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The building for the Pan-American
Bureau building is located on land
which was formerly a peninsula ex
tending out into the Potomac river,
on which stood the historic Van Ness
mansion, built in 1817. This mansion
was the residence of Marcia Burns
Van Ness, daughter of David Burns. I
who was one of the original Settlers
of the territory now occupied by the
city of Washington. The adjoining
water area has been in process of fill
ing by the government for the last 20
yeans, so that the shore of the Poto
mac river is now a half mile distan;.
■f The reclaimed area has been con
verted into a beautiful public park.
One of the first problems which con
fronted the architects in preparing
the working plans for the building
• was the question of foundations. In
order to determine the character of
the subsoil at the site, pits were ex
vated at several places, and a record
kept of the different strata encount
ered. After a study of these data to
gether with the estimated weight of
the superstructure, the architects con
cluded that a structure resting on
concrete piles would possess many ad
vantages over the ordinary spread
footings, especially as here were
very heavy concentrated loads im
posed at certain points. It was found
.that for a depth of eight to ten feet
llelow the surface the clay subsoil was
saturated with water, which would
make the excavation for the base
ment difficult and costly. In view of
the conditions, a preliminary contract
was let for laying a terra-cotta drain
pipe on four sides of the site and at a
distance of 25 feet from the proposed
building. The pipes were brought to
gether in a manhole at the southeast
corner and then carried to an outlet
in the municipal sewer in Seventeenth
street.
According to the contract signed be
tween the director of the bureau and
the contractors the building must be
completed by July 1, 1909. The re
vised plans, and specifications call for
a structure whose exterior shall be
built of marble entirely. Instead of
stucco, as originally intended. This
lLlipUriallL 111 l IIC illll»U Ileus
been made possible largely as a result
of the condition of the building trade.
When the contract was signed there
was comparatively little construction
going on and the contractors were so
anxious to obtain work that the fig
ures submitted and accepted were
probably 20 per cent, less than they
would have been six or eight months
s previous, and this saving was applied
to the substitution of marble instead
of stucco for the outside walls.
Ground was broken at the building
site on April 13, 1908: meanwhile or
ders had been issued by the con
tractor for the delivery of the materi
als of construction.
The requisite excavation having
been completed the driving of con
crete piles was commenced at the
northeast corner of the building on
April 24, 1968, and proceeded day and
night, in order to have the foundations
ready for the corner-stone laying,
which was to take place May 11,
1908.
By unceasing labor on the part of
the director of the bureau and his
staff, the contractor and his lieuten
ants, and the different committees the
substructure for the corner stone was
built and stands were erected for the
accommodation of 4,000 persons, in
vited to witness the ceremonies at
tending the laying of the corner stone.
On the eventful day every detail
was iu readiness; a party consisting
, cf President Roosevelt, Secretary of
State Root. Ambassador Nabuco, Car
'• dinal Gibbons, Mr. Andrew Carnegie,
Bishop Cranston and Director John
Barrett ascended the platform sur
rounding the corner stone, and each
i£W SHOWING PROORETGG t1AD£
tb-e corner stone was to rest with a '
silver trowel. The stone was then j
swung in place by means of a broom
derrick rigged to an historic old tree, <
which was convenient for the pur- (
pose; the stone was then gently low- 1
cred on its permanent bed.
Upon the conclusion of the cere- <
monies attending the corner-stone lay- ;
ing, the work of driving piles pro- .;
ceeded, and was completed July 25, ;
1908. The concrete piles, 1,194 in -
number, range in length from 18 to 1
31 feet, and are spaced generally 3 j
feet on centers under all walls. They 1
ar S inches in diameter at point and ■
20 inches at butt.
The consensus of opinion of en
gineers and architects is that this ]
foundation is the most substantial i
ever constructed in Washington.
DEALING WITH THE TRAMP
Public Is Awakening to the Fact That
Scientific Treatment of Vagrancy <
Is Necessary.
