Newspaper Page Text
THE WASHINGTON GAZETTE.
VOL. XX.
SIGNS OF PROGRESS.
Th* Application, for Offio* Compared
With tho Oruab at Garfield's Inau-
Oraration.
Great as is the rush for office in
Washington it is neither no great nor
so eager m it was four years ago.
If any one will take the trouble to
turn back to the files of the daily news
papers for four months of Garfield's
administration, he will find them
filled with accounts of the doings of
the crowd of office-seekers at Wasli
tnn. He will read that they swarmed
upon the President so persistently
'that he was unable to attend to his
pnbde duties, and that their constant
appeals far places, were seriously un
dermining his health ;lhat nail to the
President, Hr. Secretary Dlaine was
the greatest auffercr because of his
thousands of persoua! friends, all ol
whom had somehow come to under
stand that he was to “give them some
thing” when ha cirno into power;
that every member of the Cabinet was
in a state of seige, which made life
for him a burden and the administra
tion af the public’s business an im
possibility. vTbie condition of affairs
was not limited by the first few weeks
-of Garfield's administration, but grew
worse and worse with each subse
quent week, until it culminated in his
murder by a disappointed officer-seek
er, whose weak head had been turned
by the angry ravings of other disap
pointed officer-seekers.
There is nothing to fierce as this
struggle of 1881 in progress at Wash
ton now. The office-seeker is there
iu force and he is making a nuisance
of himself as usual, but the President
and the Secretary of state are not so
badly persecuted at is the Postmaster
General. The solid South, which was
expecio I to come to Washington in
a body is scarcely represented at all.
The chief rush is for the post offices
■Of tha w—o. oswi to like
ly to be over within a short time.
The impression is geiliug abroad
among all applicant* for office-that,
the President •‘has gone back on
them,” and is going to keep hit word
about civil tervice reform ; that he ia
not in a harry abnut making appoint
ment* and that a week’s sojourn in
'Washington may end in nothing but
failure and the payment of a board bill
A struggle for office under these con
ditions is certain to hare one result—
the gradnai disappearance of the be
siegers.
President Clersland has only to be
faithful to his professions in order to
win. He has great adranlage over
bis predecessors in the shield which
the civil service lawgiver bin. 80
long as he stands inflexibly by that he
is safe. No impartial observer, look
ing back now at Garfield's sad exper
ience, can fall to see that every conces
sion which he made to the office-seek
ing class added to his difficulties.
Though there was no civil service
in force when he came into office, he
was the professed friend of civil ser
vice reform was and pledged to carry
itforward in his administration and
committed himself in his inaugural
address in favor of a fixed tenure in
office as a “protection against the
waste of time and obstruction to the
public business caused by (he
inordinate pressure for place.” Vet
his first important appointments were
not sucb as to encourage civil service
reformers or to discourage the place
hunters. On March 23, while the
pressure upon his administration was
at furious as it had baen at the very
outset of histerm,hesenl to the Senate
batch of fifteen important nominations
among which were the following:
For Collector of the port of New York
William H. Robertson; for solicit r
General, William E. Chandler; for
Commieeioner of Indian Affiaire
Thomas M. Nichoi. In order lo create
a “place” for Mr. Robertaon General,
ritt whose term as Collector had
ot expjred, wa* made Conan) General
in 1 unden, and General Badaan, who
was Consul General in London, waa
made Charge d’Affaires at Denmark.
The wholecountry recognized in theae
appointments an abandonment of the
civil service reform principle. One
of them led to the most bitlerfatclon
al quarrel in the history of the coun
try, which did not end even in the
death of the President himself. Anoth
er, that of Chandler was rejecled by
the Senate. Their effect upon the
office-seekers was unmistakable. They
added to the beat of the struggle for
place and to the bitterness of the con
tending factions within the party it-
self. The appointment about the
same time, of Stanley Matthews to
the supreme bench,aflef his appoint
ment by President Hayes had been
rejected, had a similar efftet. Sub
sequently also a faithful and efficient
Commissioner of Pensions was re
moved to make a “place” for Colouel
Dudley, who Lad becu useful in
“carrying Indiana,” and wholesale
changes based upon a similar recog
nition of value received, were made
in the consular service. Every addi
tional conccsnoii added fuel to the
flame, and Hie host of office-seekers
was almost as great three months af
ter inauguiition as it was during the
first niou llf
There Is a lesson Jn this experience
for Pr*idrnl-Cleveland and his ad
visers, and we are confident that it is
scarcely necessary to call their atien-
it. The short interviews which
have been published with all the
members of the Cabinet shew them
l® be without exception cord'allv in
sympathy with the President in his
civil service reform attitude. Fortu
nately we are in no doubt about his
ability sr his inclination to keep his
pledges. His course as Mayor and
Governor is a sufficient evidence of
both. The hungry crowd in Wash
ington are a very small part of the
President's political party aud a still
smaller part of the American people.
