The Elk Mountain pilot., 1900-03-13

VIII remain at the mead or the EN-
bassy until some time in the fall. 1t
is said that such an extension as this,
the third, has only one precedent In
the British diplomatic service.
The House committee on public lands
has reported favorably the bill extend
ing the provisions of the soldiers
homestead act to soldiers of the Span
ish war and Philippine insurrection.
The secretary of the interior in n
letter to the commissioner of the gen.
eral land office. holds that n person re-
linquishing and reconveying land in
forest reservation under the act OF
1897 must. at the time, designate the
land he desires in lieu of that surren-
dered. The application for selection
should embrace n tract or tracts equal
in area to that relinquished. y num-
Der Of selections have been approved
by the land office in which these condi-
tions were not observed. The secretary
Gays that where selections, in partial
satisfaction only, of ACCOMPLISHMENTS
have been approved they will be al
lowed to stand. but all such claimants
Will be notified that their failure here
tofore or delay henceforward to select
the balance of the area necessary to eX-
haust their claims will be at their own
risk
Sensational charges are contained In
an anonymous letter which has been
received at the Navy Department from
Manila. The communications relates
to the wrecking of the Charleston and
makes the serious statement that Il
number of officers of the vessel at the
time of the disaster We're under the in
fiuence of liquor. The correspondent
who furnishes the information claims
al t..tNs l.t~
gent inquiry among the officers of the
Charleston. The letter was not placed
on the official files on account of the
peculiar nature of the charges, but 1t
has been referred to the judge advo-
cate general of the navy, with instruc-
tons from Secretary Long that the
matter be investigated at once. This
inquiry will probably not take a more
formidable aspect than of "A note of in
quiry addressed to the commander-in-
chief of the Asiatic station.
An interesting scene occurred at the
Riggs National Bank Tuesday, when
the fund raised by grateful people in
recognition of the services of the late
Major General Lawton was formally
transferred to his widow. General
COrbin, rs treasurer of the fund, drew
II check for S9s 4O7.OT in favor of Mary
ferred to her credit on the books of
the bank. At the same time his ac-
count as treasurer of the fund was
closed. General Corbin said he did
not care for Il receipt for the fus DIS,
but Mrs. Lawton insisted on gi, ing
him one. In addition to the money, the
committee also turned over to Mrs
Lawton all the letters received from
subscribers 10 the fund, many of which
contained beautiful tributes to the
memory of her late husband.
General Grcely, chief or the signal
corps of the army, is finding difficulty
in securing efficient mon to fill the va
cancies in his branch of the service
Although the standing strength of the
signal corps is less than 1000 officers
and men. more than sixty vacancies
exist. The difficulty in making enlist
ments Is probably due to the rigid re-
quirements and low pay. Privates and
non-commissioned officers receive the
pay of corresponding rank in the in
fantry. 1t is not so difficult to secure
second-class privates. because they
need not be telegraph operators. 1t
will be readily seen that the salaries,
ranging from that of n second-class pri-
vate at SIT a month to that of first
sergeant at Sol, are hardly sufficient to
induce competent operators to enlist.
especially in view of the uncertainty of
the assignments they may receive.
1t is the intention of the Treasury
Department, as soon as the pending
financial bill becomes "A law. to expe-
dite as fast as possible the coinage of
silver bullion purchased under she
Sherman act. still remaining in The
treasury. There is still on hand bull
lion purchased under this act costing
S1S,O00,6O5 and represented by that
amount of treasury notes outstanding.
The department has been coming this
bullion into dollars at the ratet of ST.
100000 per month. The financial bill
authorizes the coinage of enough of
this bullion into subsidiary coin to
bring the total subsidiary coins up to
S1O00O0,OOO. This viii require aba ut
S25,OOO,0O0 in subsidiary coins and it
will be coined rs rapidly as possible.
In addition to this the department pro
poses to increase the coinage of silver
dollars TO S4,000,OoO per month. and an
effort will be made to have all this bull
Ion coined and all treasury notes re
tired in a year and & half.
Edward Flanagan of Mullan, Idaho,
continued his testimony before the
House committee on military affairs
Saturday concerning the Coeur d'Alene
troubles. He said notices We're posted
early last July forbidding members of
organized labor from going to the
Miners cemetery on July 11th for tn cir
annual ceremony over deceased miners.
The order, witness said. gave notice
that women and other relatives of
miners would he arrested if they rs
semblcd. Mr.. Flanagan explained the
permit system put into effect after
the military arrived. Under this sys-
TEN, he said men could not 20 to work
unless they got n permit from the stcte
officials. The witness said permits to
work We're purchasable. He advan, ed
$3.50 to friend, who paid it to Il
deputy. and was put to work the next
dlN Letters to mon in the ..hnIl nnn ;,