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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1906)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, tUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 14, HO. Government Office Place of Rest IT ku lone Been a mystery to the average ottlMn aa to where revo lutlontsta sat run and ammuni tion. The quaatton la easily an swered. Like everything alaa In the world of value, they are found In Broad way, Now York. Bo the treat prob lem of many governroente ta a simple matter of everyday buelneaa and mer r hand lee. There la a bit; atore down Broadway with ever floor packed full of military supplies, from rapid-Are Run and cannon to aaddles and uniforms, which anybody baa a riant to purchaee If he haa the money to pay for them, f aay the New York Herald. Fifty or sixty mllea up the Hudson, In plain sight of Weat Point, li a lovely little leland of It acrea In the center of the river, nsstltng between Storm Kin and the frowning- mountain erase op poalte. On thla leland are atorad am munition cartridges, gunpowder, dyna mite, cannon and Immense quantltlej of military auppllea, aucb aa uniforms, saddles, gun carrlagaa, rifles In fact, everything needed to fit out a govern ment or a revolution. Iona leland, the United States government's ammunition and dynamite atorage headquarters, ta at thla end of the Highlands. Just above reekaklll. Between tba two is West Point, turning gifted young Americana Into array officers and military gentle men to manage the country in the fu ture. An Old, Old Story. The story of a vast business of sup plying countries and revolutions with war material In a legitimate way la in teresting. The atory beglna 40 years ago. at the close of the civil war. when the late Francis Bannerman Sr. of Brooklyn returned home from aervlce in the United States navy, and with his eon, attended the auction eales of naval atorea at the Brooklyn navy yard. It occurred to them that there might be money in buying war material and sell ing It again to foreign governments. The venture proved a success, and for 30 years a thriving business was done over there. In Atlantic avenue. Next came an establishment In Broad atreet, near Front, and Anally Broadway, near Broome street, was occupied with the business, where It now flourishes. It la well known that the govern ment sail Its surplus war auppllea from time to time. Thus It was that when fifty thousand of the old Springfield rifles ware put up at auction the Banner-mans bought them. One day a man came along and purchased them for a foreign government, ha said How to gat them out of the country was easy enough, though the Bannermana do not deliver cannon and ammunition outside of the -United States, Arsenal in Broadway. How the agent managed to reach South American revolutionists with the guns Is another atory. The usual way la to make a bluff of shipping them to Germany or elsewhere and later trans ferring them to whatever part of South America they are moat needed. Thus the business of selling war material in New York has) thrived, and the present young par. Bannerman, a Princeton graduate, who la actively in charge of the business, says they are obeying the laws to tba letter. 1 la an amazing spectacle to enter a Broadway store and And yourself In a veritable arsenal of war weapons of every kind. In Brooklyn the Banner mana' two acrea of atorage briatlea with cannon,, guns, shot, shell and other war material, while the Broadway es tablishment is not only devoted to samples of war Implements for sale, but contains a collection of ancient and modern arms covering every country and age alnca the Crusades. At the en trance figures In armor, helmeted and COTTON, KING OF OUR EXPORTS - - (Continued from First Psga of this Section.) in lilt, and 43 per cant In 1891. Tba next cenaus will probably show tha center of production as having, for the first Urns, crossed beyond tha father of waters." Nor ia the supremacy of the south in cotton growing likely to be threatened by foreign competition. India and the East Indies, in 1104. produced 1.110.000 bales; Egypt, 1.117,000; Bra all and other South American countries, 216.000 As against these crops tha United States grew 18.566.686 bales. Russia alao produces some cotton. . In tha opinion of the late Edward Atkinson, the high pampas of tha Ar gentine Republic and other sections of central South America alone are capa ble, because of climatic and soil con ditions, of ever becoming a serious competitor to tha cotton fields of Dixie. AS civilisation advances, and as the population of the world Increases, tha demand for cotton must grow