Evening Star Newspaper, November 16, 1895, Page 9

——————— THE EVENING STAR PUBLISHED DAILY EXCEPT SONDAY. AT THE STAR BUILDINGS, 1101 Ponnsylvania Avenne, Cor. 11th Street, by The Evening Star Newspaper. Company 8. H. KAUFFMANN, Prest. New York Ofc, 49 Potter Building, pacar gee ‘The Evening Star Is served to subscribers tn the eit: by carriers, on their own account. at 10 cents F week, or 44¢. per month. Copies at the counter cents each. By mail—anywhere in the United Canada—postage presaid -50 cents per 8 wer Saturday quintuply Sheet Star, $1.00 per year; with foreign postaze ale, $2.00. (Entered at the Poxt Oihee at Washington, D. C., As second-class mail matter ) ‘All mail abseriptions most be paid in advarce. ater of advertisi-: de known on application. Part 2. The Loening Slav.r > WASHINGTON, D. C. ASSOCIATED BANKS How Business is Done Through the Washington Clearing House. AN INSTITUTION CF RECOGNIZED VALUE Settling the Balances Due in an Expeditious Manner. fALK WITH THE MANAGER LOCAL INSTITU- Aw which does a very large business in avery quiet way and without —_ attracting much outside atten- tion to itself is the Washington clearing house. Its home is in a small and modest room on the second floor of the Metropoli- tan Bank building, but the annual clear- ances made in that unpretentious place amount to about $100,- 000,000, quite a tidy sum. The clearing house was organized about e‘ght years ago for the purpose of facilitat- img the work of the various banks of the city in making clearances with cach other. Up to that time it was customary for each bank to send a man around to all the other banks carrying with him the checks it held cn the others. He would present each batch et the proper place and would be given the «mount in cash, then going on to the next one. As there are a good many banks ia this city this required the major part of the time ef one man, and, what was of even more G. H. B. White. Importance, a runner might have In his pos- session anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000 by the time he had made his rounds. While losses were comparatively infrequent, this was due to the character of the men and not to the lack of temptation. It was finally realized that this was a crude way of doing business, and the result was the organiza- tion of the Washington Clearing House As- sociation, which has been in successful eper- ation ever since, and has proved io be of the utmost value to its members. Objects of the Organization. The prime movers in the organization of the clearing house were Mr. John W. Thompson, the late Gen. J. A. J. Creswell and Mr. E. Francis Riggs. They thought it would be a good thing to have such an institution in this city, similar to those in other large cities. The result was a meet- ing, which was held March 22, 1887, at which were present representatives of all the local banking houses. An organization was perfected April 15, 1887, when a con- siitution was adopted and officers elected. The first officers of the association were Gen. Creswell, chairman, and Mr. George H. B. White, manager; standing commit- tee, Gen. J. A. J. Creswell, E. F. Rigg: S. Bradley, H. C. Swaim, Jno. A. Ruff. ‘The following extract from the articles of asso- elation gives briefly the purposes of the or- ganization: “The undersigned banks and bankers of the city of Washington, D. C., for the pur- pose of effecting a more perfect and satis- factory settlement of the daily balances Le- tween them, hereby associate together for that object and agree upon the following articles of associatior “Phe name of the association shall be the Washington, D. C., Clearing House Associa- tion. “Tbe ol the ct of associaticn shall be F. R. Wallace. the effecting, at one place, of the daily e change between th» ‘several associate members and the payment at the um) place of the balances resulting from such exchanges. Representation at meetings shail be by the president. cashier or a di- rector of an incorporated bank and by a member of a tanking firm.” In Session Every Day. Not all the banks in the city are in the association, the present members being the Citizens’, Central, Columbia, Metropotitan, Republic, Wecond, Capital, West End, Trader: incon and Ohio banks. The last five m joned in the list have en- tered since the association was formed. After the death of n. Cress White was elected chairman, of Messr: F. Rigg: tuff and T. Cc. ring house is in session for busi- every morning at 11 o'clock, and, no withstanding the immense amounts of money involved, it v: y dees not take than a quarter of an hour to make arlngs. The methods of a clearing have been reduced to a system, h is at the same time simple and sat- Ist ory. At the hour of meeting there is present a messenger from each bank, with envelopes for each of the eleven other banks, containing the checks which were ne possession of his bank and drawn on others. They comp: note struck, and the sum total of ger's slip m: his bank a debtor or cr itor bank to clearing house. The m: ager kee f exch bank’s busin for the d fter the slips are all i | of Seaich & Sons of New York yesterday, made out they are handed to the manager, who enters the results in a book, which is specially provided for the purpese. How the Accounts Are Kept. The exchange lists which are used by the messengers contain, under the head of banks, the names of the twelve members of the association. Opposite these names are four columns, marked, respectively, lists frem, lists to, debtor and creditor. In the first column he enters oppesite the name of each bank other than his own the amount of the checks which he holds against that bank; in the secord column the emount of the checks each holds against him. If the first is greater than the second the difference goes into the credit column, otherwise in the debit col- umn. Through the medium of the clearing house each bank is not compelled to pay out for all the checks held against it, but only for the difference between what it holds and what the others hold against it. After 