Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-23

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bill. This measure provides for increases
| IN the pay of government employees up to
| a given amount The increases are to be
made every five or ten years. do not re-
| member the time; but this is a step in the
| right direction
A pile of small packing cases in the lobby
| of the Riggs House has been the object of
| more than passing attention during the
| last few days. Last night a number of
Shriners exchanged knowing glances as
| they passed the spot where the boxes were
| resting There is nothing peculiar about
| the shape of the pile or the arrangement OF
| the cases. and the attention of the madding
| crowd has been attracted solely by the let
tering on the side of each. The boxes bore
| the legend: "Tarantua Juice, Lush Il
| Booze. Sole Manufacturers"
| Il want to correct. in the most emphatic
| terms, the impression that has gone abroad
| regarding the laws in the South African
| republic relative to the employment of
| Catholics in the public offices" Mr.. p.
| l-outer Vessels of the Transvaal told a
Star reporter at the Arlington last night.
Mr. Vessels is n brother of the DR.. Wes-
sells who is accredited to this country from
| President Kruger. There is absolutely no
truth in the statement that persons belong
| from holding office by one of the statutes
| of the country. The greatest religious lib
| erty is allowed people. and it matters
| not what their belief is. they can obtain
office in our service provided they are ca
pable Of filling the same. Some of the
| finest men in the republic are Catholics.
| and there are a number of persons of this
| faith holding high government positions. I
cannot understand how such an idea could
| have gained credence.
| Il have heard many opinions of the Beers
| since l arrived in this country. and my ad-
| vice to many of the people who expressed
| them is to study up on the country about
| which they talk, and they will thus avoid
making measurements. I have seen ar
| ticles in the newspapers of this country
| which show an ignorance of the actual con-
| ditions of our people which it is hard to be-
| lieve exists in such a country this. You
| have a wrong impression of us and should
| get nearer to the facts in the case"
| Massachusetts offers big opportunity
| for the inventive genius with a chemical
| turn of mind who can devise some scheme
| whereby the people of my state can rid
| themselves of the pestilent insect known as
| the gypsy moth. People who have never
| seen any of the work of this representative
OF the genus bug destructive cannot realize
| the damage inflicted upon the crops of our
state by its depreda tions." This statement
was made by Representative John r.
| Thayer of Worcester. Mass. while enjoying
| his after-dinner cigar in the lobby of the
| Normandie last evening.
| We have tried every method imagina-
| ble." he continued land yet every year the
| trees are stripped of their leaves. and the
| work seems to so for naught. We have
managed to keep the insect within certain
| limits. but we do not seem to be able to
| drive him from his stronghold. OF late
I ha at to haa faR h.a y,.afs
and large appropriations have been made
| to assist the board of agriculture to eX-
| terminate the moth. The method pursued
| in years past and l guess it will be adopted
| this year is to spray the trees on which
| the moth has found resting place with 4
liquid which has the property of killing all
| insects with which it comes in contact. The
spray is forced to the tops of the tallest
trees by means of a steam engine. They
also use a fluid to spray the trees in the
! infected districts which have not yet been
touched by the moth.
Americans have mania for registering
their names, just the small boy INDUCES
his habit of carving his initials upon every
wooden surface handy to his pocket knife
said the clerk in an uptown hotel.
when the signature of a guest is af-
fixed to the register of a hotel, however,
he signs contract with the proprietor
which has different and legal meaning.
The first thing a guest does when he enters
a hotel is to register This enables us to
obtain his name if he is a stranger to us.
The mystic marks clerks pace before each
guests name In lead pencil usually serve
several purposes. the principal of which is
that they enable the cashier to tell the time
of his arrival and the moment. consequent
ly, when his bill begins to run, matter Of
much Importance to us We mark the num-
Der of the room and the initials b. L and
d stand for breakfast, lunch and dinner
respectively. The cashier, when he tran
scribes the names of the arrivals in his
ledger, knows when the guests day begins
to run. In large hotels there two sets
of registers, used on alternate days, as the
arrivals SO numerous that the book
could not be spared from the counter long
enough for this purpose otherwise.
Hotel registers are frequently used as
documentary evidence in court. They
tabish the best evidence as to the where
abouts Of the person in question on GER
tain day If this point is in dispute. as it
often is and are often used to prove Il
look like small bird tracks over the page
and ofttimes are all but ilegble 1t is as
tonishing. however. how expert We become
in deciphering these poorly written names.
That's part of our business.
AT Mt. Vernon and Arlington may be
found registers In which seven out of ten
visitors will aff1x their names. Abroad in
London and Paris. there are several places
where Americans may register and nearly
all Of the visitors avail themselves of the
privilege. have known of people visiting
our executive departments to ask If there
Is a place to register. l fall to see where
the pleasure comes in and what the object
Is unless 1t is that they like to write their
names and see them written, and that
some of their friends will run across their
signatures out of the accompanying thou
sands and comment upon 1t.