natur ally. Tha United Statea department of agriculture estimates that of the world's population of 1,600.000,000, about 600,000.000 wear clothes regu larly; 750,000,000 go partly clothed and the remaining 160.000,000 feel little need of raiment and are content with the in herited fig leaf or less. To clothe all the people of the earth would require 42,000,000 bales of cot ton. Thla amount is not likely to be demanded for many years, yet students of tha subject ssssrt that the south win furnish 21,000,000 bales or more as soon as she la called upon to produce that vast crop. There sre two ways by which any crop -may be increased to enlarge the acreage and to secure larger yields from the existing acreage. At the present rata of yield, the south haa available enough Idle land to bring Its production of cotton up to 10,000.000 hales. The imagination of persons living In other sections of the country usually pictures the arable land of the Southern states aa Being given over entirely to cotton culture miles and miles of fields stretching away In unbroken line, their snowy billows uninterrupted. It is not generally known that In the cotton states only one sore In seven teen l planted In cotton, and In ths purely cotton counties of those states, only one acre In eleven. As a matter of fact, "only two fifths of the farm lands of the south sre yet Improved for any sort of s crop." This economic neglect moved Sidney Lsnler to protest, when gazing on an "old deserted Georgian hill,'' that erarTMpaw I IP . a? v.. w-?rjtaBflBB2UIV I Ks TtMTr rmruMi - -ti SBr -g" "j tSSV IVHHv wl I I tf Hudson V2SfLf415Mfe equipped with battle axes, pikes, swords and shields, greet you. Around them, In vivid contrast, are rowa of shells, from K-lndh monsters to little cart ridges for rapid-fire machines. Then there are wagon loads of miscellaneous guns and pistols, from tbs bell-mouthed blunderbusses of Shakespeare's day to the long, highly ornamented guns of the Bedouins and Madagascar pirates, supplemented with the up-to-date gov ernment rifles used by every nation Mausers. Remingtons, Hannllchers and doxens of other breechloaders. (The army of flint lock weapons from little fellows not six inches long to the big horse and dueling pistols of Colonial and Mississippi days Is most Interesting. There are enough of these weapons from the old English match locks to the big lt-lnch guns aa long aa a railroad car to fill the Museum of Natural History. Archaic Weapons in Stock. That such a collection of war material could exist in the heart of the city un known to. the average visitor Is amazing. One of the old-time pistols Is a baby hint of the perfected revolver of the present day. It la of .brass and has three barrels. You pull the trigger three times, and when your last barrel Is empty yaw pull the fourth time, and out leaps a little steel dagger, a foot long that In stantly transforms the pistol Into an ef fective stiletto. As for the American revolutionary guns, there are thousands of them. First, we have the flintlock, then the little wheel trigger affair that fires the powder by friction, then the pill gun a bit of fulminate of mer cury about the also of a mustard grain; then the percussion cap, then the old paper cartridge, and finally the Im proved metallic cartridge, which has revolutionised the wsrfare of the world and made peace and prosperity possible even among civilised nations. The ar ray of rapid fire guna Is not only Inter esting but educational. You see the original old time (first model) Oatllngs, followed by guns of the present day. During the last insurrection in Gaute mala It was reported that thla Broad way establishment supplied both tba government and the revolutionists. The same was said during the war In Nicar agua, and similar reports are now cir culated as to the arms received by the Cubans, government and revolutionists. It Is a fact that the discarded anna which the American government haa sold at auction were at the time good enough for American marksmen In the field. Bo It Is not difficult to Imagine that the agents who bought these arma In New York for shipment to foreign countries had no difficulty In supplying the revolutionists In South America and elsewhere with superior weapons of war. The ordinary reader haa little Idea of the various-kinds of material Included under the name of "munitions of war," beginning with the harness for the ar tillery, field guns and all tha accoutre ment for fitting out the artillery. A few government aucttona meant the sell- Bares to the sun his piteous, aged crest and seamy breast. By restless-hearted children, left to lie Untended there beneath the