Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1900-04-05
WASHINGTON LETTER.
When WashfnRton Was q small va
lage-A Commission For Contestes
Election Cascs--CapitnI Comm
Especial Correspondence

EleetiSn Casc"-CaDftnl Gossip
Especial Correspondence
The approaching celebration in Wash.
tngton of the occupation OF the city .,
the seat of government has excite,
new interest in the development NJ
Washington from village of small
size to the very large and beautiful
village that it seems to persons accu,.
toned to dwell in cities of much less
size. 1t is no reproach to Washington
to speak Of it as village, for that dc.
scription is applicable to 1t without Of
Tense In 1900. according to a report
made in that year by Thomas Monroe
the city commissioners clerk the non.
ulation was 1900 and consisted mainlv
Of workmen on the public building,
The government clerks then lived
chiefly in Georgetown. There were
then in the city only 3D. buildings, of
which 100 We're brick and 263 frame
A map at that time prepared by com.
petent officer showed each building bv
dots, ana + street evidently was the
best settled street in town. From the
frequency of the dots along X street.
where there are now many small
houses held by lowly owners, it may
be possible to prove that those small
frame dwellings were owned by the
workmen who were here in 1900 and
who sold them to purchasers who In
turn disposed of them to colorcd pe0-
pie, who have managed to retain them
in the hope of a great advance in
values 1t is Il bare map compared
with one Of the city as 1t is today. But
II resembles all maps OF Washington
in its strict conformity to the plan Of
the original engineer. NJ. Pierre pEn-
FAINT About 10 years passed before
there was n pavement Of any kind in
Washington. and 1t was during the
forties that a gaslghtinG plant was es
tablished. Some time after that water
was introduced to take the place Of
pumps, and that before there was
sewerage system.
For Contested Election Cases.
IL have wondered sometimes wheth-
Ell "A commission of q judicial charac-
ter and sufficient tenure of Office to in-
sure Independence of action could not
be created to pass upon contested cleo
ton cases in the house" said Repre-
sentative Robert w. Tayler of Ohio
the other day Nj Tayler has been
one of the most efficient chairmcn Of
| elections committees that the house
| has had for many years, and his COM
mittee has considerable influence.
| such commission" continued Mr..
| Tayler, should be composed of men
| of high character, whose sole duties
| should be to study the evidence in
these contests and report to the house
| impartially its findings The Consti-
| tuition, to be sure imposes upon the
house the duty of determining the quail
! ifcations Of its members. and that
| function could not be delegated to Il
commission. The work of the COM
mission could, however, be advisory.
Its decisions. if made by eminent men,
would be respected by the house aud
could be accepted with assurance that
| something like justice was being done
| The house of commons, | am told used
to follow the method now in vogue
with us in settling election contests,
! but recently commission, something
of the character | have suggested, has
! been authorized. and | am told that
it works very satisfactorily.
Deaths of Representative.
The death of Representative Har-
mer, father Of the house removes
| from that body the last of the big
four" who for so many years repre-
scented Philadelphia in the lower
| branch of congress The four phila-
| delphia members who served year aft
| er year were Samuel Randall Judge
w d. Kelley, Charles O'Neill and Mr..
| Harmer Two of Mr.. Harmer's col
| leagues were the fathers Of the
| house" when they died, these being
Judge Kelley and Mr., O'Neill. Judge
| Kelley was elected TO II congresses,
| serving % years. Mr.. O'Neill's record
was the same, while Mr.. Randall was
elected to If and served 27 years. Nj.
| fAtttifA = ANN'lh W a. wv sum- f
| Randal's. This makes the third death
| this session, these being Representa-
! tive ChiCkcring Of New York ana
Messrs, Eppes of Virginia and Hammer
Since the Fify-siXth congress was
elected in November. 1898. there have
| been ten deaths,
| "Out of sight"
They are still telling in a certain err
Gle here in town of the sayings ana
doings of gentleman from Vienna
who spent part Of January here HIS
English was quantity correct ana ne
prided himself particularly on being
able to use slang The expression
"Out of sight pleased him immense
ly, aud after learning ii be took tie
first opportunity possible of using IT,
The opportunity came one day Wuan
he was invited ont 10 dinner ~
entered tEe drawing room the hostess
greeted him and asked him how aa
was feeling The gentleman from
Vienna looked about TO see that every.
body was listening. and then be a.'