The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-05-31
BOWEN MAKES
THEM SILVER
Too Strenuous For State Depart.
ment Officials.
CATS HAVE LOST A FRIEND
STORY RELATED BY REED
SMoOT IN WASHINGTON.
fspeeiaI to = Herald.)


containing the minutes of the Vene-
zueIan convention has been recalled by
the state department. The foreign
members of that convention object to
the footnOtes added by Minister Bowen
Sir Michael Herbert, the British am
bassadOr, feels that some of the refer
ences made in the book are detrimental
to his dignity. Signor Mayor des
PlancheS, the Italian ambasSa dor, ana
Baron Won Sternberg, representing the
German interests, share the same reel
ing. Prom his superfuous remarks 1t
would appear that Mr.. Bowen used the
three distinguished diplOmatists as his
arnanuenses. to whom he dictated his
terms. Possibly Mr.. Bowen has mere
ly voiced the sentiment of the country
at iarge-it appears to be the general
opinion that the United States may do
all the debating in international at
fairs. Nevertheless. the state depart
ment has seen fit to erase from the
cover of this blue book the line show
ing that it was put out through the
government printing office; and to the
outsider the volume now appears as a
personal production, and not a gov
eminent publication. 1t is rumored
that the heads of the secretary of state
and his assistants would rest easier if
Mr.. Bowen were removed from the
diplomatic chess board.
Protected the Cats.
The Ioudest and most persistent
mOuruers over the departmental de-
mise of George ". Beavers, erstwhiie
chief Of the division of salaries and al
lowances in the postOffice department,
are the cats whom he installed into
public Office. Unfortunately, he was
not able to place these four-foOted en-
plOyes of the government under civil
service rules. Notwithstanding their
faithful service, they are unprotected
in their tenure of office. 1t is not gen
orally known that the cats which roam
about city pOStOffices are provided for
by Uncle Sam. Their installation as
members of the postal army came
about with Mr.. Beavers appointment
as chief of the division mentioned
During the time he was a pOstofhce
inspector Mr.. Beavers was given a case
for investigation which dealt with the
disappearance of a large sum Of money
sent through the mails in the form OF
greenbacks. A thorough investigation
convinced him that the bills had not
been taken from the postofice from
which the loss had been reported. A
search of the building was made, and
the missing notes were found to have
been appropriated by a mother rat for
fitting I'D her dOmicile Mr.. Beavers
recommended that the, postoffice de-
partment make provision for the main
tenance of a corps of feline NAH pro-
tectors- Not until he went into Office
as the head Of the salaries and allow
ances division did the cats come to be
regarded as part of the working force,
and a sum regularly set aside for their
support. Thomas. the Washington
postof1ce cat, is the most dignified Of
fetal in the service.
But if the disgruntled tomnies and
tabbies vail for their dinners IN
needed, there is one great, Silent, ma
lgnant cat in the gray building on
Pennsylvania avenue who is daily
anathehlatized during the postoffice
cSmmOtion. Shortly after his appear
ance, during the decoration of the low
er corridor, when the building was be-
ing completed, five men We're killed In
rapid succession by accidents connect
ed with the construction. Later Mr.
WilIett, an ex-pOstma ster. fell to his
death in one of the elevator shafts.
Now come the miserable investiga-
tiOnS-the superstitiOus say, all be-
cause of a feline likeness traced by the
veins in a block of marble forming part
of the wainscOtiag of the west cor
ridOr.
Tale of Irving NJ Scott.
Perhaps no vessel since the days of
the Constitution has been so nearly
idoIized by the American people as the
splendid Oregon, whose builder, Irving
NJ Scott. has just died. His versatility
was equaled only by his inquisitiveness
into the workings of all things divine
or human. One incident connected
with his early Investigations led to
much embarrassment to a Methodist
minister visiting his home. The
preacher was of the Old-fashioned type,
who believed in a liberal use of bril-
liant imagery when depicting the final
Of he Ell a tod wi
fervOr. in the little Irving's hearing,
on the eternal burning lake of brim-
stone that awaited the wicked. The
boy we so interested that the next
day hef procured some birthstone. con-
structed a miniature lake and discOy-
cred that it burned up in very short
time. ThereupOn he carried the prob
lem to his father. and in the presence
of the reverend guest prOpOunded this
poser:
'If that lake burns all the time
where do they get enough birthstone?
Cause it burns awful fast"
Opinion of Utah Man.
H. n Pratt of Utah. who is visiting
this city, has offered the most reason
a BILE solution of the question, why is
Great Salt lake receding? that has
been given to fasteners. Scientists
have contributed innumerable guesses.
Mr. Pratt is quoted in the Washington
Post as saying: The way the waters
have receded is a puzzle to many peo-
pie, but in my opinion the true eX-
PLANTATION is that many tributary
streams. which once poured all their
volume into the lake. now contribute
but little. owing to the construction Of
so many irrigating bitches. The water
has been diverted for the use of the
farmers. and now one can wade out
into the great bTiny reservoir for a mile
and not get sufficient depth to inlmerse
himself. Some people profess to think
that there win come a rise Of the wa
tiers some day equal to the recession.
but they can give no solid reason for
such theory and there is really hardly
any basis for il, except in the hopes Of
those who advance it. Even the irri-
gatiOnists appear to have given up the
doctrine that what is taken out of the
tributaries TO the lake seeps back into
the basin"
Reed Shoots Story.
It is said that Washingtonians have
a perfect mania for anecdote. The
easiest way for a new member or SEN
atOr to become we'll known is by ca
tering TO this appetite or becoming its
victim One of the new stories told
about a new senator is one which orig
Of The