Omaha daily bee., 1877-01-23
WASHINGTON.
An Interesting Review of the Meet.
Ing Of Both Houses OF Congress
Preliminary to Counting the
Electoral Vote.

Special Correspondence of The Bee.
Washington, February 1.-The
joint convention for counting the
electoral vote adjourned an hour
ago after 2 session of 3 little more
than two hours. AS the telegraph
will have informed your readers the
votes Of six States were received
and counted without objection the
seventh being Florida, on which
rock the convention split and dis
solved, to meet no more until the
august provisional tribunal of Is
shall have rendered Judgment on the
case Of the alligator state, accord
ing to the law and the evidence.
The members of this tribunal were
filing into the Supreme Court room
for a preliminary sitting as I left the
Capitol, while at one of the doors
thereof q closely packed crowd of
newspaper reporters ciamored for
abundance.
THE CROWD.
Twelve hundred tickets having
been issued to spectators to witness
the count from the galleries, and ali
others, except those entitled to the
floor, being excluded from the south
wing of the building, the crowd was
not dense IN the hall, but comforta-
bly, large. The fifty extra police
men who were appointed to pre-
serve order did not seem to b. over
worked, nor did they seem a very
formidable body of officials Hav-
ing been summarily drafted from
the peaceful walks Of civil life, 1t
was evidently only by dint of severe
effort that the majority of them
simulated that commanding look of
authority which your true police.
man feels bound to assume. 1t Is
not at all probable that these impro-
vised protectors of the general pub
lie prevented any of the numerous
pick-pockets, said to be in the city,
from operating, but they doubt
less exerted something of a
represslve effect on the
multitude Of tramps who were pres
ent to see a fair count These latter |
gentry were on hand in the rotunda
in force, and into every available
niche and retreat they skunk and
took up posts of observation at a
very early hour in the day. 1t is
not known how many of them be.
to Watterson's tatterdema-
lions, probably not many, as the
electoral bill had a chilling effect on
the patriotism of that class.
The crowd were kept In line on
either side of a passage way through
the center of the rotunda, through
which the august Senators, arm-in.
arm, marches to the Hall of Repre-.
sentatives at l o'clock. Half an
hour previous to this time, the
House appointed Messrs. Stone and
Cook, Democrats, ~tellers, an act which
brought Kasson to his feet with
the remark that the chair had not
the right OF the minority
in making the appointments.
speaker Randall, in his obstinate
thought the chair could take
care of its appointments, whereupon
Kasson dispatched q note to the
Senate to the effect that that body
should appoint two Republican tel
lers, and his views were carried out
by the selection of senators Allison
and Mcmillan. When the Speaker
announced "the Senate of the Uni.
ted States" and the the members
arose to receive them, i. wss exact
ly one O'Clock. e-President pro
tenn. Ferry first entered, attended
the venerable Bassett, assistant
door keeper, bearing in bis hand q
large valise shaped box, which he
on the Speakers table,
The senator's followed in promiscous
and took seats on the Demo.
cratic side of the House, at the right
Of the Speaker. ConkIlng happened
to get so near Blaine that 1 thought
at first an ~inscrutable destiny had
placed them In adjoining chairs in
order that the audience might have
room to reflect on the position these
occupv-that of being per.