Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1912-01-24
WASHINGTON LETTER
Weekly Letter From Our Special
Correspondent.
Brief Items of Interest to Iowa PeO-
pie, Written by an Iowa
Man.

=
We are very much pleased to
announce to our readers that we
have engaged the services of
Mr.. Geo. A. Wood, a former
Iowa newspaper man, to send us
weekly letter of news items
from the national capital at
Washington, d. C. Mr.. Wood
Is in a position to get the facts
first hand, and during this most
important session of congress,
preceding a national election,
his letters will be unusually in
teresting.-The Editor. 8
Washington, D. c., Jan. %, 1912.
Fifteen members of the house of
representatives hold labor union
cards.
Won't it be grand when We can
read in the Congressional Record
about the senatress from Colorado?
Two billion yards, or about two
million miles, of jute twine is used
by the post office department annual
ly.
A Kentucky man dropped dead
just after breaking a twenty-five
years silence toward his wife. Serv-
ed him right; he should have stuck
it out.
A professional vermin extermina-
tor has been employed to rid the
capitol of the immense number of
pests which have bothered the Gus
todians of the building for years.
The packers trial at Chicago has
given us hypothetical beef and now
if some genius will favor us with
imaginary butter and suppositious
egg we can oegin to save money.
/. r,Asx.Ayashiagton man has been
granted a divorce on the ground that
he was compelled by his wife and
mother-in-law to wash dishes and do
other household stunts upon return
ing home from his days work.
A general house cleaning has been
going on at the war department, and
officers who have been practising
swivel chair tactics for more than
four years are being moved out to
active duty.
Congress has been asked to appro-
PIRATE 100000 for a government
exhibit at a celebration to commem-
orate the hundredth anniversary of
the location of Ohio's capitol at
held in that city August 81 to Sep
ternber 6 of this year.
The senate committee on foreign
relations has decided to report ad
versely the Cummins amendment to
the arbitration treaties, which would
have inquired whether France and
Great Britain would arbitrate diff
ferences with other or smaller coun-
tries.
Jack Johnson will hereafter cross
the street when he sees Congressman
Kendall in the distance. The Iowa
man got his name in the Washington
papers last week by knocking down
beating an aged colored woman on a
downtown street. Mr.. Kendall, who
was on his way from the capitol, saw
the man knock the old woman down
and spill her basket of clothes in the
dirt. The congressman waited not
for explanations, but waded in and
put the fellow out of business with
one blow on the chin.
Postmaster General Hitchcock
gave congress jolt last week by
asking that reduction of $4,000
be made in the proposed appropria-
tion for the postal service for the
coming year. The reason assigned
for the desired reduction, as ex-
planned by the postmaster general.
was the fact that since the original
estimates were submitted 1t has been
found that the transportation Of
magazines by freight instead of by
mail cars will result in saving of
at least $4,000 year.
The prompt establishment of par
cells post delivery along rural mail
routes is urged by the fourth assist
ant postmaster general in his annual
report Just submitted to the post
master general. He contends that
the only way the rural service ex-
penses can be equalized by receipts
is by the supplemental service of
parcels post delivery. Last year the
expenditures were $37,13O,000 and
the receipts $7,570,000 for rural de-
livery. For the present year $42,-
100000 has been appropriated.
Senator Lorimer. on the witness
stand in his own behalf. charged that