heedless sky, As barbarous folk expose their old to die. Mora careful selection of seed Is now being urged upon the planter. Say the authors of Cotton: "There is abundant reason for be lieving that the average cotton yield per acre could be Increased one fourth by only five years' wise selections of seed. We know s farmer who, by se lecting the seed from the most thrifty stalks, and having the seed ginned sep arately. In two years so Improved the crop from the selected seed that the Improvement became a matter of com ment by persons passing on'the road. "We know another farmer who by a few years' seed selection has Increased the yield of cotton from 400 t poo pounds, while seed selected In the old way, grown on Similar land and under similar conditions, still makes Its bare 400 pounds sn acre. Fifty per cent In crease from four years' selection of aeedl" Cotton growers are either owners of the land, share tenants or cash tenants those who pay a stipulated cash rental. In 1900, census reports show, 41.1 per cent of the farms in 10 states were tilled by the owners, 20.1 per cent by cash tenants and 11.4 per cent by share tenants. Compared with the preceding decade, this showed a decrease of II per cent In the proportion operated by owners, on the other hand, cash tenants had In creased It par cent and ahare tenants 11 per cent. Low prices prevailing for a number of years discouraged many owners, who leased their lands to tenants and re moved to towns White farmers In 1100 were found to be operating 141,000 of the 1,411.000 farma growing cotton; they cultivated 14,(11,000 acres as against 1,660,000 acrea cultivated by negroes Labor upon the farms of the whites was done largely by negroes, however. .Of nesrly (00.000 negro tsrmers, aoout uu,uu are tenants. OP recent yesrs a more general spirit Of thrift has animated many of the negroes these people who. as Mr. Dooley says, are "light-hearted, good natured and alaly lynched." Mora and more they are buying the land they till. One negro cot Km -grower of Georgia, who 20 years ago was a struggling renter, now owns 2.000 acres of pro ductive land and haa tenants under him. Labor In the cotton fields hss to be dor largely by hand. The Hem og pick ing alone costs the growers 1100,000,000 a year. ? '' ,' , izr Ing of 100,000 guns. 10,000 revolvers, 10,000 saddles, lt.OOO swords, 10,000 canteens. 100.000 belts, (0,000 cartridge boxes, 20. 00.000 cartridges, 50.000 stir rups, 160,000 gun stocks. 176.000 new uniforms, sold when the fashions changed: also hundreds of tone of gun barrels, "parts" aad equipments. Oatllng guna of all klnda, cannon from the old Parrot guna to the late armor penetrat ing guns of modern expansive make. Has Dewey's Battle Flags. "There Is alao a surprising lot of flags and ensigns,'' says young Banner man. "All the flags used In decorating our store, are regular government flags worn out In service, Spanish battle flags, British flags from South Africa riddled with' Boer . snot, French flags, flags from the battle of Seven Pines. All the signal flags from the Olympla were sold to us by the United States navy department after the famous bat tle of Manila bay, and which were uasd by Admiral,. Dewey In giving orders to the fleet to 'Engage the enemy,' 'Haul off for breakfast.' 'Renew battle,' 'Re member the Maine,' eta -- "The collection has Admiral Dewey's bamboo chair and hla flag, which was originally a rear admiral's flag and al tered oil board the Olympla when con gress revived the rank of admiral. This la the first admiral's flag alnoe Farra gut's and Porter's. There are the choic est specimens of antique armors, repro ductions from originals in European mueeums collections of helmets and ancient head coverings. Lamps and lan terns used in military service, from the old-time watchman's horn lantern down to the present day electrio lights on bat tleships. Battle gongs and rattles, as used on all warships before tha era of steam. Shells From Warships. "Collection of pistols' and revolvers from the ancient match lock, wheel look, flint lock down to the latest product of American armories Also sheila from teh warships of Santiago and Manila bay. "From the battleship Maine we have the capstan, wire cable. mm. magazine rifles, Springfield rifles, a sis-Inch rifle shell, the only shell recovered from the Maine that the government has offered for sale. Our chief prises for tba yesr have To pick a crop of 11,000,000 bales, at an average of 1(0 pounds of seed cotton a day per picker, meana that for a sea son of three months, consisting of 20 working days each, something over 1,110.000 people must be kept at work. For the man who