Omaha daily bee., 1905-11-23
BITS or wAsH1NeroN LIFE.
Minor scenes and Incidents sketchet
on the spot.

Obsolete ana condemned to the melting pot
There are at present some twenty-five or
thirty tons Of such plates awaiting
destruction. and the work Of getting IL
out Of the way will begin very shortly.
The committee that takes stock OF these
obsolete plates consists Of three men, one
OF whom is appointed by the secretary Of
the treasury, another by the commissioner
Of internal revenue. and a third by the
comptroller Of the currency. represen-
tativc Of the Postofflce department is also
present to take note Of the old postage
stamp plates and witness their destruction.
II is expected that this committee will be
appointed within a week or so, and that
II will Immediately proceed with the work.
The destruction Of these plates consists
in reducing them to liquid metal in the
furnace of the Bureau Of Engraving and
Printing, running the metal of into rough
pigs, and disposing of it as such.
The practical working OF government in
dustrial arbitration in the United States
and in other countries il the subject OF an
exhaustive investigation reported in the
bureau Of labor official bulletin which has
just been issued. The paper is statistical
account OF laws and results OF their OPP
GRAFTON, the record being brought as closely
ments permitted. 1t includes all laws in
any land which have been enacted for the
purpose Of providing means for the settle
ment Of collective Industrial disputes
For the United States It shows that at
the beginning OF the year 1905 twenty-four
states had passed laws for Industrial ar
bitration or Cancellation and one other
state by its constitution directed such legis-
laton. The earliest law upon the subject
was passed in Maryland in 1873
The weather bureau, like other depart
ments Of the government, is constantly in
receipt Of queer letters from all kinds of
people who want to have the weather
regulated to suit them Not only do let
tiers containing complaints against the
weather, come to the bureau but the tele-
phone is constantly used by people who
want to find out what kind Of weather
they are going to have on a certain day.
because, the questioner explains. he wants
clear day at that time. because he is
going out of town on a picnic or an out
ing. The inquiries generally are in re-
gard to weather on date two weeks
ahead. Two weeks is the favored period
and many of the inquiries show very bad
| temper when they do not get an answer
TO suit them. The most remarkable mes
sage, or rather, ridiculous one, ever re-
| ceived by the weather bureau, was one
| from man who said he was great
! friend Of the cabinet officer under whose
| direction the weather bureau was The
man claimed that he had big influence
| with the secretary, and II the weather
bureau would make arrangements to pro-
vide n nice. sunshiny day for him on a
| date two weeks ahead he would recon-
mend the weather bureau to his friend
| the secretary, and he added as an extra
inducement that If the bureau would
! manufacture beautiful day to order for
| him, he would send crisp IS bill to
the clerk in charge on the day following.
He stated that the reason he wanted a good
day was because he was going to take his
mother-in-law and some visiting friends
on car ride to the Great Falls, and did
not want to get wet or have the lunch
| spoiled by having to postpone the trip. The
clerk who received the request wrote the
man the following reply:
| There is only one who can grant your
request, and he is too far away to be
reached by mail or telephone"
| The Washington correspondent of the
New York Tribune calls attention to the
shocking condition Of the Greenough
| statue of Washington on the east front of
the Capitol. This is known as the shirtless
statue, depicting the father of his country
! in semi-nude classic style. The heroic
figure is Of italian marble which Is incapa-
BILE of withstanding the variable climate
of Washington. with its freezing winters
| and exceedingly hot summers, and each
year a part of it crumbles away. The lat
est damage has been done to the right eye
| Of he A To- A.
has dropped out. This gives the otherwise
dignihed and serious face a curious express
sion. In addition to this the base has split
and pieces have Clipped out of the baldric
which supports the sword.
Ever since the statue was brought from
Italy sNty-five years ago on board a mer-
chairman and placed in the Capitol It has
been the butt of wits i'm the house and
senate and has been criticised by con-
noisseurs The statue was provided for by
a resolution introduced I'm the house Feb
ruary lS 1882, and was executed in Florence
by Horace Greenough Of Massachusetts
II was intended originally TO rest in the
Capitol directly over the spot intended
; for Washington's tomb, and for years
did obstruct the center Of the rotunda
under the great dome, but senators and
representatives could not stand the crti-
and It was finally moved out Of doors
despite the fact that it was well understood
that exposure 10 rain and frost would ruin
IT, Several years ago congress made an
effort to protect the statue from further
deterioration by providing a wooden struc-
ture to be placed over 1t in the winter
: This unsightly shed was used for a time
but abandoned in the last two years.
There was a time when vandals and
{ relic hunters used to harass the statue
: but for some time it has been overlooked by
them and left to the solcitious care OF
, the workmen, who give il skin Of ho
| parrafin every winter before the frost set'
} in, and who come around in. the spring anC
. scrub It and patch its cracks and gaps Will
plaster. The Tavages now are PARTICULAR!
T noticeable and as the features wear away
: the figure, with its patches of plaster Il
becoming more and more ridiculous. TIT
\ statue is twenty feet high and weigh
20 twenty-one tons. Elliott Woods, superin
; tendent OF the Capitol, will recommend t.
o congress that the statue be removed 70 on
= OF the places where relics are stored II
I washington. or that a Greek temple b
Z nIaced about IT, so that II may easily b