11 o'clock and up to 1 o'clock the debit banks come to the clearing house and pay In thelr debit balances. After 1:30 o'clock the creditor banks can come and et their creditor accounts. Payments are made at the office of the Metropolitan Rank in cash. Of course, the amount paid in must exactly equal the amount paid out, so that the clearings house never has any funds on hand at the end of the day's busi- ne: Mr. George H. B. White, chairman of the association, has been the cashier of the National Metropolitan Bank for the past twenty years and prior to his appoint- ment he had been the paying teller, and is ore of the best known men in busincss cir- cles in Washington. His connection with the Metropolitan Bank covers a period of nearly thirty-seven years, and he is the only survivor of all who were connected with the institution when he entered it, December, 1858. Mr. F. R. Wallace, the manager, came into the Metropolitan Bank in 1 from Philadelphia, where he had been engaged in business. He entered the bank as a special man to work up some back ac- counts and was in turn promoted to be bookkeeper, discount clerk and receiving teller, which position he now occupies. A Talk With the Manager. Tke association is supported by the as- sessments made on the associzted banks, but the expenses are not very heavy, as they consist only of the rent of the room, the cest of stationery and the salary of the manager, In conversation with a Star reporter a few days ago Mr. Wallace talked enter- tainingly of the workings of the clearing house. As can readily be understood, an immense amount of money passes through the institution every year. As showing the growth of the clearing house as well as the development of business in Washington, Mr. Wallace said it was interesting to note that in the first year, ending M: , 1888, the exchanges amounted to $3! The business for the year ending October, 1895, amounted to $4,021,272.11, an increase over 1894 of $12,589,846. Tae biggest business ever done in any one year was during the twelve months ending in May, 1803, when the exchanges amounted to $11 3.86. During the financial crisis a couple of years ago the volume of business shrank materially, but it has been growing steadily ever since, and in the present year will probably ex- eced by an enormous sum the amount of last year’s business. At the meeting held June 17, 1893, the standing committee appointed a committee to investigate the manner of issuing clear- ing house certificates, with a view to pos- fe use in tiding over the financial crisis, and the plan was adopted, but the {ssue of certificates was found unnecessary, and all settlements have been made on & cash ce the organization was estab- sociation has lost by death several of its members, namely: Gen. Creswell of the Citizens’ National Bank, H. C. Swaim of the Second National Bank, John A. Ruff of the Central National Bank and W. B. Baldwin of the National Capital Bank. eee THE LAW SCHOOLS. Recent Happenings Among the Pro- fessors and Students. The senior class of Columbian Law School has held during the past week one of the most exciting elections which has ever taken place in the law school. A protracted meet- ing was held on Monday night, but nothing was accomplished, and the meeting adjourn- ed at 2 o'clock Tuesday morning. The sec- ond meeting was held Thursday night. Af- ter three ballots kad been taken it was seen that the dead-lock would probably continue unless some candidate was withdrawn, and Mr. Clay, one of the three candidates for president, withdrew in favor of Mr. Fisher. On the next ballot Mr. Fisher had a ma- jority of four votes over Mr. Gray, and was declared elected president of the class. The election of the other officers was postponed until some future time. The Debating Society will discuss this evening the question “Resolved, that only a three-fourths vote of the jury should be required for a verdict.” The speakers will be Messrs. Philp, Hillyer, Keiper, Stauffer, Sparks and Smith. ‘The executive committee of the post grad- uate class is composed of H. Prescott Gatley, chairman; Albert 'T. Ryan, Harry W. Van Dyke, John B. Clark, jr., George A. H. Mills, George B. Cortelyou and Alfred N. Dalrym~ ple. s National. A large audience greeted Judge Cole last Tuesday evening upon the occasion of his introductory lecture on statutory law. Judge Cole outlined briefly the origin of statute law, dwelling at some length upon the Magna Charta, and concluded by refer- ring to the tendency of modern legislative s to encroach upon the powers of the judicial branch of the government, and the evils incident thereto. : The pe raduate class has completed the s of mere and will ntile law, under Prof. egin the study of ap- 1 causes, under Prof. y class has finished the of pleading, and will next take up ne first volume of Greenleaf on Evidence. The second meeting of the Debating So- ciety of the senior class was held friday evening, November 8. The subject discussed . solved, That an attorney can, with y, defend a criminal whom he knows to be guilty.” The speakers on the affirma- tive were Messrs. Lowe, Lannon and San- ders, and on the negative, Messrs. Gover, Newman and Clark. The judges rendered a jion in favor of the affirmative. Georgetown. The officers of the junior class, elected at a meeting held last Tuesday evening, are: St. C. B. Gwynn, president; E. K. Fox, first vice president; M. H. King, second vice president; George P. Hoover, secretary, and W. W. Stewart, treasurer. The Debating Society will hold its second debate this evening, and the subject for dis- sion is: “Resolved, That any departure from the precedent established by Wash- ington and Jefferson in retiring from the presidential office at the expiration of their second term would be unwise, unpatriotic and un-American.””