The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1869-04-09
The United state. senate.

"aicn, RECORDS his Impressions as follows:
Looking towards the Presidents chair, you
miss the tall, vigilant figure which used to sit
tnere, keeping watch and ward of all; you
miss Wade of Ohio; pleasant-faced Coliax
does not literally fill the chair above which
Wade's broad front used TO tower, quite over
flowing it, but Colfax sits in the chair if he
does not HH It, Colfax sits there, as pleasant
raced as ever, but perceptible change is COM
ing over him The leisurely atmosphere of
the Senate Chamber is beginning to tell upon
The hdbitue of ''the House" Look at him
now as he bends over Anthony's desk (An-
thony is another of the landmarks, now grow
ing gray and stouD and notice that he is be-
ginning to fill out the outlines of his black
coat, even to saoeu them out, with as much
portliness as so small man could well muster
in so short space of time. Yes, the fact is
is undeniable-the change is telling upon Col
tax, and-he is getting fat!-from sitting quiet
~ IN the Presidents chair and having nothing
TO DO but go to sleep while long-winded Sena-
tors are dronlng over longer winded speeches.
How different from the hurly-burly and rough
and-tumble and hurry-scurry Life of 'the
House. There he had to keep his eyes open
ana bis ears too; and there was no chance to
20 to sleep when he had to bring down his
nallet upon the desk before him. The House
has to be Kept in order, but the Senate keeps
Itself in order
Carl Schurz is a good deal like his predeces-
sor Henderson, when you see him in PRONE.
-
salient forehead, the same reddish tinged halr
and beard, and he is also about the same
height, the difference is that ne Is DuliG upon a
more liberal scale, and has not Henderson
little, peevish, contracted ways ana gestures.
He sprawls about in a leisurely way, as if he
had been in the Senate tor the last thirty years,
instead of having first set foot inside of the
Chamber just a month ago. buckingham of
Connecticut is one of the most gentlemanly
looking men present-you feel a certain salts
i,1l a0kInO a him Ra1Old f-haro ia q
Senator who neither chews tobacco nor spits,
nor puts bis legs into his neighbours chair
when his neighbor is out of it-nor slouches
around with his hands in his pocketsl He is
a gentleman, and carries about him a decent
and gentemanly atmosphere.
There is Ferry, of Connecticut, sitting next
him, erect and solemn, with hands folded on
his lap, looking as if he were in Quaker
Westinghouse. You miss Conness' round,
rosy, smooth-shaven Irish face. What queer
compound he was of good humor and rude
ness only Senatorial rudeness, mind you'll and
benevolence and prejudice?
There is Hamhn's tall, queer figure come
back again, and looking very natural. His
coat tails seem more Anticipated than ever,
but his lace is just as good and simple and
guileless as it used to be. Fenton comes in
talking with Mr.. Conkling These two are
among the most creditable looking and credit
ably behaved men in the Senate. Conkling
savors q little too much of elaborateness in
dress and manner, perhaps; but his kindness
and cheerineSs OF expression makes up for that.
Fenton is graver, more thoughtful-a dig
nifty seems to have come with the white hairs
that quite outnumber the black ones, now on
his head.
There is Nye, who always makes me think
of a,fat well-lo-do old spider, and now, when
| he bends over to speak to Fowler that golden.
haired yoang-looking man, whose dress beto
| kens an open revolt against the stereotyped
| senatorial black, (which has become to Amer
| lean Senators what the toga was to their Ro
| man namesakes, he looks more spiderish than
ever, just If he was going to clutch at Fowler
| who stands in the place OF an unfortunate fly
| McCreery, of Kentucky, reminds you of {
| great black beetle. IF you ever see him you
| will agree with me, especially if you see hin
| from behind Mcdonald of Arkansas, looki
/ less like a Senator than any man in the
room.
Nobody is doing anything. They are al
lounging about, coming in and going out, ani
| with an unoccupied air generally. Senator
Morton, of Indiana, is standing up. talking
! about finance. his face is noble, but wor1
| with suffering and stamped with the impress
| of strong will-he is evidently much excited
by what he is saying; but he ought not to BIZ
| talking at ALL He is partially paralyzed il
| both his legs and can only walk with crutches
The excitement of to-day will cost him dear
| for days afterit Sprague of Rhode Island
manages adroitly to get the floor when Morton
| sinks down exhausted He has great pile O
| folio sheets in front of him to which he refer
| every few minutes
Senators glance despairingly at that pile O
| MSS, but Sprague is not whit frightened
| he calls for glass of water and rambles on
| and the Senate resigns itself He is the
youngest-looking man here. A man in the
gallery next me, is just saying that he regards
i as symptom Of insanity ON sprsague's part
| that he has lately taken to making long
speeches. 1t would hardly do to apply the
test in q general manner Another suggests
| that his wife has been talking to him and has
| succeeded at last in firing his ambition; while
a third thinks it is just possible that she ha;
i talked to him too much! He is talking about
i manufactures and finance in rather queer
and disconnected manner, but with the most
praiseworthy intention, probably. And Howel
| (Wis.) good, gray head, and calm. kind blue
eyes are turned this way with good deal O
Il attention. Howe has the finest, purest, an(
| sweetest face of any man in the Senate. He i:
made up of noble impulses and generous as
i pirations. It would be well if other State;
| would emulate Wisconsin in sending more
| such men to the Senate.
Over at the extreme right, and the second
seat of the second row from the President
| desk, is an immense chair, at present unoccu
| pied It belongs to Pratt, of Indiana. In the
last seat of the first row from the Speaker:
desk, on the extreme left, sits man who
/ seems young if you see only his head, covered
4 y
| threaded with silver, and his vigorous we'll
made shoulders. But look at his 'front.' face,
and his shrunken limbs-they are those of an
| old man. His hands keep moving necessarily
| and you see that he is stricken with the palsy
| He moves himself in his chair with as much
| difficulty almost as man reduced to the last
extremity turns himself in his bed. Probably
| he has to be carried to and from his seat
There is no business like litter of paper and
| pens on the desk before him. Nothing but q
single letter lies there, together with his white
linen pocket handkerchief; and he can barely
| lift his hand to take it from the desk. There
| be sits, his head bent forward on his breast,
| his shriveled hands twitching incessantly.-
What can he do here? He can neither write,
1or speak, nor even stand alone. Why is he
here? He can listen and he can watch-bet-
ter than that, he can think and he can vote.
Here is man who will die at his post but
not leave it. A man with the true old Spar
tan spirit in him.
Yates of Illinois, is standing up red and an
CRY at something that Sprague has just got of
| in his shrill, small voice. Yates looks some.
thing like an overgrown school boy with a
great shock of short black curls about his
round, good natured but rather coarse-ieatur'