Scientific treatment of vagrancy is
not to be expected in the immediate
future, but a good beginning has been
made. It is now suggested that laws
be passed by the New York legisla
ture whereby tramps, drunkards and
idlers without means of support be
confined in farm colonies. Unfor
tunately, the underlying idea is that
these human wrecks are able to work
for their keep, and should be forced
to labor. As a matter of fact, they
are sick men, some of them chronical
ly starved and incurably neurasthenic.
That is the reason they are idlers—
not from choice. Denmark has solved
the problem scientifically in self-sup
porting institutions. The beggar or
tramp is arrested and taken to the
settlement, where he becomes really a
patient who receives careful study, is
appropriately treated, and given only
such work as he is able to do. Quite
a percentage recover and are released
after positions are found for them.
Some prefer to remain and their earn
ings accumulate; the incurables must
remain.
The System has ended mendicancy
and vagabondage, and must be adopt
ed herd, not only to restore wrecks to
usefulness, but as a matter of economy.
The railroads alone lose $25,000,000
yearly through stealing or accidents
due to tramps. Counting the crimes
committed and the other losses, it
would be cheaper to spend a hundred
millions a year confining and curing
idlers than to allow the present orgy
of crime to continue, though as a mat
ter of fact, the colonies would become
self-supporting. Nothing can bo done ■
as long as jjublic opinion holds to the
delusion that idlers are simply vicious (
men needing punishment, a delusion
as false as the mediaeval theory that
the insane must be scourged and load'
ed with chains.—American Medicine.
Wasted.
Ponce ile Leon, glancing through the
Elysium Ladles’ Companion, encoun
tered the American Hygienic Face
Bloom Company’s free trial offer,
don’t send any money, in the advertis
ing columns.
“Wouldn’t that crimp your eternal
life ambitions!’’ he cried. “Now I walk
from Jacksonville to Key West look
ing for the fountain of the bloom of
youth, and here it is sent on approval
in three-ounce bottles, recommended
by Lily Langtry and positively guaran
teed to keep the Witch of Endor as
fresh as a Chicago typewriter girl,
and only 75 cents a bottle."
After that, Ponce went out and
talked for 30 minutes to a policeman.
—Puck.
Domestic Economy.
“Hey, mon,” exclaimed the braw,
bonnie north country man, “thrift is
a wunnerful thing!”
“Yes,” replied his English traveling
companion, “you’re right there. Now.
I gave my wife $100 to keep the New
Year holidays with, and would you
believe it?—instead of exceeding it,
she saved part of it to buy herself a
hat."
“That’s now;,” replied the Scots
man. “My wife gives the kids ha’pen
nies apiece to go to bed supperless;
when they're asleep she takes the
ha’pennies off ’em ageen, and then
she makes ’em do wi’out ony break
last for losin' ’em! Hey, mon, that’s
thrift!”
The Amateur Elocutionist.
“’Dis life is alius gettin' de tears
mixed up wif de smiles,” said Uncle
Ebeu. "I doesn’t know of anything
sadder dan to hear some folks try in’
to tell a funny story.”
BRAVES BUNS OF
OILS FOR 0101
CHAMPION ARIZONA BRONCO
BUSTER TAKES BRIDE DESPITE
THREATS OF SHOOTING.
LATTER HAS MANY SUITORS
Announcement of the Approaching
Marriage Brings Warnings That Re
venge Will Be Taken—Knot Is
Tied in Haste.
Los Angeles, Cal.—Miss Guad'alupe
Middleton, called the prettiest girl in
Arizona, became the wife of Harry G.
Willingham, a former champion
bronco buster, a few days ago in this
city. The wedding ceremony was per
formed in haste, because a disap
pointed suitor was speeding westward
bent on revenge.
The marriage was the culmination
of a romance that has kept families in
Texas, New Mexico and Arizona at
gun point for the last year or more.
Now Willingham has to face irate
suitors and angry relatives, and is not
only willing to do so, but contemplates
having a rather pleasant time of it.
Miss Middleton, the toast of every
cattle man in the southwest, occupied
a peculiar and unusual position in the
affairs of the great territory of Ari
zona. Cowboys fell desperately in love
with her at first sight. They drank
her health, and then glared over the
rims of their glasses at one another,
the spirit of jealousy stirring strong
within them.
One man tried to marry the young
woman and then another, but some
how the suitors always decided in the
end that it would be more healthy to
be “just a friend.”
