Omaha daily bee., 1906-03-12
STAMPS THAT Do NOT STICK
Complaints Reach Washington from ALI
Parts of the Country.
MUclAGE AND PAPER ARE BOTH POOR
Efforts of Bureau of Engraving
and Printing In Direction of
Economy Bring Many
Protests.
lFrom a Scar corregpondent.l


come to Washington in a perfect storm
from all over the country concerning the
character of the mucilage and the paper
which are now being used by the bureau
of engraving and printing in the manufac-
ture of postage stamps There never was
time when the gum on the backs of these
small pieces Of paper was so bad as II is
today, and II a private concern had the
contract it would undoubtedly be hauled
up and severely dealt with because of the
character of the work which is being turned
out. In his attempts to reduce the cost
of manufacture to minimum, and thereby
make a showing OF economy, the director
of the bureau Of engraving and printing
seems to have produced as poor lot of
stamps as were ever turned out by the
cheapest little kingdom in Europe. AS
stamp collectors know, some Of these king
doms were noted for many years for the
poor quality of their postal supplies, but
no one of them was ever accused of pro-
ducing adhesive stamp to use which
it is necessary to buy bottle of mucilage.
one of the hotels in Washington has such
bottle on its counter and every time
postage stamp is sold the patron of the
news stand is advised to use the mucilNge
brush so as TO insure the adhesion of the
stamp to the envelope
Millions for Public BuIIdInRH.
It is probable that congress will this year
appropriate something like $1O,OOO.OOO or S12
00o,000 for the construction of public build
ings in various parts of the country. 1t is
three four years now since bill of this
character was brought through and the
result is that the supervising architects
Office in the Treasury department has prac-
tically been without work for the last six
months. That is to say, the force of eN-
pert draughtsmen and civil engineers which
had come to be regarded as about the best
force in the country has had so little to do
during the last year that large proper
ton OF the men have resigned and found
positions elsewhere. The total number OF
these employees who have voluntarily sew
cred their connection with the government
is eighty-five, and II the omnibus bill now
in course or construction by the committee
on buildings and grounds is put through.
It will be exceedingly difficult for the SUI
pervising architect to secure the necessary
men to design the bu uldings which will be
thus authorized.
There is not city in the country where
architects are not buster than they ever
were before and the demand for avchitec-
tural draughtsmen is constantly increas-
| ing. Men are chary about leaving posi-
tions in which they receive better pay in
many instances and which are certainly
more satisfactory in most ways 90 come
back to the Treasury department for what
may be only temporary employment.
| saving in COnsuIs' Fees.
| II has been estimated that a great many
| thousands of dollars will be covered into
the treasury from the large consuls like
London, Liverpool. Paris and Berlin as
result OF the passage of the so-called
| Lodge bill. 1t is the purpose OF this bill
for instance to fix the salary of the consul
general at London at $1,000 a year and
to allow him no fees whatever outside
This particular office is now considered TO
be worth $4,000 a year, but IL does not
follow that the difference between the
proposed salary and the present total
emolument will find its way into the treas
ury Consuls in all of the big cities OF
Europe receive a very large proportion of
their fees from work done for states and
| cities in the way of gathering and pre-
pairing information which is desired I'm
| law cases OF course IL the consul receives
no fee for this service there will be 30
! induce.'ent for him to perform 1t. and in
stead of having such services rendered by
consuls the states will undoubtedly an
point commissioners. who will receive the
fees and who will not be responsible to
the federal government in any way There
are whole lot of unofficial consular fees
received today In the large consulates
which will in the future, II the consular
bill is adopted It now stands, never be
heard Of, because instead of being paid
to consuls they will be paid to state sffi-
GERS appointed for the purpose Of doing
the work which the consuls now perform
Torpedo Boats for Coast Defense.
Now that the government is testing the
two new torpedo boats, the Shark and the
| POrpoise, renewed interest is manifested
in this supposedly modern method of de-
! Tending the coasts of country. Il Is only
within the last twenty years that subma-
rine boats have been regarded as In any
way valuable defenses to naval fleets and
within that period England has made
greater strides toward the upbuilding of
| hotillas of these small vessels than any
other nation. and the reason for this is
that the British Admiralty has uniformly
extended its submarine fleets in units Of
five or six each; that is 10 say, they have
picked out a type, have constructed five
vessels Of that type and one of an ad-
vanced design, and then the next year
they continued the same policy, SO that
today, while France has more submarine
boats that Great Britain. the British YES
sells are far better suited for the purpose.
and in addition are built In such numbers
as to make them valuable and perfect aids
TO coast defense.
The general supposition Is that Jules
Verne, In his story Twenty Thousand
Leagues Under the Sea" nrst conceived
the idea of submarine navlga ton, but Ad-
piral Philip Hichborn. now on the retired
list Of the navy. who was for many years
chief constructor in article prepared
for the Engineering Magazine some years
ago, showed that long before Jules Verne
was even born submarine navigation was
successfully attempted. II seems that
William Bourne, an Ensiishman was the
first naval constructor Of this type, and
his boat was built more than 800 years
ago; then in 1924. Van Drebbel, a Hol-
lander operated submarine boat capable
OF carrying twelve persons. but this boat
was propelled by sculls or oars; and so on
for the next hundred years there were de-
sultory attempts made 10 control subma-
rine navigation.
Washington Wrote About Thea.
1t will surprise a great many people 10
know that George Washington. in a letter
I rrr.-