The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-05-08
PUBLIC sTORY-TELLERs.
How the Saffon,s SenafOIs aud Repre-
sentaIiVes Am IhemseIves.

seene repre- cents . e,Rb' room more than
anything else, bit were there not so
maGy hats and Goats along the walls, and
were there a little more of sa' air of
eheerfulness, tia. resemblance you'd be
more complete. As it is, however, the
cloak-rooms ara tie most Interesting
places at the copito3. Around the walls
are elests, on which are large brsss hooks
with the paEaes ss the owners on little
cards under them, On which the congress
ssOnal hats and coats are hing. There
afe sofas and ssttees Of old-fashioned
patterns and well worn; chairs in various
stages of decay and Offering various de-
grees of attraction are scattered about.
There ara a taskard OF leo wster, three
or four marble wash basins, with soap
md towels, a5d at the house end of the
cspitel a ooaple Of bs15eTs chairs q.
each cloak r9om. Cheerful fires are bum
ing in the CRATES, and gensrally one Of
the chandeliers is lighted, for the only
light that can be otherwise obtained is
filtered through the stained glass wiz
dovrsfroln the pubEe corridors. Il box
of matches sets on the mantel, s.nd in
ths.hense cloak-room one of the pendant
gxa jets, seen il cigar stores, gives. the
s1aoker his "fre." %
At any time daring the session groups
! of lounging sts;esmen may be passed, in
every variety of posture, ali smoking
and discussing the events of the day or
telling stories-; and some If the best
story>tellers in the world we're in the
last congress.
Abraham LiDcoln's stories are quite
as much 6 part of his administration as
the emancipation proclamation. Presi-
dent Grant told story sloquentIv when
he wa3, "uAbent," bit ne was Bot in
the habit OF telling thsn promiscgously.
President Hayes does not originate
stories as Lincoln did, but often quotes
than, and seems to have been studying
Lincoln, for he repeats his sayings very
frequently. Secretary EvaEts is an
( hsbitusl wsg, and is the life of cabinet
meetings, very often illustrating his
views on 8 pending question on the
point of az. an5c lOte. Many of his
stories are in circulation now. Attorney
General Devens doesn't tell many stories,
but is given to pnnning. Secretary
Thompson loves joe as well as ever a
man did, and can entertain company
with " Hoosier" anecdotes for a whole
evening at time. Postmaster General
Key often attempts to be funny, and
sometimes succeeds, but generally tells a
story you have heard before. Schurz is
fond of a good story, but doesn't tell
one. Sherman and McCrary are the
sober men of the cabinet. Sherman
sometimes smiles, but was never heard
to give a good hearty laugh. McCrary
laughs sometimes, and is always in good
humor, but you seldom get an anecdote
from him.
Charles Sumner never knew what a
Joke was. Humor was entirely absent
from his nature. Morton enjoyed stories,
and told them sometimes. but ne was
always a very busy man, and when he
wasn't in bed, suffering torture indes
scribable, he was generally at work,
General Sherman is an inYeterate story
teller. And you car catch him at army
headquarters. surrounded by his staff,
relating his experience, of which he
seems to have had an unusual amount of
On amusing character, or describing some
funny sight he has seen, or some funny
thing he has heard. He has very keen
sense of the ridiculous, and is graphic in
description, and very successful in
mimicry. Vice-President Wheeler enjoys
g joke as well as any man in congress,
but seldom perpetrates one,
| ConkliDg Is inimitabie when he chooses
to be. There is 10 msD in public life
who has conversational powers equal to
his. He can be interesting on any topic
that may enter a conversation, and when
he fairly let's himself out, SIS he did in
England year ago last summer, people
stare at him until tbey are overcome py
fascination. Blaine is equally accoms
| plished, but does not display himself as
| Conkling docs on stated occasions
Blaine is more genial as a common thing,
but not so pyrotechnic in his displays.
General Butler can make himself as ins
teresting as any man wn6n he chooses.
but his humOr generally is of grim
kind, and he tries to make people un-
comfortable. If Butler should sit down
at dinner table with twelve strangers,
before the coffee was reached he would
find the tender spet of each mans armor.
| He has disagreeable way of finding cut
the weakness of those with whom he
comes in contact and a conceited ass or
braggart never wants to meet Butler a
second time. He puts his faculty OF
making people uncomfortable to very
good use sometimes; but he isn't always
disagreeable, for he can be as charming
as q sweet sixteen when he chooses.
Martin !. Townsend, Proctor Knott,
Sunset Cox, Charles Foster and Dr..