Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-09
BITS OF WASHINGTON LIFE.
Minor Events and Incidents sketched
on the Spot.

Events and Incidents sketched
on the spot.
One Of the many gorgeous posters which
decorate the billboards and deadwalls OF
and other cities is one picturlng the
charms Of life In the navy. A sturdy naval
recruit in regulation uniform occupies the
foreground. A ponderous battleship calmly
rides a printed sea In the background. 1t
is a very fetching naval scene and is q
creditable FIRST effort" for the depart
ment. Heretofore the poster business was
monopolized by the army and marine corps,
but the demand for men to man the ships,
old and new, forced the department to in
dulge in pictorial recruiting methods. But
the department lie not as successful in re-
cruiting as the army and marine corps,
and the reason is the impossibility Of a
naval recruit advancing on his merits as
in the army. There Is absolutely no induce
ment in the shape of promotion beyond
q certain grade in the navy. In the army
men rave risen time and again from the
ranks IN become captains. colonies and
even to command brigades. In the navy.
whatever the law may be on the subject, It
is impossible for an apprentice to become
an onicer on the quarterback. The quarter
deck can be reached only through the Naval
academy, and an enlisted man. no matter
what his ability or attachments, must re-
main in an inferior social position. Out OF
every 500 men enlisted, perhaps one may
hope to be warrant officer, boatswain or
gunner, but that must be the very pinnacle
Of his ambition. 4s a.
The new conservatory to be erected on
the White House grounds will be circular
in form. The plants will occupy the outer
circle next to the glass side Of the house.,
but the center will contain a highly orna-
mental fountain with fish in the basin and
groups of plants artistically arranged. There
will be an abundance of room for walks
through the plants and a sitting room
near the center, where chairs and tables
can be arranged when desired. The house
will be brilliantly lighted with myriads
of small electric lights, and OF easy access
from the ground floor Of the White House,
through the entrance used by the president
in going to and from his Offices.
Assistant Postmaster General Wynne con-
templates making an experiment with an
improved street letter box, the invention Of
a Brooklyn man. II Is a device by which
a person dropping a letter into a box can
know Just the minute when the next collec-
ton will be made from that box. The de-
vice consists OF IN Indicator which can be
set to indicate any minute in the twenty
four hours. When q carrier makes a COL
lection from a letter box he is required to
set the indicator so as to show when the
next collection will be made.
Under the present system each box has a
card on its front showing the hours at which
collections are made, but II, for instance,
the card calls for a collection at 10 o'clock
and a person wants to mail a letter at about
that hour he has no means OF knowing
whether the carrier has arrived at that box
yet or not. When the Indicator is in use
II It is still set at 10, o'clock the carrier
has not yet been there.
'T never saw an angrier man than John
wanamaker was once while he was here as
postmaster general" said one Of his old
friends, quoted by the Washington Post. ut
was on the occasion Of opening some bids
Of steamship companies for the contracts fol
carrying the mails across the Pacific. All
bids, under the call for them, had to be
marked on the outside by the bidders, Pro
posals for carrying Pacific mails and kept
sealed until the hour fixed for the opening
Meantime the department merely stamped
the date OF receipt and filed the envelopt
away unopened. When the hour arrived
Postmaster General Wanamaker. severa
other ~ofhcials and two or three newspaper
men were present TO get the figures. and
Mr.. Wanamaker thought 1t was a good op.
portunity to make a few remarks.
".Gentlemen,' he said, this is a grea
occasion. 1t marks the beginning Of a new
epoch; a new life in the history Of the ex
tension OF our service across the seas. Thl
contract will be the first Of it's kin that ha
been provided within the last quarter Of
century. The last Pacific mail left
malodorous memory. And now congress ha
made provision TO regulate the America
merchantmen as II desires, and the result
he concluded. In a burst Of eloquence, 4
that we are about to open bids for trans
porting our mails in American bottoms
that we will have our letters and papers an
packages from all over this broad Ian
transported IN vessels that ny the America
flag across the seas
"As he was u~ttering the finishing sen
tenee he reached for the first OF the scale
papers and with dramatic gesture held aloi
a paper-cutter and shucked the big ohicis
envelope. He braced himself as II to read tn
figures aloud. but as he glanced down b
almost turned pale for a minute. The en-
velope merely contained copies OF the I'D
vertisemsnt for the bids, and had been ser
in by the paper publishing them, under
Misunderstanding. marked Proposals fC
Pacific mails the envelope remaining IN
opened in accordance with the department
instructions. Mr.. Wanamaker got mad an
demanded TO know how It happened. II wa
q long time before he forgot the way he Ia
scared high In the blue empyrean over
batch Of newspaper Embellishments"