Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-11-08
BITS on WASHINGTON LIFE.
Minor scenes ana Incidents sketched
ON the snot.

Minor scenes and Incidents sketched
on the spot.
The quarters which President Roose-
welt win occupy on the battleship louisiana
during the voyage to and from Panama,
have been fitted up with everything neces-
sary for the comfort OF the chief executive
and commander-lnrchief Of the navy. They
are situated att, separated from the rest
Of the ship by temporary bulkhead, and
consist OF seven staterooms and three
bath rooms. The large cabin intended
for the occupancy Of a nag oficer has been
converted into a large dining and reception
room. The 'chlef Of stafCs cabin is to be
used ms a sitting room, while the space
around the after turret has been specially
prepared as a sort of general sitting room
for the use Of the president and those who
will accompany him on his trip.
The admrals stateroom will be occupied
by President Roosevelt, while the captains
quarters, 1t Is understood. will be set aside
for the use OF Mrs. Roosevelt. The other
stacerooms, consisting Of the chief of Stars
quarters and two others, win be occupied
by other persons in the presidents party.
There will be no special decorations placed
in the presidents quarters nor will there
be any additional furniture, beyond a few
wicker chairs, lounges, etc, for use in the
tropics.
Reformed spelling received a dignihed
jolt from the supreme court the other day
Solicitor General Hoyt had just finished
his opening argument in a land case
when Chief Justice Fuller, who had been
following in the governments brief on
the case, a quotation cited by Mr.. Hoyt
from a long-ago decision OF the court
came across the word spelled "thru."
do 1 understand you to say, Mr.. So
lictor General" the chief justice in
quired, with simulated seriousness, that
this purports TO be a literal quotation from
the opinion of Justice Bradley"
1T is, your honor" replied Mr. Hoyt,
who then glaEced at the citation and also
saw that the government printing ONCE,
which prints the briefs for the Department
OF Justice, had followed President Roose-
velt's order as to spelling almost too
literally, and had made Justice Bradley,
who was scarcely without a peer in the
use OF correct English, spell through"
according to the revised method.
The solicitor general explained that the
printing Office was operating under the
order as to smpliied spelling and he agreed
that i'm the government briefs It should be
followed as a matter Of course. But he
submitted that in quotations like the one
in question, the language Of the court
should not be altered. He practically
promised that the mistake should not oc-
cur again.
Chief Justice Fuller smilinely nodded
his approval, and the incident ended.
The great number of persons residing in
Washington named Smith, there being 1880
Of them, and the almost innumerabe COM
binations of the preflxes, William, William
NJ, w. NJ. and VIM used to designate
particular Smiths, has caused William
Marion Smith, a clerk in the Office of the
auditor of the Navy department, such
trouble and annoyance that he has APP
pealed to the local courts for relief In a
change of name.
Mr.. Smith is a descendant of the Ken
lucky family of that name his father
being Jesse W. Smith of Albany, Lincoln
county, in that state, and his mother be-
fore her marriage, was Miss Mary Jane
Irby. The petitioner first saw the light in
the blue grass state August y, 1874 so
on the last anniversary of his birth, after
having trouble for many years on account
of the great number of Smiths in the
land, he decided to change his name by
prefiXing his mothers maiden name,
'''Irby," to his own. making IL Irhy-Smith.
Mr.. Smith suggests to the court in his
| petition that a persons name is for the
! purpose of identifying him as an indi-
vidual, and so separating him from all
others that he may not be mistaken for
anyone else. He says that unfortunately
| for him, the frequent recurrence OF the
! prefixes, or Christian Names, of William
and w. NJ. to the name of Smith makes
It difficult to Identify particular individ-
| ual named Smith.