The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-03-03
Letter from Augusta.
THE CLOSING SCENES.

THE CLOSING SCENES.
AUGUSTA, Feb, 81, 1873.
To the Editor of the Press:
To the ordinary mind it would appear that
all the intrinsic humor there is in the throw
ing of paper balls might be extracted in half
day, or in day at most. But the annual
carnival began this year on Wednesday and
continued until the Adjournment. Two DAYS
Of make-believe play at the end Of two months
Of make-believe work! But it must be con-
fessed that those who have been most active
in such work as the session has afforded
We're most active and vigorous in the
m. nnie war. or in the conflict of wits. Those
who had borne the most prominent parts in
the debates or in the deliberations of commit
tees, now led the contending host, Behold
now. the acute, ncisiee Vinton, whose lead
ing mind has so4often given shape to the meas
ures passed by the House, rising with that
dogrnatic air so peculiar to him giving fire.
quent sharp jerks forward with the whole up
per part of his body, as if some invisible spir-
it were puilin, him with an invisible string,
shaking his head from side to side and anon
nodding it with sudden movements that tell
the whole story of the perfect fabrication OF
the ccrvical vertebra-behold the leading Vim
ton risin,s to some frivolous motion and this
becoming the target for numberless assaults
that speedily set HIM down. Behold INN in
the chair, quickly catching humorous prop
osition, and rendering it ten times more
laughablc by his absurd misstatement of it.
See now the swart Walker, with wildly roll
ing eye and an aspect of extreme ferocity,
welding the Speakers gavel, catching and
hurting back the paper balls that shower up
on him, and now aud then shaking tkc re-
sounding walls with the roars OF his terrific
voice. Now tue ubiquitous Gallo statesman,
the ready Reagan mounts the throne, and is
presently elevated high in air by the furtive
Randall, who, slipping in behind him,
suddenly. lifts him up struggling and KICK
ing like CULVER in the aims of
Brobdingnagian. Presently the tall Mortland
rises, and opens a mouth which to the inn
agitation of the House has become caoern-
0us-the mouth of Gargantua-au Speak
er Webb, with his unrvaed air of sobriety
and perfect sincerity, beseeches him to keep
it shut, because he "hates to lose SO many of
these PAPER balls" Here let me State, ul,-
der full sense Of the responsibility incur
red by one who sets himself to correct and
oppose vulgar error, that Mortland has not
me nth which in repose, is calculated to inn
press the impartial beholder with an idea of
iHordnate size. l maintain that the fiction
concerning it which has gained such general
credence that members finally were Obliged
to forbid their small children to come into the
hall, had its rise in certain t asly discoverable
causes not connected with its size, but which
need not here be mentioned.) And so the
fun grows fast and furious. Mathews with
merry-twnkling eye, Mower, the wise old
Nestor of the House, Weeks, Peaks and all
the rest take their turn at the fun-al but Gu
bernatorial candidates, ministers and cripples.
Fun to be good must be spontaneous The
unprecedented jokes of the closing hours
were far better than those so carefully pre-
ar anged by the resuscitated Legislature Of
1872.
twas thought that Gov. Perham medi-
tated veto Of the bad law, or pretended law,
giving the town of Yarmouth authority to
loan its credit to a private manufacturing
corporation-but he diln't.
BY the way, returning to the Legislature
once more, this has pre- badly been one of the
most peaceful sessions ever known. I believe
there have been no personal collisions. A
weli-known railway director and an equally
well-known lobbyist from the eastern part of
the State had disgraceful bra Il at the AT
gusta House the other night, almost coming
to blows. But if the masters have sometimes
quarre.ed, the men have not Peace and
amicabe good feeling have prevailed. The
officers of the two houses have been unus;,-
ally successful. and popular. A. B.