The National tribune., 1906-05-24

An example Of what rich people can
do when they don't kn6% Hhat else to
do with their money wasEseen at "BoHn-
dary Castle one cteifiiic last teek
boundary castle Is owned by Mr.. John
Il. Henderson. formerly 4 United States
senator from Missouri. 1t is beau,i-
ful place, magnificent place. the house
standing castlelike on the top OF the
hill which IL cut down to the street.
1t is filled with works Of art. and ele-
gantly furnished. 1t has wine cell
lar. They do say that I'm the United
States there are no finer old wines to-
day than were in the Henderson wine
cellar last week. There was over 81 .Q0e
worth of those wines. TO put il mildly.
For three years the cellar has not been
opened. Three years ago Mr. and Mrs.
Henderson, who arei both rather frail,
and who have to be careful abou; eat
ing. decided that it was wicked 10
touch. taste or handle" intoxicants.
They are rich enough to do as they
please. mind you. They are vpgetari-
ans, no-breakfast cranks of the very
first water. Well. they invited a lot
of their Tent of Rechabitcs put 90 q
kind of reception, and the receptions
at Boundary Castle are things to remem-
Der. let me tell you, and Mrs. Hender-
son told the story of the wines in her
cellar. What shall do with them ?"
she queried. 81 must not sell them:
do not think that l should give them
to a hospital. for up-to-date hospitals
do not use liquors any more, and I an,
at a loss what disposal to make OF
them"
Then up spake brave Horatius. for
he must have been brave who suggest
ed it, Bring the stuff up and pour IL
in the gutter" And they did. All the
rare old wines, dusty, cob-webby and
rich. We're brought out of the cellar and
the bottles smashed and the contents
trickled into the cutters. In India
there is a sect which believes il right
to burn upon the funeral pyres of the
husbands the child widows. That does
not make it right. If It were not that
Mrs. Henderson is well known for her
charities and her benevolence i'm every
direction. one would think-well. they
might think a lot of things. The fanat-
icism that would destroy as much val
liable medicine as went to waste In that
$1,000 smash yergeS mighty near the
Indian funeral pyre. The negroes in
the vicinity got wind of the perform
ance and they had one glorious old
drunk on the gutter contents.
1. is said thai the President is much
incensed at the Committee on Inter
oceanic Canals because il chose 10 re-
port in favor of q sea-level canal in
stead of lock canal, which he favors.
The report which has just been made
public, recites the reason for the sea-
level choice to be earthquakes, pure
and simple.
THE recent calamity that over
whelmed one of our great cities has
caused many forebodings." says the re-
port. ''The assertion that any particu-
lar spot in the tropics is exempt from
all danger from such commissions Of
nature as recently visited California Or
S. c., in 1886, or changed the face OF
nature In southeastern Missouri near
The beginning of this century, would not
be haZarded by any wise man. That the
ISthmus OF Panama is not exempt con-
Ciusively appears, and we can have
no guaranty that the Canal Zone will in
the future be exempt from such disas-
ter. I"iH
1.-The canal structures that would be
most exposed to injury by the passing
of an earth wave or violent movement
of the earths surface are the locks
proposed by the minority, whose walls,
many hundreds of feet. or even 1000
feet long at Gatun. would. at least some
of them. be more than as feet high
and entirely unsupported on one side
save for a part of the height by water.
If these walls should be moved at all,
the natural and probable result would
be in their leaning, and SO prevent the
closing of the gates an injury for which
suggestion of extra gates on hand
would be useless. for no one could
guess the extent of the movement. Rrt
the most likely effect of such shock
would be the fracture of these locks,
in repairing of which much time -
months or years-might be required.
and thus cause interruption of traffic Or
the abandonment of the canal.
The report, which is quite long and
which studiousIy confines itself to
statement of evident facts to support
the theories of the majority of the
committee, carefully recites a long list
Of reasons, but chief among them seems
to be the earthquake theory, and which
must have seemed to be kind of Cod
sent to the majority members, who
have now to buck up against the Pres
idents wishes in the matter, but are
able to show that while man proposes
God disposes.
Capt. Hyland Kirk. well known to
National Tribune readers through his
poems ana SKETCHES, appeared De1Ore the
on Patents the other day with
a novel plea. He made an argument for
patents for the protection of origina-
tors Of horticultural products. Mr.. Kirk
contended that new variety of horti-
cultural product was clearly an inVen-
ton, not only in the work of the origi-
nator and the results obtained, but in
the character of the materials. Every
seed, he said, was a mechanism.
After explaining the character of the
work of Investigators along this line,
Mr.. Kirk argued that measure such
as he advocated, would encourage such
Investigations, and ''the men who are
endeavoring to solve and to throw light
upon the higher problems of biology"
Horticultural science. he said, becomes
clearly defined as a legitimate and def
mite field for the opertiOns of the pat
ent law.
Senator Dubois, of Idaho. is quite i'll,
suffering, it is thought, from ptomaine
poisoning.
Representative Ketcham. the father
of the House" now. and very old man,
is quite i'll. Gen. ketcham has a splen-
did military record, serving in the
l50th y. Y. He was made Briga der
General for gallant services and served
to the end of the war, resigning to en-
ter Congress. He has had a service in
Congress of "a years, but not consec-
utively. He failed of election for three
or four Congresses, and then served
several Congresses, finally declining re-
election because OF Ill health. He came