a 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder 67 
THE 
||National Capital 
Events of Interest from the Seat of, 
Goyernment 
By J. E. Jones 
——— 
The Breeze Bureau. 
Washington, Aug. 4, 1914. 
Tue New TuHoucnut iN LIFE 
INSURANCE 
Evidently thostile interests are be- 
coming very much distressed by ‘the 
success of the Postal Life Insurance 
Company of New York, since they 
are attempting to check its onward 
course by legislative enactment. There 
has been a pet theory for a good: 
many years that nobody would take 
life insurance unless solicited by an 
agent. The Postal Life has plenty 
of resources and owns one of the 
big downtown buildings of New York 
City. The men who organized it be- 
lieve in printers’ ink, and have backed 
their judgment by placing their ad- 
vertising throughout the country. The 
result is that they have been forging 
ahead rapidly, in fact, they have 
made such progress as “the only non- 
agency company in America” that the 
old line insurance companies have de- 
cided to try to put the innovation out 
of business, and therefore bills have 
been introduced to both the Senate 
and the House which provide that no 
insurance company shall be permitted 
to use the mails for procuring or ef- 
fecting a policy upon persons or pro- 
perty situated in any state of the 
United States, when the said state by 
its own laws prohibits the company 
from transacting the insurance busi- 
ness in that state. The Postal Life 
endeavors to reduce the cost of life 
insurance, by doing all its business 
from one headquarters and without 
agents. It has been in business for 
a number of year and is successful ; 
as a corporation of New York it is 
regularly examined and has been giv- 
en a certificate of good standing by 
the insurance department of that 
state. 
Every session of Congress brings 
forth a lot of bills which bring up the 
old doctrine of  state’s rights, 
and this is one of them. If the Postal 
Life was open to any criticism on 
the part of the federal government, 
then the Postoffice Department would 
have checked its progress long years 
ago. 
The singularly significant thing 
about this legislation is that only one 
company is affected by the numerous 
bills that have appeared almost simul- 
taneously in Congress, but if it is 
true that through the use of adver- 
tising space, and the United States 
mails this company has built its busi- 
ness to a big success, then there is 
no more reason why it should be re- 
stricted by local state laws, than by 
acts of common councils and county 
boards. With all the restrictions be- 
ing placed upon insurance companies 
has come the demand that the United 
States Congress provide for federal 
control and regulation of insurance 
business throughout the United States 
as a practical solution of ‘the problems 
that have been exciting legislatures 
and state insurance departments in 
recent years. 
ARGUMENTS BY FORCE 
When one sees old Ben Tillman 
plodding through the streets of Wash- 
ington the conclusion suggests itself 
that this fiery individual who once 
fought with ‘his fists in the United 
States Senate, has become too civilized 
to continue to advocate that style of 
argument Yet there remain politicians 
in Congress who are quite as obstrep- 
ous as was “Pitch Fork” Tillman in 
his earlier days. Recently Represent- 
ative Bryan of the state of Washing- 
ton, having become infuriated by the 
taunts of Representatives Moore of 
Pennsylvania and Madden of Illin- 
ois, went on the warpath, and had 
there not been interference it is likely 
that some Congressional mugs would 
have been sadly disfigured. ‘The 
Speaker reminded the House that the 
Congress of the United States was 
“not a school for pugilism.’’ Repre- 
sentative Roberts of Nevada, who is 
making a bid for the position of 
“Jester,” has introduced a resolutton 
providing that “the Marquis of 
Queensbury rules shall govern tie 
House in the settlement of al! dis- 
putes, when the question of persona: 
privilege is involved * * * and the 
Speaker of the House shall! be off cial 
veferee.” 
TESTING THE Fiy’s Fiicnt 
There have been a series of long 
distance races between the British and 
American house flies, in which the 
United |States has been hopelessly 
outclassed, according to information 
that has been received by the United 
States public health service. It was 
agreed between scientists of both 
countries that there should be a series 
of flights to determine just how far 
the fly can carry its bacillus-covered 
feet. In the United States 350 flies 
were captured and marked by means 
of spots of gold enamel. They were 
afterward released and the winner 
was found only 240 yards from the 
starting point. 
The British experiments were much 
more elaborate, 25,000 flies were 
captured. ‘They were fed on brown 
sugar for twenty-four hours because 
it was found that such food was best 
to develop the full powers of flight. 
The flies were divided into armies of 
5,000 each, and each lot was dusted 
with a colored powdered chalk. In 
one case a fly traveled 1,700 yards 
within 48 hours of the time of libera- 
tion. ‘This, according to the British, 
constitutes ithe longest flight that has 
yet been recorded. 
While the American scientists are 
willing to yield the fly marathon to 
Great Britain, they insist {that the 
United States is the greatest winner, 
for the most desirable thing to learn 
about a germ-carrying house fly is his 
inability ito cover very much ground. 
England wins, yet she loses. 
THe LincotN MEMORIAL 
The nation’s noble tribute to Lin- 
coln, for which Congress appropriated 
$2,000,000 in February, 1913, which 
is now in course of construction in 
Washington, is to take the form of 
a monument symbolizing the Union 
of ithe United States of America, in- 
closing in the walls of its sanctuary 
three memorials to the man himself 
—one a statue of heroic size, express- 
ing Lincoln’s humane personality, the 
other memorials of his two great 
speeches, one of the Gettysburg 
speech, the other of the second in- 
augural address, each with attendant 
sculpture and painting telling in alle- 
gory of his splendid qualities evident 
in those speeches. 
3y means of terraces the ground at 
the site of the Lincoln memorial will 
be raised until the same level is ob- 
tained as the ground at the base of 
the Washington monument. First, a 
circular terrace, 1,000 feet in diame- 
ter will be raised 11 feet above the 
present grade. On its outer edge will 
be planted four concentric rows of 
trees, leaving a plateau in the center 
750 feet in diameter, which is four 
feet greater than ithe length of the 
Capitol. In the center of this plateau, 
surrounded by a wide roadway and 
walks, will rise a terrace 16 feet high 
and 500 feet in diameter, making a 
total elevation of grade 27 feet above 
the present grade. On this will rise 
the memorial to Lincoln. 
Wuy Go at ALL 
“Mamma,” said little Jane, “do men 
ever go to heaven?” 
“Wihy, of course, my dear. 
makes you ask?” 
“Because I never see any pictures 
of angels with whiskers.” 
“Well,” said the mother, thought- 
fully, “some men do go to heaven, 
What 
but they only get there by a close 
shave,” 
