The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1905-12-27
LETTER
Especial Correspondence

Congress will be asked to make some
provision at its coming session for gov.
eminent clerks who have grown old in
the service and who can no longer per-
form their work satisfactorily. Men
and women, many of them old soldiers
or widows Of veterans. are unable to
do the work assigned them, yet are
carried on the rolls at the salaries they
received when competent. To dis
charge these clerks would be eQuiva.
lent to sending them to the poorhouse.
This has prevented drastic action in
the past.
The aged clerks are now referred to
as dead WOOD" and the younger clerks
are demanding promotion. The Keep
commission, which is to make recon-
mendations for placing the depart
ments ON a business basis" Is expect
ed to advocate radical measures. The
president time and again has said the
departments need e blood, men and
women with push and energy.
Horses to Wear Earrings.
The 500 official" horses, as they are
called here. are to have their ears bored
and will wear rings. The horses be.
long to the different departments, and
many are so much alike that it has
been found necessary to have some
identification mark. 1t was first sug-
gested that tags be put on the bride,
but this was not considered s~atisfac-
>ory.
The ring scheme then was adopted.
When the plan is put into force the
animals Wi, have their ears bored, the
holes to be about the diameter Of q
lead pencil. The rings will carry tags,
and promoters of the scheme say that
the ring will be something flashy If not
expensive.
Growth OF the Postal Service.
The auditor reports that for the year
ended June 80 the evenu Of the
postal service We're $152.S26,5S5 and
the expenditures $1G1, 1893, 160. The re-
ceipts were seven times greater than
thirty-thrce years ago and eighteen
times greater than in 1860. The rural
free delivery has increased from 14S
carriers in 1898 to $1,000 in 1905 and
the cost from $4,000 to $2O,S19.944.
NupoleOn's Furniture In America.
When he returned to Washington re-
Gently Ambassador Won Sternburg
brought il complete suit of drawing
room furniture that had adorned the
rooms occupied by Napoleon in Leip-
sic. These treasures We're ~bequeathed
to the ambassador by a relative whose
grandfather had owned the place where
the Corsican elected to abide. Tho
furniture Is ancient Flemish, and in
the tapestry are woven NEUROLOGICAL
designs. The frames bear a gold de-
sign. A desk at which Napoleon wrote
vigorous messages is part Of the lega-
cy, and a rug Of deep yellow velvet,
with pale blue and pink flowers. on
which the warrior paced up and down,
Is spread for the ambassadors guests
to admire.
Champ Clark ON Politics.
Champ Clark, philosopher, lecturer,
representative, paid his respects to the
president the other day and then talked
politics to the newspaper men. The
Missouri congressman was positive
that If the November elections had
been general the Democrats would
have swept the country and elected
the house. DO you know" he said,
that Of the 118 years this country
has had party government the Demo
Gratis have controlled ffty-six years.
the Republicans ffty-six years aud
John Quincy Adams four years? What
was he? Blamed II I know. l think
he was the original mugwump Of this
country. The fact Is that the people
even up things politically in the course
of time. Another hundred years will
find about the same division Of time"
Uncle SANS Buildings.
James Knox Taylor, supervising ar
chltect Of the treasury department, has
submitted to Secretary Shaw his an
nual report for the fiscal year, which
ended June 80. The report of Mr..
Taylor shows that during the year
twenty-nine new buildings and sixteen
extensions to old buildings were COM
pleted and occupied. Contracts were
entered into for the construction Of
ffty-nine new buildings, which, added
to those which were started before the
commencement Of the year, makes
eighty-four structures in the course of
erection.
Classified with reference to condition.
the report shows that there are 375
public buildings, exclusive Of marine
hospitals and quarantine stations, com
pleted and occupied. These, added to
the twenty-eight completed during the
past fiscal year, make 400 public builu.
ings now occupied by Uncle Sam. There
are 531 completed and provided for.
Heat Kills sequoias.
There will be no sequoias planted in
Washington. George II. Brown, land
scape gardener Of the capitol. said re-
Gently:
Efforts to acclimatize the California
te4uoias in this latitude have failed re-
- NV III