shape.

Secretary of State Albert Berg re-
turned yesterday morning from WASH
ington, looking somewhat pale and
thin from his experience with proprie
tary medicine and statesmen, but with
a very merry. In his apartment at
the Aberdeen last evening, he told of
his adventures at the national capitol,
where he went merely to see the sights
ard not as had been supposed to furth-
er the interests of Former Gov. Mer-
riam 70" government position nor
to boom Sam Fullerton for the United
States marshalShip.
These dispatches about my taking
an over dose of chlorol were all
wrong, he said. Furthermore l was
not pumped out with a stomach pump
even if the papers did say so. l
haven't seen stomach pump since l
was little boy. The truth of the mat
ter was that I had bad cold and it
settled in my bad tooth. The doctor
gave me three kinds of medicine and
/ took three fingers out OF the small
round bottls instead of a teaspoonful
out Of the square bottle, as l should
have done. l thought some of home
and the folks here in st. Paul-that is
for while--but they brought me
around all right. There was a moment,
though, when 1 began to feel that L
had not gone TO church as much as l
ought. TO have done. My voice is get
ting around all right now though"
And to prove his assertion the secre-
tary carolled a few bars of popular
song.
Speaking of Merriam" he con-
tinued. you ought to have seen those
big buildings. 1t kept me busy look
ing at them. | only went there any
way to see the sights and | saw 'em.
The government library is a wonderful
structure. 1t seems to have hundreds
of windows. and l made mental cal
culation that it would take at least 5097
SpittoonS to accommodate the floor
space. 1t was awful cold there, at
least while 1 was in town. 1t was
worse than any blizzard l ever saw in
the Northwest.
Gov. Merriam seems to stand pretty
we'll with. those Washington people and
they told me down there that he was
pretty certain to land the position of
superintendent of the census. 1 saw
Senator Nelson and spent a very pleas
ant evening with him, but. of course,
we did not talk politics. l heard down
there that Sam Fullerton was pretty
certain of succeeding United States
Marshal O'Connor, but L did not dis
cuss the matter with anybody. You
see l am a kind of back number in pol
itics now and it wouldn't have done for
me to get to talking with those big
bugs.
Gov. Mer am was here when 1 left
and afterwarur 1 ran across him in
Washington quite accidentally. He is
q very nice man to meet What
amused me more than anything at the
capitol was to see those colored team
sters going around with their feet done
up in gunny sacks when it was chilly.
The long rows Of street lamps, too, i'm
pressed me a good deal.
THE census position is a good thing.
l guess. Porter held it for eight years
and there's a nice salary. l did not
meet the president only at a distance.
He was pretty busy shaking hands
with some people at a reception and
1 peel1ed over the heads Of the crowd
and saw him quite plainly.
Il don't believe there is any truth In
these stories that Merriam is slated for
the secretaryship Of war and that AL
ger is going to resign. The census po
sition is much more likely. 1 don't
think that my having taken the dope
by mistake was half as bad as some Of
these st. Paul people who disgrace the
town when they go away by blowing
out the >gas and things. And L want
10 say right here that it was not true
about the stomach pump. They say
that Senator Davis and Merriam are
quite friendly nowadays. l should
not be surprised If he secured the APP
poirtment -