Inventa a satis factory and comparatively cheap ma chine for picking cotton, a colossal for tune Is waiting. The bolls on s stalk do not ripen at the same time, hence the difficulty of mechanical picking. Recently a machine for picking cot- Lton has been seen at work In the fields, and It overcomes natural difficulties In quite sn Ingenious way, by means of arms that are guided by men. Four Operators and a driver are necessary with each machine, and It Is asserted that the apparatus can do the work of 10 average hand pickers. Then, too, the genius who success fully puts to rout the pests that roecece the growing crop will earn the undying gratitude of millions. Most dangerous of tbeae Is the Mexican boll weevil, which has already extended over a vast area of Texas, Is threatening Louisiana and Arkansas, snd has done damage that reaches fsr Into the millions. The vast Importance of the cotton erop Is not measured by the value of the fleecy product alone; by the wealth It brings the farmers and the employ ment afforded to hundreds of thousands of fsctory workers tn north snd south. That this country sells to foreign lands 11,270.000 of cotton goods for every day In the year Is but one Item. Within s comparatively recent .best, cotton aeed waa thrown away. Many old mills, in 'fact, wars built on streams so thst the supposedly worthlees seed would be carried off by the cut rent. Now, the value of raw cottonseed to the extent of nearly 1100,000.000 a yeatS la added to the right side of the ledger. Thla single item is of wonderful va riety and extent. Fre,m the hulls of cottonseed are secured food for cattle, a fiber that la converted Into high-grade paper and fertilizing material. Feed and fertiliser are produced from the meal, while the oil Is used for eosp stock, aalad dressing, cotton' lard, oot tedene snd oil for the lamps' of miners. Everywhere In the south the hulls are fed to cattle and mules they furnish Ingredients thst go to make heat and fat. Comparatively speaking, their feedfhg value may be ranked aa about half of ordinary grass hay. Aa a feed for beef and dairy cattle, cottonseed meal le especially popular Considering the digestible nutrients It contains. It la the cheapest feeding staff on the market today. Consequently, cattle fattening and dairying have hod a pronounced Impetus la the cotton sec 1 J ' been the purchase of the collection of army clvu war projectiles collected by the late Colonel Silas Crispin of tha ord nance department. United States army, himself a noted expert in ordnance, who waa for many years In charge of the sales of ordnance stores, and therefore had a splendid opportunity to gather together this fine collection, which came near 'being sold aa old' iron and metal. We have in it upward of 200 rare pieces, giving us, along with the United States navy collection and those we have col lected Individually, what we can truly say ia the most complete collection cf America nproJect lies." As charges of violating tha law in re gard to supplying revolutionists with arms nave been sometimes made and bitterly discussed I asked Mr. Banner man what he had to ssy about It. He thus replied: "Vve are law-abiding Americana proud of our country and Its flag, and, like other merchants, we're In business hon estly and have conducted our affairs on the lines of strict legitimacy. Hare Is what the editor of the Army ana Navy Journal has to say under thla head, which covers the whojo ground; Repels the Insinuation. " 'When was charged that the United btates government Instigated and en couraged the revolution In Panama which led to the secession In that state from Colombia it was reported that thousands of rifles suspiciously like the Manser, canturerl frnrn h. B..nl.h LI""'"! " "Psnisn rorees in Cuba had Been placed in the hands of the revolutionists, the lroDll- cation being that they had been supplied with the consent of the authorities at Washington. Representative Hardwlok of Georgia Introduced s resolution In the house calling for Information re garding this charge. " Tn reply the secretary of war sub mitted a statement which shows thst of the 21,154 rifles and carbines captured tn Cuba and Porto Rico 20,110 were aold at auction, one gun dealer, Francis Bannerman of Broadway. New York, taking 18,200. His last purchase was made after the revolution In Panama, and his latest previous purchase wis nade 10 months before the1 revolution. What he did with the weapons the gov ernment haa no means of knowing, but the insinuation that It knew thsy were to be used In the revolt In Panama is both ludicrous and contemptible. tions since this feed began to be used. In crude form, sold