The Springfield herald., 1900-06-22
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.

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propriating $5.0O00OO for the Louisi-
ana purchase exposition mt St Louis.
Postmaster General Smith went to
the White House Saturday for Il con
sultation with the President before
leaving for Philadelphia. The draft
Of the platform prepared by him was
submitted to Mr.. Mckinley The con
ference lasted almost three-quarters of
an hour. Mr.. Smith then left for
philadelphia.
The Court of Land Claims has Off
cially decided that Rear Admiral Samp-
son WAS in command of the fleet at
Santiago battle and that Admiral
Schley was in command of n division
of the fleet. Also the cruiser New
York, the flagship of the squadron, was
in the fight. This will give Sampson
and the crew of the New York Il share
of the prize money.
The following dispatch was received
at the State Department Tuesday:
"Chin Kiang, June 12.-Secrctary of
State: Large numbers natives organ
lied secret society. halted here. People
very apprehensive. No protection.
Want cruiser. Martin" Mr.. Martin Is
the consul at Chin Kiang, and his tel
egram is the first news received here
to indicate the spread of the Boxer ag-
itation in that section of China. Cnln
Kiang is one of the most important
treaty ports in China. 1t is about 10
miles from Shanghai.
Director Merriam of the census Is of
the opinion that the first information OF
the census will be about the city OF
Washington. He expressed the belief
that the population of this city Will be
nI, 'l,n -n,.l- of
orators has proceeded satisfactorily.
AS soon as the returns are in Il condi-
ton to be made public, Director Mer-
riam will announce daily bulletins.
Big cities will be heard from first. The
counting of people in these populous To-
calities should be ready for announce
ment in about two weeks.
The opening of the Fort Hall reser-
walton in Idaho to settlers Is regard
ed by western business men in Wash
ington as the beginning Of new era
for western investors. 1t is believed
that the opening of this reservation
will be of incalculable service to the
states bordering upon Idaho and that
all mining states, as well as Colorado.
Utah, Wyoming and Montana. must
reap richly from the opening of this
reservation. which, it is believed,
marks the beginning of new legisla ton
for the arid and semi-arid states.
The Navy Department will advertise
for proposals for supplying face-har-
dened armor of the best type for battle
ships now building, for the protected
cruisers already authorized and for
the three battle ships provided for in
the new naval appropriation bill. Hav-
ing been assured that much better
terms could be extended by the armor
companies if the contracts were for
large amounts of armor. the depart
ment will test this by providing in the
for the submission Of
bids of three classes. namely, for sup
plying 10000 tons of armor; then for
10000 tons, and finally for supplying
10000 tons. 1t will be for Secretary
Long to determine If the figure is rea-
sonable IL not he must build an ar
NOR plant.
In addition to changes already an
nounced by the postotfice department,
1t is said that number of other i'm
provements will be in effect during the
next fiscal year. The increased appro-
priation it is said. will enable many
more clerks to take the fifteen days
leave of absence contemplated by law
and an emergency fund will be placed
at the disposal of tirst-class officers
for extra assistance during the holi-
days and other times when there is n
large increase of business. The post
office officials have strong hopes that
if conditions continue TO improve it
will be feasible to limit working hou-s
throughout the service to eight hours
day, beginning with the fiscal year,
July l. 1902.
The remarkable increase in coal i'm
portations from the United States.
coupled with the fact that we became
in 1899 the worlds largest producer of
coal. gives special interest TO an elab-
crate discussion of the worlds coal
product, published by the bureau of
statistics of the Treasury Department
in the April number of the Monthly
Summary of Commerce and Finance.
Expectations of coal from the United
States in the ten months ending with
April We're nearly fifty per cent. larger
than those of the corresponding
months of 1898, while our total produc-
ton for 1898 was not only the largest
in our history but larger than that of
any other country in the world. For
the first time the United States figures
show n larger production than the
British figures for the same period.
Lieutenant Commander j. C. Colwell
just relieved as American naval at
tache in London. is under investiga-
ton for failure to obey orders of the
Navy Department. A court of in
quiry is sitting for this purpose at
Washington. Lieutenant Commander
Colwell received orders to report on
certain date in the United States. pre-
liminary TO going to the Philippines
He failed to report, and sent an explain
alton that his condition was such, in
consequence of an operation, that it
was inadvisable for him to travel. 1t
is alleged that he subsequently placed
himself under medical treatment in or