The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-08

House lobby was so sacred" he de-
c!ared. Il brought the fades in exact
ly as we let them into the Senate
lobby;" and that ended the incident
There is rejoicing, from one end of
The land to the other that Miss Alice
Roosevelt is SO truly American that she
passed by all the handsome offers from
foreigners Of birth. and money, too.
who would gladly have taken our bon
ME little lady abroad, and that she
took in their stead a not so very hand
some American citizen. Even the mes
senger boys approve There came to
the White House the other day q pack
age with foreign labels, addressed to
Miss Alice. On the tag was written
by the messenger in a very Irregular
hand: 1--WE Americans is all glad 1T
There seems to be lot of things
to explain about the Panama Canal
business. 1t will be remembered that
a Mr.. Markell. of Nebraska. got the
contract for supplying all the food to
the Panama Canal Commission, and
then suddenly, before he had chance
to load up any ships with food supplies.
the contract was annulled. 1t now ap-
pears that Mr.. Markell got $10745 just
the same, and both Democrats and Re-
publicans on the Committee have been
trying TO find out under what sort of
a contract he got that money. II ap-
that appeared in the minutes of the
Commission meeting. and then again
those minutes were revised to suit the
memory Of the Counsel of the Com
mission and some things that happened
and are now under discussion were re-
vised out of the minutes. Mr.. Shonts
tcstifying before the Committee, said
that the stenographer of the Committee
took the notes and made up the report,
but that the Counsel. Il Mr.. Cromwell
had not supervised them when made
up, so they were changed to meet the
tOunseTs remembrance of what hap
rened. instead of taking the record of
the stenogra pher who took them YER
hatim!
Mr.. Shonts also acknowledged that
Mr.. Markets prices were above those
which the men had been paying, and
that there was trouble about that.
There were two menus, one for men who
were paid in gold and one for men who
We're paid in silver, and the why of
this was not explained very fully TO-
the Committee. 1t was proved. also.
that Mr.. Stevens cabled Mr. Shonts
that Markell would make a million q
wear out of his contract. The more
Mr. Shonts explains the worse the Com
r1ittee got mixed up. and it is still
mixed. Mr.. Shonts explained that Mr..
Markell got the s10,745 as q food ex-
pert"
There has just died in Baltimore an
old resident Of the District, and the
granddaughter of Mrs.
Martha Washington: Mrs. Eleanor
She was one of the Regents of the Mt
Vernon Association. and was 81 years
old.
The amount of mischief that a pair
Of cub boys can do innocently is SIM
ply incalculabIe. Two small boys were
playing with an old sbayOnet the othe~
day and poked it down the center slot
Of the electric railway down toward the
Maynard. They never told their trick
or that they could not get it out, but
waited for things to happen, and they
happened right straight along for just
one hour The first car that came
along ran its pillow into that wedged-in
bayonet and yanked the whole bust
That tied up the whole line till a
apparatus pried the thing up
and out. The kids got spanked, of
course. but what good did that do.
~"
Representative Robert Roberts Hit
Is going to quit Congress-. and there is
Representative Hit, Of
Is one OF the men meant for
office. He is as honest as men ever
grow. He has all his life been an in
worker, he has been a rock
ribbed Republican. and he has been a
man whom men loved, and he belongs
TO period Of which too few men are
now in active public life. He has been
in Ill health for several years. and
feels that he should retire and give
way TO a younger man.
Although a native of Ohio, Mr. Hltt
has lived in Illinois since he was three
years old. and his career has been one
Of extraordinary opportunities. He re-
ported the debates between Lincoln and
Douglas. and he has been associated
with public affairs, one way Or another
ever since. He was the intimate friend
OF James G. Blaine. and was peculiarly
trusted by Thomas II. Reed. SO that at
one time, when those two men were
estranged, Mr.. Hit was almost the sole
link between them.
Almost more than any other man
now living. he has continuous connec-
ton with American diplomacy. He
was the chosen confidant, first of Lin
coin and then Of Grant, and as one of
The original stenographers of the coun-
try was called upon to report some Of
the most important Congressional and
Investigations or the stormy
days Of Reconstruction.
In December. 1874, Mr.. Hit went to
Paris as Secretary Of Legation and
Charge d'Affairs. This was during the
second Grant Administration and no
there until 1881. He went
into the State Department as Assistant
Secretary in the latter year. and In No
1882. was elected to the 47th
Congress to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of Representative Hawk
Since then he has served continuously
Speaker Reed naturally put him at
the head Of the Foreign Affairs Com
mittee. and throughout the Republi-
can control Of the House he has been
kept in that important position. Mr.
Hits acquaintance with foreign poll
tics was infinitely wide, and during the
trying times that preceded the Spanish
war his advice was sought more con-
stantly by President Mckinley than
that OF any other man.
Senior Tulio Larrinaga, Resident
Of Porto Rico to the
United States, had introduced bill
Jan. 10. which Is intended to amend the
Foraker act in regard to the citizenship
and the Executive Council Of Porto
Rico.
He said: my bill refers to the citi-
and the abQlishment OF the