Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1912-04-17

recollection for taking Mason and
Slidell, the Confederate commission
ers, from the British mail steamer
Trent in 1861. The United States
government did not back up Captain
Wilkes in his act of taking the Con-
tederate commissioners off the Brit
ish vessel In fact, nearly all diplo-
mats thought, and think today, that
Wilkes acted without proper authority
under International law and that the
Confederate and the British govern
ments had a perfect right to protest,
and that the United States authori-
ties could do nothing else than to dis
avow the naval officers act
Admirers of Major Andrew S. Ro-
wan, U. S. A, who is still living, have
put in bill appropriating $4,000 for
some memorial of his famous exploit
in 1898, when he was sent by Presi-
dent Mckinley to Cuba to communi-
cate with General Garcia, the leader
of the Cuban revolution. He made a
landing from an open boat near Tur-
quino Peak and with much difficulty
succeeded in reaching Garcia
Mann Is Friend of Poultry.
Representative Mann of Illinois,
who is the leader of the Republican
minority on the floor of the house,
has introduced a bill to require all
common carriers engaged in inter
state commerce to provide food and
water for poultry in transit, and to
prevent suffering from over-crowding
by providing crates of sufficient size
to be humane and to be open ON at
least three sides so that proper venti-
lation may be assured.
Congress has acted before this on
behalf of cattle in transit and now it
is proposed to extend the humane
effort to chickens. One congressman
said that because chickens wore
feathers it was supposed that they
were not susceptible to cold. He
added, however, that feathers, while
warm, did not provide food and drink.
The bill has gone to the proper COM
mittee and there is a fair chance of
its passage.
House "BabIes" Have FroIic.
At one of the Washington res
taurants the other night there was
frolic of the "babies" of the
house of representatives. Men to
the number of one hundred serving
their first terms in congress gathered
for a dinner at the restaurant. They
formed house of representatives of
their own and passed the time max
ing fun of the methods of their older
colleagues and the personalities OF
some of their own number. II the
main, however, they pointed with
pride" to themselves as the real
statesmen and referred to members Of
longer service as being entirely out
of date and belonging in the pigeon
holes with the archives rather than
on the floor of the house with the
live ones"
No party lines were drawn at this
gathering. Republican and Democrat
ic babies had fun together. The tar
if came in for a bit Of by-pIay.
Protective Duty on Cats.
A high protective duty was put OF
cats in order to protect the home
industry. Every feline, whether a
wildcat polecat or domestic cat
imported into the United States or
its island possessions, it was decid-
ed, must hereafter pay 81 head i'll
order to be admitted to full American
citizenship. AS rider to this bill
catnip was placed on the free list.
A prize was offered to the member
who could make the most stirring ora
ton on the American flag. Repre-
sentative Littleton was chosen as
Judge, but the oratorical flights of
Representative Connell of New York
and Witherspoon Of Mississippi were
so nearly equal in grace and distance
that the judge gave each the first
prize.
The senate galleries broke out into
applause the other day when the
name of Theodore Roosevelt was
mentioned The senate gallery has
applauded at times the names of Viii
liam jennings Bryan and of many
other well-known Americans without
regard to political party, but it must
rules of the senate to allow applause
in the gallery.
Mustn't Applaud In Senate.
1t makes no difference who it is
that is receiving the applause, the
vice-president must bring down his
gavel while the noise is continuing
and say with all due solemity and
severity that all demonstrations of ap-
prevail are not allowed and that if
they do not cease the galleries will
be cleared"
This word from the vice-president
has been said thousands of times in
the senate and its effect has never
been visible for more than an hour at
a time 1t Is only rarely that the
senators themselves lapgh and it is
only once in a lifetime that they ap-
plaud The cases where senators have
broken the applause rule can be count
ed on half the fingers of one hand.
The senate, however, has its jokes
frequently and while laughter is sub
dued, broad smiles are always in evil
dence
When Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver,