Evening journal., 1910-05-27
SIDELIGHTS
ON WASHINGTON
Smoking Barred in CapitO
Building Sometimes.
Wilkes Memorial
Realized

Smoking is barred at the Capitol
High grade perfectos and panatelas are
sold in the Senate and House res
taurants for the convenience Of the
lawmakers whom the police and door
Keepers are not brave enough TO stop
when they amble along in a cloud of
smoke. and it would be as much as
the lob of a Senate attache is worth
To spring the rule on individual mem
bers of the American House of Lords
when it is in session. The rule is fire.
quently broken. but the officers
around the Capitol do their best to
hold il down to a minimum and those
who suffer are mainly newcomers.
tourists and strangers, who do not
know how t. conceal their Smoke"
when they Come within range of the
attaches.
Edmunds Did II.
''Who in the dickens ever started
this anti-smoke crusader inquired a
breezy visitor from the west who
had been called down by door
keeper in one of the lobbies a few
days ago. Its long story" replied
the old Capitol stager. but you can
ettach, the blame to George +. Ed
munds, who was a Senator from Yer
mont. Before his day there was no
limit on the use of the weed in these
precincts. One afternoon Edmunds
started down into the restaurant for
luncheon. Some boys had been scent
ing UP the lower corridors with Gig
Rrette smoke. Edmunds ran into a
cloud of it, He abhorred the odor.
That very afternoon he brought about
The adoption of the rule which stands
Nntil this day prohibiting all smoking
within the Capitol. Edmunds was
then presiding officer Of the Senate
and. being one of the giants of the old
regime, had his way very easily"
Wilkes Memorial.
Il lis believed that the project for
the erection of a monument over the
grave of Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes
in Arlington Cemetery at the expense
of the Federal Government will be
passed before the end of the session.
Senator Wetmore has favorably re-
ported the bill TO the Senate, with a
recommendation for the appropria-
tion of 1900 for the monument, while
Representative Olcott. of New York,
has become interested in the cause,
and yesterday introduced similar
bin in the House, in order to obtain
its consideration by committee by the
time the Senate bill reaches the
House.
The Military order of the Loyal
Legion is very anxious for the erec-
ton of this monument. The family
of Rear Admiral Wilkes is unable,
through want of means, to appropri
ately mark his grave, and the District
Of Columbia commandery of the order
has appointed a committee consisting
OF Rear Admiral George c. Remey,
Brevet Lieut. Col G.. w. u. Black and
Francis p. b. Sands to procure de-
signs for a monument to commem-
orate the important discoveries Of
this distinguished navigator and ex-
plorer
His Claims TO Fame.
Gral Wilkes has many claims
fame. He is the discoverer Of
Land, which bears his name.
he Antartic regions. He was an.
bmplished officer and was an as
iate of Matthew Fontaine Maury,
scoverer of the Gulf Stream, in the
Establishment and development of the
depot of charts and instruments Of
4 the navy. He was probably the first
40 the United States TO set up and use
fixed astronomical instruments-about
1880. and was selected by the Navy
Department to command the survey
ing and exploring expedition to the
Pacific Ocean and South seas, under
authorit yof Congress in 1885, to ad-
vance the interests Of commerce and
science.
Six Years to Circle Globe.
with five sailing vessels and a
storeship he sailed out of Norfolk
1,.-I.,. IN, Avotruf 1875 and after cir
cumnavigating the globe arrived at
New York June 10, 1S42-a voyage
lasting six years. The narrative Of
this expedition, five volumes with at
las. and Is other volumes on scientific
subjects in which Wilkes was aided
by Agassiz, Gray and Dana, present
in part the results of the first great
scientific expedition from the United
states. The expedition first sailed
10 the Madeira Islands, thence around
Cape Horn and discovered and sur
veyed many islands in the South Pa
ciic Ocean.
South Of Australia in 1910 Wilkes
discovered large body of land in
the antarctic circle, which he named
the Antarctic continent, and then
sailed northward to New Zealand,
Fiji Islands Sandwich Islands and
the California coast afterwards vis-
iting Mauila. the Zulu Islands, Borneo,
returning via the Cape Of Good hope
and St Helena. Prior to this expedi-
tlon prsctically the only known lands
within the Antarctic circle were the
small areas of Graham, Snderby and
r. Sabrina Land. Wilkes charted over
7.600 miles Of Wilkes Land.
In August, 1861, Captain Wilkes
was ordered to command the San ia
cinto, then cruising off the coast OF
Africa IN search of slavers- He
brought this vessel to the United
Estates, and on November s. 1861
kile cruising in the West Indies
from the British mail steamer
Messrs. Mason and SlidelL the