The National tribune., 1901-02-28
CHAT OF THE CORRIDORS.

1t will cost the Government So, 900 il
salaries alone to hold the Inaugural Ball n
the Pension Office. Fully $4,000 in Incl
dental expenses may be added to this. Or
Feb. p the Commissioner of Pensions vii
turn over the building to the Inaugural of
| hcials, and it will not be until the morning
of the 9TH of March that the clerks will re-
| turn to their desks. 1t will be several days
| after that before the big machinery of the
! Bureau will be running smoothly. To make
room for the dancers il will be necessary
| TO move 300,O 600 pension cases. A room is
| beng CONSTRUCTED under the banquet hall
to accommodate these. They will be
moved with the greatest care by expert
enccd men. under the direction of several
Bureau Chiefs, i'll order that no confusion
can occur III the arrangement of the cases
All the desks and important files on the
hrst floor will De moved to the basement
and those on the second or executive floor
Will go one story higher. The use of the
Pension Office for the Inaugural ball is
for them from the 9th of February to the
9TH of March, and is not charged against
either their sick or annual leave.
George d. Conger. of Springfield. y. Y.
formerly of Go. \, 44th \. Y, and Presi-
dent of the Veteran Association, gave II
reception to the members of his regiment
who. reside at Washington, ID. c., at the
National Hotel on the occasion of his re-
cent visit. Comrades William j. johnson,
ID. w. Harrington, Jay Quackenbush
James Donegal, L. W Smith, Hiram i.
Olmstad, Harley Eaton and Elisha Bah
cock were present. A very pleasant even
ing was spent and arrangements made for
reunion of the 44th in Buffalo, n. Y, on
~ a nf L. tb IL,
date is to give the comrades an opportu-
nlty to visit the Pan-American Exposition
There are more than 500 clocks in the
Treasury Department and the buildings
under its control, which are wound by
hand regularly every week in the year
and are kept in repair by one man espc-
cially employed for that purpose. He has
a tiny watchmakers den way down in
the sub-basement of the Treasury, where
the engineers, the cabinet makers, and
electricians of that Department are CON
gregated. Here, in this little dispensary.
are dOctOred all sorts and conditions of
clocks, from the big, old-fashioned grand
father variety to the delicately construct
ed and exquisitely- finished specimens of
French make.
The name of the doctor is T.. s. Flem-
ing, resident of Alexandria, Virginian
by birth and breeding, with a record of
over a half century's experience in the
trade he plies. He has been connected so
long with the Department that he is
known TO the oldest clerks and officials
there, and as for the Treasury clocks, they
have never yet been wound by another
hand, and probably never will be. for the
old-time, hand-wound species is being
rapidly replaced by the new Chicago au-
Gen. Robert Macfeely, formerly Com
missary- General of the United States
Army, died at his home, 2015 ! street
northwest, after a lingering illness. Gen.
Mac1eely suffered a stroke of paralysis
almost year ago and never regained his
usual health. A second stroke resulted |
'atally. The deceased army officer was
n his 18th year. He had lived in Wash |
ngton since his retirement from the ser |
nee. zen. Macfeely was born in Penn |
ylvania, and graduated from West Point |
n 1870, along with Gems. Carr. Carlin and |
'thers, and was a First Lieutenant in the
IN u. D.. at the breaking out of the re-
'ellion. He became Chief COmmissary
or the Department of Ohio and West
Virginia in the first three months cam
'aign, and later became Chief Commits
airy for the Army of the Tennessee for
he Ficksburg and Atlanta campaigns. He
ecame COmmissary of Subsistence. with
he rank Of Brigadier-General. in 1875.
ih was III lOJU. lie was q |
lember Of the Grand Army of the Re-
ublic.
Those much troubled souls who have
barge of the etiquet of the Capital have
ad another burning question to settle.
Tsually at Inaugurations the retiring
resident rides to the Capitol with the
lcOming President. but as in this case
Taj. Mckinley is both. and as it is a
hysical impossibility that he should be ;
aside himself, as well as a deDlorable {
,currence, many minds throbbed with the
uestion as to who should ride with him. {
nd the decision has been that it should