| The speakers on the affirmative will be Mes O'Laughlin, Gar- i and Farrow; on the negative, Messrs. Fitzgerald, Stewart and O'Hrien. Professor Hamilton has giv ss the of a number of pra exercises, member is required to write a letter to F nquent debtor, notifying him that s will be brought on the debt unle ment is made, and to prepare a dec upon the a unt. —_._— Policemen on the Cabs. On all the cabs sent out from the stables against whom a strike is in progress, there was a policeman to protect the vehicle and its dri from the hands of strikers or their sympathizers. Members of the Cab- men’s Union or Liberty Dawn Association declare that there is no need for police pro- tection, as neither strikers nor their friends contemplate or will courtenance violence. The sympathetic strike, which was ex- pected to affect about 1,000 cabmen, has been called off. HE IS NOT POPULAR Why the Bureau of Navigation Chief is Not Liked. IMPORTANT DUTIES -T0 PERFORM Something About Admiral Ramsay, Who Holds This Place. A PERSONAL RECORD Without regard to his personality, the officer who performs the duties of chief of the bureau of navigation may be safely put down as the most unpopular officer in the naval service. It has been so since the establishment of the office, and will un- doubtedly continue until the office is abol- ished, a contingency about as remote as the abolition of the navy itself. Admiral Walker is now one of the most popular men in the service, but probably no officer in the history of the navy was more thor- oughly abused and slandered by his fellows of the quarterdeck than was Admiral Wal- Ker, not so very long ago, when he admin- istered the affairs of the bureau of naviga- tion. It was practically the same with all his predecessors, and also with his succes- sor, the present incumbent of the office, Admiral F. M. Ramsay. And in the very nature of things this official unpopularity will descend as a disagreeable heritage to his successors, unless there is an unlooked for change in human nature in the future. The reason why this partjcular official is Gisliked is simpiy because he is held re- sponsible for the detail of officers to uncon- genial duties. Like the rest of the human family, nava! officers are hard to please. With very few exceptions they never like what is given them and are continually longing for something they never get. Al- though the Secretary of the Navy signs all orders assigning officers to duty, it is a fact that such assignments are really made by the chief of the bureau of navigation, ex- cept in special cases where the head of the department has a particular preference. As such exceptions are extremely rare, out- side of the more important commands, the chief of the navigation bureau virtually controls the situation so far as the assign- ment and duties of his brother officers are concerned, within the circumscribed limits of the law, which, however, permits of con- siderable latitude in this respect. Like the civil service and like the army, there are in the navy some assignments that are better than others, and as is in- variably the case the most desirable places are conspicuously disproportionate to the other kind. It tnerefore follows from the very nature of things, that every time a good assignment is made one man is grat- ified, while at least ten others who were striving for it are personally affronted. Thus it is that the chief of the bureau of navigation, who virtually makes all the de- tails in the navy, pleasant and unpleasant, is so universally maligned by his brother officers. What Are the Dut The office, however, is a most important cne from a naval standpoint. Its duties comprise the management of everything that relates to the promulgation and en- forcement of the Secretary’s orders to the fleets and to the officers of the navy: all that relates to the education of the officers and men, including the Naval Academy and technical schools for officers, except the Torpedo School; control of the torpedo establishment and of schools for the tech- nical elucation of enlisted men; the enlist- ment and discharge of all enlisted men, in- cluding appointed petty officers, and the preparation of estimates for the pay of al} officers and enlisted men. The office has control of all rendezvous and receiving sh'ps, and is expected to pro- vide transportation for all petty officers and enlisted men. It is also called upon ta establish the complement of the crews of all vessels in commission, and is further- more required to keep the records of service of all squadrons, ships, officers and men, and to prepare the annual Naval Register for publication. Among other duties, it is also charged with the enforcement of the laws, regulations, tactics, signal codes and manuals of the service and the keeping of records of the same to date. onder the regulations, all questions with respect to discipline, changes of regulations, tactics and manual must be submitted to this bureau for its action or recommenda- tion. The bureau is required to prescribe regulations for the dress of officers and men and to see that they are strictly enforced. All applications from officers for service or change of service can be submitted to the Sceretary only through this bureau. To it are submitted all reports of service per- formed by vessels, officers and men, and also reports of inspections, drills and exer- cises, all official communications to vessels in commission are forwarded through this bureau, and all reports therefrom go to the Secretary through the same channel. Record of Every Vessel. Thus it would appear that the chief of the bureau of navigation virtually has control of all the officers and ships of the navy: All orders to ships and all communications, including cypher telegrams, in regard to them, whether to or from the Secretary of the Navy, go through this bureau and are recorded there. In this way the bureau has a complete record of the movement of every vessel in the pavy. All details for special beards, courts martial and courts of inquiry are also prepared by the chief of the bureau. Under his direction the commissions of all ecmmiss'oned officers, the warrants of all warrant officers, and the appointmenis of all appointed officers of the service are made out and