at 20 eents a gal lon, cottonseed oil produces s revenue of 114,210,000 a year. And this, too, from only one third the crop, as the remaining two thirds does not go to the oil mills, but bsck on the farm for feed and fertiliser. With the Southern Cotton association organised to prevent over-production, to promote Judicious distribution and maintain prices, with the planter adopt ing Improved methods and ualng his by-products for stock and dairy pur poses, and one billion 'of the human race awaiting to be clothed, fully or in part, it-would seem that King Cotton, undoubtedly, has come Into his .own, and that the scepter of supremacy will be firmly kept within his hands BIRD MIGRATIONS The birds that are surest and swiftest of wing, as the swallows, do not hesi tate to travel by day. Those less strong of wing and of conspicuous plumage dare not risk the daylight. But the night migrations have their special dangers, too. The gas and elec tric lights of cities snd towns, with the network of wires In their vicinity, to say nothing of church spires and lighthouses, are the censes of msny bird disasters during migration time. These same' lights prove a friend to many of our night foraging birds dur ing the Insect season, when a good meal la always easily secured in their vi cinity. Many screech owls have been aeen .round 'these light. In town the present ,, .. B , u..,,,. it?.? -Kf"yK,.W.rlin. ""i?: ' Thelr whereabouts during the dav was alwaya easily traced by the excitement of the birds In that locality. One morning we were awakened by a clamor among our birds, the special cause of trouble seeming to (Sinter In two large maple trees. This continued all day and do the beat we could noth ing could be discovered to warrant such a tumult. Tbs mystery was explained when dusk came on and a number of , screech owls began making tnvestlga- tlons In our blrdhouses. We raptured one of the owls snd kept It long enough to observe some inter esting things, chief of which waa the double set of lids with which nature has provided these particular birds. The under lids look aa If they might have been made from mica and are edged with a little dark line. These serve to subdue the strong light of day which le so trying to owl eyesight. The outer lida close only In sleep. From the Philadelphia Record. When a girl begins to call a fellow by his first name It generally Indicates that aba haa designs on his last 1(1 1 By R. F. Tate. (Copyright la Giest Britain sad the Catted mates By Ourtli Brows. All RlgiiU Strictly Reserved.) IT is rather an odd coincidence that on either side of the English channel an Iron-handed, masterful man ia earning the admiration of taxpayers and Incurring the enmity of officialdom by efforts to Introduce ef ficiency Into s great government de partment which, until the advent of the strong one, had been conducted In a fashion more suggestive of a rest cure than an Important branch of the public service. The man on the English aide of tha "sliver streak" is John Burns, the me chanic and fiery socialist orator of other adays who la now president of the local government board and' the hardest working member of the British cabinet. The man on the French side Is Georges Clemenceau. the Warwick of French I politics and the maker and breaker of govarnmenta, who, as minister or tna interior, is demonstrating hta capacity W-lgld disciplinarian. . Between him and John Burns is a strong physical aa well aa a mental re semblance. Rather berow than above middle height, with a squarely built, strong, but elastic figure, a fine head and capacious forehead, with coal-black ayes of almost dassllng brilliancy, Oeorges Clemencesu, with his close cropped hair, Is veritably a French edition of John Burns. Little waa known of the go-easy methods snd general heedleaaness of discipline which were the order of tha day In the ministry of the Interior when Clemenceau took office and which still holds sway In other departments of the public service In Paris. Hardly a day passes that some fresh discovery of of ficial shirking Is not brought to light by the "terrible" minister who haa said he will not rest until he has ousted a goodly proportion qf the drones and parasites who fatten on the public ex chequer. All on Sick Leave. I Quite recently M. Clemenceau found a j surprisingly large number of junior I clerks away on "sick-leave," and he I promptly demanded doctors' certificates. ! None was forthcoming. Then he asked to see the two physicians who are at tached to the Interior department. Both proved to be off shooting. Then M. Clemenceau's Iron hand descended. The Junior clerks were reprimanded. The twd