Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-16

Captain Clifford Anderson of Boston has
in his possession the first letter written by
Zachary Taylor to his daughter after her
marriage This daughter eloped with Jeff
erson Davis. Captain Anderson came across
the letter in an autograph dealers stock
and will return it to Mrs. Davis. Zachary
Taylor was a colonel at the time of writing.
1t is expected that the State department
will refuse to permit Minister Buchanan,
who represents this country at Buenos
Ayres, to accept the 100000 which Argen
tina and Chill desire to present to him for
his services in arbitratng the boundary dis
pute between them Such proceeding is
considered undesirable, if not illegal and
there is a precedent for the refusal. If, how
ever, the money is rendered after Mr..
Buchanan's retirement he will cf course be
at liberty to accept it,
Erik Skram of Copenhagen, secretary of
the Danish Legislature and well known
novelist, is in Chicago on a s5m official
mission He is commissioned by his gov
Crnment to investigate the condition of the
Danes in America, and will later make
report of his observations The Danish gcv-
ernment is paying the expenses of Mr..
Skrams trip through the United States. Be.
sides his work of investigation he is trying
to interest his countrymen in a society formed
in Denmark for the purpose of promoting
commercial ties between the two countries
Mr.. Skram will visit Omaha, and from here
will journey to the Pacific coast.
Edison used to be great lover of pie but
on account of impaired digestion he eats
less of it than formerly. He tells the story
of how he once went to London on an i'm
portant mission. The chief thing they gave
him to eat was roast beef Mr.. Edison
finally rebelled. He declared his brain
was becoming roast-beefy and his thoughts
were as clear as an ocean fog. In sheer
despair he ran out of the restaurant one
evening and sought far and near for a piece
of good Yankee pie. He found it shortly
and ate several pieces. His brain cleared
as If by magic He quickly and success
fully finished his business and returned
home happy and pie-loving man.
Tanu, the present king of Samoa is quite
boy, still in his teens, and the affairs of
state sit quite as lightly on his shoulders
as they weighed heavily on Mataafa's dur
ing his brief reign as Samoan head of the
provisional government. You may see him
any day in Mulinuu, says a correspondent
of Harper's Weekly, playing marbles with
the lads of the village, or even with some
of the chiefs of his kingdom. But he has
the blood of kings in his veins, for he is a
son Of Malietoa, the late ruler of the
islands, and, whatever may be said to the
contrary, he has been duly elected king
according to the laws and customs of Samoa
and in accordance with the Berlin treaty
He is quiet-spoken, pleasant lad with
not great deal of character in his face,
but 1t is possible that, though there is
nothing of the warrior about him, he may
develop into a man of good discretion and
sound judgment. But in any case the king
ship of Samoa is only farce. The spec
tacle of a German president of petty
municipality drawing $4,000 year and of
a king with an allowance of only $500 is
ludicrous in the extreme.