Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-09
CHIEF Inch.
Or. THE NEwaBuREAU.or
INVE STlGATION"
DEPTzOF JUSTICE

lNVE - LIZA Az
DEPTsOF. JUSTICE
and snarps who use the mails for fraudu-
lent business.
You would not look for state secrets
in the Department OF Agriculture bur
each month IL regularly has on tap coolies
of them that Spectators would paw q
pretty penny for. Its forecasts OF the
size and character OF our maturing crops
sometimes precipitate panics in the spec
ulative world. shut down plants or cut
wages. while they especially fix prices as
well stock values Since premature
disclosure Of this information to one man
would place in his hands the power t.
acquire riches undreamed OF by Croesus,
an ingenious system is in use Tor & wing
every citizen in the land an equal chance
to make use OF the prognosti cation. As
the forecasts come in from the separate
states the Secretary Of Agriculture puts
them away in his safe. On the day OF
the monthly count the statisticians are
locked In a room where the seals are
broken and the final computation Is
made And the key to this room is not
turned until an official passes out t.
hand the operators of the two great tele-
graph companies the flash figure" for
which all of the wires in the country
and the cables TO the old world are being
held open
Nor is the youngest of the federal de-
partments-that OF Commerce and La
bor-wfthout its state secrets. deer and
impenetrable. The census bureau 1eal-
ously guards the most sacred of ali Sc
crets confided to II by millions of ciii-
zenesses-the mystery Of their ages. The
census employe who discloses this or any
nHfSVY ttax,
vidual IS liable to a fine Of $500
ana chock-full of secrets is the chief NJ
this departments bureau of corporations
VINO Is authorized by law to Investigate
.ne conduct and management of trusts or
other concerns whose products enter into
interstate commerce No authority, ex-
cept the President himself. can force thi4
functionary to divulge what he has
CLEANED concerning the transactions O.
our malefactors of great wealth"
Doubtless there has ever been too great
secrecy involved in our administration Of
government. But. as you have seen. tho
throwing open OF the doors of all of our
federal council chambers would-while
human nature retains its present fra;l-
ties-result In continuous war and panic
And until some panacea for personal
greed and internationa envy has been
discovered and effectively applied Off
cialdom must continue to transact a por-
ton of its business behind closed doors
So state secrets are liable 10 plague US
and excite our imaginations until the
millennium intervenes.
Copyright, 1911. BY John ElfretA wstkinaD
following are often different. Charac-
teristic symptoms OF poisoning from eat
ing the fruit or any part of the plant
are staggering, stupefaction. loss OF
speech. cramps and sometimes convul-
sions Death is directly due TO paralysis
of the lungs, but fortunately few cases
are fatal.
Sneezeweed also has a place in this
list of poisonous weeds and plants. This
is a smooth. angular branching plant.
from one TO three feet high, with thick.
lance-shaped leaves and a large number
of SNOWY yellow flowers. The whole
plant, but more especially the flowers.
is bitter. Powdered, the plant causes
violent sneezing. and thereby derives its
name. 1t is sometimes used in medicine
and extreme sensitivsness TO the touch.
While not exactly in the same cafe
CORY. there are two species OF fungus,
somewhat similar 10 the mushroom
which are poisonous. and are liable to be-
gathered by the ardent pursuer after
the edible fungus. One of these is the
fly amanita- The principal characteristic
which this fungus bears is a oobwebby
covering, which envelopes the young
plant This is sometimes found directly
on the cap of the fungus. while again II
is ruptured and slips 10 the base OF the
stem. where it forms a continuous cap.
But whenever this is found IL marks the
species. Ranging from four to sixteen
inches high the fy amanita Is q hand
some, robust species and is highly at
tracttve In looks. smell and taste. In
color 1t ranges from white through all
shades of yellow to bright red. being
generally more reddish in The center AMI
light yellow outward This is the best
known OF all the poisonous species, an
has been used as fly poison in Europe
for hundreds OF years, while in north
western Asia il is used as an intoxicani
Poisoning from eating the plant often
results in a profound stupor. double VI
sion and lockiaw Death sometimes re
suits after eighteen hours, or I'm two or
three days.
Closely allied to this is the death cur
This, neither as large nor as brilliant, is
yet extremely attractive and more
from eating the plant often
this species has neither a disagreeable
aste nor odor. Generally yellow in
color. IL is smooth OF stem and has a
stainy cap In this species. too. can be
found the cup directly beneath the cap
rhis variety is exceedingly abundant in
he vicinity of Washington, but can Al
ways be distinguished from the true
mushroom OF edible quality by the cup
and the fact that IL grows in woods In
stead Of meadows, as does the latter. A
arge number of cases have been re-
,orded from eating this as an edible
ungus, both in ancient as well as mod
.rn times In q few cases the mere
causes serious trouble, while In
he instance OF a twelve-year-o bow a
bird of an uncooked cap proved fatal
eating this species. there is
pain. although there may be
10 sign of poisoning until fourteen hours
fter eating. Cramps I'm the legs.
pasms. and even locktaw result. Death
nsues in from two to four days.
Youth and Age.