The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1906-02-07
LETTER
Especial Correspondence

/ DitcS. xxc VIII COA4ACI WIlu TUE DECSlU0ut
about it and will endeavor to get con-
gress to appropriate for the purchase Of
the vehicles.
The immense business Of the printing
office requires about fifty wagons and
more than Il hundred horses. These are
used In the hauling of paper and sup
plies. the delivery Of printed matter to
the various government buildings and
the like. 1t costs heavily to maintain
ell these wagons and horses and the
teamsters necessary to look after them.
Mr.. Stillings thinks he could save the
government about 100000 a year By
turning to automobiles. It would. Of
course, require a heavy sum to buy the
automobiles. but maintenance would
not be a heavy item.
The printing Office already has an cleo
trio plant. where the automobiles could
be charged. so that tho" ".>',ll be
scarcely any additions! lre for
power. Then. too. it is g. ,..atel that
better time could be mad" and fewer
men would be required.
Oregon Land Frauds.
Francis ]. Heney, special counsel for
the government in the land fraud cases
in Oregon. called on the president n few
days ago and talked with him about the
cases. Representative Binger Hermann
Of Oregon. former commissioner Of the
general land Office. will be brought to
trial in Washington during the last
week in March. There are two indict-
ments against Mr.. Hermann, IL in
this jurisdiction and one in Oregon. The
District case will be prosecuted first, to
be followed by the Oregon case. Mr..
Henoy will conduct both cases.
Annapolis In Plaster.
= g attraction for visitors at the
navy department is Il representation Of
the grounds and buildings at the Naval
academy at Annapolis as they will look
when the scheme of improvement now
being carried out is completed.
Two huge plaster models have been
the main reception room of the secre-
tary of the navy. They show clearly
the topography of the ground. and mod
els of the buildings are all presented.
The work. in fact. is a miniature of the
academy territory on the scale of one
inch to thirty-two feet.
Door Of Libby Prison.
The front door of Libby prison, that
did guard during the civil war, is on ex
hibition in Il buffet on Pennsylvania
avenue. 1t is the only part of that his
toric Jail that was not removed to Chi
cago when the structure was taken
down in Richmond and transferred to
the western city twenty years ago.
The door is six feet high and three
and a half feet wide. 1t is made Of
southern pine planking an inch thick,
Ave inches wide and grooved. It is
braced by three crosspieces, each an
inch thick and eight inches wide. On
the back the marks Of the old fashioned
pointed hinges on which it hung are
plain, and on the top crosspiece are the
imprint and the broken bolts Of what
was evidently a stout iron bar or brace.
The planking, originally painted a dark
brown. is now ashy gray with age. The
lock Is a cumbersome. old style one,
size 6 by 8 inches.
Rude Carvings.
The lettering rudely carved on these
boards excites deep interest.
One or two primitive attempts at ar
tistic carving were made, but most Of
the prisoners seem to have been content
with plain lettering. A few days ago
an old member of the Thirtieth New
York volunteers, who when a prisoner
had carved his name on the door, hear
Ing that it was in Washington came to
see 1t. He recognized it Mt once and,
drawing a huge key from his pocket,
tried the lock. It fitted perfectly. The
key. he said, had been used in the lock
when he was confined there, and on his
release he had secretly taken it away.
Accurate Bookkeeping.
A committee of experts from the
treasury department recently finished
an examination Of the books of F. l..
Evans, who for ten years has been dis
tributing officer for the department of
agriculture. The committee found that
the government owes the clerk 2. 10.
for which a voucher will be issued. The
examination was made necessary by
Mr.. Evans Ill health. He has taken m
indefinite leave Of absence. and he has
had to turn all his accounts over to IN
assistant. During the ten years he was
d%tsbursing clerk he paid out more than
$41,OOO.OOO. No officer of the govern
ment g made such a record for accu-
racy. Had the discrepancy been ten
times as great and had that money
beer due the government instead of
Evans there would have been no re.
mark about it.
h Favorite Flower.
The governors of the house of repre-.
sentatives have changed the color OF
their floral decorations. 1t used to bt
the flaming scarlet carnation that found
favor in the eyes Of Cannon. Dalzell
Payne and Grosvenor, but now it is 8
pale pink shade Of that delightful
flower that is in favor.
Fake Antiques.
One OF the most remarkable pieces OF