Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-08-26


had been substituted for the standard silver
cart wheels was a puzzle and might have
forever remained a secret had not the
negro messenger, who turned the trick,
lost his nerve and confessed
As result of the millions of silver dollars
| were all recounted by hand. piece by piece.
| and resacked the operation occupying a
! force Of twenty-five expert counters nearly
a year, and by this means It was ascer-
| tained that jackson had stolen some 500
| silver dollars. substituting lead disks for
the silver dollars abstracted.
VerItabIe Gold Brick.
Another theft whereby Uncle Sam lost
a considerable sum of money might in very
| truth be called a gold brick swindle
The chief assayer in the Philadelphia
mint turned this trick some years ago. 1t
appears that gold intended for mintage is
moulded into shape about the size of the
common red brick OF commerce and each
is worth about $1,000. These gold bricks
are stored in United States mints by the
! thousands awaiting such time as the gov
| ernment desires to coin the metal The
! Philadelphia mint official conceived a
! shrewd plan. At intervals he would extract
! one of these real gold bricks, and having
! erected retort at his home in one of the
! suburbs Of the Quaker city, proceeded to
! work the golden metal into small ingots
which he had no trouble in selling to gold
/ smiths. In this manner he got away with
! nearly $4,000 worth of Uncle Sans gold
! before his thevery was discovered. The
discovery was made through the process
of the usual annual count of stock made
in every government mint
Cabinet Officers Are Travellers
"Oficial travelling is as contagious as
yellow fever 1t goes through an admins
| trative household like a prairie fire and
oddly enough the more OF it that Is done
the more of it seems necessary"
This comment was made by one of the
Oldest and most experienced of government
officials in connection with the world tour
on which Secretary Taft has started He
noted that from the president down through
all grades of government officials the ex-
tent of tn travelling done during the last
six or eight years exceeded that of the last
| quarter OF u century.
| President Roosevet's cabinet" he con-
! tinued, might well be known as the travel
ing cabinet Its members have been away
! from Washington more frequently have
Travelled farther and on more extensive
! Journeys than the members of any other
cabinet in the history of the country. In
a way this is only the natural result of the
! development of the country. No cabinet
officer possibly can famiarize himself
! thoroughly with the work of his depart.
ment without coming into intimate touch
with 1t in all of it's details. These details
are widely scattered, and, as they cannot
be brought to him, 1t is necessary that he
| should go to them.
| Take Secretary Taft's casa In
stance. He is now about to make his sec
ond trip to the Philippines since he was
| appointed secretary Of war. Practically
he made a trip around the world before
This time he actually will encircle the
globe. From the time he left Washington
until hts return next December he will
have covered approximately 10000 miles
That trip will mean much, not to him, per-
sonally, only, but to the people of this
country. Taft, Notwithstanding his bulk
and his weight, is a prodigious worker and
every hour he is away he Will be working
for America and for its diversified interests.
A few years ago such a journey would
have been wholly unnecessary; now it is
absolute necessity, made so by the condi-
tions which America created
Roots Trip south.
| Tart, however, Is not lne OnlS lOHB ulS-
tance traveller in the cabinet. Secretary
Root has already taken one long trip
longer than any other cabinet officer, except
Taft, ever undertook-that TO the countries
of South and Central America. The good
results of that long and arduous Journey
have not yet been appreciated fully but
in rhe years to come they Will be. He Is
inst about to go on another long trip, not
Af1NRr riN
hut one pregnant with interest and i'm
portance to the people of the United states
He will visit Mexico in the near future,
and while the precise nature OF his mis-
sion has not been disclosed it Is expected
a. will result in closer relations politically
and commercially between the United
states and Mexico than has ever existed
before. 1t is not unlikely that out OF
sooratarv Roots visit to Mexico will grow
a more stable and definite understanding as
20 the situation throughout Central Amer
TOO II certainly will be fruitful OF good
rasults respecting the United States ana
,ha country over which President Diaz
presides.
strnus Benefits from Journey
..eooratorv straus of the Department Of
Commerce and Labor Is just about COM
pleting tour "ili0h 60.
ana western borders Of the United states
and the Hawaiian islands. He has been
in touch with parts of the government
service that no cabinet officer ever before
came into personal contact with and the
tourney will give him ideas and informa-
ton impossible to obtain in any other way.
secretary Wilson OF the Department OF
Agriculture has been studying for two
months forestry and grazing problems IN
the west and northwest travelling hundre Is
Of miles over almost impossible roads IN
wagons. This is true also OF the new sec
retary OF the interior Mr.. Garfield who
has also traversed all the public land states
together with the territories, in desire
TO have first-hand information as to the
great questions with which the Interior
department must deal.