The National tribune., 1906-01-18

oA q IOl VI tHcST pObtuSUOSlIy. secretary
Taft Is mighty big man in many ways.
but particularly in the fieshly measure.
He weighs-or did, weigh-314 pounds.
This was too much for comfort, so he
concluded to get rid of it. He tried
horseback riding but, bless you. he
couldn't afford horsefiesh enough to
take that fat off Of him. Horses cost
the plains where bronchos and
mustangs cost but little and give ex-
ercise i'm plenty. horseback riding might
have accomplished the purpose. So
the Secretary of War is trying to quit
eating starchy things, and sweet things,
and sour things. and wet things. and
greasy things, and most everything that
tickles the palate. He has pulled "a
pounds off, and hopes to get down to
$50 pounds. and then he will keep him
self right there.
The rules governing the discharge of
enlisted men from the Army by pur-
chase have been amended by changing
the scale of prices. Some of the fig
ures have been lowered and others in
creased.
The new schedule follows: After one
years service, $12O: after two years
service. 800; after three years service,
$50; after four years service, $S5; af-
ter five years service. $50; after six
y Sdho SCi FASC, &UOs dIlcT Scteh yCdto
service, $50; after eight years SER
vice, $55; after nine years service,
$40; after 10 years service, $35; after
IL years service, $50.
Col. William Michael, formerly Chief
Clerk Of the State Department, and re-
Gently appointed Consul General to Cal
cutta, called at the State Department to
say farewell, and left Washington for
r 10 OF IHrfl II Co lory
from New York, accompanied by Mrs.
Michael and their daughter.
During 1904-'05 1888 soldiers were
treated at the ST Elizabeth Government
Hospital for the Insane at Anacostia.
A marked increase is noted since the
Spanish war. Last year 241 soldiers.
many of whom served in the Philip
pines, were entered. During the pre-
from the Army. Navy, and Marine
Hospital Service treated. This is only
one OF the hospitals Of the country, and
many soldiers who become insane are
not brought here, but are in many
cases turned over to relatives and
friends to be cared for, their term Of
service having expired.
feature of the annual report is that
=
year as cured and &c as improved,
while 107 died and two were discharged
as unimproved. The Superintendent,
DR.. White. Is arduously endeavoring to
relieve and counteract the climatic eff
fects. He prescribes exercise in the
open air, the patients taking long
walks with attendants, and those who
can be trusted are driven about the
city in open cOnveyances. DR.. White is
an advocate of baths, exercises, mas
sage. good food, and sunshine as the
means Of curing. He advises that the
word Insane" be dropped from the
name Of the hospital; that trials in case
Of petition for inquiry into condition of
persons supposed to be insane be re-
He Is in favor of the Jury trial, with a
Judge from the Supreme Court to pre-
side. In cases of female patients, when
transferred to the hospital another
woman should accompany them, he
believes.
Judge Paynter, the Kentuckian who
will take Senator Blackburn's seat in
the United States Senate, was born too
late to wear the gray, and that is per-
haps fortunate. It is a remarkable fact
that many of the United States Sena-
tors from the South were youngsters
during the war, hence never swore allie
glance to the Lost Cause under the
stars and bars. 1t is a new era that is
opening up before the South, and PROM
ises better things.
The Countess Buena Vista of Cuba
some time ago brought suit against
Maj.-Gen. John r. Brooke, to recover
damages because an order was issued
by Gen. Brooke abOlishing her heredi-
tary right to slaughter the beef cattle
in the Island. This right she claimed
came down to her from the time OF
Columbus, when an ancestor for some
service was granted this peculiar right
Gen. Brooke, when he was in charge
down there, found the methods of
Strengthening cattle antiquated and in
sa nitary. and he abolished the whole
business and set up slaughter-house
on the most approved plans. Where
upon Donna Francisco O'Reilly Desca-
and lost The court decides that she
has no grounds for damages from Gen.
Brooke, but suggests that she can sue
the Government of the United States
and probably recover
Postmaster-General Cortelyou has
asked Congress for all appropriation for
a new Post Office Building to be con-
structed up close to the new Union
Station. He says that, taking all things
into consideration, 1t will be a money
saving institution. At the present time
the Post Office Department is scattered
over a good deal of Washington, the
bureaus in many places, making it in
convenient to attend to business
People should not make statements
Of fact" that they cannot substantiate
Newspapers should never make asser-
tons that they cannot clinch by abso-
lutte proof. There was q time when
the Congress Of the United States was
impervious to anything that outsiders
might say about it, and when it usually
referred to that Lying sheet" with
many sneers and statesmanlike con-
tempt, il a newspaper attacked its
members. But Congress Is getting
more sensitive. It's members watch
the newspapers very closely, and espe-
cially the editorial pages, and when
those newspapers seem to have sources
Of knowledge which Congress has not
tapped, those newspapers, by their rep
resentatives, are asked to come before
the appropriate committees Of the
House or Senate, as the case may be,
though 1T is usually the House,-for
that is the popular body and Starts
things, tell what they know. This
is very good plan. 1t makes a news
paper careful of exaggeration in it's col
umns, and 1t teaches Congress that 1t