And so it happened that although
the finest men of the desert sought to
wed the girl, all of them failed, and
Miss Middleton seemed doomed to be
come an old maid, because of the fact
that she had too many suitors. Most
girls do not have enough, but this lit
tle maid could not speak in a friendly
way to one without causing another to
finger a revolver and mutter low
threats.
Then she met Harry Willingham. He
is a son of the famous cattle king, C.
tn-m
l"be Wedding Ceremony Was Per*
formed in Haste.
3. Willingliam of El Paso, Tex. He
ilso has the fame that comes from
laving taken the fight out of the worst
lorses of the country and the nerve
>ut of some of Its bad men.
Willingham was working on a ranch
n Pleasant Valley, the scene of the
errible feud of the Tukesberry and
fraham outfits, and was with the J.
3. outfit when he met Miss Middleton,
whose brother owns a big ranch in
hat neighborhood.
They fell in love. Willingham sug
gested that the other suitors take a
'hike” for the benefit of their consti
utions. They refused and said the
suggestion was unpopular. Whereupon
VIr. Willingham grinned and whistled
lttle love songs and flouted his rivals
n a way that caused hard feelings.
When he learned that his love was
;oing to Los Angeles he made his
plans. She came here and then wrote
lack to one of her friends about “a
lice young city man" she intended to
narry. Arizona arose on its hind legs,
figuratively speaking, and ‘hollered.
One suitor wrote to Miss Middleton
stating that he would kill on sight any
nan she married. It was this same
nan that rode with a party of cow
joys who tried to round up Willlng
tam. They set the sheriff, Henry
rhompson, and his chief deputy, Bill
t'oris of Gila county, on his trail, and
the young sweetheart, intent on
•eaching Los Angeles to attend his
wedding, rode out into the night with
lis partner alongside and the sheriff
ind posse thundering behind.
Willingham rode into Payson an
lour ahead of his pursuers, and there
moved that he had rustled no cattle,
is was charged, and then again took
he trail, with his thoughts on Los An
;eles.
He met Cant. H. F. Gerry, a soldier
>f fortune and one of h;s old friends,
ferry was about to be married to Miss
dacdonald. Willingham and Miss Mid
lioton acted as assistants. Afterward
he role was reversed, and the captain
md his wife saw that the knot was
noperly tied which made the little
Vrizona girl and the cowboy husband
mu wile.
With the WorldV
Great Humorists
Selections from the Writings of the 'Best Knotvn
Makers of Mirth.
Addison Spriggs in
Search of Happiness
By S. E. Kiser
utjwy ana aearueu sign aq
dison Spriggs put down his book. He
had been perusing the words of the
poet, and the poet had written:
They drink the bitter dregs of woe
Whose deeds cause others to be sad;
The sweetest joy a man may know
Is found in making others glad.
“Truer words never were penned,”
thought Spriggs. “I shall start forth
at once for the purpose of making
somebody happy. I feel the need of
gladness, and how shall I find it ex
cept in giving joy to some one who
has no joy on hand?”
As he stepped into the elevator the
man who was operating the car turned
to him rather eagerly, and said:
“Mr. Spriggs, I’m in trouble, and if
you can help me out I’ll never forget
your kindness.”
“How much do you need?” asked
Spriggs.
“If you could let me have $2 till
Saturday I’d be able to get along.”
Mr. Spriggs handed out the money,
and went upon his way feeling glad
that he had not been asked for a
larger sum. As he stepped into the
street a ragged man who had not been
shaved for a week cautiously ap
proached him.
"My friend,’ said Addison Spriggs,
“I can see that you are in hard luck.
You want enough to buy a meal and
pay for a night’s lodging. Here.”
He gave the man 50 cents and went
on. As he was looking for some one
else to whom he might give happiness
it occurred to him that the man who
naa approached him had exhibited
signs of dissipation. Also he remem
bered that the elevator man had re
cently been on a spree, and he began
to censure himself for encouraging
worthlessness. His happiness van
ished and a feeling of sadness crept
into his heart.
“Confound it,” he mused, “I wish
Explaining Matters to the Satisfaction
of the Desk Sergeant.
