Omaha daily bee., 1906-04-26
Brrs OF WASHINGTON LIFE.

BITS or WASHINGTON LIFE.
Minor Scenes and Incidents sketched
on the SPOT.
II the shades Of the departed take note
OF things happening among the living. how
must the Sage Of Arbor Lodge rejoice to
find the blows he dealt the free seed graft
while secretary OF agriculture are bearing
fruit No government oficial or layman
ever hammered congressional seeds as
forcibly as did the Hon. J. Sterling Morton.
and the house OF representatives is coming
around to his way OF thinking The house
committee on agriculture has reported the
agricultural appropriation bill minus the
usual item for free seed distribution. In
explaining the omission Of this vote-getter
for congressman the report has this to say:
THE item covering the congressional
free distribution OF vegetable and flower
seed has been entirely omitted from the
bill There is not, and never has been,
any warrant of law for this expenditure
and the item has simply been tolerated in
appropriation bills
The principle involved In this work is
entirely wrong, has never been approved by
the Department of Agriculture and has
ANaAA9 btSil a DlOCk TO ONneF ana more I'M
portant lines of investigation.
The original purpose Of the organic law,
towit, the distribution of rare and uncom-
mon seeds, etc, for experimental pur-
poses through the experiment stations %
the several states. has been retained"
number of the patent medicines that
were placed under the ban by Mr.. Yerkes.
internal revenue commissioner because Of
the quantity of alcohol they contained,
have been relieved from disapprobation by
the commissioners order. To escape
| classification as beverages these nostrums
have been materially changed by their
manufacturers, either by greatly reducing
the amount OF alcohol they contain or by
adding such quantity Of medicinal agents
as to convince the internal revenue chemist
that they are now really medicines and not
tipples. Within the last week two OF the
greatest sellers on the market, one brand
of bitters and the other a catarrh cure,
have received clean bills Of health from the
bureau and may now be sold without a
permit from Uncle Sam in the form Of a
| liquor license
by altering their formulate these par
ticular medicines have changed the peculiar
taste that they have always had, and 1
am inclined to think they will lose much
of their attraction on that account" said
an official of the internal revenue bureau.
However, that remains TO be seen, and It
will be a question that the makers and
sellers of the medicines will be better able
to answer than this bureau. Now that they
| have been taken OFF our list we will not
| be concerned about their sale one way or
the other. 1 suppose, however, that in
| spite of the bad taste of these medicines a
| good many people who believe in them will
| continue to use them, and good many
| other people who are anxious to accumu-
late a jag without access to a real saloon
or acknowledged whisky will keep up the
habit. II any one drinks them now for
the purpose OF getting the alcoholic effect
they will want booze mighty bad, for
they are about as wretched tasting doses
as you can find in the durg stores The
manufacturers have certainly obeyed the
law in regard to throwing in the taste and
smell of medicinal agents. If at any future
time we should learn that they had re-
turned to their old formulate the bureau
will replace them on the list of nostrums
that require the assistance of license for
disposal to the general public"
| Senator Foraker went up to the White
House on Friday at the head of the dele
gates TO the Phi Kappa Psi convention to
present those visitors to the president. He
belonged to the fraternity when he was in
| college.
why, senator" said the president, 81
haven't seen you in a very long time. 1t
has been ages since you were here"
oh" replied Foraker, mot so long as
| 7 mo, hare ~, nacarnhpr -
YES" said the president, Il know, but
why don't you come up and see me?'
1T haven't had any business here" said
Foraker who is opposed to the president s
rate bill and has various sorts Of ideas that
conflict with those of the president.
WELL" joked the president, must YOU
| always have business when you come to
the White House?'
IT must" said Foraker.
And there didn't seem to be anything
more to be said, so the introduction went
on apace.
Representative Vreeland of New York.
! had up his bill prohibiting the stamping
| OF silver or gold articles with false assay
marks To illustrate his speech he had a
dozen or more watches, silver spoons,
forks, plated ware and articles of jewelry
| spread out on the top OF his desk.
J Unknown to Mr. Vreeland, Representative
McMorran OF Michigan, ranged on the desk
behind him three large oranges in the
shape Of a pawnbroker's sign
| Whatll you advance on my watch?
asked Mr.. LOngworth, as he walked by
and saw the oranges.
This is no pawnbroker's Office" Mr..
| vreeland said.
Then take In your sign Mr.. Long
worth advised
| While in Washington on her last visit
] Sarah Bernhard commented upon the
| tendency to run the nations capital In
the puritan blue law fashion that has gone
out of style nearly everywhere else. She
said that in many respects Washington
Is more beautiful than Paris. But" said
Sarah. why do you make of your beauti-
full capitol a country village You have NO
amusements here-no gardens, no places
where the workingmen can go on Sunday
or in the evenings. At midnight every
thing is closed. Then Paris wakes.
would rather not die in Washington. 1t Is
not place for even so hilarious an event