registered by the registrar ot the bureau. There is but one exception to the above rute, and that is in the case of the marine corps. The records of the offi- cers and men of that branch of the naval service are Kept in the office of the colonel commandant of the corps. Nearest to an Admiral. To» office of admiral of the navy expired h the death of Admiral Porter, and there is now no officer in the navy holding an office precisely corresponding with that of the major general commanding the army. Tke chief of the bureau of naviga- tion is the nearest approach to it in the naval establishment, and it is asserted that the duties of the latter officer are even more comprehensive in their scope than are of his nearest army prototype. The position of the chief of the bureau of ravi- gation has also been likened to that of th adjutant general of the army. Admiral Ramsay's administration has been signalized by the introduction of a system of records giving a complete and continuous history’ of the service of every officer and enlisted man in the service at every stage of.his career. This innovation is responsible, however, for delays in the examination of officers for promotion in several recent cases, the most conspicuous of which is that of Commander Ludlow. In these cases the officer under examina- tion has been confronted with his record, and has been called upon to clear away certain apparently inconsistent reports on official matters. These continuous service records will soon be ¢omplete, however, and the present onerous clerical work of the bureau will be greatly lessened, as it will then be an easy matter to keep up the records. The system has already reached such @ state of perfeciton that the com- plete history of every officer and man in the naval service can be ascertained with- out any more trouble and delay than is re- quired to take his record jacket out of its p:geon hole. Not so very long azo it required an exam- ination of several books in as many dif- ferent offices to get the record of an officer or an enlisted man, and even then it was in a decidedly less comprehensive form than distinguishes the present simple sys- tem. The Individual Records. The record of every man is kept in a separate jacket, and these jackets are kept in files arranged in alphabetical order, after the manner of the card-index system. It was inaugurated in the naval service by Admiral Ramsay, several years ago, and has resulted, it is said, most advan- tageously to the service. This is especiaHy the case with enlisted men, inasmuch as the completeness of the records and their accessibility serve to prevent entirely the re-enlistment of men whose records show them to be undesirable characters. The establishment of these personal records involved an enermous amount of hard work and research, which is justified, it is thought, by the benefit to the service. Admiral Ramsay, the present head of the bureau, 1s a native of the District of Co- lumbia. He was appointed to the navy, however, from Pennsylvania. That was in October, 1850. He was then a midshipman, a grade that does not now exist in the navy. He served throughout the war with credit and was one of the few officers ad- vanced because of conspicuous merit in that crisis. He was promoted through the various grades until he reached the grade of rear admiral in April, 1894. While com- manding the New York navy yard with the rank of commodore in November, 1889, he was appointed chief of the bureau of navigation for a term of four years. This term expired in 1893, when he was reap- pointed for another term, which he will not be able to complete, however, as he will retire for age in April, 1897. He enjoys the unique distinction of being the only fleet officer in the navy who has never com- manded a fleet, but that this is so is due to Secretary Herbert's desire to keep him in a place where he can get the benefit of his conceded wisdom and fairness in naval affairs eo UNIVERSITY NOTEs. Catholic University. An athletic assoviation has been organized by the lay students of the university, and Mr. Wm. T. Cashman has been elected cap- tain. The foot ball team practices daily, and is in good shape; -It 1s scheduled to play at Emmitsburg Thanksgiving with the team of Mount St. Mary's College. The ‘divinity faculty are selecting a cos- tume to be worn upon all public occasions. Several new students have recently entered the university. Among them are Mr. Rich- ards Kerns of St. Louis, who has entered for a course In law; Mr. Keneally of Los An- geles, private secretary to Senator White, will also enter the law department, and Mr. Henry Nagengest of Baltimore, who will enter the divinity building. The divinity classes meet in the forenoon, with dinner at 1 o'clock and supper at 6:30 p.m. Howard University. At the last meeting of the Eureka Club a new rule was adgpted to the effect that if any member of the club should be absent from two successive meetings without an excuse from the president he would be subject to a fine. The “Eureka” began the year under the most favorable auspices. Those of the students who are to take part in the literary program of the Thanksgiving entertainment have been selected, as fol- lews: W. E. Robinson of the college depart- ment and George D. Jenifer of the prepara- tory department will be the orators, and Daisy L. Jackson of the normal department will give a recitation. A choice selection of music will be rendered by the university cholr and the President’s Glee Club, under the direction of Prof. Stevenson. The university tendered an elaborate re- ception to Gov. Shepherd on Tuesday last in the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. The chapel was decorated with palms and potted plants. : Georgetown University. The Georgetown Law School held a spirit- ed election of class officers last Tuesday evening, which fesulted in the choice of St. Charles B. Gwynn of North Carolina, president; E. K. Fox of this city, first vice president; W. A. King of Maine, second vice president; L. T. Hoover of