A hunk of bone and a hank of hair

A Dupont Circle policy manufacturer reports, "While in Wisconsin, we visited Ripon, WI, birthplace of the Republican Party. There used to be a hall of some indiscriminate sort, the Republican House, now in dilapidated condition and no longer open for gatherings of any kind (or Chinese food). The photojournalism branch [of the worldwide Beaglesnooper network] has been stalled due to failure to remember to bring the damn camera anywhere, or I would send a photograph. There is a historical marker, notable for its lack of grammatical or spelling errors, that describes the quiet Midwestern manner in which the Republican party was cobbled together of Whigs, Free Soilers and sometime Democrats..."