River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-12-11
QUEER FUEL AT WASHINGTON.
Government Bureau Burned Every
Day What Had Originally
Cost $4,000 Cash.

direct and indirect loss suffere1 by OPP
orators, mines and people and rail-
| roads, as the result of the coal strike
one branch of the government-the
bureau engraving and printing
chalked up profit of not far from $3.50.
incidentally, in accomplishing this
saving, the bureau has in the past
month burned fuel for VI hich the treas
ury paid in cold cash more than mil
| lion dollars, says a Washington report
in the New York Sun.
A million dollars a month for fuel
simply to generate steam with which
to drive the machinery in the bureau
| $4,000 days an item calculated
to cause even Uncle Sam to look to-
ward bottled sunshine as method for
producing heat, but in this particular
| case, Uncle Sam said he could stand it
indefinitely.
| just at this time when the average
man is giving considerable attention
to the fuel bill it may be interesting to
note how Uncle Sam can burn mill
lion-dollar bin of fuel in month and
still come out $3.50 ahead at the end of
the 80 days.
| In this particular instance the gov
ernment stokers have been shoveling
| documentary revenue stamps for
which the treasury paid $4,000 daily
| into the furnaces of the bureau along
with proper proportion of coal, the
| stamps producing heat that otherwise
would have required the consumption
| of more coal.
| Had the revenue stamps not gone to
satisfy the hunger of the furnaces be-
| meath the bureau boilers, they would
have been burned in the regular fur
mace provided for the destruction of
defective stamps and the heat pro-
duced would have gone out into the
upper air through the big chimney
without having accomplished a useful
purpose.
Beginning with July, 1901, following
the repeal of the stamp tax on bank
checks, telegraph and telephone mes
sages, and augmented this last July by
the repeal of all stamp taxes, the treas
ury has been redeeming the revenue
stamps remaining in the hands of the
purchasers throughout the country.
The stamps have been shipped in wag-
on loads, considera bic portion of the
bulk being made up of the blank checks
upon which the stamp was impressed.
| Carloads and tons upon tons of this
stuff have been shipped to Washington
and stored in the treasury.
During the fall large numbers of
settlements have been made, enabling
the removal of the stamps represent
ed by the payments. AS fast as
wagon load of stamps was released it
shoveled into the big incinerator built
solely for this purpose.
In the latter part of September,
while the process of destruction was
going on, and while the officials of the
treasury department were racking
their brains to figure out fuel supply
for the various bureaus, the engineer
at the bureau of engraving and print
ing was seized with an inspiration.
He suggested the utilization of the
wagon loads of stamps and stamped
| checks for the purpose of producing
steam. The thing was tried.
While the officials who ordinarily
are charged with the duty of witne ss-
ing the operation of burning the
stamps stood by to seethat the stamps
all went into the furnace, the fireman
and engineer experimental. 1t was
found that about two parts of coal
| e Il a11,a o1Te, Il
combination producing splendid re-
suits.
| And so, day after day, the big wag-
| ons Transported boxes and bales of
stamps and stamped checks to- the
| bureau and the stokers sandWiched
a LAYER of several thousand dollars
worth of government securities be-
tween a few cents worth of coal At
the end of the month it was ascer-
tanned that an average of a ton of
| coal daily had been saved through the
use of the high-grade fuel total
saving of $3.50 for the month, estimat-
ing coal at six dollars a ton.
Burnings of stamps both in the bu-
reau and in the basement of the post
office building are of almost daily oc-
currence, but the incarceration takes
place in the regularly appointed fur
mace and the heat produced is waited
out unutilized. Some great blazes
have been pulled off in the basement Of
the post office department during the
past four years.
In 1898, following the abolition Of
the newspaper and periodical stamps,
the remainders were called in and
burnings had every day for months.
The face value of the stamps destroyed
was something like $1o,ooo,oOo. Last
fall the remainders Of the beautiful
Pan-American stamps were burned,
months being required. The face
value amounted TO about $7,000,00O.
BY Close Shave.