Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-02-09
BITS ,oF WASHINGTON LIFE.
Minor scenes and Incidents sketched
on the spot.

on the spot.
The Interior department has withdrawn
from entry a slice OF public land in Colo
RADIO on which grows a peculiar weed.
And thereby hangs a tale. a few years
ago a ram imported by sheep raiser at
Durango "rubbered' at this strange plant
and ate heartily thereof Native sheep in
variably passed It up. The ram was
bowled over by the new food. A veterin-
arian made a post-morten examination,
and the stomach was found filled with lit
tie balls, not rubber balls. exactly, but
balls of gum OF consistency which, upon
experimentation, proved as valuable as
the famed para gum OF South America
from which rubber is made.
The discovery led to the organization Of
a corporation which will continue expert
ments upon a large scale with the shrub.
Pending the result of the experiments the
land has been withdrawn from entry.
Congressman Littleneld of Maine is the
champion talker of the house. He rattles
Off his words faster than an auctioneer
calling for bids and in very much the same
manner There is a surprising difference
between the way in which Lttefield in
terrupts another mans speech with an in
speech OF his own. In the one case he is
slow and deliberate and speaks in lo".
distinct tone. In the other he is fiery and
vehement, with gestures that shake his
whole body. He has a way of emphasz-
ing his words, syllable by syllable, and with
each syllable he snaps his head forward as
II to break his own neck. For instance:
'"The presidents power is soup-ream."
q no NJ IA he iv
cracked the desk in front Of him with his
head when he said soup" and again
when he said "ream."
When he said "popu-lstic party" he
shook his head 30 hard his glasses flew
clear to the end OF their cord and he
nearly lost them
Littlefeld has the record for the rapid
enunciation of words. and when he gets up
to make speech the official stenographers
know they have their work cut out for
them
Mr. Bodawitz of Ardmore, I. T., a pros
porous merchant, will have his name pre-
served in the pages of history as the only
person who has ever declined to meet the
president of the United States when il was
the easy and natural thing to do. Mr..
Bodawitz went TO Washington to file
charges against an applicant for a federal
job. He succeeded in knocking out his
man and while calling at the White House
Secretary Loeb asked him II he would not
like to see the president. Mr.. Bodawitz
looked at his watch and replied: "It is
now Il o'clock and I have an appointment
over at the Arlington in three minutes a"
Couldn't you drop around in the morn
ing?" asked Secretary Loeb when he had
caught his breath. mo" replied Mr.
Bodawitz. 81 am going down to Mount
Vernon In the morning and will take the 3
O'Clock train for the west" Mr. Bodawitz
simply did not have any curiosity to see
the president and no reason to believe that
the president wished to see him.
The late Associate Justice Gray OF the
supreme bench was very eccentric. Among
his prejudice was a deep and lasting
aversion for a typewriter That machine
did not come into general use until Justice
Gray was an old man and he never be-
came reconciled to It. 1t made him furious
II lawyer filed with him a motion or
other court paper typewriter. He invara-
bly, returned it with a ! isque request
that the matter TO be submitted be written
In longhand. He had a stenographer at HIS
as he wrote all his letters as well as his
opinions. He notified the clerk of the SUI
preme court not to send him any type
written paper, no matter how important It
might be. He never neglected an oppor-
tunity to denounce typewriters. The result
OF his hatred for these machines was that
he did three times as much work as the
other justices.
Senator Knox Of Pennsylvania, in con-
versation with a friend the other dav.
laughingly observed that IL he had had
any idea as to the amount OF work he
would have to perform that he never would
have taken the job as a member of the
United States senate
Fhere seems to be absolutely no end to
It, he said. My secretary tells me that
l answer On an average twelve letters a
day"