Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-06-23
TOPICS OF THE TIMES


which is to form the central figure of
the exhibit from that state in the mines
and metallurgy building at the worlds
tair in 1904
"Marll Twain" at the wheel in the
pilot house of a Mississippi river
steamboat during his visit to St. Louis
has brought renewed attention to the
river in quarters where the steamboat
and the steamboatmen have not been
thought of for years. Steampoatmeh
all along the Mississippi ana It's naVl-
gable tributaries are already preparing
for the worlds fair in 1904 and are
making arrangements to handle an i'm
mense passenger traffic during the eX-
position All this has the effect OF put
ting new life into the steamboat ousi-
ness, which may be the beginning OF an
era of lively times on the old Mlssls
sippi. A Mississippi steamer can ac-
commodate from two to five hundred
passengers, and during the worlds far
they will be in shape to handle an M
mense traffic If only onc-half the new
boats contemplated are placed into
service.
The postal authorities of Great Brit
ain are having trouble with the only
on the face of the post card. SeVerai
attempts have been made to avoid am
biguity. "The address only to be writ
ten on this side" was held to bar the
use of a typewriter or printing press,
which was not at all the intention Of the
postoffice. The only" has now been
dropped, in Difference to colonial pre-
cedent, and there is no direct prohlbi-
ton against carrying the letter over 10
the face of the post card; yet the cor
RESPONDENT who tries that plan will
hardly be blessed by the recipient VINO
is fined a penny. The postal authorities
of this country wrestled with the same
problem. Six attempts have been madeto
find a brief, elegant and unamblguous
legend. An early postal card was IN
scribed, Nothing but the. address can
be on this side" which was neither true
nor elegant Nothing but the address
to be on this side" was more to the
point. But it looked clumsy, so the next
issue had write only the address on
this side" which was objected to as
barring the typewriter Write the
address only on this side, the mesEage
on the other" followed, and was
promptly criticised as being both clum-
sy and ambiguous. Then the word on
Iy" was dropped, without much i'm
provement. Finally Uncle Sans hire
lings gave up the struggle to be orig
inal and simply adapted the French an
nouncement into This side for address
only"
The postoffice department is doing
excellent and effective work in various
parts of the country in breaking up
fraudulent endless chain" schemes
which have been carried on thru the
mails Swindlers who fleece unsuspect-
ing victims by such devices ought 10 be
sent to join endless chain gangs at
hard labor in convict camps.
If the following from an eastern pa
per is entirely truthful those women to
whom the servant girl question is
burning one will scarcely favor ,ne Chi
nese exclusion act. The paper referred
to tells of family that has two China
men in pure white native dress to do
the work of the house. These servants
are called Ching and Pong, and their
skill and diligence are incompatible.
Pong, the cook, prepares puff paste
clear soups, intricate sauces and such
like difficult dishes admirably. and there
is no end to the pains to which he will
resort in order that everything shall be
served in first rate manner. The 9TH
er day all the family were in New York,
save one son, boy of fourteen. and for
this lad the cook prepared an elaborate
dinner, the dessert of which was a
brick of ice cream in five favors-
bisque, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla
and peach. There was only one freezer
in the house, and in it he had made
tiny portions of each flavor, one at a
time Ching, who is the butler, puts on
one and sometimes two and three
white suits a day. Twice a week the
men go to town to have their heads
shaved.
The Century has made elaborate
preparations for treating the subject OF
the West Indian disasters. Before sail
ing for Martinique on the Dixie. Pro-
fessor Robert L. Hill, of the United
States geological survey contributed to
the magazine a paper on "The Volcano
Systems of the Western Hemisphere"
which, with numerous Illustrations,
will appear in the July number. The
August Century will also have an Illus
trated general paper on Earthquakes
and Volcanoes by James f. Kemp.
professor of geology in Columbia Uni
versity There will be other notable
material on the subject in the August
number.
Eugene Ware, the new pension COM
missioner, is having experiences which
shake the complacency with which he
entered upon his position. II am con-
vinced," said Mr.. Ware, shortly after
taking the office, chat If one will not
get angry and will bear patiently with
the old soldiers, who are more or less
cranky, he can get along without fric-
tio,, of n very annoying kind" A week