I hadn’t been such a fool. It's all
right being a benefactor, if one bene
facts only where the benefacting is
going to do good. I wish i had my
money back.”
Concerning Business Ability
By Charles L. Doyle.
They were sitting around a table in
the grill-room of a Chicago club—sev
eral members, a New Yorker, and Maj.
Twombly, a veteran officer who had
served the greater part of his life
at United States army posts in the
far west.
“Speaking of keen business in
stinct,” said the major, "there was a
fellow named Gormley who visited
Arizona when I was stationed there,
and he certainly had more business
ability about him than anyone else
I ever met. His only capital was the
fact that he had been born in New
England. He looked around a bit, and
the thing which struck him most forci
bly was that the modern Indian is a
quite different sort of creature from
the Indian of Cooper, who talked
blank verse, and on moral questions
if «**•<
He Started an Artificial Scalp Factory.
towered like Pike’s Peak. He saw,
too, that the dusky brothers had more
or less money; and thus the problem
requiring solution was seen to be sim
ple—to wit, the transferral of this
money from the aboriginal to his own
pocket. So what do you think this
man Gormley did? He started an ar
tificial scalp factory, where the tepee
keeping brave might purchase alleged
evidence of his prowess on the war
path at one dollar a piece or ten dol
lars a dozen. The warriors of the
prairie took to the idea like ducks to
a pond, and Gormley made a tor
tune.”
The major paused, and gradually the
suspicion crept into the minds of the
members that he had been lying; but
j none of them felt like taking excep
I tion to his statement. Finally the
New Yorker said:
“Your friend was clever, major, but
1 once knew a man in the east whom
I think surpassed him in business acu
men. His name was Bloggs, and he
came of a good family. He lived out
at Spudsville, N. J., but he came to
New York every day, where he carried
on a house-renting agency. The first
of January Bloggs bought a 50-ride
family ticket on the railroad between
Spudsville and New York. H. was good
for one year. The first morning Bloggs
noticed that when the conductoi
punched this ticket the little piece cut
out fell to the floor, so after the official
passed on he picked it up. touched
the edge all around with mucilage,
i and slipped it back in. He always
made the trip both ways with the
same conductor, and as he never failed
to pick up the punched-out piece and
replace it in the hole he came out at
the end of the year with a ticket as
good as new.”
“Hum-a-yes," growled the major, en
viously. “Certainly a smart chap, your
friend Bloggs.”
“Rather,” assented the New Yorker,
"but that wasn’t all. He then went to
the company, and on the plea of not
having used the ticket, got them to
refund the purchase price. He’d have
been all right if after getting it in
'his pocket he hadn’t set up a loud and
rasping demand for interest at legal
J
He paused in front of a jeweler’s
window and after he had gazed for
a few minutes at the solid gold
watches which were offered for $5.98
each, a man who wore the garb of a
laborer approached and stood beside
him. Mr. Spriggs studied the work'
man carefully, and, having decided
that here was an honest, worthy citi
zen, said:
“My good man, I desire to do you a
favor. I wish to be kind to you. Have
you ever read the sublime and beauti
ful words of the poet who tells us
of the joy that comes from giving
happiness to others? Will you do me
the honor to accept a small benefac
tion?”
“Do I look like a come-on?” asked
the one to whom A. Spriggs desired
to impart gladness.
“I have here a $2-bill,’ said Mr.
Spriggs, producing the money and of
fering it, “which I desire to present
to you.”
“Up an alley,” the other man sar
castically replied.
“You misunderstand me. ( ask noth
ing in return. I am a searcher after
happiness. I realize that I can se
cure it only through giving happiness
to others. I insist that you take this
money.”
Then a policeman who I.ad been
slyly watching and listenin pounced
upon Addison Spriggs, and two hours’
later, after he had succeeded in ex
plaining matters to the satisfaction of
the desk sergeant, the man who had
been in pursuit of happiness sadly
said:
“The only difference between a poet
and a fool is that the fool may some
times have lucid spells.”
