The National tribune., 1909-09-16

to be slow in announcing the name.
John M. Dalzell, better known a.
Private Dalzell," who is prominent
member of Burnside Post. of this city
was stricken with partial blindness last
week while at his desk in the Treasury
/ Department. He was very ill for a
| time, and was confined to a dark room.
His illness is due to overwork, but his
physician thinks that the blindness is
only temporary, and that complete
rest viii soon restore him to his accus-
| toned vigor. Private Dalzell has been
for 10 years in a responsible position in
the shipping division of the Treasury
| Department.
The War Department has been ad-
vised of the sailing Of eight of its ar
inored cruisers of the Pacific fleet for
| the Philippines last week. They will
touch at Chinese ports. also visit Japan.
The journey is for practice. and the
fleet is commanded by Admiral Sebree.
A tremendous crowd gathered to see
the sailing out of the Golden Gate Har-
Dor, and it is said that more magnifi-
cent sight was never witnessed.
The flagship Tennessee was in the
lead. followed by the Washington, Cali
fornia and South Dakota, of the First
Division. and the West Virginia. Mary
land, Pennsylvania and Colorado, of the
Second Division, under the red pennant
of Rear-Admiral Edward B. Barris, sec
ond in command. When Golden Gate
was passed the speed of the ships was
increased. and from here to Honolulu
an average of 1S knots will be made.
1t will be Feb 5 before the eight
fighting ships again pass thru the Gold
en- Gate
A funny scare struck Washington
lne4 Js 4.
bered that the Washington Monument
stood for nearly quarter of a century
in an unfinished state. and that when
the war broke out it stood half COM
pieted. with the rotting scaffolding
sticking out of the unfinished shaft. Nat
uraily the inside stone work Cor mar
BILE. more properly speaking). which
had not been finished up and smoothed
off. began to disintegrate from the
weather. When. after the war great
many years a Washington Monument
Association was formed, and the Gov
eminent forced to contribute toward the
finishing of the monolith whose unfin-
ished condition was a disgrace to the
Nation, the monument was completed.
Those Weather-worn stones still con-
tinue to scale off, and the high winds
or something. it is not known just what.
caused good deal more dropping than
usual last week, and the word got out
that the monument was crumbling and
might fan any minute. You cannot i'm
agine what a furore that created. Hun
dreds of women and children went to
the monument grounds and camped for
hours at time. many of them carry
ing lunch with them, expecting to be
''in at the death" But the monument
didn't fall, and it is not going to. 1t
stands as strong and durable as a gran
lite quarry. 1t would have to be hewn
m vet riH nf
The Agricultural Department has
some work laid out for it right here in
Washington. The squirrels in the parks
of Washington are dying rapidly from
disease of some kind. No squirrels
were ever any more petted and PAM
pered than are those in the parks of
Washington The children love them
and play with them all day long, and
everybody who passes thru a park car
ries nuts or something toothsome for
the pretty little gray animals. But they
are unaccountably dying. Their bodies
are found in the White House grounds
emaciated and starved looking. despite
the fact that the White House police
care for them tenderly. 1t is thought
that some mysterious disease is at
tacking them. and the Agricultural De-
partmest is going to make study of
the little creatures to discover. If posi-
Bile, the bug" that is preying upon
them, and make use of it in exterminat-
ing squirrels in the States that have
too many Of them and seem unable to
get rid of them by any commonly en-
ployed methods.
Washington doesn't intend to be re-
sponsible for the spread of the Texas
cattle fever if an ounce of prevention
will help it. A consignment of cattle
rln nd frlrf Y Iaae, hnn
into quarantine in the Bennings cattle
yards pending developments and inves-
tgation by the Bureau of Animal In
dustries It is thought that pens will
be erected especially for the Southern
cattle trade, and such animals will not
be permitted to mix with the Northern
cattle. thus preventing any possible con-
tamination.
Unkind surgeons refused to sew on a
toe for man at the Casualty Hospital
one day last week Dennis Miles, a
colored man. was moving the grass in
a yard and accidentally moved off one
of his big toes. He stuck the toe in his
coat pocket and started for the hospi-
tai with it, but all to no avail The
surgeon in charge said he couldn't sew
IL back. and so Dennis took the toe
home and put it in alcohol for SOU
venir, and went back to his moving.
Officials of the Biological Survey. of
the Department of Agriculture, are pre-
pairing to wage war upon the brown
Norway rat thruout the county, as sta
tisties recently collected by that De
partment show these rodentS are re-
sponsfbfe for the loss of millions of dol
lars annually.
David LantZ, an assistant of the Bio
logical Survey. who has the matter in
charge, says that the farmers, who suf-
Ter most from the depredations of the
rats. are the ones who do the most to
encourage the animals and furnish them
with breeding places.
Mr.. LantZ is of the opinion that the
only adequate method of fighting the
pests is by universal trapping and by
the construction of rat-proof ware
houses and granaries, which are the
principal breeding places of the rodents.
Francis ]. Kilkenny, National Presi-
dent of the Association of the Home
going Pilgrimage TO Ireland, returned
recently from a trip to the Emerald
Isle. Mr.. Kilkenny went there to make
preparations for the trip of the home
goers next year
He stated that the Irish people are
delighted with the plan and are going
TO do all in their power to make the
affair big success. Special conces-
sions are to be made persons holding
membership in the National assocIs
ton.
Mr.. Kilkenny said he was surprised
to find that ireland now has better IA