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THE EVENING STAR VTTB SUNDAY MORNING EDITION. Office 11th St. ud PenasylTcaU ATM The Evening Star Newspaper Company, CvropMi Office: 8 Refent St.. London. EnyKad. New York Office: Tribune Building. Chimgo Office: First Nation*) Bank Suiliiaf. Tbc Eeninz Star. with th<? Snndny morning edition. Is delivered by carriers within the city at -V' cents per month. Orders m.i.T I* *ent i>y ?nail ?-r telephone Msin 2M<V Coli?ction Is made by carr-er el ihe end of ?-nch mouth. By mail, postaze prepaid Daily. Sunday included. one month. SO cent?. Dally. Sunday e*c*pted, oac month. ."*? ceot*. Saturday star. $1 year- Sunday .Star. ei-'jOyear. No. 17.871. WASHINGTON, D. C., THURSDAY Weather. Fair tonight and Friday; slowly rising tempera ure Fri ?lav. SEPTEMBER 1909?TWENTY PA(JES. TWO CENTS. LAND VALUES FIXED 1 FOR GOVERNMENT ' 1 ? ?? ? Site for Three New Depart mental Buildings Will Cost $2,459,931.08. INCLUDES CORNER AT 15TH AND PENNA. AVE. Chase's Theater at $271,060: Regent Hotel. $308,833. LESS THAN APPROPRIATION Commission Reports This Afternoon to IMstrict Court?Owners and Sums Awarded. Awarding $2,459,931.08 to the owners of the property in the five squares bounded by Pennsylvania avenue and the Mall, 14th and 15th streets, to be bought by the United States, the commission which has been determining the value of that property filed its re- i port in the Supreme Court of the! District of Columbia this after noon. As the appropriation was $2, 500.00c. this award is $40,068.92; below the amount allowed by Congress for the purchase of the ground. The commission making the re port is composed of Col. George Truesdell, George W. F. Swart zell and H. Rozier Dulany. The commission agreed upon Itii. ; amounts to be allowed for the several parcels aud leaseholds yesterday. They ' i;eld a short session this morning to ormally sign the report and made an ? inra?r?'nient with Ji'dg" Anderson, who !-< at present holding the court, to pre the report at 3 o'clock this aftcr 1IOOU. Tli? land is to he taken over by the i n >t?-?j States as a s?te for the erection "t buildings for the Department of ; of State and De . ?rUnout or Commerce and L^ibor. and ?Uit < onimission was instructed by tbe Supreme Court of the District of Co i ; iuibia to Ax. the value of the land and j in us determine the price which the ''silted State?! will pay to the several owners of the property in the five squares in question. Cpon the award granted by this torn- ! mission, It Is generally understood, de- j poods much the project for the purchase | of all the land south of Pennsylvania ! avenue between the Capitol and Treasury j by tho government. The uppropriaUon of vj.Tiiirt.ooo for the hind between 14th and 15tl? streets was hns?d on the assessed valuation of the Jive squares involved. ! Had the commission found that the land *vas much more valuable than the amount of the appropriation it is regarded as probable that Congress would have been ! reluctant to take up for the present the purchase of more land south of tne avenue. The fact that the award is within the 1 appropriation. St is believed, will give the -outh-of-the-avenue project a big im petus. The members of the commission took the oath of office October t5. 19<>S, and 'hey received their Instructions from the court November C>i>. Before procecd ?np with iht actus 1 faking of testimony the commission members viewed the premises concerned. The taking of tes timony was begun December 7 and con tinued in the court house and in the; municipal building, and was completed in June. The awards joi the several parcels set out in the commission's report are for both the lam! and the improve ments. The appraisement? are as follows: The value placed by the commission on the several squares was as follows: Square between Pennsylvania ave nue and K street. ?l,l+?.9H0.Ol. Square between E and D streets, ft!?3.M4.14. Square 22V between D street and Ohio venue. $2nO,:Mf?.9o. Square 22t>. between Ohio avenue and C street. ^163,151.05. Square 2-SO, be: w oen ii and C streets, *411 K50 08. The government was represented by At tomeys Morgan H. Beach. A. A. Blrney md 1>. D. Caldwell. Acting as the see etary of the eoimnissior, iidminlsterlng 'he oaths to witnesses and keeping the records. Hugh F. Taifgart prepared the !inul report of the commission. Square 226. Chase's Theater. I'arcel No. 1 ?We appraise the value ??