The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-07

he would not accept the place. He be- | lieVes that owing to his position and his relation to the President 1t would not be proper for him to be chairman. He puts himself in the same position as that of n cabinet officer The President and his | friends are of the opinion that 1t would be improper. for obvious reasons for any menbe" of the cabinet to be chairman of the national committee.
 | After he had made his position clear those friends of MT. Hes expressed q preference for MT. Loeb. During the meeting Of the national committee here 1 much sentiment in favor of MT. Loeb de- veloped. Most of the members of the | committee viewed the situation as did MT. Hilles, and accepted tho 'latter's sug- I seetion that Mir Loeb was the best | choice. Many of the committeeman went away with the belief that Mir Loeb would i be the man.
 Among the less radical of the nsur- gents MT. Loeb is looked upon with favor William F.. Chiffon. senator from West Virginia, has the queerest fad on record. | lt is giving away pocket knives. | Where ether men would hand out a ci- gar. or suggest buying q drink, Chiffon presents handsome stag handled knife containing three blades, button hook, nail 1 file, and cork screw
 In the last several years he has given away almost TOGO knives. He calls its en- rolling people in his Knife club. Sooner or later nearly every man and boy in | West Virginia will be taken into full membership of Chilton's club. He gives a knife to nearly everybody he knows. | Newsboys. United States senators, Pull
 man porters, walters, water boys peas ants, taxi drvers-all carry knives hand ed to them by Chiffon. Sometimes he'll think of a friend in a remote part of the country who hasn't one of his knives and he can't get his mind on anything else until he has mailed him one. For the purpose he keeps on hand a special shape of pasteboard box just to mail the knives in.
 Some time ago Chiffon bought some stock in a wholesale hardware concern, and his friends declare that he did 1t largely 10 get the expense of his annual knife gifts on more businesslike basis IL Is believed that he takes his dividends all in the form of knives.
 Chiffon. himself, carries a $40 knife that was sent to him by a friend who takes great pride in being one of the earliest members of the Knife club. That inland, fresh water statesman, tho Hon. Lemuel P. Padgett, representative from Tennessee, and chairman of the House committee on naval affairs, has planted q bomb under the omfortaby
 
 admirals of the navy. who hold their rank by virtue of holding appointive po- stions as bureau chiefs. The bomb, to which Representative Padgett declares he will apply the match at the first oppor- tunity, consists of a bill which he has introduced repeating the law carrying the rank and pay of rear admlrals with the post of bureau chief in the navy depart ment.
 Secretary Meyer has headed his big bureaus with lively young men, far be- low the rank of admiral in the line, and wholly lacking that gray, corpulent and seadog appearance which an admiral is smiling young men were sobered with the prospect that a democratic commit tee, interested in economy, would accept Representative Padgett's bill
 The officers affected are Rear Ad- mirals Hutch l. Gone. chief of the bu- reau of steam engineering; Richard C. Hollyday. chief of the bureau of yards and docks; Nathan C. Twining. e.-.ef Of the bureau of supplies and accounts; Richard M. Watt, chief of the bureau Of construction and repair. and Philip An drews, whose nomination to the chief of the bureau of navigation, has been sent to the Senate All of these are below the captains grade.
 "It is not likely, l suppose, that the rivers and harbors congress will met anywhere in the next few years except in the city of Washington" says J. A. Munday of Vancouver, Wash. "OfI course, there has never been any req flint about the meeting place of the rivers and harbors congress. Wash 1 ington Is the natural place for such a convention. but Spokane made q bid for 1t, and it is not unlik ely that It's of l forts will result in a great deal of l good for the common cause for which l the delegates to the Rivers and Harbors l congress are working.
 "The national organization covers | every part of the United States and un- doubtedly is accomplishing a lot of good. In the east there a re several sub | sidiary organizations that are doing much work locally West of the Mis- | sissippi however, there Is no concen- trated effort to forward the movement. | frs improved waterways. except so far | al 4he national Congress may work. | $ okane's bid for the waterways con