Georgia, secretary; Dr. Stuart of this city, treas- urer, and P. Kelso of Arkansas, sergeant- at-arms. A new nine-inch photographic transit in- strument, in place of the old meridian circle, has been mounted at the observa- tory. The huge piers that supported the eight microscopes of the old instrument were cut down to a convenient height and collimator piers had to be built from the cellar up to the same height. Bay win- dows north and south of the instrument make access to the collimators more con- venient. American University. Dr. Beiler left on Thursday for Dela- ware, Ohio, to attend the annual meeting of the Association of College Presidents of the Methodist Church. He will return in about ten days, at which time a meeting of the committee appointed to consider the university building plans will take place. Some dissatisfaction has been expressed at the delay in laying the corner stone, which ceremony will probably not take place until April, but.it is stated that this delay will be of considerable advantage to the university. Bishop Hurst nas been absent in Detroit for the past week, where he was called on account of the geath of his mother. He will probably return to the city next week. The university library has received a val- uable addition in two volumes of the Chris- tian Advocate of 1827, presented by the Central M. E. Church of Detroit. A donation of $1,000 has been made by a friend of the university, who wishes his name ‘withheld, toward the fund for the hall of history. ———.—__ The National Gepgfaphic Society. The regular Friday evening meeting of the National Geographic Society was held last night in thé rooms of the Cosmos Club, the subject under discussion being the “Hydrography of the United States.” Mr. F. H. Newell, hydrographer in charge cf the division of hydrography in the geolozi- cal survey, read a paper on his investiga- tions; Prof. Willis L. Moore of the weather bureau outlined the work of the bureau in forecasting the changes in river beds; Mr. Arthur P. Davis of the geological survey read a paper:on “Stream Measurements in the West,” Mr. Cyrus C. Babb spoke on “Hydrographic Studies in the Appalachian Area,” and Mr:Marcus Baker read a paper on “Hydrography of the Navigable Wa- ters.” Rear Admiral Meade will address the so- ciety next Friday evening at Metz2rott Hall on the subject “The Caribbean Ser and the Mediterranean of the Western World.” ——————— G. Mott Williams has been elected bishop of the new diocese of Marquette. Mich., on re second ballot; 24 out of 40; clergy 8, lay SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1895-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES BOGUS BUTTER MEN Treasury Officials Moving Vigor- ously Against Them. REGULATION REGARDING TRADE MARKS Not Allowed to Use Any Design Suggesting a Dairy. WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES The publication in The Star yesterday of an account of the activity displayed in the legal campaign against the violators of the statutes governing the sale of oleo- margarine created much consternation among the dealers in the product, who had failed to follow the reguirements of the law, and a corresponding degree of satis- faction on the part of the sellers of genu- ine butter, who have for so long been com- pelled to suffer from the competition of those unscrupulous enough to offer imi- tation butter for the genuine at the prices commanded by the latter. There was also evident today an immense amount of interest among the consumers of butter, and a Star reporter who visited several genuine butter merchants was in- formed that almost every customer who had come in during the morning had spoken of The Star's article and ex- pressed the hearty hope that the authorities would not allow a single guilty person to go unpunished. There were threats indulged in by some dealers in oleomargarine that they would flood the city with first-class genuine butter end sell it below cost in order to drive those who have sold only the genuine article at all times out of the busi- ness, and spend money freely in this way to work the ruin of those who took the initiative in the present vigorous cara- paign against the illegal sale of oleomarga- rine. Some of these dealers affect to be- lieve that the treasury officials are not in earnest in their present attitude and that eVen if it is proven beyond any doubt that there have been constant and general vio- lations of the oleomargarine laws, those found to be guilty will be allowed to plead ignorance and be required to undergo no penalty other than the payment of the fines provided by the statutes. Recent Regulations. In view of the very vigorous measures recently taken by the Treasury Department this confidence of the oleomargarine men does not appear to have any firm basis to rest on. October 22 last a stringent order was issued from the treasury regulating the export of oleomargarine and defining the packages in which it should be packed and the manner in which they should be packed. The next day, October 23, a still more important order was issued by Commissioner of Internal Revenue Jos. S. Miller, which will go into effect January 1, 18%. After reciting that it had come to the notice of the internal revenue office that certain manu- facturers of oleomargarine and dealers in that product encroach upon the law in the use of private trade-marks, brands, labels, pic- ture illustrations or other advertising or de- scriptive devices placed upon prints,rolls or other forms and designs of lumps of oleo- margarine sold or removed for consumption or use in the United States, the commission- er of internal revenue states that with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury he establishes regulations, under authority contained in sections 6 and 20 of the act of August 2, 1886. He then declares that after January 1, 1896, “no manufacturer of or dealer in oleomargarine will be permitted to use any private trade-mark, label, brand, picture illustration or other advertising or descriptive device upon any