Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-05-24
bins oF wAsHINeroN LIEE.
Minor scenes and Incidents sketched
m the gnof

Minor scenes and Incidents sketched
on the spot.
William Nelson Cromwell. counsel for the
Panama railroad, whose sreers and tart
responses to questions riled members Of
the senate committee inquiring into Panama
affairs. received the largest fee ever cred
tied TO a lawyer. Cromwell was the chief
negotistor for the sale OF the old Panama
canal property, owned by French share
holders to the United States. The price
was S400OO.OoO. Cromwell's fee was 5000 600.
During one Of the recent hearings Crom-
we'll 30 accounted for the t40.UUOOOO paid the
French canal company that It appeared as
II he could have received at most rather
less than third Of this sum At a later
hearing he insisted that he had received no
part OF the AO.OOOO0O. but drew all his fees
from the Panama railway and that he re-
ceived not to exceed 5000 in all. But
Cromwell admittedly drew fine. hairspun
distinction between technical and actual
facts throughout his testimony. lie would
not tell the amount of his fee, and 1t re-
mains the conviction OF Washington that
In the Panama business he played for and
won one OF the biggest stakes for which a
lawyer ever commended This Is the man
who has faced the blunt questioning Of
Senator Morgan hour after hour with an
apparent frankness and real dexterity more
infuriating than open defiance.
Strange as II may seem, the Navy depart
ment has not what Is known as a flag
chest, a receptacle for holding flags of for
eign nations. There are always plenty Of
American flags about the building and any
number can be collected at a moments no.
tice for decorating purposes, but foreign
flags seems to be as scarce as hens teeth
This need was shown a few days ago. when
the French naval officers from the squad
ron attending the Paul Jones ceremonies
at Annapolis called on the secretary of the
navy. When It came time to decorate the
secretary's reception room not a French
flag could be found There were plenty
OF American flags and, in desperation, Mr.
Gauss, the secretary's secretary had TO
put a number Of charwomen and sailors
to work in making up French flags out Of
material quickly gathered together. This
is not the first time that the same trouble
has arisen. There was lots of skirmishing
for British flags when Prince Louis OF
Battenberg called on the secretary of the
navy, and as the country grows and there
are more and more occasions for such
visits from foreign officials. the chances
are that a nag chest will be one of the
next appurtenances Of the secretary's
office.
Congressman South Timble of Kentucky
INDUCED in some extended remarks the
other day, discussing the cost Of a battle
ship and giving some original statistics in
the course of his speech. For instance, he
declared that II the dollars which such a
vessel cost were placed on top Of one an
other they would make a pile Of a certain
height. His Kentucky colleagues listened
with interest and after the speech was
ended Mr.. Rhinock leaned over to Ollie
James and said: Great speech OF South's."
YES" answered Ollie Great day for
Kentucky" How do you suppose he got
that inquired out about the exact number
of miles a pile OF dollars would maker" in
quired Rhinock. "Huhw said Ollie, regard
ing him with supreme scorn. II reckon
you never watched the fellow on the other
side of the table piling up his chips"
Senator Dolliver wandered into the SUI
preme court room the other day as a diver
sion from the perplexing task Of following
the rate debate increasingly for three
months. Justice Harlan happened 10 note
his presence and soon a page brought a note
to the senator.
IT am glad to see you here,' 1t read. you
should come often to learn what the law
really is"
II am glad to be here" wrote the sena-
tor in a note which the page carried back.
But l am not as happy here as l should
be, because there are so many dissenting
opinions"
In a few minutes another note came from
the Justice.
There is often much good law in dis
senting opinions" it said. by the way, l
observe that the senate has made Knox a
committee to find out what Brewer meant
in his Michigan case. Brewer is from your
circuit