The National tribune., 1903-01-08
NATIONAL TRIBUNE: wAsHlSGroN c. THURSDAY JANUARY

moved to lot down by the Monument.
Most Of them were not reconstructed, so
that there will always Be dearth Of flow.
ers at the White House after this. They
| were the most beautiful corations OF the
big old Mansion.
They are now debating whether the
work Of the Examiners in the Pen
sion Department is prodd fiye of insanity.
In the last three years tl4ed of the Exam-
liners have died in the Insane Asylum over
on the Anacostia hills. and fourth will
be confined there till death. as he seems to
be aopelessly bereft il hisSgtenses.
There are about 1,600 ap5tople employed
in the Pension Bureau, and Of this num-
Der 800 are employed iH the Examining
Branch of the service. :. Throughout the
country are stationed about 1.4OO Medical
Boa rds, each composed Of three members.
In the red-tape round all the reports OF
their examinations pass before these 500
Examiners, who prepare it for the Board
of Review, correcting every tiny detail aud
reading the often volun,nous reports with
the minutest care 1t is said that this la
Dor is conducive to insanity.
This does not seem possible, however.
fenSlon OIuce cieih hoeS W MAS uesh q.
8 o'clock He works til 4, with half an
hour for lunch at noon. He does not do a
single line of work outside Of the office,
and has all his time to himself after he
passes out from under the portals of the
second largest building in the world under
one roof. His office is a pleasant, we'll
lighted one, and the only responsibility
that attaches to him is to read the papers
before him carefully. He is not expect,
frr hp
Pension Office is not one of the Depart
ments of the Government where rapidity
is urged 1.-The more haste the more pen
sions' is not the motto of the Pension De
partment None of the insane persons
were veterans.
There now hangs in the White House
dining-room, the big State apartment, a
life-size portrait Of President Roosevelt.
Il is painted to represent him in his Rough
Rider ColOnel's uniform, and is a good pic
ture 1t is the first instance of por-
trait Of the occupant Of the White House
being hung there in his own life time.
Some time ago the town of Philadelphia
in Pennsylvania put up and dedicated q
monument to the rebel dead who lie in a
cemetery in the suburbs of that place A
little while ago the Baptist Temple
Church, through two Southern women,
undertook to place in that church a bronze
tablet to the memory of Winnie Davis. the
daughter of Jeff Davis of reasonable
fame. Miss Davis came to be known be-
fore her death as the Daughter of the
Confederacy." and cOnfessedly worked to
keep alive the memories that should have
been buried at AppOmattox. Just why a
church in Philadelphia should want to per-
petuate the memory of woman who
hated the North and everything that was
connected with it. refusing to marry the
the loathed section of the country, nobody
knows.
The plans to place the tablet went on
apace, and $500 was collected for the Me
mortal. Then the church and the people
connected with it walked up to the PROPOSE
ton and its utter absdrdFy, for nobody
can remember a thing shat Miss Davis
ever did which would cndear her to any
body but her particular friends. That she
was charming young woman, no one
doubts or disputes. but there are about a
million young women moro charming than
she ever was, for they ATE not only beauti-
ful but bright and brainy also. They have
done all sorts of things TO endear them
to the public they have been actresses
singers. golf players. poets. ard all sorts
of amusing things these million young la
dies have done. yet nobody has attempted
to embalm their memories in bronze tab
lets. or place them on lofty pedestals.
~ .b
The one thing that tide world really
knows OF Miss Davis is fiat she was the
daughter Of her father. and that she would
not marry because the tfily man she ever
loved came from north Of Mason and Dix
oD's line. AS this record did not seem en-
tirely worthy of bronze tablet blazonry,
the committee of the church who had the
acceptance or rejection of the project in
hand have decided to reject it, and the
$500 will now be returned. The commit
tee expressly declares, however, THAT no
application to insert tile or tablet to the
memory Of any respectable man or woman
shall ever be declined for political. paren-
tai or social reasons, nor because of the To-
cality in which the deceased may have
been born or dwelt."
1t was really an unnecessary unkindness
to rub In the fact that the committee
found Miss Davis had no sort of claim to
fame or renown which would entitle her to
be remembered. excepting Political. par
entail or social reasons" all OF which the
Baptist Temple Church declines to recog-
nize as Of monumental status. Oh, my!
Why is New Years calling falling into
disrepute? 1t is pretty old custom that
really ought to live. One day in the year
at least men can afford to get into their
good clothes and lay aside their grouchy
business air and call on their women
friends 1t is no longer a day Of drinking
bouts. for very few women serve liquors,
and to meet and greet ones friends is GER
tainly kindly thing to do on the ushering
n M a