doctors are medical attendants of the department no more and their pleas ant billets have been abolished. In reality, however, the cases just men tioned sre ones of efficiency snd con scientiousness itself compared with other "gyafts" which have been un masked. It. Clemenceau had been installed In office only a few days when the staff of the ministry of the Interior la the Place Bureaux wars thrown Into a state of consternation by the following circu lar, signed by their chief himself: "The offices of tha ministry of the Interior are open from 8 a. m. to noon and from 1 p. m. to 7 p. m. "All functionaries belonging to the central administration muat be at their posit at tha opening of the offlcea and must remain until cloalns time. L"h ;m L, 7 th. P..t exception COUld be. made CO the nlB The order went on to state that no ' , " h ,h. .rmla.lon of fh. i r" n ts.t . " . - A?.tton7 ai. "Prlmand, degradation and. finally, dls to missal The American reader will doubtless fall to perceive anything partlcuarty startling or revolutionary In that order. To enlighten htm on the subject I must make a digression. A Place of Rest. The civil service has at all times had a strong attraction for French fathers and mothers, who like to see their young hopefuls "fonctlonnal'res." The work Is not excessive. The pay la not excessive either (It must be sdded) for the commencing salary is but 1.100 francs (11(0) a year, and If promotion does not come. It remains at that fig ure. There is, however, a small pension at ths end and it sounds well to say. "My son Is st this or thst ministry,'' snd this Is a title to consideration when the young man Is an aspirant to the hand of a young lady. The consequence Is that the public de partments, the ministries especially, are crowded with officials, young and old whoee only "ralson d'etre" appeere to be to draw their salary regularly and help to swell an already enormous bud get The staffs could probably be re duced by one-third or even one-half without the public service being any the worse from ths point of view of work accomplished. New, it le not to be eupposed that these civil servants and "attaches." these "chair-warmers.'' as they are Ir revently termed, sre Inferior In mental and intellectual capacity to their breth ren who have chosen other careers. They are the product and the vlotlms of a bad system which consists In setting two men to do tbe work of one, both being underpsld In consequence Hundreds of them turn sn honest penny In snd out of office hours. This worthy paterfamilias haa no sooner reached his little home In the suburbs than he develope Into sn accountant or a copyist. That correct ministerial functionary (who would suspect Itf) rises at 4 a. m. and la an inspector at the central market Las Hallos until 7 a- m. Another sits In the box office of a- theatre and acta aa "coQtroleur" artd'eo on. Private Work on Public Par. The general public knows, of course, very little of the servants of the repub lic, who are popularly supposed to judge from caricatures to sit slumber ing all day Ions amid piles of papers. ",r Hon. are hlv- where state administrations are nivas wnere the arts, physical culture and Intellec How different Is ths reality! The tual games flourish. Civil servants are often artists of real talent. If yon could peep behind the closed doors of this or thst ministry, you would often seen a painter hard at work on a can- vns. whilst a friend Is preparing the i frame. In another room a dramatist i will be reading his latest piece to a I select audience of his colleagues. In I KnAft,A tvn "ehn nsnnnlers " noet and ,cl win lnterpretlng the next or vaIll. for Montmartre cafe- sons concert, and all Paris, tbe raldlnettes especially, will be humming It In a few days. Certain "bureaux" of the ministry of finance are decorated with beautiful mural paintings, the work of function aries. This ministry. In spite of the columns of dry figures In which Its members are supposed to be Immersed, furnished the most formidable literary and artistic competitors for the prises offered by vnrloua great dallies. BOautlful cm von drawings of mytho logical subjects adorn the walls of the education department at the Hotel de Vllle. The prefecture of police Is fa mous for Its chess-players At . the ministries of oommeroe, publto works MR- JH W fT HltS DESK and the colonies are excellent account ants (sub rose) ana even commercial travelers who manage to be absent the greater pert of the year from their min isterial dutlesl "Private" Card' Room In an Important municipal office, four Incorrigible card-players have had the audacity to poet up a notice "Private" on the