M’KANNA AND WASHINGTON
‘‘Children,” said James McKanna,
when he found himself before the
Douglas public school last Wednesday
morning on the invitation of the prin
cipal, Miss Holmes, to speak of the na
tional capital, “I am delighted to be
with you this morning. I agree with
one of our great American statesmen,
Daniel Webster, who said that ‘when
ever 1 meet a boy, 1 raise my hat to
him. We know what a man is, but the
possibilities in every boy deserve the
salute.’ The chances for the girls to
day are just as good as they are for
the boys. There are no limits to the
opportunities for the ambitious boys
and girls. I am also glad to be with
with you this morning because I am
ever glad and willing to lend a hand
to public instruction. The admittedly
best definition of ‘education’ is to be
able to think straight on any given
proposition.
“ You are here learning and storing
up a good many facts, a large part of
which you will forget, but the learning
of them will train your minds so that
you will be able to reach a just con
clusion, once you are in possession of
the'necessary facts.
“Nothing so educates as traveling,
because one meets different peope,l with
ideas which are strange to us, but see
ing them in their own homes, we real
ize that often their point of view is as
good as ours. Talking of traveling
brings me to the subject.
Washington, laid out on its splendid
plain, with its double arbored streets,
its gardens, and magnificent buildings,
is indeed the city beautiful.
“The first night we were in Wash
ington, we went to ‘The Belasco, ’ the
theatre of the White House. It is
right across the street from the pres
ident’s residence. The time came and
passed for the president to go up, but
there was none of the usual noise to
urge the performance. A lady near
us remarked that the president was
coming, and when we asked her how
she knew, she said, ‘Why look. His
box is all decorated.’ And so it was,
with Hags and bunting. The president
came in about three minutes later. As
soon as he appeared, the orchestra
burst forth with the strains of the
Star Spangled Banner, and we all arose
and stood while it was being played.
The play was “Madamoselle Rosita,
the Flower Girl’ played by the famous
Austrian actress, Fretzi Scheff. She
came across the stage with a Shetland
pony loaded with American beauty roses
and showered the president and his
party with them.
“We saw President Taft again at
the open air military mass. Every year
some religious organization is asked
to hold services for the soldiers and
sailors who died in the Spanish Amor
1C P T! TY r*. This VCHT 1110 ('f? t h 01! C S TY 0 Y
asked to conduct them and they had an
open air mass, on the White House el
lipse at the foot of the Washington
monument. The president and bis cab
inet, about twenty senators, over 100
representatives and 30,000 people were
there. Cardinal Gibbons was to have
officiated, but being sick, he designated
Monsieur Russell to take his place. We
saw the president again at Arlington,
the national cemetery, at the unveiling
of a monument to Captain L 'Enfant,
the man who designed the plan on
which the city of Washington was built.
The pi’esident spoke that day, as did
the French ambassadore, and Senator
Root. Visitors to’Washington can see
the president most any day at the White
House. The capitol is on the opposite
side of Washington, and is the build
ing where congress meets. On the right
is the senate wing, and on the left the
house of representatives. In-the center,
and joining the two, are the old halls
of congress. In the old house of repre
sentatives, one can become acquainted
with a very strange acoustic phenom
ena. Standing at the spot where John
Quincey Adams had his desk, .one can
hear another 57 feet away, talking in
a low modulated tone, the same as if
they stood together. Let any one move
a step one way or the other, and they
are not able to hear. It is told that
Adams was oftimes bothered by the
conversations carried on, at the spot
so strangely connected with his own.
“We heard a great deal of the argu
ment, pro aud con, about the reopening
of the Lorimer case. Never was there
more interesting discussions carried on
anywhere and listening to these bril
liant Americans, both in the senate and
the house, affords one of the greatest
enjoyment of Washington.
“Across from the capitol is the con
gressional library a most magnificent
building, filled with rare treasures of
art. The bureau of printing and en
graving where the stamps and paper
money are made, is another most in
teresting place. While we were in
Washington there was an agitation
among the employees of the money mak
ing department for an increase of pay.
The Washington Post said, commenting
on this agitation, fhat it'was most un
reasonable, as these people were al
ready making all the money there was.
“The Smithsonian Institute, and the
National Museum are filled with count
less interesting things, of all times,
peoples and places. I sav birds and
ducks there, grouped and labelled, that
1 have seen all my life up here and
never knew the nature of. I also saw
seven big Alaska bears in the Washing
ton zoo, all as big or bigger than Dool
ey.”
CRUSHING A MONOPOLY
Probably Alaska has the only rail
road company in the world that ever
crushed a monopoly or presented a
town with a free water system. The
C'hitina Leader tells the story:
Again the railroad company through
the prompt action of its efficient em
ployees has come to the assistance of
Chitna. Until recently the principal
water supply has come from a large
spring of excellent water that comes
from the east slope into the stream
which runs through the townsite. The
public had patronized this spring pretty
freely until one morning last week a
placard advertising the public that the
tract was private property, and that
water might be had at the rate of ten
cents a pail or three for a quarter. A
flood of indignation swept the town
and especially were the "Heights” in
censed at the arbitrary action of the
owners Mr. and Mrs. Newhouse as they j
depended entirely upon this spring for
water for domestic purposes. The at
tention of Mr. Forrester, the company’s
engineer, was called to the matter and
he immediately set to work a gang of
men to dig a well. The Newhouses
thereupon threatened to buy the ground
upon which the well was located, but
the engineer was not to be caught nap
ping. He had dug the well in the mid
dle of the street and informed the pur
veyors of water that the well was to
be public and free to all. When all
efforts to stop the digging had failed
Mr. Newhouse rescinded the order and
offered to permit the free use of his
spring again, but the digging went on
t > c >inpb +T 'v end r>n Inexhaustible sup
ply of the best water was struck at a
depth of sixteen feet. The well was
at once curbed and a house will be
built over i'- for protection during the
winter. It is to be regretted that any
citizen of C’hitina should be so short
sighted as to try to corner the water
supply of the town while a never-fail
ing, sparkling stream runs through the
townsite, and every surrounding hill
holds a reservoir. The cost of living
is high enough in Alaska without hav
ing to buy water. It is believed the
difficulty is settled for the present.
MAY ROBERTS AGAIN
May Roberts and her company are
back to Juneau after a successful sea
son in Alaska. At Elks hall on Thurs
day evening, she will present Mrs.
Templeton’s Telegram, Friday evening
the Chaffeur, and Saturday evening, De
vorsons. The May Roberts company
still holds the record for the best com
pany which has ever appeared in Al
aska
DRUNK ON DUTY
Chief Engineer Davison, has had his
license revoked by the local inspectors
for being intoxicated while on duty.
The offense was committed while the
Ella Rohlffs was on her way to Juneau
from Ketchikan. Trial was had before
the local board of inspectors last week
and the sentence followed.
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