Show gleaned at the capital interesting gossip from washington by oar special correspondent to make alcohol from corncobs rare act of army friendship to suppress bell ringing washington the manufacture of alcohol may be revolutionized as the result ot expert which have been completed by the depart ment of agriculture the of the depart ment have succeeded in making alcohol rom corncobs and cornstalks at a cost so small that they believe it will prove of large commercial value and develop into a new industry it Is proposed at to manufacture the alcohol as a byproduct in connection with corn canning tac in investigations which the department Is making at hoopeston Hoo peston it has been proved that the large quantities of corncobs which every year go to waste can be converted into alcohol in sufficient quantities to justify the erection 0 a distilling ilant the department sent two chemists to hoopes ton to make experiments at a large cannery there they have succeeded by simple methods ol 01 fermentation in getting a beld ot 11 gallons ol 01 alcohol from a ton ot green cobs and by methods in getting six gallons ot alcohol from a ton ot a 1 emen concerning the experiments by one of the scientists 0 the years the department has con ducted experiments along the same line but with common field cornstalks these tests show that there are pounds kotfer men table s eln ton of green field cornstalks which will yie d about halt athel ft hel absolute alcohol in round numbers a ton 0 stalks will i reduce pounds D alcohol or pounds ot proof spirits As a gallon of alcohol weighs nearly seven pounds there should be 15 gallons of alcohol in a ton of stalks not only are the cobs a waste product but the irregular and spoiled ears of corn as well hand labor Is as yet employed in the husking and all ears are put in as the wage Is based upon a measure ful As the measures ot unfit for use are culled as they ears are emptied upon the conveyors the ears also waste the expense of bringing them go by these culled ears are to the point where they are cast aside Is quite as much as the perfect ears the addition ol 01 the corn on the cob adds further to the possibilities of alcohol obtainable from a ton of cobs and will have its influence in bringing the quantity to a greater figure THE SACRIFICE OF GEN BELL in sacrificing promotion to the rank of major general in order that a friend may have the coveted honor brig gen J franklin bell chief of stae of the army has done an act unparalleled in magnanimity and generosity in american mill tary records brig gen jesse M lee a civil war veteran the only one left among the higher officers of the army Is to be retired by law early next janu ary there was a vacancy among the major gen brals when aleut gen corbin retired the other day and maj gen macarthur was promoted to succeed him under the usual operation of the regulations gen bell would have been advanced to fill the vacancy thus giving him rank equal to that of any other officer assigned to departmental duty at washington a condition extremely desirable but bell stepped aside in favor of gen lee so that the latter might retire with the higher rank gen lee has an excellent record but has always refused to allow influential friends to intercede to hasten his promotion BELL RINGING MAY BE suppressed shall church bells continue to peal in the national capital as in the good old times or shall they be suppressed Is a question which the dis brict commissioners have decided to take up for serious consideration and all interested in 1 pro and con have been requested to submit theli views the koran says that bells bang on the trees of paradise and are set in motion by wind from the throne of god as often as the blessed wish tor music j many of the christian churches of washing ton have dispensed with steeple bells and now nervous citizens are complaining that their peace and comfort are disturbed by those that remain commissioner macfarland who Is kimseu prominent in church affairs has taken the initia alve of bringing the issue tor decision he believes the time has come to enlarge the police regulations prohibiting noises and in these days when a timepiece can be found in nearly every house hold he can see no good reason why notice of the approach of a service in church should be given by the loud ringing of bells all fire alarm bells have been suppressed with the exception of one in the business section of the city and its doom Is sealed curfew has not rung for years in the shadow of the capitol and the commissioners will unless the representatives of the churches can offer some unexpected good reason re strict the ringing of bells upon those edifices to strict compliance with the ritual of the churches STEVENS unappreciated PUN john F stevens chief engineer of the pana canal has been in various lime lights in the capital during the investigations but he carried his point and has been told at last to go ahead and build the kind of canal he has advocated he Is a man to carry points when he makes them he Is an ideal engineer rugged and strong and every motion indicates unlimited reserve power his face Is rather handsome but de termination dominates from the thick dark hair and heavy eyebrows to the brief strong mus tache over lips which close like a punctuation mark when he has said his say he missed it once however and told the story as though he rather enjoyed it he was sitting on the counter in a western grocery store when a cowboy came in and taking him for a clerk said gamme some raisins there had just been a couple of impromptu hangings in the next town and looking up without moving the young engi neer asked do you want the same kind of raisin s they had over yonder the next instant he was looking into the business hole in the cowboy a st booter he says that it was as big as a cannon and he was getting ready to ide off and hunt for raisins when the proprietor came to the rescue beg ging the cowboy not to spatter up his place he took advantage of the pause 0 o apologize MAKING A CITY BEAUTIFUL more than Is now being spent upon buildings and bridges of a public character in and around washington and when work al ready undertaken has been completed washing ton will be without a peer as a city of tural beauty in addition to the projects amount ing to more than now decided upon and under way improvements costing an add 20 are projected when the senate and house office buildings are completed the plaza east of the capitol will be almost surrounded on its four sides by one of the most magnificent groups of public tures in the world built of granite and marble the north and south sides of this plaza will be bounded respectively by the senate and house office buildings which together are to cost 7 abo west will be bounded by the imposing structure ot the capitol the eastern front 0 which Is to be extended in marble at a cost of 1 the eastern side will be pait lally bounded by the library of congress building which has cost the government 6 the other blocks of ground east of the capitol plaza and just north of the library of congress will ultimately be occupied by a splendid structure for the supreme court of the united states the capitol and its proposed extension the senate and house office build ings and the library of congress will represent an expenditure by the gov 0 and axis will make these structures the most costly marble frame in the world for so small a rectangle of foliage and grass not far from this splendid series of buildings will be the new union rail road depot which will front the plaza from delaware avenue on the north at a cost of 12 with its approaches making the five structures in this vicinity cost upward of 5 |