Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1902-01-24


Secretary Gage exploded a boYlb among
the clerks of the Treasury Department
by issuing two orders of vital Importance
to them. One requires the clerks to pay
their debts and the other directs them
to perform their duties faithfully. The
first order notifies the employees of the
treasury that il they neglect to pay in-
debtelness for necessary family supplies
and creditors seek to enforce their claims
by appeals to the department, it will take
action looking to the removal of the Of
Tending person. Government employees
cannot be garnisheed nor can their sal
aries be attached in any way. Some UNI
scrupulous clerks take advantage of this
protection and contract debts beyond
their ability to pay. Consequently Sec
retary Gage, as well rs the heads of 9TH
er departments, has been besieged by pro-
fessional collectors and others having
claims against the employees. While there
are u number Of government employees
who never make any effort to pay their
debts. it is true that a great many more
meet their obligations.
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Rats are %overrunning the White House.
This is one of the reasons why a new
Executive Mansion should be built. The
present residence of the President is in
Tested and undermined with the rodent
pests. This has been the case for years,
and the rats have increased in numbers
until the question of getting rid of them
has become serious. The danger to the
hrpSIIsynU fon,,, kIDs. aaNo,
and undermining has led to repeated eff
forts to extcrminate these Executive
Mansion rats. Colonel Bingham, the
custodian Of the historic building, will
make a final attempt soon to run the r0-
dents out of the holes they have used for
many years. II his plan fills it is not
known just what can be done, but the
nuisance has reached a stage where, 'if
relief annot be secured, the building will
be Il dangerous place of abode, il not ac-
tually ~uninhabitable.
Uncle Sans navy continues to grow,
and, according to the Naval Register just
issued, the number of vessels now in com
mission or available for service is 2225
and sixty are under construction, thus
making the total 2S5. Those in commits
sion or availnble for service are ten bat
tleships, twenty armored cruisers, fifteen
protected cruisers, six unprotected cruis.
ers, five double turret monitors, four sin
gle turret monitors, seventy gunboats, six
auxiliary cruisers, twenty-seven Golfers
and supply ships, ~twenty-sevSn torpedo
boats, one submarine boat, %thirty-ninc
tugs. seven sailing ships, six receiving
chine NLa Nvnee11~ ,,vI@n
are eight battleships, six &mored cruis-
ers, nine protected cruisers, one gunboat,
four monitors, sixteen torpedo boat de-
stroyers, nine torpedo boats, and seven
submarine boats Of the Holland type.
.:-:-
Coffee importations Of the United
States for the calendar year 1901 were
the largest i'll the history of our import
trade. Figures of the bureau of statis-
ties show the importations of coffee
amounting to 967,9G9,5S5 pounds i'm the
eleven months ending with November,
against TO7,4 152 in the corresponding
months in 1900; S17,223.S77 in the cor
responding months of 1899; IA 1910, 179
IN the corresponding months of 1898;
126,119,906 in the same months of 1897;
and 5G7,929,817 in the eleven months of
1896. These figures indicate not only
h II the coffee importations of 1901 were
larger than those of any preceding year,
but that they for the first TINE exceed
1,O0O,OO0.O00 pounds. The value of the
coffee imports of the year reach abou,
$7O,OOO,O0O.
The Secretary of the Interior has sent
tn thu nnnUrnccionn1 cnp,v,s%tnn o,N o.:J
lands favorable reports from Commits
sioner Hermann of the general land Office
and Director Walcott of the geological
survey, regarding the proposition looking
to irrigation on a grand scale in the arid
sections of the Western States. Presi-
dent Roosevelt, in his annual message,
made a strong recommendation to Con
gress for such irrigation. The reports
referred to, while generally approving
the irrigation bill, suggest amendments
to proportion the cost of irrigation &c.
cording to acreage irrigated. 1t is ex.
Oected that a plan will be reached that
will meet with the approval OF Congress
when the matter comes before it.
-:-:-
There will be grief in all the Indian
tribes of the country when the latest or.
der of the Interior Department forbid
ling male Indians to wear long hair and
The painting Of faces by either sex
:eaches the Indian reservations. Com.
missioner Jones has taken n decided step
towards breaking. up this custom. which
las prevailed for many years. lie has
gone further than this in his ,rts to
civilize the Indians, and has issued al
order relating to the costume. Indian
dances and feasts will be prohibited, and
their charges to discard the Indian COS.
tune and blankets and wear citizens at.
tire.
Postmaster General Payne's first Off
| cial act was the signing Of Il 81, 600, OO(
draft on the United States subtreasury
at Chicago in favor of the subtreasury al
New York. Money order deposits to the
amount Of about a million had accumu.
lated in Chicago from the postofices il
the West, and the amt amount wal
needed in New York to meet money or
der drafts from other cities. BY a sim
l pie act Of signing the draft the Postmas
ter General transferred S1,OOO,O0O from
| the credit Of Chicago to New York.
-:-:-
The new livery which President ant
| Mrs. Roosevelt have selected for tn,
| White House coachman and footman ha,
n cockade OF red, white and blue. TIL,
national colors are also in eyidenc,
4 throughout the costume. The coats an
trousers are of heavy dark blue vicuna
| the best quality Of goods being used. TIL,
outer seams of the trousers are boun,