print, roll or other mold or design of oleomargarine offer- ed for sale, consumption or use, which in any wise conceals the fact that the product is oleomargarine. This rule applies as well to the wooden or paper package or wrapper of any print, roll or other mold or design of oleomargarine.”” Under this regulation it will be seen that the use of any trade-mark, label, brand, pic- ture illustration or advertising or descrip- tive device representing a cow or dairy farm or in any other form indicating the oleomar- garine to be a product of the dairy, or cal- culated to induce the belief that it is such dairy product, is inadmissible. Commission- er Miller declares that the use of the word “butterine” is also inadmissible, since sec- tion 2 of the act of August 2, 1886, prescribes that “butterine” shall be known and desig- nated as “oleomargarine.” It will be seen from this that the treasury officials are not only alive to the misrepre- sentations that surround the seiling of imi- tation butter, but are determined that no subterfuge will be permitted by which even the most ignorant purchaser may be im- posed upon. Defining Butter. According to the act defining butter and imposing a tax upon and regulating the mariufacture, sale, importation and expor- tation of oleomargarine, it is provided that for the purpose of the act the word “but- ter” shall be understood to mean the food Froduct made exclusively from milk or cream, with or without common salt, and with or without additional coloring matter, It also provides that certain manufactured products, certain extracts and certain mix- tures and compounds, including such mix- tures and compounds with butter, shall be known and designated oleomargarine, namely: All substances heretofore known ag oleomargarine, oleo, oleomargarine ol}, but- terine, lardine, suine and neutral; all lard extracts and tallow extracts, and all mix- tures and compounds of tallow, beef fat, suet, lard, lard oil, vegetable oil, annotto, and other coloring matter, intestinal fat and offal fat made in imitation and semblance of butter, or when, so made, calcuiated, in- tended to be sold as butter or for butter. Retail Dealers. The section relating to retail dealers, which is particularly interesting just now, and the regulations of the treasury are as follows: “Retail dealers in oleomargarine must sell only from original stamped packages, in quantities not exceeding ten pounds, and shall pack the oleomargarine sold by them in suitable wooden or paper packages, which shall be marked and branded as the commissioner of internal reverue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall prescribe. Every person who know- ingly sells or offers for sale, or delivers or offers to deliver, any oleosmargarine in any other form than in new wooden or paper packages as above described, or who packs in any package any oleomargarine in any manner contrary to law, or who falsely brands any package or affixes a stamp on any package denoting a less amount of tax than that required by law, shall be fined for each offense not more than one thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not more than two years.”” The treasury regulations declare that the words ‘‘oleomargarine” and “pound,” which are required to be printed or branded on retailers’ wooden or paper packages in let- ters not less than one-quarter of an inch square, and the quantity, which is required to be written, printed or branded thereon in figures of like size, must be so placed as to be plainly visible to the purchaser at the time of delivery to him. Ulegible or con- cealtd marks and brands are not those con- templated and required by the law and reg- ulations. It will not be deemed a compli- ance with the regulation if the word “‘oleo- margarine” and the other required words and figures shall be illegibly branded or printed, or so placed as to be concealed from view, by being on the inside of the package or by folding in the stamped por- tion of the paper sheet used for wrapping or otherwise. The required words and fig- ures must be legibly printed or branded and conspicuously placed, and no other word or business card should be placed in such jux- tapositicn thereto as to divert attention from the fact that the contents of the pack- age are wholly oleomargarine. The color of the ink with which the words are printed must be in the strongest con- trast to the color of the package. The question having arisen as to whether retail dealers in oleomargarine may con- tinue the practice of wrapping their goods Gelivered to customers in ordinary brown wrapping paper, such packages being sim- ilar to those usually employed in selling butter and lard at retail, and being also marked as required by the regulations, it is held that such practice is in compliance with the law. Retail dealers are permitted to take oleo- margarine from the original stamped pack- age in advance of sales and put it up in retail packages marked and branded as the law and these regulations prescribe, and ofter them for sale, provided such pre- pared retail packages remain in the manu- facturer's criginal package,or at most stack- ed up upon the ouside thereof, or upon the lid undetached from the package until the contents have been bargained for and sold, provided that in so doing none of the marks, brands, stamps and notices required upon the package are concealed. But should the retailer remove his prepared packages from the original package and sell them sepa- rated from and independently of the manu- facturer’s stamped package, he involves himself in Hability to a fine of $1,000. The oleomargarine must remain in (or upon) the original stamped package until sold therefrom. (Section 6, act of August A886, 37 Record, p. 77.) The purchaser, in these cases, is notified of the nature of the article’ purchased, which seems to be the leading purpose of the provision. The penalty imposed upon retail dealers for knowingly selling or offer- ing to sell oleomargarine in any other form than in new wooden cr paper packages is