>r the inteiest of the owner of the fee - niple of the premises Included in this .?reel, containing sixteen thousand nine jndred and fifty and tlve one-hun hedths square feet, >^71,060. The claim of Plimpton B. Chase, lessee <>f the theater upon said parcel No. 1. under u lease executed to hiir. by Orrin ?i. Staples and the Grand Opera House < "ompany, for tlve years, from September t, 1JXV4. and a renewal of said lease of she same property, between the same l-arties for five years from September 1. has been settled by private agree ment between the parties, and the claim lias been withdrawn. In accordance with aid agreement, and the testimony of said Plimpton B. Chase, which appears in volume 4<k pages et seq., of the record of testimony before tbe commis sion. Regent Hotel. Parcel No. 2?We appraise the value of tiie interest of the owner of the fee -tmple of the premises Included In thl?. (Continued on Eieventh Page.) f District Estimates for 1911 Total About $6,250,000. STATEMENT NEARLY READY j _ * Committee Awaiting Report of Debt i From Secretary of War KEEP WITHIN APPROPRIATION Work of Preparation Unusually Im- j portant. Because of Restrictions Under Recent Act. Tti>> estimates of the- revenue? ? ilie i District for the fiscal v?ar of 101! iave j practically been completed and will be: , submitted to the Commissioners within a few days. While the tlcures have not ' been divulged. It is believed that t!ie> t will be close to $6,250,000. This is about ? a quarter of a million dollars aht ,sd of ! the revenues for the current year. In a letter to the Commissioners today , District Auditor Tweedale announces that J the committee on preparation of t!.e. cstl- ^ mates of the revenues is awaiting letter i from the Commissioners indicating thu ' amount of the debt due the 1'nited States j on account oi advances which are to he paid out of the revenues for the fiscal year 1911. and also for a statement rom the Secretary of War showing the amount of the approved estimates of ap propriations under his control wbi'-h ?re charged in whole or in part against the revenues of the Distrk-t of Columbia. As soon as those figures are received the statement of the estimated revenues will be forwarded to the Commissioners. The preparation of the estimates of < revenues for the next fiscal year is re-, garded of unusual importance, in view of! the provision in the last District appro-1 prlation act that the estimates of ?;\- , penses for the District government to bo ? submited by the Commissioners Con- ' gress shall not exceed in the agJT>igato j a sum equal to twice the amount of the ' total estimated revenues of the District 1 for the same fiscal year. The estimates,! it is further provided, must tnk. into ac count all charges against the District rev enues under appropriations in both the District act and other acts, in view of these provisions, the committee on the preparation of the. estimates of the reve nues have been careful to keep well wjth in conservative bounds. A Comparative Analysis. Accompanying the report regarding the preparation of the estimates for the next liscal year is a table giving a careful and comparative analysis of the revenues of the District for the last ten years from all source*:. Taken in conjunction with Uie tables ^ttMUfid^fcWerday xetwuding the approprt* tiefes for ea-.li function of the government, this table is expected to give the Commissioners an easy way of determining how the revenues from each function have been divided among the several functions for expenditures and enable them to determine where cuts in appropriations should be made and whero increase* should be. provided in the fu ture. The table of revenues for the last ten years shows that the District s receipts have doubled In the decade. The total revenues for the ten years, as shown by the report, is as follows: In liajO, *3,437.367.6-; 15*U, *.;.:5S7,63:..73 1902. S3.504.00U.o5; 15*13, $4,540,228; 15* >4. $4,707,230. ho; 1905. 54,847,64.5*; 1906, $."?.094,744.y7; 1907. $5/JK?,802.10; 1908. *.V 4'.'4.447.lJS, and J9?9. *0,058,077.32. The biggest source of revenue was, of course, from taxes. The revenue from all taxes in IDOO amounted to $3,020,328.99; in 1904 it amounted to $3,893,271. t6. and in 1905> it amounted, to $5,119,191.45. The biggest Kuln is shown in the amount col lected from tax on personal property. The separate figures for the revenues from this source in 1900 and 15H)i are not avail- 1 able. Tn 15MTJ there was collected for personal taxes Jfi3.097.D8; in 1904 the revenue from this source amounted to $830,750.02; in llW it amounted to $696. 