The Springfield herald., 1909-07-23
NEWS FROM WASHINGTON.

Professor Simon Newcomb, the fam
Gus astronomer, died at his home in
Washington on the 10th inst, at the
age of seventy-four.
President Taft has decided to ap-
point Charles r. Crane of the manu-
featuring firm of Crane & Co. OF Chi
cago as minister to China.
President Taft now expects to start
on his western and southern trip
about September 18th, the date Of his
fifty.second birthday He will go to
Seattle via Denver. Salt Lake and
Spokane.
Upon conviction by courtmartial for
passing bogus checks and failing to
pay his debts, Mai Charles J. t.
Clark. Twenty-sixth infantry. sta
toned in the Philippines. has been
dismissed from the army.
Eastern policy holders of the North
western Mutual Life Insurance Com
pany are reported to be planning a
movement to remove the offices of the
company from Milwaukee to the East,
or to some state where the insurance
laws are not so drastic as in Wiscon-
sin.
The wiping off the map OF two I'M
posing mountain peaks, Perry Peak
and Mccullough Peak, the transforma-
ton OF bay into lake. and the
springing into existence Of two brand
new islands are the astonishing feats
of nature discovered in Bering sea by
a government party and reported to
the treasury department.
Cooperation between the governors
of the various states and territories
and the division of information of the
department of commerce and labor to
promote a more beneficial distribution
of aliens in the congested centers Of
the country is sought in communica-
tion sent to the chief executive OF the
states by T. v. Powderly, chief OF the
division of information.
A report to the reclamation service
received from the Gunnison tunnel,
the headings Of which met on July
9Th, states that the error in alignment
was .O4 of foot, or about half an
inch. The error in grade 3s4 inches.
The length of the tunnel checked to
within sc of a foot (about 10 inches),
of the triangulation calculation. This
is a most satisfactory showing consid-
ering that the tunnel is six miles in
length.
That the Postoffice Department has
checked the daring mail robberies in
the West is disclosed in a report sub
mitted to Postmaster General Hitch
cock by Postoffice Inspectors Mosby
and Perkins. No less than six train
robberies have been committed be-
tween Spokane, Wash, and Omaha
since September 1907, in all of which
mail, rather than express cars, were
attacked.
The annihilation OF the pirate ship,
together with its crew, which was
supposed to have captured an Amer
lean citizen in the waters of British
North Borneo, has been reported to
the State Department by the British
ambassador. The destruction was the
work of his majesty's ship Merlin.
Enormous increases in postal re-
ceipts for the month OF June. 1909,
compared with June, 1908, at fifty of
the largest postoffices, are recorded in
a statement issued by the department.
Dayton, o., leads with an increase of
40 per cent. Seattle. Wash, is next,
with an increase of 1920 per cent.
Representative Taylor has taken up
with the secretary of the navy the
question of presenting to the state of
Colorado the shields or figureheads
which are to be removed from the ar
c,uiser Colorado, and the third |
class cruiser Denver. Under recent
ruling of the Navy Department figure
heads and shields are to be removed |
from all naval vessels except the |
Olympic and Cincinnati The shields
are brass, representation of the ma
tional coat of arms and cost from ,
eo mn t-> 81 mn an~h