Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-30
BITS OF WASHINGTON LIFE.
Minor Scenes and d sketched
on the spot.

on the spot.
The demand for copies OF patent records
from outside parties caused an enormous in
crease in the work OF the patent office this
month and a corresponding strain on the
~typewriting machines and operators. SOM
remarkable records in typewriting were
made in the assignment division. On De-
cember II there were 122, $50 words written
by the typewriters. This is about Us per
cent more than the average and is more
by 10000 than ever we're written before in
the same length of time. The work Of this
office was kept behind for a long time by
the number OF applications for copies of
records and it finally was decided to allow
all the extra typewriter operators in the de-
partment who could be spared to attend to
this work exclusively. The result has been
that an enormous amount Of work has been
done and some remarkable records have
been made.
The average individual record Of a type
writer in the patent office is from $500 to
5000 words. December II the average was
about 5000. words, and several of the
operators went beyond this record. Several
wrote $1,000 words, but the record is held
by a young woman who in Ave hours wrote
10, 300 words, an average of 1850 words an
hour, or nearly forty-hve words a minute.
In typewriter contests this number is ex-
ceeded often, but in ordinary work it has
never been exceeded, at the patent ofice at
least.
Third Assistant Postmaster General Mad
den makes q suggestion which will hnd
great favor with manufacturers, merchants
and advertisers, whose business compels
them to send large quantities Of circulars
or small packages of merchandise through
the mails. General Madden proposes to do
away with the afhxing OF stamps to Identical
pieces Of printed matter or to articles of
merchandise. The person sending this class
Of matter through the mail will simply pay
the amount of postage required to the post
masters, whereupon the goods will go
through the same as though each piece bore
a stamp. General Madden also proposed to
abandon the work OF canceling and dating
these parcels, thus e~ffecting a large saving
OF time in the handling OF this class of mail
matter.
The stamping of circular and small arti-
Giles Of merchandise is a time-killing en-
ployment," said General Madden, in discus
sing his proposition. Houses that send out
great quantities Of circulars and merchan-
disc packages are required to employ clerks
ASs N-S pa RSoN VI AAR NAS AAhAA AhbN
ter. Then, when this is delivered at the
postofice, the stamp clerk wastes enough
time in looking for the stamps on a package
to stamp and distribute a dozen letters.
Manufacturer are constantly making com
plant that their goods are being damaged
by the cancellation process. Calendars,
cards and all printed matter that is rolled
are subject to damage every time a postal
clerk takes a shot with a canceling stamp.
Fountain pens and other manufactured
goods are frequently ruined in this manner"
General Madden's plan calls for the
preparation OF a special wrapper to be sold
by the department to the large users Of
mails. The plan has been explained to the
house committee on postofices and post
roads and has met with considerable favor.
The adoption of the system would almost do
away with the 1-cent stamp.
Decidedly a power in the senate, as he is
everywhere he goes, is Mark Hanna" writes
Walter Wellman in Success. oddly
enough, Hanna is stronger now than he
was q year or two ago. Then there was a
little jealousy Of him on account of his
membership Of the kitchen cabinet at the
White House. The senate, remember, pro-
ceeds always upon the theory that 1t is
supreme, and not even a president may
dictate TO 1t or seek to manipulate 1t
through a backstairs agent. With the
change at the White House, Hanna stands
on his own merits, and these-frankness,
good humor, common sense, courage and of
late a power Of expression which has made
him almost an o~rator-have given him high
rank. He is seen to be solar, not lunar.
Now he has power and Influence second TO
none in the senate, and this is because he lie
Mark Hanna, not on account Of any one
else. The man with dollar marks all over
his ample person is dead, and in his place
is the man who wears his heart on his
sleeve and has more personal friends than
any. other living American. He is now the
most popular republican on the democratic
side OF the senate chamber, the majority
senator who has the greatest influence with
the men Of the minority. One of the great
est triumphs ever won in congress was that
which Hanna achieved with his Panama
canal bill. When he began his campaign
all but FIVE senators favored Nicaragua,
but when the roll vas finally called, he had
a majority Of eight"
An inQuisitive visitor was received by
President Roosevelt the other day. After
the formal greetings the visitor drew the
president to one side and in a stage whisper
asked for a little confidential information
regarding the probability OF this nations
being plunged into war with Germany and
Great Britain by the Venezuelan crisis. The
president listened to the question atten>
lively and finally said in a voice which
reached all over his ONCE, why, Of course
there is not going to be any war" The
visitor was not satisfied and he insisted
that the president tell him why he was