438.26; in 190? it amounted to $821,933.04, and in 1909, the banned year, it reached $831,160.91. Miscellaneous Revenues. The revenues from liquor, plumbers', insurance, engineers' and other licenses were also large, and have been on the Increase in the ten years. In 1900 the revenues from licenses of all kinds amounted to $342,570.97; In 1904 J6T.2, 68R.85, and in 1909 JWB.224.30. Receipts from rents of markets and market stalls have also been increasing each yeardur iug 1 he decade, amounting in to! $16,74i?.90; in 1904 to $17,604.25, and in ' 1909 to $28,078.87. For rents of hay i scales, fish and other wharves and pfpe < lines In public space tho revenues in 1900 ] were $5,533.20; In 1H04 $11,800.12. and in 19U9 $10,454.60. Prom fines in the Supreme, Police and j Juvenile courts the District in 1900 re- 1 ceived J4.612.18; in 19?4 $29,694.55. and in 1 1900 $8,573.81. In fees charged for test-1 ing weights and measures, inspecting gas j and meters, release of do?s from pound, ' sewer, gug and water permits, building and electrical permits, motor vehicle li censes and other sources the District In 1900 received *24,754.W1; in 1!)04 $56,125.83.' and in 11HJ9 $103,473.81. From other mis cellaneous sources the District in 1900 received $22,817.92; in 1{V;4 $45,904.99, -ind in 19(J0 $125,080.48. S. A. L. MACHINISTS STRIKE. ' Allege Employment of Non-Union- i ists by the Company. NORFOLK. Va.. September 2.?Machin-1 ists at the seaboard Air Dine general shops at Portsmouth have struck because! I of the alleged employment of rion-union ts<s. The blacksmiths in theshop have also ; gone on a sympathetic strike. Seaboard j officials say that the only non-unionists j employed were two boys, who had learned j their trade with the road that the strikers ! failed to comply with agreements to have : all such differences taken up and settled i through their grievance committee, with j headquarters in Savannah, Ga., and con ! sequently their places will be nil*??l bv ; others. It is stated officially that 46 per ! cent of the maehlnls.s and all but -ix blacksmiths have struck. Great Speed of the Flussei. ROCKLAND, Me., September 2.?The , torpedo boat destroyer Flusser, wh'ch ! made such a remarkable showing yes j terday, by going a mile at the rate of 33.7 ' knots an hour, left today on her water consumption test of twentv-four hours at sixteen-knot speed. rta? started out at 7:15 a.m.. and will return direct to Bath tomorrow morning. Takahira Welcomed at Tokio. ^TOKIO, September l'.-Baron Kogofo takahira, Japanese ambassador at Washington, who was called home by the government to attend a conference on various Important international matters arrivod yesterday and was warmly welcomed at Shimbaahl station. THE MODERN COLUMBUS. PARE DOWN DEFICIT Hitchcock Discusses P. 0. Plans With President. EXPERTS TRACING LEAKS Systematic Effort Making to Reduce Department Expenses. ? 11 SHORTAGE OF ABOUT $20,000,000 t Present Deficit Largest the Postal Service Has Ever Known?Prac tical Men Investigating. , ?? UBVERLY, Mass., September 2.?Post [ master General Hitchcock had an Im portant conference with President Taft ; yesterday afternoon regarding the plans ; he has formulated tor cutt ng down ex pense in the postal establishment. He told the President that according to the i atest estimates the Post Office Depart | ment will show a defl? It for the fiscal [ year ended June SO last of more than | $20,000,000. Thin Ik the largest deficit the postal service ever has known, and Mr. Hitchcock Informed the President that it waa his purpose and his am b.tion to show a material decrease in the amount every year tlwit he has con trol of the department. The deficit for the fiscal year ending ! June .TO, 1HOH, was about $16,000,000. The increase as nearly as can be ascertained was due in part to extensions of the service, to the bsuiness degression dur i ng the first part of the fiscal year and j to cumbersome and expensive methods ' of handling the mail and in other de partments of postal work. Mr. Hitchcock is facing the problem of how to cut down expenses so as to ma terially reduce the deficit and at the same time to keep the postal service up to