(Copyright, 1909, by W. G. Chapman.)
rates. This was too much, and the
president of the company jumped over
the counter and kicked him the whole
length of a long corridor, projecting
him from ten to fifteen feet at each
kick. However, Bloggs sued for
$5,000 damages, and a jury of other
commuters said he was too modest,
and awarded him $10,000; and the
newspapers all headed their accounts.
‘Rebuke to Corporate Greed—Fuli
Vindication of a Poor but Honest Citi
zen,’ ”
The other occupants of the tabic,
gazed expectantly at the major as the
New Yorker finished rpeaking, but the
gallant officer made no comment. In
stead, he arose, and muttering some
thing about the "closeness of the at
mosphere,” stalked gloomily away.
(Copyright, 1909, by W. G. Chapman.)
A Medium-Sized Journey
,f By Strickland W. Gilliian.
John B. Demosthenes was born a
good bit ago, somewhere in Greece.
He was a sickly baby, pasty-faced and
spindling. His picture was never in
the baby food circulars. If his mother
had been a Spartan, Greece would
have missed a heap of oratory, for
that was the kind of baby the Spar
tans took out to the bad lands and
forgot. A Spartan had to have a con
stitution and by-laws like those of a
scrub steer, no matter if he had barely
enough head to fasten his face on.
As soon as Demosthenes was large
enough to talk, he began having diffi
culties wiith his speech. When he went
to pronounce the letter “S" it sounded
as if he were trying to gargle his
throat. Naturally this made him want
to become an orator. I h^ve a friend
afflicted that way, and he, too, wants
to get on the lecture platform.
In order to get to be an aluminum
tongued spell-binder, Demosthenes
took and gave great pains, though he
was more humane about it than some
other would-be spielers are nowadays.
Probably because killing wasn't re
garded as such a serious offense then,
Demosthenes hid himself in a cave
and copied Thncidydes eight times in
vertical hand-writing. This was so he
could make his gab flow along nicely
if ever he got so he could talk. He
wasn't going to be like a boy I once
knew who got a violin and his sister
said he could play beautifully if he
just knew some tune.
When he got Thucidydes so he could
say it backwards when he became less
backward in his larynx, he used to go
out on the seashore and make the
wild waves wonder what he was say
ing. He is the only one that ever
got oven with the wild waves and
turiwd the tables on them that way.
He began with a very weak voice, but
within a few weeks he got so noisy
you couldn’t hear the ocean during a
Demosthenes rehearsal. That was a
time of terrible squalls along the (jfre
cian coast.
Still having trouble with his sibil
lants, he would put a wheelbarrow
load or so of bowlders in his tine, large
mouth, and talk through them instead
of his hat. This had the effect at first
of making a noise like your wife with
her mouth full of pins asking you to
hc-ok her waist. Afterward, when he
had built up more voice, the presence
of the pebbles wore the rough edges
off from his tones.
After awhile he got so he could hold
a surprising lot of macadamizing ma- i
terial in his mouth without interfering
with his talk, in the least. An attack
of gravel, later in life, is attributed to
his having accidentally swallowed
some of those rocks during an im
passioned burst of eloquence. Also
he broke several cheval glasses speak
ing in front of them to improve his
gestures.
When Demosthenes started to argue
there wras no way to stop him except
He Began with a Very Weak Voice.
to give him whatever he wanted. This
fact made him very effective as a
speaker. Once he and some other Bob
La Follette who wanted to talk against
time, argued one question six years,
but not to the same audience. De
mosthenes w'on, and Jim Aeschines,
the rival orator, said he’d never try
again to out-blast that windbag.
None of these things made Demos
thenes unhappy. But finally he was ac
cused by some knocker of having ac
cepted bribes from the Macedonians.
Having never been offered anything
by those people, who are famous for
their cry, he grew despondent think
ing of what he had missed, and once
when his landlady had served a par
ticularly indestructible piece of har
veyized steak with vanadium steel
hinges, he sneaked out into the medi
cine closet and made himself a Rough
on Rodents high ball, which he drank
with great gusto and no chaser.
I rather hate to mention the moral
of this story, so f shall omit it, as I
oelieve it would not have a wholesome
effect upon the young.
(Copyright, 11(09. by W. G .Chapman.;