The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-03-09

| INeLieuleS lndt never rail,
Though the starry heavens fall,
mat your dearest friends have used?
| Quit your job and try them all
| Nashville American.
World Is Growing Better.
The world is growing better
TheSe words were spoken on the floor
OF the house Of Representatives the 9th
| er day by one of the most picturesque
| members of congress, the venerable
General Joseph Warren Keifer, seventy
| two years of age and speaker of the
f'orty-seventh congress, twenty-seven
| years ago. The encouraging sentiment
\ deserved more attention than 1t receiv-
| ed. Apparently not half a dozen per-
| sons heard or needed them, and as the
aged philosopher sank into his seat the
house machinery resumed the grinding
| out Of pension bills.
| General Keifer later explained to the
| Eagle correspondent how the halls of
| congress have been purged of grafters
| corrupt lobbyists, and others seeking
personal and dishonest gain at the ex-
| pense of the public.
| why, OF course. the world is grow
ing BETTER" he said, despite the whole
| sale charges Of stealing in the COM
mercial world and fraud and graft in
| the legislative halls. Way back in the
| early times here there was a syndicate
| of thievfng men who tried to make
money out Of the plans for the city Of
Washington. They bought up all the
land in the vicinity of the Capitol build
ing, thinking to force the growth of the
city in that direction and selling to
They even got George Washington into
| their scheme. A lot of Dutchmen out
| witted them by building in the OPP
posfte direction, On what is now known
| as Pennsylvania avenue, and SO the
conspirators were disappointed and lost
LOT Of ~, 10 loy In
II think that syndicate was the most
| vicious one ever organized. The name
| Of George Washington, whether with
| his consent or not, 1 don't know, was
| used in other questionable transactions.
| Only the other day an administrator IF
| the Washington estate was appointed
| to look up a fraudulent land title in my
| district out in Ohio"
rs there as much corruption in con-
gress now as formerly"
| Bless you no." replied General Keifer,
| shaking his snowy locks. Congress I'M
derwent a great publication process
during the civil war. In those days 1t
| was a very common thing to put rot
| ten jobs through the two houses. I
don't care what people say who want
| to be tender on this subject, the rotten
est thing in this country was slavery
and it's incidents. They didn't stop at
anything in the way of fraudulent leg
/ islation in those days. Texas was adj
mitted into the union on the claim that
| a certain portion Of it was to be a free
state in time. This very portion was
| located above a degree Of latitude that
was 200 miles north Of the northern
| border Of that state. This fact was
| published at the time. but it. didn't stop
| the fraud.
1T don't think that many serious
frauds are perpetrated nowadays on the
public in legislation. A few bills with
4 ~ t. I,,r~r ~
get through, but not many. The cor
| rupt lobbyist is not tolerated here any
| more Twenty-Five and thirty years
ago this parasite thrived in Washing
| ton. Some of the worst and most I'M
J scrupulous in the world were here In
those days and they had enough In
| huence to stop legislation they didn't
| want and put through no end Of fraud
| ulent claim bills and public land steals
| think the lobby against the home
stead bill which infested the capitol for
| twenty-five years was the most g1ganlc
fraudulent combination of the kind ever
organized. "-Washington correspond
ence to Brooklyn Eagle
Breakfast in Siberia.
This bitter weather." said the ex-
| plorer makes me think of Siberia. I
spent two weeks in the hut of Sibe-
! rian savage, a prisoner to the black
| frost Shall I ever forget those two
weeks? Nit.
"a Siberian breakfast comes back
| to my mind. We took it lying on our
stomachs round a kind of pie-board
which was our table. The first dish
was frozen weeds dipped in seal oil
and served with large chunks OF fresh
bladder. The second dish was raw
walrus. The third dish was walrus
hide-ar inch thick and hairy-you
swallowed it whole, for it was too
| tough to chew.
esDinner was breakfast over again
! n1us hot meat, seal or rein deer, af-
| ter the hide course. Supper con-
sisted of cold blubber and cold hide
served with seal OIL
Don't wrinkle your nose and shud-
der. In that intense cold the Their
mometer never above 40 degrees be
low zero, I liked that greasy food.
You should have seen me munc ming
away at a great, soft yellow balls Of
fat similar to duck fat"-Minnea-
polls Journal.