door of one of the rooms, in or der that they may remain undisturbed. Life under such conditions Is evidently tolerable. Indeed, there Is on record the case of a functionary who came Into a comfortable fortune at the death of a relative, and forthwith asked and obtained leave of absence sine die. A year afterwards, one fine morning, ha turned up at hta office. Hla aston ished colleagues asked him the reason of hla return. "Well, you know, I was bored to death," be said. "I did not know how to fill up my time. The fact Is, this Is the only place where you can enjoy yourself " And he stayed! No wonder, then, that M. Clemen ceau's ctreular spread consternation among the staff of the ministry of the Interior. Loud protestations were raised against the arbitrary methods of this "republican" minister who, as tha op position papers gloatingly pointed out, was preventing the "braves fonctton nalres" from earning their dally bread. But M. Clemenceau held firm. "When I am at my office." he said, "it Is not too much to require the min isterial staff to be st their posts. Seven hours' work Is not excessive st s time when the eight-hour day la de manded. The gentlemen who are re ported absent from duty will take the oonsequencea. The utmost that the mlntater could be Induced to concede was that the afternoon hours should be from 2 to ( insieaa OK irum w I. In order to insure that the new regu latlon was being complied with, pres ence sheets were handed around from time to time,, each official being re quired to append his signature. Just Drew His Pay. It was then that astonishing abuses came to light. It was discovered that one functionary had never set foot In the ministry except to draw his salary. He had been earning 1.000 francs s year (tl.iOO) as an Inspector of the Parts mutuel (the only form of public betting allowed by law) aad, or course, had no time to' devote to his minis terial duties. He was promptly dis missed and accepted his misfortune without a murmur. Another truant only escaped a similar fate by proving that his chief hsd begged him to stay away, "as there was nothing for him to do." That M. Clemenceau le not Insensible to the humorous side of the situation Is apparent from a little incident which happened the other day. The terrible minister suddenly walked Into one of the offices and surprised an attache fast ssleep. The culprit's colleagues hastened to arouae him to consciousness, when M. Clemenceau waved them back with tha words: "Don't wake him; he might go away!" Even when the minister waa at Carlsbad taking tbe waters he did not forget his circular. He sent s cipher telegram to the ministry 'one day or dering the presence sheets to be passed around. Not a functionary waa absent. Days off for burying grand-aunts and christenings have become regretted memories of the past. o Officials Were There. If. Clemenceau's reforming seal haa extended even to the prisons. Hta flrat visit was not encouraging. The porter of St. Lasare prison In the Rue du Fau bourg St.- Denis opened the gate one morning to a little old gentleman. The following dialogue took place: "What do you wantt" "I wish to visit the establishment." "Have you the prefect's permission T" "No; I am the minister of the In terior. Go and call the governor." The porter stood aghast. Finally he stammered: "Monsieur le Dlrerteur has gone out." Monsieur le Mlnistre." "Well, then call the chief warder." Again cam the stammering reply that the chief warder was out also. The same was the case with the sis ter superior, end finally M. Clemenceau Interviewed the clerk. For weeka the governor, chief warder and elster su perior hardly ventured outalde the prison gstes for fear of another sur prise visit from the terrible minister. It Is Impossible to crowd into the limits of an article the sensational doings of M. Clemenceau during the short period be hss held the portfolio of the In terior. It begsn with courrierea The awful mining catastrophe by which over 1.000 Uvea were sacrificed occurred, aa will be remembered. In March, almost imme diately after the formation of the Sar- rten ministry. Between (0.000 and 70.000 miners under the Influence of revolutionary agitators struck work, and for a time the situation waa extremely grave. M. Clemenceau repaired post haste to Lens, the headquarters of the Basly and Brnutchoux syndicates, the latter was open by revolutionary. The minister first of all Interviewed the Baslyltes. whose leader la the mayor snd parliamentary represents live ef Lena, and then, to the utter dismay of prefect, meyor, police and all official- torn, announced his Intention of inter viewing the Broutchoutlsts. A