Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-13
BITS OF WASHINGTON LIFE.
Minor scenes and Incidents sketched
on the spot.

Minor Scenes and Incidents sketched
on the SPOT.
In the opinion Of the people Of wash
ington the last congress was the best ever.
This view has its root In the national
treasury, which Is directed to pay out about
$4,000. 900 for various public buildings sane
toned by congress. A new union depot
will cost with its approaches, $4,000. 900.
OF which the government will pay $1,000
900. The new municipal building is to cost
$1,500,000 An Office building, for the use
of representatives in congress. TO cover an
entire square, and to cost about 81. 600. 900;
an addition to the Department Of Agricul-
ture, to cost $500, 0OO; a new National
museum, to cost $500, 0O0; an addition to
the Bureau OF Engraving and Printing, at
a cost Of S215, 900. and. in the future, a Hall
OF Records. which will cost at least 50, OOO,-
900. These large, Juicy plums furnish
ample grounds for capitol cheerfulness and
good will.
Two Of the best story tellers in the SEN
ate retired to private life with the passing
OF compress. George Graham Vest Of Mis-
souri,, whose wit and stories have emily,
ened the cloakrooms for the last twenty
years, ended his public career and at the
same time John p. Jones OF Nevada will
retire. While Senator Vest was brilliant
on the floor, he was wittiest in the smoking
room. When surrounded by a group Of APP
preciative listeners he would tell stories
and make jests b. the hour. Senator Jones
also has not kept his fun under a bushel.
He is extremely serious and profound in
debate, but in a free and easy discussion
in the cloakroom his quaint humor is Sec
! and 10 that ~ no W,Aa,hA- ~ Nh1 AaA.aa
-
As a result OF the use Of soft coal in
Washington during the winter Washington
monument has acquired a dingy coat Of
dark gray. Those in charge OF the shaft
we're specializing on the effect of a long,
hard rain. II came down in torrents one
day last week for a short time and a tre-
mendous win ragged while II was falling.
When the monument dried 1t was striped
like a tiger. The coal stains seem to
have been washed up in broad burrows.
Now the ~of1cials are waiting to see the
effect of a long steady rain when there
Is no wind. They hope It will remove
the dirt uniformly from the face Of the
monument. II It does not do so they say
the shaft will have to remain dirty, because
there is no way by which its 555 feet of
length can be cleaned. The monument is
not perceptible more than three-fourths Of
the distance 1t was when 1t was so white
1t glistened in the sunshine.
Representative Finley OF South Carolina
is publishing n little jibe on Governor-elect
Lanham Of Texas. While Judge Lanham is
an enthusiastic pianist, Finley neither
knows one note from another nor wants to-.
But Judge Lanham seized upon him the
other night and dragged him up to the
music room, where he at once began Home,
Sweet Home" Al the close OF the perform
ance the judge paused in expectation of de-
served applause. Judge" exclaimed Fin
ley soberly, when you played the first
chord saw the elm trees in front of my
house at Yorkville. When you had played
a little more l saw the front door OPEN
and the faces OF my three children appear,
and then your tuneful rendering made me
hear from the dear little ones the words,
Hi. daddy. There you are"
Guards about the capitol are obliged to
exc -cise the greatest vigilance when WIS.,
itors throng the rooms and corridors. The
larger the crowd the greater the oppor-
tunity for the souvenir iend to get in his
work. Souvenir hend'' is a polite name for
petty thieves, whose blind passion for relics
will cause them to ruin a costly or historic
picture or statue for the sake of a souvenir.
The mutilated bronze dooro at the principal
entrances to the building are pathetic mon
uments to the ruthless activity Of the relic
hunters. Fingers, miniature swords and
stirrups have been wrenched from the
bronze figures on these doors, while several
Of the marble statues are badly Clipped
and SCARED as the result Of the work Of
vandals.
These fends will ruin a costly lace cur
tain hv nltnnHn1 a GnNoRo tnnh ~ a. 20 dhnxu
the folks at home who have not been so
fortunate as to visit the capitol or will chip
OF q splinter from the highly polished hard
wood of a piece of furniture Of historic
value, Just to show them What style of
things there are at the capitol. Only last
summer someone pried off the feathered ar
rows on the marble statue OF Marquette in
Statuary hall. II the miscreant had been
detected he would have been punished as
was the Pennsylvania militiaman who was
caught knocking of a tiny bayonet from a
figure in the bronze doors. He was SEN
fenced to six months Imprisonment and
fined 500, and when he returned to Penn
sylvania, after serving out his term, he was
drumheaded out OF the state guard by order
Of the governor.
Last spring a dear old woman, while
walking through the marble room, felt a
loose tile move under her foot. She stopped
and picked 1t up, slipping 1t into her
pocket. not thinking for a moment that 1t
would be impossible to replace the piece,
which was part Of an English pattern. The
guards heard Of the theft and traced the
woman to her hotel, where she disgorged
her treasure. So many Of the thoughtless
vandals who do things of this kind are
people Of refinement and culture that 1t is
imprRcticable to punish them properly.
WHAT THE WORLD is CRYING FOR.
Fewer Ideas I'm TheOryJ More in Prac-
teal Operation.