The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-03-06

the bunshop OF our boyhood days--give
an ingress to the Representative Cham
Der, of which you may not avail your
self, and sight and method of panto-
mime with those inside, on which you
may operate as much as it pleases You.
From the general aspect Of things it is
manifest that there is a standing COM
mittee of Conference at all times in ses-
sion between the two Houses-No. 3 and
.NO g." Ha
! TETE TETE RETREATS.
But after all, this is very tame al
fair to what is going forward in dozen
different apartments, in juxtaposition
with this, and still further to the rear
of the scene upon which Speaker Col
fax finds it polite to turn his back.
These are sumptuous rooms accessible
to members only" and ladies who con-
fer with them. Each one of them is
dream of luxury, and representing dur
ing the grerter portion of each day the
appearance of an impromptu leree, at
which dozen or more of Congressman
NAV be seen playing the host at~on
time. and chatting with score or two
of the brightest and most striking
specimens of the sex divine.
| As a rule, the staid and elderly oecu-
pants of representative desks have
4, little call, 1 find, to any one of those
ravishing plecints. Nor do members
escorting their wives and daughters
through the labyrinthine nragniicence
of the capitol lead them straiglltway to
this most beautiful and gorgeous of the
suites of Congressional apartments, and
marvel not. Men who have grown
gray i'll political service, or sent here to
end life of public work amid the dig
nity of statesmanlike surroundings, are
not the ones to be wheedled by womans
smile, or pledged to equivocal legisia-
ton that questionable gains may follow,
because bright eyes are bent upon their
own deficient orbs, and delicious per-
fumes are flung rs from censor by the
tender, beieweled casket before them.
Not so the young, the Jaunty, the lark
some NJ. c. from State and ronstltu-
ency remote from the Capitol.
LADIES OF THE LOBBY.
They meet here those nameless women
of nameless ton, congregating from no
one knows where, and going during the
recesses of Congress no one knows
whittier, yet always in force and poorer
when legislation is going on. They are
ut once the handsomest, most remarked,
scandalized and inscrutable OF their
sex, appearing upon the evanescent sur
face of society in Washington. Gener-
ally to he found at the principal hotels,
and invariably occupying the royal
chamber of the inn, if il has one to
boast Of they there weave the meshes
which enthrall the unwary gentlemen
! from the western borders, meantime
holding fast to the honorable Lotha-
rios from parts more contiguous. Most
/ of these female lobbyists are women of
rare culture. extraordinary gifts and
marvellous tact. Round and round
their taper fingers are wound the heart
strings of the unsophisticated delegate
! from an unknown territory and the
members from the very rural districts,
while the selt-reliant, posted and diplo-
matte representative from the metro
po!itan regions basks in the presence OF
the dashing creatures just to let them
know that he is there, and if made avail
able, must be propitiated. To see how
all these elements are continuously
worked upon and rendered as plastic to
the will and schemes of each bcwitch-
ing intriguente, as though reelection
depends upon the success and Sratifica-
ton of her lightest within, is rare fun to
the initiated, and such as is enjoyable
every day, if you do but take saunter
through the suites Of retiring rooms in
the rear of the Representative Chamber.
1t is vista of magnificent drapery and
/ fresco, relieved and shaded by the pres
euce of bevies of the most beautiful
women of the day. Charming tete-a-
tetes in alcoves. whereat an ecstatic VIC
tim is being still further disciplined to
the requirements of an im:'erious charm |
er. Howbeit, in other quarters, groups /
of half a dozen congressman are con-
gregated, each tickled aud Initiated by |
the sparkling badinage Of the female !.
lobbyist. In not q. whit have / exag-
geratcd the destinations OF and ascen- |
dancy over these gentlemen of the low
er House, gained by women whose de-
signs and interests come to he made
public sooner or later. Themselves the
hired instruments of some corporation !
or individual interest, sometimes the /
recipient of regular stipend, but more
frequently made sharer in the spoils .
to be tried for, they fit through the |
brief days of Congressional session.
viewed with suspicion, ostracized by
society, yet aped in dress and air by
half its leaders: and binding to their
girdles the wills and impulses Of men,
bers sufficient to hold an undoubted
balance of power over the fortunes of
the measures to he lobied. ,.
Why Women Cannot Enter Masonic
Lodges.
Frequent complaints are made by la
dies in relation to Masonry, aud their
principal arguments are, that their hus-
bands have no business to do anything
that they cannot tell their wives-that
that which Is secret must be wrong
that il is onl, a mean excuse, and so on.