its present high state of efficiency. To this end be is to have a complete examination of the methods in vogue in every branch of the service. Experts at Work. The Postmaster Oeneral has now at work In Washington a commission of some forty odd experts examining tue registry department, which has been showing a growing deficit year after year. When the registry commission has fin ished its labors Mr. Hitchcock will sum I mon Another commission of money order j experts to make a similar examination of ? the money order division. This division | also has been showing a growing defl . clency, whereas the Postmaster Oeneral thinks It. should soon I* placed on a self i sustaining basis. In fact. Mr. ? Hitchcock believes! that tha whole -postal service (eventually can be put on a similar basis. Many suggestions and recommendations have been made from time to time in the past, but now practical men have i been g;ven the task of working out the < reform, and the Postmaster (Jeneral In tends t> keep the various commissions in Washington each time until they, have concluded their labors and made a speci fic report. After the money order division has re ceived an overhauling worif probably will be begun on the rural free delivery sys i tem. This system was received with so i much enthu=lasm that in some Instances ! It was expanded far beyond the needn of the sect'ons served. Mr. Hitchcock believes that in some cases the rural deliveries can be made by contract at a saving to the government. It is not the Intention to Interfere with 1 the efficiency of the rural free delivery service in any way. It is the purpose to 1 ascertain here as elsewhere if there is any wast? of efforts or funds and to con- | servo both. The Franking Privilege. The subject of the "franking" privilege I I or the sending of matter through the mails free by government official* and members of Congress also will come in for a share of consideration in the effort to jnaint-'/n the efficiency of the service and m tiie same time to save money Wherever a saving can he effected. It has been practically impossible to ascertain just- what the pending of "deadhead" mat ter through the mail* has coat the ? ost ?Office Department. The custom line grown of recent years in Washington, however, of sending out many government documents as "regis tered mail.-' This system has been very expensive, md Is in part responsible for the heavy de-li^it of $i,OGO.OOP In the regis try division. President Taff. was deeply interested In the plan oi carrying forward the work of investigation and the promise of economy in ihe postal service. The President has aaked all of his cabinet officers to cut down their estimates for the next fiscal year wherever possible, and economy of administering of the government s affair-* in to be one of the principal efforts of his administration. Postmaster General Hitchcock a'so took up with the President a number of other postal matters, including the api>oint ment of several presidential postmasters. The appointments announced, however, were all in small cities. WOULD CROSS SEA FOB TRIAL. Eleanor L. Beatty and A. T. Hoyt Detained by English Law. LONDON. September 2.-Eleanor L Beatty, who was arrested in London last June on a charge of grand larceny com mitted in New York. api>eared in the Bow I street police court today and announced that she waived de ense and asked to be ! sent back to New York immediately for trial. The magistrate, however, after commit ting her for extradition, decided that .she must remain here Tor fifteen days as pro vided under the extradition lav\. Adelbert T. Hoyt of New *ork, who aiso Is wanted in New York on charges of grand larceny and forgery, likewise asked to b" sent back forthwith. He was remanded for a week pending the arrival of extradition papers. WARRENTON HORSE SHOW. Large Crowd on Hand to Applaud Different Class Winners. WARRENTON'. Va., September 2.?A larpe crowd witnessed the judging today r.t the Warrenton horse show and the winners in the various classes wen roundly applauded. There was elose com petition in the horses in harness class, j and the honors were carried off by Twi I light, drive.i b> fcl. L. Reomond. In tii* i saddle class Jester, owned and ridden i?y I Mrs. D. H. Henderson, took first pr ize, I Willi Lord Golden, ridden by Miss Cher : bonnit-r, securing second honors [ Trlxie, belonging to Mr. E. Lester Jones, won the