The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-11-08
NOTES FROM WASHINGTON
Especial Correspondence.)


transport free Christmas boxes for
officers and soldiers on the foreign sta.
tiOns. Boxes for the troops in the
Philippines may be consigned TO the
superintendent Of the army transport
service in San Francisco, and those
for S~ba may be sent to the depot
quartermaster at Newport News, Va.
Lobster lmmieration.-One thousand
Maine Holsters will get it in the neck
next month. Fish Commissioner Bow.
ers is quietly cornering the marKet,
and about Nov. l bunch Of live ones
Of regulation cherub girth will be
shipped 20 the frozen Alaska. They
will have TO hustle like tabasco sauce
10 make a living i'm new environment.
This is what the fish commission wants
them to do. If they fail TO catch on"
and become acclimated 10 the Alaskan
waters, the government will be out
Of pocket about $500. This is what
it will cost to make the experiment in
propagating the New England lobster
in the Pacific. Mr.. Bowers believes
the New England Holsters will make
good in Alaska.
On the aster-General-There
is a story going the rounds here at
the expense of George Won l.. Meyer
Of Massachusetts, pOstmaster-general,
in the pOstofice department. He was
addressing the postmasters' conven-
ton here the other day The hall was
crowded and many pOstmasters, un
able to get in, were blocking the
street. Whats the meaning OF all
this crowd?" inquired a pedestrian of
policeman. Sure, it's the postmas.
ter-gineral instructing his assistants
how to read postal cards" replied the
guardian of the law.
Pension Roll Diminishing-At the
close of last June the names of 644,'
33S survivors of the Civil war were
on the pension roll. During the year
31,2O1 survivors had died. The whole
number of pensioners on the roll was
967,37l, figures which show a net
falling off for the fiscal year of 49,
600 pensioners, the greatest net loss
for any years in the history Of the pen
sion bureau. The number of pension
ers remaining on the roll was the
smallest since 1898. Every year now
records a vast harvest of death among
the survivors of the Civil war, and
all too soon the last man who an
swered to the call of his country in
that great conflict to keep the union
whole will be gathered to his com
rades.
Business Men Will Benefit-Post-
master General Meyer issued an order
recently respecting the purchase by
business men of stamped envelopes
that will mean much to large users of
the government envelopes. 1t pro-
vides that when an order is placed
with "A postmaster for stamped en-
velopes only the cost of the envelopes
and printing thereon shall be deposit
ed with the order, instead of the en-
tire cost of the envelopes, printing
and stamps, as at present. This Will
prevent the tieing up Of large sums
of money pending the delivery of the
envelopes.
Secretary Adee Easily Reached
The most exclusive official in the post
office department is not Postmaster
General Meyer, but Third Assistant A.
l.. Lawshe Mr.. Lawshe was once
auditor for the Philippines and pre-
vious to that was the editor of a
country paper in Indiana. The red
tape ideas he absorbed in the east
are still dominant with him, and it
is easier for q stranger to see the
President of the United States than
the third assistant. Mr. Meyer is
easily accessible to visitors, but it
takes diplomacy to see Lawshe. Over
i'm the state department all the secre-
taries are exclusive except A. A. Adee
who is the most easily reached Sec
retary Root is one of the hardest men
in public life to reach, while it is pos
sible to see Assistant Secretary Rob
ert Bacon of Boston only at a certain
hour of the day. In the treasury de-
partment all the assistant secretaries
occupy rooms directly upon the pub
lie corridor. and anybody can walk in
and see them without sending in a
card.
Doofish as Food-Ohicials of the
fisheries bureau expect a preliminary
report soon upon the investigation at
the laboratory of the Woods Hole fish
hatcheries into the question of utiliz
ing dogfish and other sea pests. These
Investigations have been in charge OF
Irving Field of the eastern Maryland
college. Westminster, Md. They have
been in progress for about two years,
and Il is expected that they will not
be completed for an equal length of
time. Unofficial reports that have
reached the bureau indicate that the
investigators have solved the problem
of what to do with the dogfish, which
is regarded as a pest by New England
fishermen. The use TO which the bu'
reau would put these marine monsters
is TO eat them. II is said that after
number of experiments the investiga-
49,. bova ,,roved that dOg6Sh is lust