The silver star., 1899-03-30

avoid any excuse for them to complain
of carpet-bag government.
Adjutant General Corbin refused
commission ms major general OF vol
| unteers This fact IL for the first time
officially made public in the new arm!
| register. The record shows TINT tho
, commission was actually issued OH thu
18th of August last. General COrbin
| the entry also shows. declined to nc
cept. The case Is without II parallel
There were during the lnte war. per
haps. n dozen tlcclinations Of commits
sions for various reasons. but none OF
these was In the class 10 which this
case belongs. General Corbln was
asked to-day why lie did not accept
such tempting offer. "The number
| Of major generals was limited" said
he 1--WE need every one Of them in
| the field. I could not stand in the way
OF any man who was In the fighting
line. wanted them to have their
promotions first. My place was here.
| The postmaster general recently
placed on sale 10000 complete sets Of
obsolete newspaper and periodical
| stamps at 5 n set. The We're dlstribut-
ed Mt the largest postofices. 5000 sets
being retained ly the department nj
Washington. 1000 at New York, $500
each at Philadelphia and Chicago, and
a smaller number OF sets Mt other post
offices. with instructions that not more
than one set should be sold to n single
customer. The sale commenced OH
February 18th, and so far as returns
have been received was n great sue
cess. The entire stock IL exhausted.
and after paying all expenses the gov
ernment is enjoying prifit Of $249,-
$40. There are million or 80 stamp
collectors in the United Stntes, and the
cagerness with which these stamps
were purchased makes Assistant Post
master General Merritt regret that he
did not charge $40 n set for them. and
realize Il half OF a million instead of Il
&. arter of a million dollars by their
sale.
Congress provided for an Increase or
about 1000 clerks for postoffices, seat
tered through the various grades. 1t
will be the policy OF the department to
reward efficient and faithful clerks
now in the service by advancing some
of them to the new positions. and the
1000 new appointments will be made
from the eligible lists OF the civil serv-
ice commission TO the lowest grade.
The new clerks will come In at the foot
of the ladder. and will not he advanced
over the heads OF old and tried clerks.
The postmaster general has also been
furnished with $4,000 to he used In
the employment of substitutes to act
while the regular clerks are on vaca-
tion. A similar amount has been
placed In his hands for the employ
ment OF temporary clerks at summer
and winter resorts and for holiday and
election service. The act making ap-
preparation for the next fiscal year spe-
officially provides that the postmaster
general shall not maintain civil pen
sion roll or an honorable service roll
and shall not use any of the funds as
compensation Of any persons perma-
nently incapacitated for performing
their official duties.
Edward Tripier. the New York man
who discovered new motive power In
frozen air. will make the first public
demonstration Of his discovery before
the National Geographic society here In
n few days. He reduces air to liquid
form by compression and cold AMI
keeps 1t Mt temperature OF 212 de-
grees below zero. One cubic foot Of
frozen air Ia equivalent 10 500 cubic
feet OF ordinary air and Mr.. Tripler
proposes to use It as motive power In
place Of coal. oil and electricity by
I
must he produced by the use OF or,lin.
] ary fuel. hut after that h can repro
duce itself. Two gallons OF the liGuid
Will furnish power sufficient to pro-
, duce ten gallons. Therefore, II costs
nothing except for labor and machIn-
} cry. and steamship with the proper
; apparatus would he able to mnnufnct-
lirc its own fuel while In motion. A
! locomotive on railroad could do the
same. and the principle applies equally
! well to every factory In which power
mny he used. Mr.. Tripler promises to
revOlutiOnixe the manufacturing indus.
tries and transportation facilities of
this country. and great interest In felt
among scientific men here In the sub
ject.
. The correspondent OF the Chicago
Record writes his paper as follows
: rhe recent promise Of Ambassador
: Choate that the United States and
= Great Britain would maintain a friend.
r ly rivalry In the worlds commerce sug.
gests M inquiry that In not ~ consol-
/ ing to our British cousins as II Is to us
. for the statistics show that we have
not only been rapidly gaining upon their
/ export trade. but surpassed II last yent
: by more than hundred million OF dol.
, lars. In 1873 the United States export.
cd x:tID. .3s9. 100 worth Of domestic iner.
chnnLise and Great Britain &sDs. .:ss,.
= OaO. In 1893 our total amounted 10 81 :.
i 233, ,5G4 .62s and Great Britnin's to 81 :.
y 131 .034 .3}1 TINT In. In thirty ycnrs we
g hnyo gained &O:ii. 152. .02S In our export
I trnde. while Grcnt Britain gained only
g x2:t3. .555,27i. Putting II another way,
l. our gain has been 35s per cent. and
n hers has been only ~ per cent. She
: has not even been able to keep race
:. with the growth Of population IN her
I own colonies. In 1SaD we hid fair IA
u surpnss the record. Our exports In the
h eight months ending with February inn,
o were se82D .:s35. 141. while those from tho
= United Kingdom were Sim, 900, ,427
q The year 1898 wns the first year m
o which our exports exceeded those ol
:. Great Britain. Only twice have they