The National tribune., 1902-10-02
CHAT OF THE CORRIDORS.

| Silhl Vt lllE NOkklUUkSs
The Isla de Luzon, one of the Spanish
| vessels which we captured, has been at
tached to the Asiatic Station, but is now
ordered to Portsmouth, n. H, to be over
| hauled. She is n twin-screw, triple-expan.
sion, horizontal-engine vessel of 1,O3O tons
displacement, of 1000 horse power, and
carries about 16O tons of coal in her bun
| kerS. She has speed of IL knots and
| steaming radius of about 1000 miles.
| Most of the Spanish ships are no good,
even after they are made over The Reina
Mercedes has been in the repair shop
for some time. the intention being to fit
her out as a sailing vessel for service in
| the training squadron. After all the trou-
| bic and expense it is found that she will
not stand up" under sail The Board of
Naval Construction will probably use her
for a training ship.
The State Department is now looking
into the matter of Austria sending a flag
| to the United Hungarian" societies in
New York, which bore the inscription:
BE Loyal to Your Fatheriand. o Mag
yars." Such flag was sent, and was re-
celyed. IL it can be proved that the Aus
| trian Government did it-then there is a
bad half hour ahead for Austro- Hungary.
There is room in this country for but one
flag. and Old Glory must head the process
sion, or it cannot march,
H. C. McCannon, who served through
the war IN the I'd Mo. Cav, and is now
living In Danville, ILL.,, was in the city last
week. He is in the railroad business.
Gen. Tom Henderson, of Illinois. could
| write very entertaining book on ..Twen-
ty Years in Congress-" as that is exactly
the length Of time he served as a Repre-
sentative in Congress before declining to
| run again. He is in Washington very
often on business connected with Ord
nance and Fortiications. of which Board
he Is member. He is hale and in excel
lent health for his years, and genial and
| companionabie always. st makes me
feel somewhat lonesome and rather
mournful to go to the Capitol NOWADAYS"
remarked the General. Il began my SER
vice with the Forty fourth Congress. and
of all of the members now in the House,
but two were there when 1 first took my
seat. These are Hon. Joe Cannon. OF
Illinois, and Gen. Hooker, of Mississippi.
few were there who went to the Senate
afterward and are still in the Senate as
Messrs. Frye and Hale. of Maine, and Mr..
Hoar, of Massachusetts"
A cup Of gasolene, a careless mother,
and an inquisitive little toddler comprised
the elements of a domestic tragedy in
Washington one day last week, and now a
little bit of a mound out in Rock Creek
Cemetery will be a lasting monument to
a mother who didn't think" 1t seems
strange that mothers of little children will
persist in leaving hot water, poison or any
other deleteriouS article around for baby
curiosity to get hold of.
There is great scarcity of Signal Ser
vice men. and the service is badly Grip
Piled for this lack. This is said to be par
ticularly true of the service in Manila,
Terrapins are becoming very scarce.
The luscious ''soup" appetizer may soon
become one of the obsolete creatures.
Much of the supply that now reaches the
market here and the larger cities in the
North comes from three large terrapin
ponds near Crisfeld, in Lower Maryland,
where they are raised for the market, and
are not taken out until they sch a GER
tain size. Crows and rats prey upon ter
rapin eggs. which are buried in the sand
to hatch, and to their depredations and
to the reckless way in which the young
are caught much of the scarcity of the ter
rapin in Chesapeake Bay is due.
alabama, here we rest" is the way
the old Indian Chief is said to have chris
tened the sleepy Southern State, but it is
waking up after Rip Van Wrinkle snOoze
Of hundred years, more or less. For
the first time in the political history Of
the State the Republicans are going to
put out handbook. This handbook
proposes to give the details of each county
convention with especial stress upon the
names and avocations Of those who parti-
cipated, together with q list of the dele
al, With fnrxy
salient facts about taeir careers. These
details will be presented in order that the
white people of the State can judge for
themselves the character of the reorgan-
ized Republican party. In addition the
office-holding record of the Old-time Re-
publican leaders in the State will be given.
this feature being presented to show that
office holding was their chief aim in life.
1t is even said that Alabama may have
Republican Governor. Now, indeed, the
leopard may change its spots-but it will
not.
There have been periodical scares about
the safety of the Treasury files for many
years. Work has been commenced to
strengthen the storage rooms there. The
ceiling on the east side of the Treasury
Building, which is of wood and plaster.
is to be replaced by huge steel girders and
a metal ceiling, and will be absolutely
freprOof. The portico on this side Of the
building was erected about 1884. The re-
placing of the wood and plaster with steel
is for the purpose Of increasing the safety
of the storage room for files, which is di-
rectly over the colonnade, and where more
than 1000 tons of files are kept. These
records are very valuable. The capacity
Of the storage room will be increased 30
per cent. by these steel girders. The
work will cost about $1,000. and will be
paid for with a part of an appropriation
from the last session of Congress for the
of several Government
buildings. including the Treasury. A new
roof will also be put on this building and
the work will require some time.
Among the recent visitors in Washing
ton was Admiral Won Ablefeld. of the
German navy. He has been stationed
ior years in Chinese waters and is
IN his way home. He visited the
Navy Yard, after calling
1t the Navy Department. Admiral Able
,eld is making a study of our ship yards
md docks with special eye to the prob
EN- Of labor. He has come to q good
country to study navy. The American
,avy may not be the biggest. but it is the
,est on earth.