first p?ace .n the po/.y ha rues; j class, in the matched pairs of harness | horses Whoges and Bowies, driven in su perior style by Richard Wallach. easily I took the honors. SUES THE SMITH HEIRS. Woman Claiming Relationship by Adoption Wants 8400,000. CHICAGO, III., September 2.?Mrs Agnes M. Melody, a widow, employed by the Detfolt hoard of education and saiil to be related by- adoption to the heirs of the iatj* James S. ("Silent") Smith, today brought suit in the circuit court to recov er real and personal property valued in excess of $4tK)uiiO. The Illinois Trust and Savings Bank is defendant to the suit and executor .?f the estate. James Smith, Mrs. Melody's grandfath I er by adopt on. died at San Jose. Cal., | in 1*72. The income of his property was ! to be paid to his son, William R. Smith, until ise reached his majority. Tli^ prop erty finally passed to William Birnle Smith, and the will a'so provided that in case of his death it was to pass to James S. Smith. Mrs Melody ? says she was adopted by William B. Smith and his w'fe in 18K9. Wiyiam B. Smith died in 1X95, when Mrs. Melody was sixteen years old. Mrs. Melody said the money was pa d over to the defendant bank, urn] she further states that In June. IK'S she was paid JlO.0?JO. which she was t>dd ?ho heirs of William B. Hmith hud given her. Sh?A also says she ?lgned several papera at i the time. Inauguration of Alaska's Gov ernor Without President. JOURNEY IS IMPOSSIBLE Secretaries Knox and Meyer in Daily Conference. HITCHCOCK VISITS BEVERLY Talks Over Reforms With View to Make Post Office Department Self-Sustaining. Special I>lHp?tch to The Star. BEVKRLY, September 2.-The newly up pointed Governor of Alaska, Walter E Clark of Washington, D. C , called on the President today to receive his (inal in structions before leaving for his post in the north. Mr. Taft had desired to include Alaska | In the itinerary of his western trip, mo that he might be present at the time of Mr. Clark'H Inauguration. The late start on account of the lonp spssion of <'ongres-, and the illness of Mrs. Taft mad- this extra journey impossible. Senator Burrows of Michigan and John \V. Blodgett, national committeeman from Michigan, were also among the Pres ident's callers today. Knox and Meyer on Hand. President Taft receives two members of his cabinet practically every day now' Secretary of State Knox is staying at Prides Crossing. Secretary Meyer of the navy has a summer home at Hamilton Both oI them the President meet* wiUl more tiian VVashingtonian regularity either on the golf links or at his home Secretary Knox, as well as Secretary Meyer, is having ids department mail forwarded promptly. Thus the executive is intimately connected with aiTairs of government. Postmaster General Ilit. luoek conferred "with the President vrsiordu \ 11 about the census appointments still to be made and a so about several reforms now beine in stituted in the Post Office Department The ambition *,f Mr. Hitchcock is to make the postal service *c,f-sus,ninlng realize that this cannot be af Spmplished for a year or two * " be n,? seneral postal shake in, The I jst "f "ie Wonderful Apple Dinner Spokane Plans for Taft SPOKANE, Wash., September '-Sno kane is preparing to give President Taft :tt dinner that may become as famous as the possum dinner of the south. m one of the finest banqueting rooms in the world the President will be i,n pressed uith the fact .hat Spokane is the home of the big red apple. The finest specimens of apples grown in the inland empire will be used in the decorations nearly LO.OOO apples beeing usM for purpose alone. Apples will be served wherever possible on the elaborate menu. Various viands wilf served in the liollowed-out shell's or. npples. /t;ul table decora sign's of the"" pr^lSf"]f on^aro ''" j I I COLD, WIND AND DESPAIR CONQUERED BY EXPLORER Finding of Highway to North Pole, Big Game Haunts and Triangle of Arctic Land Told of by Dr. Cook. OWN STORY OF HIS ACHIEVEMENT IS RECOUNTED BY DISCOVERER Two Days Spent Upon Top of World ? Only Com panions Were Two Eskimos and Twenty Six Dogs in Last Dash ? Story of Struggle Dav by Day and of Observations at Latitude Ninety Degrees. ok. cook's (hmpleti: sToav ok the ok THE POl.E? THE OMA \t*THK .'Til' AfCOI VT OK HI* H HIKVKMKXT?IS I'RKXE.VTEU BELOW II* THE \l THOHIT1 OK THE \EY? VOIIK HEHAI.I). i <' ?r>jrr!(fl1 ? IliiUi. ;.v ih< Vow York Il^rnld ? oHif>?ny. ? i Ml rlitht5 rvti'riM. KfiniWifnHou In ? ?