Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-28
BIrs on wAsH1NeroN LIFE.
Minor Scenes and Incidents sketched
on the spot.

! Minor Scenes and Incidents sketched
on the spot.
Advance notices Of a change in congress
sional temper on the matter Of railroad
pay for carrying United States mails are
becoming notably frequent in Washington
| dispatches Cynical scribes predict there
| VIII be something doing after the first OF
the year. Of1clals, high and low. have
resolved TO refuse the customary free pass
| favors so that they can approach the
question of the railroad long haul on the
treasury with minds untouched by the
! silent influence of the pasteboard. Con-
! gresham Victor Murdoch OF Kansas is al
ready investigating the subject for his
own satisfaction. AS a result Of his in
quiry. outlined by the Boston Transcript.
the Kansan insists that the practices and
methods now followed in fixing the pres
ent compensation of the railroads for carry
! ing the mail should be changed. This he
urges should occur before February / next
when under existing law the mails will be
weighed in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michi-
gan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Mis-
souri,. The basis of most Of the govern
ment's enormous outlay for carrying the
mail, which amounts this year to s45 1000, 900.
is the average daily weight. Mr.. Murdoch
not only finds fault with this system Of
| pay, but he charges that the average daily
weight, according to the present system,
| is a false average. THAT the average y
mathematically false I believe" he de-
clared, land an accountant would show that
this government in the last ten years has
paid something in the region of 100000
for the carriage of the mail more than II
should have paid on a true average" In
explaining how this false average was
struck Mr.. Murdoch asserts that the mails
for a certain territory are weighed for los
days Sundays and all. and this is all to-
tailed. Then to secure the average daily
weight the total is not divided by los, but by
ninety days, the Sundays being excluded.
Reducing the system to a basis Of week
Mr. Murdoch asserts that seven days
Weighing are aggregated and the result is
divided by six. OF course this increases
the average. Nearly all the heavy averages
come from routes which have Sunday
mails and Mr.. Murdocks inquiry leads him
to believe that the resultant loss to the
government is enormous. The statements
of Mr.. Murdoch have made an impression
on members Of congress and an inquiry into
the matter is regarded as certain.
Speaker Cannon and Representative
Longworth, the presidents son-in-law,
were in the senate chamber during most
of Senator Foraker's severe arraignment
of the president in the matter of the dis
charge Of the negro soldiers. Eacrr listened
attentively to the speech. They left the
senate together and were met in the hall
way by a mutual friend.
What do you think of Foraker's
speech?" inquired the friend Of Uncle
joe"
THAT question hasn't reached the house
yet, and for that reason I must not ex-
press an opinion upon its merits or upon
speeches dealing with It," answered the
foxy Uncle joe"
what do you think of It, 'Nicl'?" per-
sisted the friendly interloper.
Clearing his throat the presidents SON.
in-law replied: THE Speaker has ex-
pressed my views exactly, accurately"
President Roosevelt has transmitted to
congress, with his approval. the report of
the committee which he appointed several
months ago to examine the conditions I'M
der which supplies are purchased for the
various executive departments. The COM
mittee learned many interesting things
while poking around the bureaus For in
stance. zone department pays $40 per
dozen quarts for a particular ink. while
neutrality-suspicious. pays as high as 50 per
dozen quarts for ink of the same kind
The price Of a certain mucilage runs from
$1.a per dozen quarts in one department
to 50 per dozen quarts in another. There is
also marked difference in the prices paid
for lead pencils by the departments; for a
certain pencil one department pays 1886
per gross. while 1927 per gross is paid for
the same pencil by another department"
Assistant Secretary of State Adee prob
ably owns more shoes than any other man
IN Washington, excluding dealers. lie
keeps about a dozen pairs in his office at
the state department and as many more at
his home. Mr.. Adee has not accumulated
his shoes because of any fad but merely
for the comfort that he has learned can
only be obtained by having constantly on
hand a multiplicity of shoes 1t appears
that when he arrives at his Office in the
morning after brisk walk from his home
he Immediately changes his shoes and that
through the day he makes several other
changes, whenever his pedal extremities be-
gin to feel uncomfortable For the most
part the shoes are all of the same general
pattern
The shopping of Baroness Hengelmuller,
wife of the Austro- Hungarian ambassador,
is almost an affair Of state and other social
lights of the American capital are follow
ing her methods. Nine Hengelmuller al
ways drives down in her most pretentious
equipage, with a liveried coachman and
footman and the trappngs gay, with the
colors of a dual empire. Before madam
alghts a trim elderly maid descends and
proceeding to the counter which is to be
visited she informs the clerk what to have
in readiness When she has prepared the
way the madam proceeds to inspect. The
maid first solemnly hands the gold-mounted
lorgnette and, when necessary, her purse
or list Of purchases contemplated
Senator Piles of Washington said he
wanted to introduce an amendment to the
child labor bill. He thought the bill was
too sweeping.
rs it not a fact" he asked, that under
the bill as 1t now stands 1 would not be
permitted to employ my own son in my
law Office II he we're under IL years of