Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-11-02
NEWSY GOSSIP FROM NATIONAL CAPITOL
Robert N. MeWa00.
Risynarrk Tribune WaNhingtCn bureau.

W&SaIN-AIN, =. -, 9 -
c.o--yre. ana the heads Of fam.
:,!es in srcts far remote f:cn Wash.
.:g1oa Tiii a~ssurediy taie 10 heart
the lessen learned al the Naticlal
Capital that the moving picture shows
are knocking spots out Of tie liquor
saloons, and r wholesome factors
i'm inducing men to drop the saloon
lounging habit and to take their fam.
lilies to the movies" Reliable sta
tlstics gathered by the excise board
officials, during the year Just closed,
exhibit a very heavy decrease in the
sale of intoxicants, and investigation
following that startling fact has PROV
ed that in every section of Washing
ton the cheap picture theatres are the
compelling cause.
Both wholesale and retail .iqnOr
dealers tell theexcise folks that these
movies" are the only form Of recrea.
ten sought in l.rge measure by the
mth, whether government employees
0. clerks, etc, who formerly MADE
some favorite sa'Ccn Their club re
sort where they net there fliendS and
acqIaintances for a social evening.
Now, instead of going to that saloon.
ii seems, this large body OF patrons
aitcI supper take their wives and
ia niles and do around OF Tie shows.
TIC saloon men say that tins form Of
pleasure is increasing by leaps and
Eounds" to the decided disadvantage
o. the liquor trade, What would be
the cost of a round or two Of drinks
il a saloon for a party Of jo1ty friends
is more than sufficient to pay the ad-
mission price for an entire family IN
to two or more moving picture shows.
Even for an economic standpoint this
new departure is a big money saver.
One of the Congressional i1vestiga-
tons that is to begin holding its SEES.
siOl.s a couple Of weeks after t!e cleo
ton is Pujo's money trust probe. and
Ill his effort to obtain eviden 70 us I'M.
lawful control of the nation's cur
rency by a combination of bankers Of
all sizes and conditions, the Louisi
anian is 10 be assisted by Samuel IN
termyer, of New York, under whose
direction experts are busy pr 3paring
an elaborate compilation of statistics,
embracing practically everJ financial!
and industrial institution in the coun-
try, and tracing the relation Of each
individual concern to other LOncerr".
In the attempts to show that a
small group of rich men has a firm
or1 nontrpl1tru urin IN tho nn1rtrV's
finances. subpienas have been issued,
it is claimed, for such men as j.
P%ierpont Morgan, George w. Perkins,
John D. Rockefeller, William Rookie
Teller, George F. Baker, Ed. Stotes-
bury and Cleveland H. Dodge. The
inquisition will be directed at first
to ascertain the exact influence, if
any, xerted by Gotham's banks and
bankers and financiers on other
banks, bankers and financiers in 9TH
er parts Of the United States.
If the report of the efficiency ana
economy commission" is to be needed,
the Old Ford's Theatre building,
where President Lincoln was shot
by Wilkes Booth, is to be torn down
and replaced with a modern business
structure. 1t is n of the historic
landmarks Of Washington, and the
mecca of thousands upon thousands
OF visitors yearly from all parts Of
the civilized world.
The buildlng has been used by the
government for many years as a stor-
age warehouse for the records of the
acknowledgements office, and, since its
collapse about 20 years ago, when a
score of government clerks lost their
lives and many more were injured, it
has been regarded as unsafe eve af-
ter wholesale repairs for minor office
purposes. 1t is quite possible that a
permanent Lincoln museum will be
erected on its site, a handsome struc.
ture open at all times to the public
and large enough to contain for ex-
hibition all Of the relics Of the emanci.
pator in the governments possession,
as we'll as those privately owned. 1t
! will be remembered that, time and
time again, congressman from almost
every State in the Union have intro
duced bills providing for such a ma
tional collection, but they have all
been pigeon-holed, and not n OF
them obtained the serious considera-
ton of either branch of the congress.
In this old playhouse centers one
of the most painful and tragic Incl
dents in the history of u nation.
Here, in what was then acknowledged
to be the premier theatre Of the Ma
tional Capital, as all the world knows,
on the night of April IA, 1865, Wilkes
Booth, an actor OF ability and consid-
cradle histrionic reputation, entered
the Presidents box and shot Abraham
Lincoln, leaping from the box to the
stage. Booth fell and broke his leg,
the spur of his heel having caught in
the flag draping the box, throwing
him to the floor. In spite Of tbs,
Booth sprang to his feet, flourishing
the still smoking pistol and shouting
"Sic semper tyrannis," hobbled into
the wings, thence to the adjacent al.
ley, where he mounted a horse and
rode off into the darkness.
There are few school boys or school
girls in Month Dakota who have not
read the pathetic story Of this awful
tragedy, and they can instantly tell
you that it was during q performance
OF "Our American Cousin" with
Laura Keene in the cast, that the as
|sassination occurred. Like all Of the
mature readers of the The Bismarck
Tribune, they can recall the sad story
Of how Booth, headed of in every at