They will find it out very soon and go
home, for every slow-coming ap
pointment will add, wo are firmly con
vinceti, to their disappointment.
CLOTHING MADE OF SUM.
Several years ago a Pittsburg glass
manufacturer announced that* meth
od had been discovered, by means of
which glass could be spun so fine as
to be manufactured into cloHiet for
Wraps and dresses. This cloth is
mantifaclufed In small quantities and
i# too ex pensive to become rt/v pop
ular. IPse.te at" tw*ihy~duitfa.-( per
yard. Th# proprietor* are receipl
of hundred* of letters from All parts
of th* world from people eager Tor a
description of th* article. A eample
of glase elolh sent to a prominent dry
good* house in New York was re
turned to the Manufactory with the
request that no more be sent, aa the
crowd* who came to leek at it re
tarded business. Davenport and Em
ma Abbott each visited the factory
and talked of baying the texture for
use upon the stage. P. T. Barnum
negotiated with th* mannfactnrers for
a complete outfit for the late Tom
Thumb and his wife, but did not ef
fort a purchase on accoant of the
price asked. The glass cloth is a
triumph of genins. and the Pittsburg
firm think that in the future, if glass
material become* cheaper, this article
will farm th* baaia of many hand
some cost nine*.
Ttia now Attorney-General hss
followed Secretary Lamar’s example
in ordering the immediate sale al
public auction of the superfiens horses
carriages and equipment belonging
to the stables of his department. With
the exception of the few animals and
carts actually needed for trucking
purposes, the establishment founded
a dozen years ago' by Landaußt Wil
liams is to be knocked down, article
by article, the highest bidder, and
the proceeds arc to be covered into
the Treasnry. The tax sating steeds
of Justice are to go. The cushioned
vehicles of Justice and the silver
mounted harnesses, the lap robes, the
whips, the blankets, and the curry
combs, which for years have repre
sented to the extent of theircost price
the misappropriation of money be
longing to the people, are to be told
for what they will bring, in order
that restitution may be made at far
aeia possible. This action on the
part of Mr. Garland encouragss us to
believe that he has a clearer concep
tion of the distinction between the
poblic parse and bis private pocket
book than has been possessed by any
Attorney-General sines Akerman.
—New York Son.
Encouraged by the removal of the
boomers from Oklohoma lands, the
Cherokee Indians have determined to
try to have the hundreds of intruding
whites who have settled on their re
servation expelled. Those who can
not prove their right to reside among
the Indians will soon have to get
back to the States, and the Territory
will doubtless be benefited by their
absence.
WASHINGTON, GA., FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1885.
THE FBIOK or CORN LANS.
Th# practical exhaustion of the
supply of public agricultural land
has caused an advance in the value
of all de.criptione of fanning land.
This increase in value is greatest in
good corn lands, and the least in
strictly small-grain lauds.
The development of foreign
wheat fields has depressed the wheat
growing industry of America, and
caused wheat land to hang sluggish
ly on the hands of the owliers.
Corn laud ia almost invariably good
wheat land, but wheat land ia not
always good corn land. In other
words, wheat has a much wider lat
itude of growth than corn. It will
grow to perfect maturity on lands
of lofty altitude and decided aridity
where corn would languish for want
of moisture and succumb to early
frosts.
In regions of the west which border
on the arid zone.it has been ascertain
ed by costly experiment that the bot
tom lands only are suitable for corn.
The rapid drainage of the upland
renders them too dry for the young
plants to withstand the droughts
to which the whole territory lying
next east of the arid belt Is liable
every summer. But before these
drouths and accompanying south
west winds have set in, tha wheat
crop is made. 80, while these high
lying lands ate excellent for wheat
they are almost worthless for corn
production, and the agricultural in
dustries that are based on corn can
not be remuneratively conducted on
them.
The loud complaint of American
emigrants who are hunting homes
along the Western border is that
they cannot find vacant corn land.
