The Portland daily press., 1872-01-26


AUGUSTA, Jan. %, 1872.
If any readers of the PRESS suppose for an
interest that every member of this General
court pronounces little speech before return
ng once more to his "native wilds, let them
1t once be undeeeived, for it, no such thing
nave no manner of doubt oh you unsuspecting
constituency, that many of these distinguished
gentlemen will return to you full to the brlm OF
parliamentary rules and points OF order, and
will, in moments of mental abstraction--all
great men are Observation-Disclosures you as
sMr. Speaker" 'eMr. President" or "the hon
,rable member from somewhere or other" But
don't allow yourselves to be blinded, for in nine
cases out of ten they have sat here all through
the session and never uttered word; or if they
have spoken, never got far beyond the cabalistic
sentence of Jefferson Scattering Batkins the
member from Cranberry Center, who always
begun and finished his elaborate speeches with
the simple words, ''Mr. Speaker" And for
this reason the takers are exclusive, like the
upper crust of society. Being exclusive, they
soon grow aggressive, demanding all the time
for themselves And believing firmly that they
can just as well express their own ideas and
other peoples too at the same time, run sort
of monopoly, like large railroad companies.
Against this aggressive policy the opposing
forces array themselves with the consoling re-
mark, sit isn't the man with the most gift of
CAB that has the largest influence" And we
all think that somewhere we have before heard
''that silence was golden" Somebody, how
ever, must do the talking, and since that is an
established fact it is pleasant to know that the
assembled Legislature of Maine isn't whit be-
hind similar bodies of like size, and that there
is in the present session a very large number of
gentlemen who, without claiming any special
grace of oratory, can yet express their ideas
clearly, forcibly and fluently, have their own
opinions, and decided ones too, and are not to
be moved by every wind that blows.
Chiefest among the speakers, and one that
will be most likely to fayorably impress the
casual visitor, if they chance to hear him, is
Hon. f. A. Pike, of Calais, the Representative
from that town, and for the six preceding years
member of Congress from the Fifth Congress
sional District. Mr.. Pixies long legislative ex-
perience has not made him vain nor dictatorial;
on the contrary, he is an able, persuasive, effec-
tive speaker, who undoubtedly knows his power
and yet knows judiciously how to use it. He is
generally among the last members to present
himself upon the floor of the House. He comes
in with slow, easy air, as if there wasn't the
least need of hurrying, hangs up his low
crowned Kossuth and brown cape overcoat,
and with his hands in his pockets saunters leis-
urely to his seat at the left of the Speakers
desk, drops quietly into his chair, adjusts his
steel-bowed spectacles and picks up the morn
ing paper. There is no assumption of superior
ity, no attempt at display, no busy bustling air
OF haste and Importance. By and by he will
come quietly down and drop into chair aside
some of the jolly members of the House, in
dulging in an interchange of practical jokes
and lend his assistance to make the laugh go
round, for he is eminently genial and thor
oughly good-natured man, whom everybody
likes and can't help it In personal appearance
he is of about medium height, broad shoulders
and loosely built. The black, abundant, curly
hair, as well as the closely cut beard, are now
slightly sprinkled with gray and has disap-
peared somewhat from the top of the head
The face is a singular combination of power
Ill.
and somewhat wrinkled, the eyes keen and
black, the nose short and straight, the mouth
full and easy, but deepening away into intense
lines at the corners. His favorite attitudes
may best be expressed by the word looping, as
he never sits or stands erect but invariably
twists himself into some unusual position and
manages to lean upon somebody or something
He is never meddlesome or pertinacious, but
when thoroughly reused is sharp, bright and
concise, speaking without any attempt at sophis-
try, and in a manner that indicates that he
means what he says. el h sy1, -
On the Democratic side of the House, Mr.
Wilson, OF Thomaston, is indisputably the
champion. He has much of Mr. Pixies easy
good nature and fondness of joking is shrewd,
adroit politician, and knows how to pull the
strings whilst sitting apparently unconcerned;
is determined and thoroughly convinced in his
opinions and views, and yet knows how to steer
safely between Scylla and Charybdes, or, in
other words, never means to bump his nose on
projecting angle when he can just as well
avoid it; is short, stout, broad shouldered and
compact, of medium complexion, and firm, set
face; has an easy, Indifferent air, except when
speaking, and is then intensely humorous or
cuttingly sarcastic, but never aggressive, and
thus keeps himself popular ~
Mr.. Carleton, of Whitefeld, is undoubtedly
the readiest man in the House; is thoroughly
posted upon all subjects, and is never backward
or reticcnt in the avowal of his opinions. In
person he is tall, straight and robust; has thick
curly hair, now literally sprinkled with gray
a smooth ho
is apt in illustration, witty in illusions and ex-
travagantly fond of quotations from the Bible.
He has so many ups and downs that it is hard
to determine whether he be genial man or no,
and yet, as he evinces considerable fondness for
ladies' society, we should decide that he must
be. Very attentive to matters of dress, quick
of observation, honest in intentions, and
learned in all Legislative doings he is one of the
indispensable men whose place 1t ,oould be hard
to JfU q
Peter Charles Keegan is another of the speech
making fraternity He is Familiarity known as
the gentleman from Madawaska;' is short,
slight and exceedingly dark complexioned; has
the very blacklist hair, eyes, whiskers and
remarkable low forehead, small
nose and mouth. In dress he is as dapper and
neat as well-bred city clerk or first class
school-narrn:: is an exceedingly merry young
man and sees joke in the gravest of subjects;
speaks rarely, but well, and has more business
than any other two men here; in fact, some
times he seems not to know what to do first,
and there becomes good illustration of the old
couplet: "a
"First upon the heel tap, then upon the toe,
Wheel about, and turn about, and do just So" e
He nevers stays put for any length of time,
but of just what force in the great world of
motion he is the best example it would be hard
to determine. BY profession he is lawyer,
well educated, talented, young, and for the ben
eft of manageable young ladies, we will mod
sstly add, single.
Then we have Mr.. Porter, of Burlington, of
medium height powerful and erect, possessed
If an abundance of flesh and plentiful good
humor, fine looking, pleasant and courteous
gentleman; dark complexioned, but with the
hair and whiskers prematurely dashed with
grey. In the absence of Mr.. Robbie he is in
variably called to the Chair as presiding officer
and evinces ready tact and thorough knowledge
Of the position He is a pleasant and ready
speaker of well defined views and concise opin-
ons, and has the happy faculty of putting them
briefly but effectively before his auditors
PERCIE.
q Our WatervilIe Letter. 'GsHc
That Bridge Cdse-E1emption from Ta1ation-
,SiI,pr Wp1d;nn.-RoJ;n;os,e Tnto.o.t IT,, O.,