prescribed in section 6, above quoted. IN LOCAL STUDIOS The Society of Washington Artists held its annual meeting for the election of of- ficers last Tuesday evening in Mr. Dunbar studio. About twenty members were pres- ent. E. C. Messer succeeds Mr. Dunbar as president of the society, the latter being appointed as vice president. W. B. Chilton is the secretary, and Carl Weller treasurer. The executive committee, in charge of exhibitions, etc., will consist of Parker Mann, chairman; E. F. Andrews, Robert Hirckley, R. N. Brooke and H. Hobart Nichols. It was decided to hold the annual spring exhibition of the society during the firs week in March, instead of April, as here- tofore. A communication was presented by Robert Hinckley from the Cosmos Club to the effect that $200 would be awarded by the club to the artist exhibiting the best painting during the coming view, the can- vas to become the property of the club. It will be remembered that last year the Cosmos Club purchased the painting by Miss Curtis of Tennyson's “Princess.” The club has always evinced a sympathetic in- terest in the work of local artists, which has done much toward raising the stand- ard of artistic merit. Before adjourning, resolutions of esteem for the late Thomas Hovenden were adopted, and at an early date will be pre- sented to Mrs. Hovenden and her family . o- The full length portrait of Senator Voor- hees, upon which E. F. Andrews has been engaged during the past year, is now re- ceiving its finishing touches from the ar- tist, and will soon be in readiness to be placed in the new library, for which place it _has been painted. The subject is posed in an easy and wholly characteristic attitude, while the cape over- ecat and slouch hat’ which have grown familiar to all Washingtonians give an add- ed touch to the air of distinctive personality that is one of the portrait’s most striking features. . oe The model bust of Commodore Melville upon which H. J. Ellicot has been devoting the past two or three weeks is about ready to be cast in plaster—the last process before being sent to the bronze foundry. As soon as completed, the bust, which is an unusual- ly fine plece of work, will be placed in the Loyal Legion headquarters, in Philadelphia. * ee Just at present competition for the Sher- man statue is occupying the attention of sculptors throughout the United States. The statue will be of bronze and colossal in di- mensions. As soon as completed it will be placed in Franklin Square. Three prizes of $1,000 each are to be given for the best three designs. The committee of selection and award is composed of the Secretary of War, Gen. Schofield and Gen. G. M. Dodge. 5 ee Mrs. E. F. Andrews is working on a life- sized bust portrait of Gen. Corse of Alexan- dria. . oe Miss Bertha Perrie has a number of her clever paintings in the exhibition by the Water Color Club in New York, and several studies in of] at the Philadelphia Art Club, which opened its annual exhibition today. * e. The directors of the Corcoran Art School have been obliged to suspend their distribu- tion of admission tickets to the evening classes, owing to the already overcrowded condition of the school. os Mr. Bramedi has returned from Paris, where he has spent the past six or seven years, and as soon as he is able to secure suitable studios, will locate himself perma- nently in the city. During the artist's r idence in Paris he was a regular and im- portant contributor to the Salon and other Buropean exhibitions of note. oe Jules Dieudonne has removed his studio to G20 17th street and is working on a se- ries of designs which are to be used for mural decorations. . ee An exhibition which was at once unique and delightful has been attracting atten- tion to the Cosmos gallery during the past week. The view was compose entirely of poster designs secured from all parts of the world. Among the local artists whese work at- tracted attention was Miss Sophia Loury whose vigorous composition and easy flow- ing lines at once arrested the eye. Mills Thompson also had several compo- sitions, whose artistic merit was of par- ticular interest to those who have watched the young artist’s progress during the past year or two. . oe - Miss Maud Lightfoot has just completed a well executed portrait of 5 Reming- ton of Cleveland, Ohio. The canvas, which is a three-quarter length, presents an artistic soiution of the difficult probiem of successfully combining white and light ef- fects. ——__. Brigadier Evans’ Visit. Brigadier Willi chief of the Atlantic coast the Salvation Army, came toda: conduct a spec i at the Saly Army Hall tonight at S o'clock, assis’ Adjutant William Hunter of Baltimore and ether prominent officers from away, and by Adjutant Isabel Wood and Lieutenant Chandler, who are in charge of the work here. The meeting will be an interesti ne. This is Brigadier vans’ second to Washington. He made when he first came six weel ns, of friends 3 ago. i} Printers’ Inf, cfBe fitffe schoo? master of advertising), saps: JE is cfaime? for the Was8insfon Sfor, and profaSlp frutSfullp cfaimed, 1Bat no offer netuspaper tn fhe counfrp goes info 60 fargz a percenfage of aff fhe Gouses tiffin a radius of fwenfp mifes from fhe office of pufification. REAL ESTATE GOSSIP Relation of Substantial Building to an Income From Property. REVISION OF BUILDING REGULATIONS Rapid Transit and Cheap Fares for Street Railroads. SOME IMPROVENENTS It is announced that the revision of the building regulaticns is about completed, and that in a short time the District Com- missioners will be able to issue them in pamphlet form, as was done with the old regulations. The principal features of the new regulations are pretty well known to the public through the publications in The Star, and while, of course, there are differ- ences of opinion as to the advisability of certain changes or the retention of certain sections, it is thought that on the whole the new regulations will be a decided im- provement on those that have been in force. One feature of the new code of rules which