>i |??rt ? H? Op. KrulfPick A. I'ook.. LERWICK. Shetland Islands, Wednesday. After a prolonged fight against famine and frost we have at last succeeded in reaching the North Pole. A new highway, with an interesting strip of animated nature, has been explored. Big game haunts were located which will delight the sports man and extend the Eskimo horizon. Land has been discovered upon which rests the earth's north ernmost rocks. A triangle of 30,000 square miles has been cut out of the terres trial unknown. Provisioned by the Bradley. The expedition was the outcome of a summer cruise in arctic seas. The yacht Bradley arrived at the limits of navigation in Smith Sound late in August, 1907. Here conditions were found favorable to launch a venture for the pole. Mr. John R. Bradley liberally supplied from the yacht suitable j provisions for local use, and my own" equfjmient for emergencies served well for every purpose of arctic travel. Many Eskimos had gathered on the Greenland shores at An I nootok for the winter bear hunt. Immense caches of meat had j been gathered. About the camp were plenty of strong dogs. The combination was lucky, for there was good material fo?* an equipment, expert help and an efficient motor force, and all that was required was conveniently arranged at a point only 700 miles from the boreal center. A house and workshop was built of packing boxes. The will | ing hands of this northernmost tribe of 250 people were set to the j problem of devising a suitable outfit and before the end of the long winter night we were ready for the enterprise. Plans were matured to force a new route over Grinnell Land and northward along its west coast out on the polar sea. Soon after the polar midnight the campaign opened. A few scouting parties were sent over to the American shores to explore a way and to seek game haunts. The Start for the Pale. Their mission was only partly successful because storms dark ened the January moon. At sunrise of 1908 (February 19) the main expedition em barked for the pole. Eleven men and 103 dogs, drawing eleven 1 heavily loaded sledges, left the Greenland shore and pushed west 1 ward-over the troubled ice of Smith sound. The gloom of the long night was relieved by only a few hours of daylight. The chill of winter was felt at its worst. As we crossed the heights of Ellesmere Sound to the Pacific slope the temperature sank to 83 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. I Several dogs were frozen and the men suffered severely, but we soon found game trails along which an easy way was forceJt I through Nansen Sound to the land's end. In this march were procured 101 musk oxen, seven bears and S 335 hare, and then we pushed out into the polar sea from the south ern point of Heiberg Island. On March 18 six Eskimos returned from here, with four men * and forty-six dogs, moving supplies for eight days. The crossing of the circumpolar pack was begun three days ! later. Two other Eskimos forming the last supporting party re : turned. The trains had now been reduced by the survival of the | fittest. The Stuckshook and Ahwelsh, the two best men, and twen ! ty-six dogs were packed for the final dash. There was before us an unknown line of 460 miles to our goal. 1 Torture of Intense Cold. The first days prevented long marches, and with encouraging progress the big lead which separated the land ice from the cen tral pack was crossed with little delay. Low temperature and persistent winds made life a torture, j but, cooped in snow houses, eating dried beef and tallow and drinl: ! ing hot tea, some animal comforts were occasionally to be gained. For several days after the sight of known land was lost the ! overcast skies prevented an accurate determination of our posi ! tions. ? On March 30 the horizon was partly cleared of its smoky agi tation, and over the western mist was discovered a new land. The observation gave our position latitude 84 deg.. 47 min., ; longitude 86 deg. 36 min. The urgent need of rapid advance on our main mission did not permit a detour to explore the coast. Here were seen the last signs of solid earth. Beyond there i was nothing stable, and even on scaling nothing was noted to mark the terrestrial polar solidity. We advanced steadily over the monotony of a moving sea of 1 ice. i We now found ours*clves beyond the range of all life. Neither # W