Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-02-26
Site Of New Public Build
ing at Gardiner.
Senator Hale Busy With the
Appropriation Bills.
Congressman BurIeigh on Recep.
ton Committee at Ball.

-
ciaD. 1.-The Treasury Department has
keen wrestling hard over the selection
of a site for the new public building at
Gardiner 1t is almost invariably a
big task to select a site for a public
building in any city and Gardiner is
proving no exception. There has been
& lot of correspondence between rep
resentative business men of Gardiner
and Assistant Secretary of the Treas
ury Beeman Winthrop and Gov. Bur
leigh over the matter. There IS a de-
sire. of course, to fix upon site that
will be convenient for the transaction
&C business and satisfactory to as ma
nv patrons as possible. There is also
Il desire to purchase a site Tor as rea-
sonablc figure as possible and well
within the $4,000 that was appropriated
by Congress for the purchase of site.
Things have been tending toward the
selection Of site at Brunswick, Wa
ter and Mechanic streets. Assistant
Secretary Winthrop is about ready APP
rarently to give the word for closing
UP the deal and Gov. Burleigh is
| awaiting his final decision.
| AS a matter OF fact, the experience
| of the Treasury Department is that it
takes quite as long. often longer, to
set site for a public building as it
erect the building itself. The period
of time in which TO buy public build
| ing site ranges from one to two years
and therefore it will be plain that Gar
diner is having no more trouble in
that particular than all other cities
have. The first step generally is to
| ice q
| offers and when the offers are in d
1 special agent is sent out TO look the
ground over and see which of the Site"
is most desirable. But by that time
the work has hardly more than begun
| There are nearly always many people
to be consulted and numerous confer
enceS among the different parties in
trrcste,l must follow before the deal is
closed and the site is selected. But
then there is invariably a long wait
ever tho examination of title. and the
completion of the legal papers. So
when the Gardiner site is agreed upon,
! it is fair to infer that about half the
work has 0"en done and that the last
| half is the construction of the building
itself.
| Everybody now at the Capitol-the
| Maine people among them-is looking
| over into the next administration. The
! inauguration Of President elect Taft is
| HOW Sc close at hand that everybody
is counting the days till the fourth of
| March. Senator Hale, more than any
| body else, is making another daily
count That is the number Of appro
| priation3 bills lie has yer to pass.
Then ne takes the number of those
| bills not yet enacted by the House or
| the Senate as the case may be, and
! figures how many times it Will go into
| the number of days of the session of
| Congress remaining.
| It is a foverish problem at division
Tor to Senator Hale the quotent is an
extremely interesting figure. A few
days ago the Guotient was most dis
| couraging hut it has been growing
gradually smaller and smaller and
what wise men said a few days ago
vas likely to be impossible is really
providing to be possible.
Things are going along SO nicely, al
though tusly. and the days till Wash
| ington blossoms out in her beautiful
decorations of red, white and blue ana
|
one in the White House are SO few
that the Maine folks are already max
| ing their plans fer the period that in
ttrvenes. From the morning after in
augura;ion till the Monday morning
| when the first session of the new Con-
gress comes together it will be eleven
days. A lot can be done in that time.
| Very few of the Maine people will stir
l 4 l. mil
home at this time of year. after one
has become seasoned to the sunny eli
| mate o. Washington. 1t would hazard
a severe cold and the consequent dis
comforts. Some of the Maine dele
gates will go t. the Inaugural Ball.
Representative Burleigh, the dean of
the House delegation, has been named
a member of the Reception Committee
at the ball and will go thither to be
one of The committee to extend glad
hand to the new President when he
has driven Gown from the White
House with Mrs. Taft and been ush-
cred into the ulagnificiently decorated
court of the Pension Office Building.
For a few days after the inaugural
Washington will seem a very quiet
village. But Congress will be at it
again and the city will seem like itself.
Gov Burleigh has been enjoying
| Joke with Chairman T. e. Burton, Of
the Rivers and Harbor Committee over
| a Maine item in the Rivers and Har-
Dor bill, just taken up by the House.
It is the item, providing for the sur
| vey OF a har5or of Refuge at Isle au
Haul. off the Maine coast. The island
has no more public spirited citizen
than Miss Teresa Damon, Of New
York Sine spends several weeks OF
leyery summer at her cottage there.