minis ter In the revolutionary court: Never had Such a thing been heard of. What If an anarchist outrage were commit ted T What If his excellency were seised snd held hostage? In the Lion's Dsn. Nothing daunted, the little msn, In bowler and lounge suit and unattended, walked iato the Broutchoutlsts' deav heedless of scowling, suspicious glances, and announced hla Intention of address ing the miners. "Bonjour, oltoyens. Bonjour, cttoyen minis tre." And then, when silence had been ob tained. M. Clemenceau told the miners that he had come to inquire into their caae, and exhorted them to be calm and avoid disorder, promising them that if l! jjjjWflpkBMpl I f' ILjL i . t - i aar RIGHT-HAND w there were no disorder no foroe would be used "And what will you do, citizen." cried a miner, "If there Is disorder?" In that case." was the bold, unhesi tating reply, "the government will en force order and proteot the mines, but I promise you that you ahall not see a single soldier. They shall be brought Into the district by night and posted within the works, and if there le no disorder not a single pantalon rouge (red trousers) shall be seen in the streets." It was s perilous game to play, but the miners were visibly overawed by the minister's undaunted attluda and he waa cheered as he left the hall. M. Clemenceau kept hla word- Thousands of troops were brought Into the north ern departments by night and posted about the mines Unfortunately there waa disorder, the military were fre auentlv seen In the streets of Lens and J throughout the mining districts, and M. Clemenceau was severely cnuciasQ oy his opponents for parleying with revo lutionaries. The echoes of Courrierea had Scarce died away when all France waa thrown Into a panto by Oie approach of May day. It waa firmly believed that the country waa on the eve of a terrible socialist and anarchist upheaval. Here again the energy of the minister of the interior waa apparent. Five thousand troops preserved order In Paris and the, good citizens who had laid in stores of ham, sausage and biscuit agalnat a siege were none the worse for their fright, except that they had to eat oold victuals for a fortnight. Influence of America. Clemenceau's right hand man at the ministry - of the interior is Albert Bar raut, the under secretary, aad when a while ago M. Sarraut fought a duel with M. Pugllesl-ContL the Liberal dep uty, his famous chlsf acted aa hla sec ond. For a Frenchman Indeed M. CI era an ceau'a energy ia quite, abnormal. There Is something distinctively American about it. Perhaps that la due to the fact that he epent four yeara la Amer- When he was only It ha waa thrown Into prison for shouting "Vive la Republlque" at a medical students' meeting. He waa kept three months In jail and the experience left an Incredi ble Impression on his powerful and re bellious character. Aa soon aa be was releaaed he made tracks for the bond of the free. He might have extent the rest of his days there snd perhaps by this time have been a 'United Statea senator but for the Franco-German war and the break-up of the empire. Theee events brought back to Paris from many a distant corner of the earth the men who fought the empire In Ite days of glory snd omnipotence. They caused Clemen ceau. to pack up hla portmanteau and bid a lifelong farewell to America. Once back In the capital he abandoned medicine he la a full-fledged doctor for Journalism and polltlos. He has an Intellect as keen as a razor, a will as hard as the granite cliffs of hla own native I -a Vend. To these qualities he unites dauntless courage, moral ana intellectual no leas than physical. For nigh 40 years he has been bat tling In French politics with voice and pen, sword and pistol and yet It la only within tba lost six months that he has had the opportunity of revealing some of his greatest qualities to the world. Hla enemies say that he Is 111 and old he Is on the shady aids ef (6 and therefore In a hurry. If that la so the republic would be all the bet ter for a few more "Invalids" spurred on by age and debility. The Unhappy From the Cleveland Loader. "That waa a great game tn RnsTBa- the 24 Inning one." "Yes. But I kr.ow what would have hsppened If they had played ft sere." "Whatr "One of our chronic kickers would have got' up when they reached the ?0th inning and sked if he wasn't entitled to a rain obf l in onss the game was called oa eeeaunt of dsrknesa" - a. From the Chicago Tribune, The Maiden It Is easy to see, M. Hklnimerhorn, In spile i tlons, 'hat t am net tl have ever proueead ta our asjswawsjs The stan w ny w The Ma U Inn -You as you could from II there in the corner I I f tsis.'iTTs mUm m