The majority of these men were
raised in the corn belt. They are edu
cated to believe that corn is the most
useful grain that grows. , They
ow that corn farmers can subsist
fheir families and fatten their ani
.fnais for market; and aise that it is
the only cereal in the cultivation
and harvesting of which one man
can do ail the work. A settler who is
struggling to secure a heme can, if
on corn land, plough forty acres,
plant it, caltlvate it, and lay it by
in t'ra# to find employment for
himselfand team during the wheat
harvest, when the stress ef secur
ing the (battered grain creates a
keen competition between wheat
growers for labor, and causes high
wages be paid. Wherever extensive
areas are sown in wheat, high wages
rule from the instant the headers and
self-binders are put in motion, un
til the hum ofthreshing is silenced.
Corn is raised from low price la
bor. The crop is made before the
small grain preas fer harvest. It is
harvested after the fall crops are
sown* and indeed, in many cases
not until the next spring. When we
consider the easo and cheapness
with which the corn crop is grown
and secured in the corn bell, and the
certain profit- that can be derived
from the grain by feeding te hogs
and cattle, the affection and appreci
ation western agriculturalists have for
good corn land, are easily under
stood.
There ia no other cists ot property
in the United States that has increas
ed in value during the laatten year*
a* rapidly a* good corn land*. And
it has mattered but little In what
part of the corn bell they lie, ascattls
can be cheaply transported to any
farm within the belt, and hogs can
bo raised throughout the region.
Land lying far west of the Lower
Missouri River 'hat it known to bo
sure corn land, and that conid have
been bought for $lO per acre ton year*
ago, is now held stiffly at from S3O to
S4O per acre; and if it lies near a
a town where railroads supply
shipping facilities, and advantages for
the t. rmers’ children, it it readily
sold at price* varying from S6O to
SBO per acre.
The uniformlv high price of land
thronghontthe corn belt is begin
ning to attract attention. The fact
that the yield of an acre of
corn can be compactly condensed
into one steer and one hog makes
up for the drawbacks that result
from market; and that part of the
corn belt—the vallev land only—
that lies next cast of the arid zone
is blessed with a dry winter, and
very little feed is wasted in that re
gion by being tramped into the mad.
Cattle feeders assert that the saving
of feed effected in the Western portion
of the corn belt, and the better con
dition of the cattle there, more
than counterbalance the expenses that
result from its remoteness from mar
ket. The contrary it the case with
the Western wheat lands. Each ad
ditional mile from market deducts
from tho scanty profits—if any at all
remain since India-grown wheat
has entered the British markets.
There was probably not a safer or
more remunerative Investment in the
United fclaies than tho purchase of
good oorn lauds. Throughout (he
corn belt the streams are bridged,
school houses and other public build
ings are built, and, generally, the
public improvements hare been paid
for. The rate o* taxation is very low,
When tho actual value of tho land is
consluored. The population of the
West hah become sufficiently dense to
enable eoni-laud owners to rent their
holding! at rates that assure from
five to eight percent, interest on the
investment. Good corn land rents
tor froiM“.so to |f* per acre. As the
country become* more densely In
habited, and the consumption of neat
product* increased, the rents demand
ed ahj pad for corn land will un
doubted hi increase.
NEV SIGNALS ON OABS.
The hell cord has been removed
from nearly all the trains of the
Pennsylvania railroad, and a patent
air-tube system ot signaling has bee 1
substituted. Each car has a rubber
Itibo mining under the bottom, and
these are connected botween th# car*
in the same way as the Westing
house air-brake tubes. They are
kept charged with air at fifteen pounds
pressure from a reservoir situated
under tho cab of the engine, aud
which laitaelf supplied from the air
brake reservoir. The rubber tube is
also with a whistle valve
in I Wd>. Tlie’c*|,,.jCctoi
by hi Ihe car opens a
vslvsiniie rubt*r'lube and allows
the ainto escape. This relieves the
pressutV on the whistle valve and
throws i I open, causing the whistle to
sound. So long as the cord is held
the whirls will sound. One whistle
means the train is broken. The same
offect would be caused if the rubber
lube was broken, and the engineer
would thus be informed at once ef the
accident. The new device is not pop
ular among the trainmen ; but, al
though it is very costly, the officers of
the road are substituting it for the
hell rope. The fault of the ball rope
is that it is apt to get too slack or to
gel broken.—New York Sun.
THE D Oil KEY THAT WO U LET T EBAY
Once upon a time a donkey fell in
to a deep hole and, after nearly
starving, caught sight of a passing
fox, and implored the stranger to
help him out.
“I am 100 small (o aid you,” said
Ihe fox, “but I will give you some
good advice. Onlr a few rods away
ia a big, strong elephant. Call to
him and he will get you outin a jiffy.”
