The Savannah morning news., 1904-03-06
Stories from the Capital

Washington, ID. c.. March g.
Congress has lately discovered itself
the possessor OF an admirable portrait
| of President Lincoln. For upwards
of thirty years half a hundred boxes,
filed with all manner of truck. which
were almost unknown to the present
generation, have been slowed in an
obscure room in the basement of the
Capitol. few days ago there was an
overhauling of the dust-eovered boxes.
Most of them We're found to contain
works of art. Among them was a
portrait of President Lincoln, so cover
ed with dirt that none could tell whom
| IT was intended to represent, until a
careful application Of a wet sponge
brought the portrait to life. 1t will
probably be hung on the walls Of one
of the show rooms at the Capitol.
There are still two of the splendid
| chandeliers that were taken from the
White House last year, upon which the
envious eyes of many senator's and
| representatives are resting. Seven of
| them have been allotted and are the
| pride of several chairmen and officials.
One hangs in the room of Secretary
Bennett, Of the Senate. One is in the
House Committee of Pensions; and an
other adorns the newly furnished suite
| of rooms. where members of the Ways
| and Means Committee deliberate. Three
of the old-time beauties are in as many
| rooms of the House Appropriation
| Committee. The two remaining are the
| largest and most magnificent of the
| lot. Eight feet in diameter and with
| two rows of lights, these reminders of
| former White House days will dazzle
yfeiA xrsIA
| Speaker Cannon has suggested that one
be placed in Statuary Hall, where it
| could be seen by the thousands of vis-
| itors from all parts of the country
This is the old Hall of Representatives,
and once upon time a big chandelier
hung there. ''Uncle William Allison,
chairman of Senate Appropriation, is
said also to have an eye upon one of
the historic lights as a becoming fea-
ture for the great room where he and
his associates are wont to assemble.
| Odd requests from rural constituents
| are matters of everyday in the Con-
| gressional mills. A funny one which
carries off the palm SO far this session,
was received the other day by Min
| nesota representative. 1t ran: "Please
! send TO me and a number Of my rela-
| tlves, (whose names were giyen) some
1 garden seed. / also want a gasoline
engine of 1S horsepower, a wood-saw,
ana barrel OF gasoline. Please send
them right away" A thousand curious
| claims are also continually made
against the government A curious one
was filed at the War Department last
week. 1t was one Of the many claims
arising from alleged damages wrought
by our troops on farms in Kansas and
| kentucky during the recent maneuyers
one OF the farmers put in a claim
| for apples, said to have been stolen
from his orchard by the soldiers. In
calculating his loss, he placed the value
OF one dollar on each apple said to
have been eaten by the soldiers. The
same nigh standard Of values has beer
paced by other farmers whose corn
| nelds furnished roasting ears to our
troops in their marches and maneuyers.
An interesting visitor at the Capitol
| the other day was Hon. Logan E
Bleckley, former chief justice for Geor-
gia, now upwards of eighty years Of
age. He is a striking figure, tall
straight as an arrow and with long,
flowing white beard. A few years age
Judge Bleckley began to ponder on the
problem of why two times one make
two, while at the same time one and
one make two, it being the rule in
all other cases that multiplication is
| greater than addition. Being unable
to satisfactorily solve the problem in
his mind, he took q POSTGRADUATE
| course in mathematics at the Uniyar-
| sity of Georgia, and then wrote an in
| teresting treatise on the subject. The
purpose of Judge Bleckley's visit to
Washington was to secure a patent on
an invention he has perfected.