The times., 1901-05-22
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.

Nine messengers In the Treasury De-
partment sit upon imposing thrones.
while all the rest use common revolving
chairs. These thrones are relics OF a
past munificence on the part of the sup
ply department of the Treasury. aud rep
resent in their size and architecture a
period over thirty years back. To be ab-
soiutely accurate. the chairs were in
stalled In the corridors In 1864, and at
that time stood near the Secretary's Office.
TWO hanked the doorway leading TO the
room of the head of the department. and
two the doorway to the room OF his
First Assistant. The remainder we're
spread out singIy before the entrances to
other rooms in the corridor. and added
TO the general air OF imposing spiendor.
They were effectively designed for this
purpose, being of the most massive style.
There is nothing trivial about them.
every convoiutien Of the orEamentatfou
being staid and sedate. A dark wood. wal
nut or stained rosewood. was used in
their manufacture, and today after MANY
decades, ernbrowned by a long period OF
use, the polish of their handles and backs
is extremely beautiful. showing. as IL
does. the fine grain of the material
The chairs are very throne-Iike in
structure. for they have no feet. and the
arms go down TO the floor. except for n
little bit of fretwork. The arms ara
very simple. and have only a curve o-
two for ornamentation The backs rise
up straight and high like the back Of a
coronation chair. and end in a half-circle
curve In width they are most generous.
ana they are quite as generous in depth.
ret they are not comfortable With all
their thrODe-like Qualities tbe,r are H.
SDiSe0 DIV the Cglnvn6 mo-
10 get rid of them. They have beey,
traded from one hand to another 40 much
that now the nine are pretty well scat
tered over the building Two still faux
the door of the Secretarv'z roo,,, bIt
they are the only two remaining in the
corridOr once occupied by the nine Two
are ar the south door OF the building and
tle remainder are scattered singly mn and
DOWN stairs, wherever a Y1essan~ar iq
Iound who prefers dignity to comfort.
These chairs, according TO the Statement
" d veteran messenger In the depart
rnehtr VINO says he remembers when they
Were put in place. suppianted benches
PREVIOUS to 1864 he says he used to sit an
a bench. with dozen or more messen-
gers employed in the same corridor. and
do his errands when called. Just as any
hotel bellboy does today.
census clerks, as they pass up the main
stairway of the building on First Street.
walk In the shadow of an eagles wings.
The great bird stands on a hig1 pedestal,
stretching his pinions wide, and is so
placed that his whole form is thrown in
shadow ON the stairs. He is a noble Look
ing creature and has history. At pres
ent he is the property of Director Mer-
riam. and by him has been loaned TO the
Bureau as decoration to the far too bare
walls of the barn-like Census Office. The
first owner of the bird was George E.
BOos, now Chief of the Printing Division
of the Census Office, and it was Mr.. Boos
who gave it to -Ir. Merriam. Flr Boos
was its captor. The eagle is not by any
means the first wild creature that has
fallen victim to Mr. Boos' prowess Mr..
Boos is mighty hunter and can show
elk head, deer antlers, bear hides, and
things of that sort in great quantity as
evidence of what he can do with a gun.
The eagle was not brought down with a
gun. but caught with trap, and the pro-
cess of capturing him was quite exciting
The bird was taken at a place called LalO,
a few miles from MiSSOula- Mon, in an
ordinary steel spring trap, baited with
piece OF meat When caught the eagle
was extremely ferocious. fighting every
one who approached with his free claw.
his beak, and his wings 1t was with
much difficulty and not a little danger
that he was removed from the clamps.
and he had to be chloroformed by throw
llS 4 saturated CLOTH over MS Hc1Lu
fore he could be subdUed. The life and
breath were crushed out Of him by the
taxidermist who mounted him in the
and lifeliSe form in which he
nOw appears. He is over seven feet from
tip to tip and stands on a rock stretched
TO his utmost expanse.
The gates of the avenue between the
State, War and Navy Departments and
the Executive Mansion are at last present
able. They shine in the splendor of new
paint. The financial problem has been
solved, and the money has been found in
the Golfers of the department to pay for
the cleansing and the repainting of the
stately portals They are now glorious, Of
black, tipped with spears OF
gold. Work was begun on them last
week The first coat was red-a most
brilliant red-ana the people who passed
by wondered if the gates were always 10
retain their iambOyaut coloring. Friday
the top coat of black was put on, and
the gilded trimmings on the-spear heads,
much TO the relief of the apprehensiye
citizen. The SCOT stains on the stone pill
lars of the gates have been removed 1t
was accomplished with the assistance or
acids, and they are now as clean as when
first set up
The south door of the Treasury building
is seldom used. 1t is almost as useless as
the fifth wheel of a wagon Its chief use
seems to be to give employment TO the
half dozen men who are set to watch it,
to give information, and direct people
who happen to pass in and out of it,
These are exceedingly few-so few, in
fact, that there is weIl-defined rIImor
that the men in charge of the d6jf are
Obliged to swing it open once or twice
every day to keep the hinges from rust
ing. The watchmen beside it say that it
is by no means d popular exit. and that
even after the days work hours are over
clerks in the south corridor prefer 10
walk all around the building to the north
side rather than take the southern way
out. only on the very rarest occasions
does anyone come into the building from
the south, and visitors, unless. perhaps,
they be going to the Monument, have no
reason to pass out that way. So cob
webs are growing upon the steps and
moss upon the fagging-fgurativeIy
speaking. About the only living creatures
to be seen on the broad tagged space
that extends beyond the pOrticoed door
are little children, who find it an undis-
-urbed playground.
DISTRICT DAY At RTTEEATO