After the fox had gone the donkey
thus reasoned: “I am very weak fir
want of nousishment. Every move
I make is just so mncli additional
loss of strength. If I raise my voice
to call the elephant I shall bs weaker
yet. No, I will not waste mv sub
stance ifcit way. It it the duty of
the elephant to come without call
ing.
So the donkey settled himself back
and eventually starved to death.
Long afterward the fox on passing
the hole taw within it a whitened
skeleton, and remarked: “If it be
that the onls of animals are trans
migrated into men, that donkey
will becdtne one of those merchants
who cansiev*r afford to advertise.”
—PhiltdeiphE Call.
According to the best information
that can be obtained from Washington
the greatest rush of applicants for of
fice doe* not come from the South nor
from the Northern Democratic States
but frem such staunch Republican
States as Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts. Of course the appli
cant* from these States are nearly all
Democrats. Seoing so many of their
Republican neighbors fattening oil
government pap for the past quarter
ot a cenliiyy has whetted their appe
tites for office.
The daii* receipts at the the New
Orleans Exposition average about $4,-
000. \
TUT CONE HIGH.
Tha Barlv Fmits'Oomiaar Into Market at
Hi*h Bates.
Cnlcago Hem.
“Strawberries? Oh, yes, straw
berries are getting to be quite cheap
now,” aaid the Clark street fine-fruit*
er. We have tome choice ones here
from Florida, and they are now sel
ling for sl.lO a quart. Only a few
weeks ago they brought $2.50, so you
sss they are quits cheap.”
“Are there any other berries in the
market now ?”
“No, and there wit! not be for some
little time. A* I said before, these
berries are from Florida. I expect to
be getting the fruit from Charleston,
8. C., in about three weeks and from
Georgia by May 1. I am selling a
good many Florida tomatoes now at
Irorn 20 cent# to 40 cents a pound,
and excellent cucumbers from the
same place a tfrom $2.50 to $3 a
dozen.”
“Hare ia something out of tho us
ual run at at this season,” continued
the fruiterer, a* he took from a case
"a box of elegant grapes. “They are
a special order lor a select party.
They were grown iu a hot house on
the banks of the Hudson. I hare just
sent another order for some for a
North Side lady. What are they
worth? Six dollars a pound, and I
don't make a make a cent on them.”
It seems that the stock of Spanish
grapes in the market is about ex
hausted, and the price for the best is
now from 70 cents tnfl a pound.
There is a good demand, for them at
these figures, for no reelly recherche
banquet or private party is complete
without them. The same is true
ot th* delicious California butter
pcara so popular last fall. They are
so-called because they melt in one’s
mouth. The fruiterer cut one in two
and presented a slice to the reporter
with the remark that the present
price was f1.50’ per dozen. ‘ Pine ap
ples have commenced to come ia, and
choice ones bring from 40 cents to 60
cants each.
Th# conversation then turned on
orangot.
“Which variety do you call the
best r was asked.
“The Indian River (/lorida)
oranges by all odds. They are the
benton of all, so to speak. They are
so good and are to largely called for
that many unacrupnlouafruitereraare
palming off their varieliea on con
sumers and calling them Indian Ri
vera. The genuine are aeiling at from
75 cents to $1 a dozen.”
“And where do the best oranges
comes frem, taking them altogether?"
“From Florida. Of course, I don’t
mran to say that all Florida oranges
are good, but they average better.
Take the California varieties, for in
stance. They are better than the im
ported enes to be sure, but in sweet
ness and lack of seeds they cannot
compare te those of the South. The
California* are at pretty fruit, but
not up lo the others. The market is
flooded with them now. A frost set
in the orange belt and the growers
got scared, picked them in a green
stale and are rushing ihem into the
large cities.”
“Hero is an odd variety frem Flori
da,” he continued, picking up a small
bright yellew orange. “It is called
th# Bf. Michaels. They are used
greatly In England, and a Florida
planter got seme enttings from St.
Michaels and started to raising them.
He has made quite a success of it.
“Florida mangariness and tanger
ines are ont of the market now, but
we are importing the Spanish variety.
They are salting all the way from 60
cents lo $1.60 a dozen, according to
size. They are used at luncheon
parties. The latest craze fer the
luncheons, however, is stuffed datee."
The pit i* first removed, and inside le
placed not meats of all kinds, such a*
hickorynnt, walnut, peanut, and
others. They are quite the rage
now.”
A Providence grocer,who sold an ar
ticle on credit,and forgot who was the
purchaser, sent tho bill to six differ
ent customers in hope of finding the
delinquent; four of whom paid the
bill, which they did not owe, without
question. There are great possibili
ties suggested in (trig fact.