will no doubt be appreciated by the builders is the insertion of tables giving the carrying weights of timbers, so that all that will be required is to state in the specifications of new buildings the charac- ter of timbers to be ured, des'gnating them by number, and there will be no necessity of making any calculation as to their car- rying weight. In this way the issue of per- mits will be much simplified, and the work of the building inspector and his assistants Will be materially reduced. More Desirable Houses. It is believed that the tendency of the re- vised building rules will be to encourage substantial construction, and also to pre- vent the use of defective apparatus for plumbing purposes. In these two respects, probably, there is a greater waste of money than in any other department of ba‘lding. It is false economy, in order to effect a small saving, that both of these important details in house building are skimped, and as a result in a few years the house be- comes out of repair, and it is found to be difficuit to keep it occupied. The complaint is frequently heard that people leave old houses in order to go into new ones, and while there is a certain at- tractiveness in the mere freshness and cleanness of a new house, still it is not likely that a great majority of people would go through the discomfort of a household moving unless they were fleeing from premature old age and possible dis- ease in a house that has been put up ia a shoddy, cheap-John manner. It is said by men who have had large experience in rent- ing houses that it is seldom a weil-built, well-equipped hcuse stands empty, and in this view of it honest building is a paying investment. Street Railroads and Property Valoes It is possible that a new kind of street railroad motive power will be in operation in this city, as it is stated that the officials of the Eckington and Belt railroads are about to make experiments with com- pressed air as a motive power. In the event that this proves to be a practical success the cars thus equipped will be run on :he line from Brookiand to 15th and G streets, and it is expected, of course, that the same equipment will be placed on ‘the other lines operated by this corporation. This is no doubt welcome news to prop- erty holders, for the relation between rapid street railroad transit and-real estate val- ues is well understood. No doubt also the company appreciates the intimate connec- tion that exists between rapid transit and increased receipts, so that the change will be a good thing all around. When reduced fares are combined with the adoption of a quickened schedule the effects on the company’s receipts are some- thing remarkable, as is stated is shown in the case of the Rock Creek railroad. Since read became a part of the Washington and Georgetown and one fare has been charged over the combined lines to the District bounds, the receipts of the Rock creek section, it is said, are a great deal more than they were for the corresponding period of last year. This increase has taken place in spite of the fact that the Rock Creek road, under the new arrange- ment, gave up the fare one way and prac- tically carries passergers over its road for one fare, when pre had received two fares, The Building Record. The building record for the week ending yesterday shows that twenty-one permits were issued at an estimated cost of $51,750, divided among the several sections of the city as follows: Northwest, ten permits, costing $34,500; southeast, five, $9,950; south. west, one permit, $100; county, three, $2,900, and the northeast two permits for $4,000. Some Improvements. Plans have been drawn by A. Goenner, architect, for nine two-story brick houses to be erected by M. P. Caldwell on Heckman street southeast. Two two-story brick dwellings, 106 and 408 11th street southeast, are to be © by S. Carr. They will es acob Jones is to houses, Nos. 200) to 2 y place, from plans prepared by F. A. Hurlebaus. The houses will be three stories in height, with fronts of pressed brick and Indiana stone, And each will be 18 by 39 feet. all will erect a two-story ‘apitol street betw fo) and P streets from plans prepared by M. Hunter Jone rchitect. The front will be of stone to the first floor sills, and the re- mainder of pre 1 brick. The dimensions will be 19 by 70 feet. A two-story house is to be erected on D street between 3d and 4th streets southeast by T. S. Hutchinson. Plans are beiag prepared by R. J. Beall, ir., for six two-story houses to be erected on llth street between U and V northwest. They will each he 16 by 5 Plans have been prepared by William per, architect, for the erection of a row of four brick dwellings at Nos. £9 to 45 Harri- scn strect southeast for James A. Beall, trustee. The butlders will be Masson & Har- ser. The buildings will have a frontage of hteen feet each, by a depth of thirty-sev- en feet each. The fronts of the buildings will be of select red brick. Palmer & Fowler, architects, have pre- pared plans for the erection of a three-story brick and stone residence for Alfred H. Cho- well, which will be erected at No. 1829 19th street northwest. The building will have a marsard roof and a frontage of twenty-two feet by a depth of thirty-four fect. 11 will have a bay window, and the front will be "k and brown stone. Hutchinson has awarded the contract building a tw and basement brick dwelling to J. W. Talbert, and when the building is completed it will be known as 322 The building will front street and have a depth D. B, Gotwa had the plans prepared for the crection of a row of nine brick dwell- at No 44 13th street north- , by R. J. Beall, jr. The front will be of press brick, and sixteen feet eight inches wide by a depth of thirty-nine feet. spelt “A Complete Fabrication.” A London dispatch says the story from Washington to the effect that a second uitl- matum had been sent to Venezucla by Great Britain is officially declared to be @ c mplete fabrication. ‘The original so-called ultimatum has not vet been delivered to the Venezielan government.