The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1916-06-22
Washington Gossip.


yention said to mean millions to farmers,
postmasters and others has just been ap-
proved by the post office authorities.
it is container for parcel post shipments
specially adapted to the shipment of eggs
and is said to supply the missing link in
the farm to table service" originally
contemplated in the Inauguration of the
parcels post system.
The new container is made of the same
fiber as used in the manufacture of car
wheels, is very light and yet strong
enough to bear the weight of man, At
the same time, it is said to be non-con-
ductor of heat or cold, so that cold arti-
cles remain cold and hot articles remain
hot when shipped in this container. A
peculiar inner arrangement OF thin fiber
partitions absorbs all shocks.
Post office department experts, after
making a test of the container, reported
on it favorably, adding ''1n our opinion it
is superior in every way to any containers
for this purpose that have been submitted
to this committee for examination" The
container when filled with eggs is said to
have been dropped a distance OF three
feet to a marble floor without breaking
an egg.
The value of the new invention to the
postmasters is not alone in the increased
cancellation of stamps through the adj
dtional parcels post business but in the
plan to have the postmasters of smaller
cities act as agents on commission for
putting This new invention into service.
The container will thus be put into i'm
mediate use through out the country, eae
postmaster having exclusive rights to his
community, other agents being appointed
should the postmaster decline to act. The
value to the farmer is seen in the ready
disposal of his eggs and other produce
direct to the consumer thus eliminating
the middle man whose profits can be
divided between the farmer and the con-
sumner.
One of the new features of the box is
its reversible tag which can be stamped
and addressed on both sides. F. W.
Edwardy, the inventor, at the Oxford
Hotel, here, attaches considerable i'm
portance to the tag which he says thus
insures the return of the box to the orig
inal sender, withholding it being viola
ton of postal regulations, he says. The
box will be leased for fifty cents year
and in no case sold outright.
As a result of the interest in bird
house building among school boys of the
country aroused through bird house con-
tests and the work of the Audubon So
cleties, the national capital may soon
become the refuge for the eight hum
dred different species OF American birds.
Thousands of bird boxes may be shipped
into Washington for the adornment of
the White House grounds and miles of
public grounds ard parks, if the sugges-
ton of T. Gilbert Pearson, secretary of
, the National Association of Audubon So
cieties. is put into effect.
| Walking through the White House
grounds on his way to see Secretary
, Daniels, his close personal friend OF
years standing, Mr.. Pearson commented
on the absence of bird houses In the
, trees and said thousands of school boys
throughout the country would be glad OF
! the honor of having bird box made by
their own hands sent to the President tG
adorn the White House grounds. There
are 1874 acres of public parks in Wash
ington, and the city viewed from the
top of the Washington monument looks
J like large forest, but there is not q
bird house anywhere in this vast domain.
More national notabes attend base
other city in the country. Not game
, is played without the presence of the
president, vice president, cabinet off
GERS, diplomats or prominent Congress-
men. The Senators and Representa-
r tives are the real fans. During the last
world series important matters before
the House prevented the attendance OF
congressman. Interest in the game,
however, raised such an uproar from
time to time that Speaker Clark was
able to restore order only by interrupt
ing a speaker on the floor and after
banging his gavel, announcing the score
The latest development of the training
camp idea is the camp for boys at Fort
Terry, Plum Island, N. Y. This camp
will be held from July 9th to August
10th and will be open to all boys over
fifteen years of age. II will be along
the lines of the Pattsburg camps and
will be under the immediate supervision,
both in a military and medical way, of
some of the most competent regular
, army officers detailed from Washington.
The Washington monument, the five
hundred and fifty-fve foot column Wis
ible from practically all parts of the