Active preparations for war be
tween England and Russia ire in
progress. *•- ”
NO. 14
OTXBMEW MINISTER TO ENGLAND*
New \ ork Sun : In the nominations
sent to the Senate Mr. Cleveland
preserved that element of the unex
pected and surprising which he seems
always to take pleasure in*
Mr. Phelps, who without any pn*.
vious public notice, was nominated
as Minister to England, is a lawyer
of much reputation i„ Vermont,
where he lives, but is net much
known outside. Though he has some
times appeared here in law cases, few
New Yorkers know him. He is a law
professor,,, Yale College, where he
shares the prevailing sentiment i
favor of free trade, and. as we learn
Sth 6 , V *, nin * lW ’ 1 * ver y Popular
With the students. He is counsel for
the I .name Railroad Company, to
wh.ch place he wa. appointed by tho
late Trenor W. Park. H c i, very
much of a theorist,dogmatic, positive.
;irr ° f con,radic,io * peculiari
ties tha are rather heightened by a
neuralgic temperament and a delicate
Physical constitution. He was the
Democratic candidate tor Governor
of Vermont in 1880, and was beaten
t course. He hae never served in
National*’ '* Unknown ,n Democratic
National Conventions, and nobody
ever dreamed that he would receive
h!**" 0 '. 1 l deßiral,le diplomatic peat
J h r \ ' h#di * P ** al 0,1 he President.
Ml '' Phe 'P* himself did not
expect and, a thing umil Mr.Bavard
telegraphed for him, four or five day.
ago. No political reason whalever is
apparent for giving s„eh an office to a
citizen of Vermont, a B , att hopc | eiß ,
cannot be said
hat Mi Phelr, is unequal to the pub
!lfh ,M ‘° Whißh he is “signed.
At the same time it ia certain that he
diaTlrr, th ° S0 *° cial - P°*tprau-
Mr ’w'n 1 ? ~e,' a ,' y dU ' iOS Whicl
Hr. Dowell has made himself the most
popular man ,u England; and it i*
equally certain that the new Minister
did \“ e ™L° ome ***•“ Mrß uchana.*
did i„ 1866, to carry off the Democra
tic nomination to th. Presidency and
elected by the peepl. afterward. In
lie sense it i, prlldcnt appoint _
kWnsjNiom OUT SHORT.
Aa Aten, Youn,“V orr . r
■entsnosd to a BUW
The wedding tour of Julia, D.Dill-
De\relV r ? and tWcnlT - fiTe ' resident of
Detroit, ha* come to a sad ending.
Boston ® U D® r *ot" Criminal Court in
b* pleaded guilty to a.ver.l
of forgery and w, sentenced
to the Reformatory at Concord fer
five year,. Drilm.n i. the young
man who recently victimized several
Boston firms by rushing into their
counting-room, a few minute, after
eariS;, oUr,,Wi,hap6nb * hln ‘lhft
m „ n rB, “ -Wing like a
nan of business, with eh.cks purport
ing <o be signed by well known firms,
m iv P , PearinK ‘° bB *ennine
in many ii * anccs cashed. The de
fendant i, the son of Col. Dilliman, a
well known ciUzeu'of
Detroit, rnd was recently married to
\C:*n Ay Pf g °°* family I £
h . FebrU * r ' ,a *‘
hi. wedding tour, and also for tho
purpose of obtaining business, and
getting short of cash took these mean*
r ,n "ir 11 w,s 81 a ted
that J„gt before coming to Boston
D liman purchased an option in a
silver mine which i. „ 0 w worth a
bonus of $2,000. Hi, young wife ~
broken-hearted over the evil conaso
< Z ."7 hu * bßnd - She got all
their best friend, from Detroit and
tried to save him, and when it wa
e 177° m 1” ' bat h#r altemepte bad
failed he ill-treated her shamefully
in Charles street J,H. When hlir
father was park commissioner in De
troit he was arrested for burglary,
but was let go en account of his re
putable connections.
A Western paper grows enthus
iastic over the possibilities of tho
shipway system. It suggests that by
means such railway tho interior citieo
of the country 'qould be made real
ports ofeutry. This idea should com
mend itseit to tho people of Atlanta
who naa/yet bo able lo haul ship* up
within sjght of their alleged custom
jjpuse, It is also suggested that our
naval vessels could be hauled wherev
er needed iutq the country, and saved
froro the perils of navigation or with
drawrl frem Ihe water when it may
bo necessary to escape from a for—-
inidable foreign ironclad.