Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-15
BITS OF WASHINGTON LIFE.

BITS OF WASHINGTON LIFE.
minor Scenes and incidents sketched
on the spot.
On the hrst Of the year the United states
treasury held an aggregate Of SS17 100000 In
gold coin and bullion. The exact sum was
a trihe more, but the round figures are
taken as a basis for calculating the d.
mansions Of this vast store OF yellow metal
One million dollars in gold weighs 1855
pounds and 8 ounces. In the calculation
following. made by the New York Times
correspondent the eight ounces is also dis
carded. Thus we have s 100000 in gold
coin Of standard weight and f%neness, repre-
senting 1855 pounds, which gives a total OF
| 227S.6 GAS pounds as the weight Of the treas
ury holding. This reduced to tons OF 2,24O
pounds, gives LOIS tons, with 45 pounds to
spare. Divided into short tons OF 1000
pounds, It would give 1,l36% tons, with l45
pounds to spare. II the gold were loaded
into ordinary carts used for the delivery OF
anthracite coal, 2,240 pounds of gold to each
cart. and assuming that fifteen feet would
be required for the movement Of each horse
and cart, the procession would cover W
and nlne-tenths miles, and If the measure
ment were by short tons the procession
would cover three and a quarter miles.
The value Of the silver dollars and silver
bullion held January l, 1908, was not so
great as the value Of the gold, but the
weight of the former was relatively sixteen
times greater. in round numbers the
treasury held on the first Of the year $780,
5000 in standard silver dollars and silver
bullion. One million dollars of standard
weight and fneness weight $500 pounds
and 8 ounces. For ease in calculation the
weight of 1000, 900 silver dollars is made
IS, $50 pounds, and the fraction OF a mill
lion is dropped in the amount of silver
held. which is placed roundly at $495 0 0,OOO.
This gives the total weight of the silver
dollars and silver bullion in the treasury
q ,17O. $50 pounds, which is equal to 1902
long tons OF 2,240 pounds, or 1855 short
tons Of 1000 pounds. Loaded into carts as
was done with the gold the procession
would cover thirty-seven miles in the first
case and forty-one and q half miles in the
second, or from the United states Treasury
building in Washington 40 the custom
house in Baltimore.
representative John Wesley Gains of Ten
nessee ran afoul Of Representative Gros-
yenor the other day. Grosvenor said one of
Gaines statements was a shameless state
ment." Gains replied in a long speech, in
which he quoted numerous legal decisions.
After he had finished Grosvenor rose and
said:
81 can sum up what I think Of Mr.. Gaines
in a bit of poetry I once saw on a hotel
register at the Mammoth cave in Kentucky.
1t read:
"'oh, Mammoth cave, what a spot!
In summer cold, in winter hot
God Almighty, what a wonder
Grosvenor stopped. Go on, finish IT,
said Representative shattuc. well" said
Grosvenor, "the poet ran out Of ammuni-
ton then, for he closed like this:
ANDREW Jackson, hell and thunder!"
Senator Nelson of Minnesota is not a
Spanish scholar, and when he was discuss
ing the statehood bill he made sad havoc
of some of the names he used. Senator
Elkins, who speaks and writes Spanish
readily. enjoyed the Minnesota mans per,
Torrance greatly. Maria Virgil" said
Nelson, pronouncing the name according to
: English rules. "Mahreeah Veehil," whisp-
cred Elkins to his next door neighbor
"Jicarillas'' was given ordinary pronuncia-
T tion by the man from the northwest, and
Elkins said "Hicareeahs" so that Nelson
} heard him. The latter looked at the West
2 Virginian for a moment and then lunget
/ ahead. But the look was enough; there
3 was no more audible criticism.
3 "a rare milk stew said Representativt
$ Kahn of San Francisco, making himsel
comfortable at one of the house restau
5 rant tables, reports the Washington Post
e The nimble waiter nearly dropped to tn,
floor at such an expression from a Pacific
I coast member, who was to get his oyster
a good portion of The year in tin can
y carried overland.
= 81 mean by that that l want the mill
boiled first and the oysters dropped in aft
= erward,' said Mr.. Kahn, sternly. rathe
e impatient that the term should not be un
d derstood. when you cook the oyster
and the milk together the b~ivalves ar
: shriveled up and not so good to eat. d
5 you comprehend me?"
A few moments later the Californian wa
e eating his rare stew with relish.
Dave Lane, an old-time Pennsylvani
politician, sat in the senate gallery 4
Washington and listened to an hour &
oratory. Then he went out and, meeting
friend, bewailed the lost days when the
did things in the keystone state legis
lature. why, / remember once" sal
n lane, that a bill affecting a big corpora
lie ton was passed. An agent of the compan
went to the president of the senate. an
asked IL something could not be done [
hold the bill up. NO, sir was the repl!
That bill has been passed by this legis
'e lature. The people demand IT.. And / war
Is to say that l am going AWAY until next Mon
day, and meantime the bill will repos
safely in this desk, where it is now locke
up He went away, and do you know,
said Lane with a wink, during his absenC
the bill disappeared and has never bee
d seen since"
The national house Of representatives ha
concluded that Congressman Sheppard
a. Texas has the most delicately balanced cor
lie science in the entire body. When he starte
n back from his holiday he had throug
y, tickets TO Washington, but he found thl
he by coming on the route he had selected b
cs would be four hours late Tor the openin
4 of congress. This discovery was made
IN st. Louis. Mr.. Sheppard promptly tire
away his tickets and bought another while
"a landed him in Washington just in time. H
IN wondered why more seasoned statesme
he laughed when he told Of this experience
h. The Texan is only p years old. which ma
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