Middletown transcript., 1904-10-01
WASHINGTON LETTER

A LARGE and enthusiastic crowd sur
n rounded the depot in this city OF
Thursday evening last to greet the Pres
dent, who arrived about seven O'Clock
with his wife and family. Speaking o.
the accident which occurred to his train
in Baltimore, while passing through
a tunnel, he said it was slight. and that
if all his troubles were as small he would
get.along beautifully. A series of recep-
tions and entertainments will at once be-
gin at the White House, as many notable
foreigners are in town. The most con-
spicious of these is the dinner to be given
this evening to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, his wife and suite As this gentle
men has in England the right of prece-
dence next after the royal family, he will
sit at table OH the right hand of the
President, while Mrs. Archbishop will be
at the right Of Mrs. Roosevelt. The MEM
bers of the Cabinet who are in town will
attend, also the Ambassadors, the Bishop
of Washington, and others. All the
evangelical clergy of the city have been
invited to hear the Archbishop Sunday
afternoon at the Cathedral close. An
audience of 10000 is expected. As the
grounds are some distance from the city,
and the electric cars can carry but 1900
passengers an hour, the procession OF
carriages aud pedestrians will be immense.
~
Pastor Wagner OF Paris, the popular
author, who is soon to be the Presidents
guest, is five years older than Mr.. Roose-
welt. He is rubicund, eorpnlent and
gray. He says he finds the hca,l.en i'll
America, also he came to this country
because he thinks he has call. He be-
lieves the people of the United States are
fast losing the sense of simplicity neces-
sary to a saving spirituality. He adds
that what man is able to do he is obli-
gated to do. He couples Franklin, Lin
coin, and Roosevelt together as the great
est Americans. To your correspondent
he said: II adore your strapping country
for its youthful vigor, courage, directness
and optimism, but l adore it especially
for its splendid liberty of thought, speech
and action. want to observe the work
ings of your abounding liberties at close
range. l want to study at first hand |
every phase OF your phenominal civiliza-
tion from top to bottom. need to steep
myself in what is large, generous, hearty, |
downright and free in your national ex-
istence."
~
Along with the President many other
notable people are returning to the ma
tional capital. Among these are the
Government scientists" filled to the |
brim with adventures and studies, which
will see the light in forthcoming bullet
ins and winter evening lectures at the
clubs. DIR. 1ittmaH of the coast and
Geodetic survey, has returned from a
long and arduous trip among the lofty
mountains of Alaska. He went to that
land of snow and storms to supervise the
marking of the international boundary as
defined by the recent treaty with Great
Britain. He says it will take long time
to set up all the posts, as the line is l 200
miles long, the summers are short, much
rain falls, and sometimes the tops of the
mountains are hidden by mists for weeks.
Often he met mountain streams which
were impossible. lie wished to have
clear skyline twenty feet wide through
the dense woods, along the boundary, but
found this was impossible of accomplish
ment, as many of the fir are eight feet
in diameter. He smiles when asked if
there is any danger of the timber supply
being exhausted. The foresty problem in
Alaska is how to get rid of the trees.
DIR. L. 0. Howard, of kissing bug and
mosquito fame, passed a portion of the
summer in Arizona, studying the varie-
ties OF the cactus plant in that territory,
and the nature o. the insect life. He has
not yet given names to all the enew insects
nor fully decided which is the best cactus
for cultivation, or to what use it can be
put. A new fiber plant may be one of
the results of his trip. The discovery has
been made in England that ramie is the
coming fiber plant, and will be a cheap
substitute for cotton. One of the pro-
blems before the Department of Agricul-
ture is the perfection of machine for ex-
tracing the fiber from the ramie.
~
Mr.. Francis B.. Loomis is again at his
desk iii the State Department. He says
he thinks the Uuited States leads the
world as an international merchant. AS
everybody knows it is now the largest
exporter of domestic products. "How
about our best customer?' he asked.
"Great Britain, by all odds, is the best
we have" How about the fight against
American goods?" t'There is no fight;
but all through Europe American factory
are being introduced" 'How
about goods now being made in Europe?"
Many articles which were once exported
from this country are now made in Europe
such as furniture, shoes, machine tools,
bicycles, hardware, etc. How about
Yankee notionsP' The Germans are
ON still hunt for yankee
novelties" ''How can we keep up our
foreign trader" 1--WE will always do
that through our ability to invent new
things"
*.*
Regardless of Democratic. predictions c
the coming election, dead 7