National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-02-25
PAGE TO MEMBER.
STORY OF VIRGINIA CONGRESSMAN
intercstipg "reminiscences OF Young Man Who
Was Once BOY Employed In the House
Representatives, and who Is
Now Member.

Nothing more antly illustrates tho simplicity Of
nur republican Institutions than the easy trnnsla'
tion Of the ambitious and studiously Inclined from
comparative ob,curiiy to positions Of the highest
honor and distinction Few persons who visit our
present House Of Representatives during its daily
sessions are aware their curious gaze Is riyeted
from the gallery on the many forms and faces Of
our national representatives, that among them are
two men who years ago were House pages and
who now are honorcd and distinguished members
from their respective States--the Hons. George d.
Wise, Of Virginia, and II. W. Townshend, of flli.
nos, These two Congressman probably
never listen TO the monotonous drawl Of
the reading clerk or the sharp clear, resonant
clap for rngo without recurring again 10 their
former days Of page life and vividly recalling to
their mind the old Hall Of Representatives, with
It's ladies' gallery, fcstooned in red drapcry, just
back Of the Speakers chair; the antique mahog.
any desks and the moving figures nnd forms that
filled that grand old hall, Of which they were the
humbest and the most unnouced of lis objects
IL gives a freshness and realistic Colorlng to the
events Of the past, and has thrown over their
shoulders the mystic mantle Of power which the
Genius Of Liberty has kindly transferred TO them.
We could almost fancy these two yOnng pages,
ambitious fot future distinction. piercing the veil
Of futurity and boholding the mighty Republic
Increasing In magnitude, wealth, and influence,
and crowding into the representative halls a
larger and more liberal Interpretation Of American
enterprise, freedom, aud equality.
One Of the ubiquitous quill drivers of the RE-
PUBLICAN called over yesterday morning to the
rooms Of the distinguished Conservative member,
the Hon George II. Wise. with the purpose of
cleaning from him few interesting passages in
his page life
Mr.. Wise is a fine type of the old.sohool South.
ron, a race now nearly extinct. lie is 1.-the
gracefully. formed gentleman Of medium height,
dark hair, aud sparkling black eyes, that mirror
frank and genial nature. He received our re-
porter with cordially and courcously invited
him 10 be seated
"Mr Wise" we said, nrter the usual formal in
troductory greeting, "wc have called this morn
ing to take, with your permission, a few notes Of
your former page life. We understand you we're
page Of the old House many gears ago"
81 was q page" replied the Congressman, re-.
neCuvely hlling his mecrschaum and putting ont
long, deliberativc column Of smoke, In the win
ter Of 1917 or 1SiS think dunng the inal days Of
President Folks administration, / was appointed
through the influence ofmy uncle Henry A. Wise,
who, though not IN Congress at the time. wrote
letter to q number of his personal friends In the
House. recommending me to that position. ltwas
much more dilicult thing IN those days 10 obtain
pageship than now but when you consider that
had number of influential relatives like Ibseph
l slipped In without much trouble
Mr., Wise paused and vigorously addressed him.
self 10 his mue ersChnum.
"Your Introduction in the House possibly pro.
duccd some latent aspirations or ono day bccpm.
lug member youtsclfF' vculurcd our RrrrBu.
CAN scribe.
Ny entrance into this new world" replied Mr..
Wise " constituted, no doubt, nh important epoch
in my life, l began to form yngue ambition OF
bping fnygplf a nubliC fnnn thOugh VOuil M 600
how II was ali TO be brought about; hnL that is a
natural feeling, shared in alike, believe, by all
pages
Mr. Wise" suggested our scribe, Us the distln.
guiscd Congressman paused again and pulled cut
another prOblemGtical column of smoke from his
pipe, can You recall the names Of any of youi
Cotcmporary pngo associates who impressed you u,
being remarkable youths2"
:" remember ouc only" replied Mr.. Wise. with
humorous twinkle OF his eye, "a little fellow
by the name OF Cox; IL was then standing rule
ui the House after the expiration OF our days
duty TO detail lis pages 10 work in the folding
room, and Cox and | used to plod industrluusly
for hours together folding documents. lie wal
remarkably expert at this business while /, OF
the contrary was uncommonly awkward ant
slow. l formed quite an opinion of Cox. but whor
we separated after our two years probationary ex
perence as pages he went away and | never saw
or heard of him agaln. Now. remember" pur.
sued Mr. Wise, smilingy turning over the leaves
of the past there was another, hut he
was a Senate page his name was Gugon
we were quite intimate and thought
considerably Of him. but US our rosy days
of page life vanished we separated ana lost sight
OF each other in the gathering misls Of time
studied law the civil war broke out; Joined the
confederate army, and when the fortunes OF war
decided against us l resumed the practice of my
profession at Richmond. My friends in the mean.
hal Ir,V ma, vl tl,1,
for Commonwealth attorney, and by singular
concidcntal event Guigon and were thrown to-
gether again in intimate relation, A circuit
Judge was to bc elected as well 10 a Commonweal
attorney and il so happened that Guigon became
candidate for the Office Of judge, The Common.
wealth attorney" pursued Mr.. Wise, "is, you
know, the right. bower of the judgcship, and II
was not long before Guigon and met. one day
after we had got right well acquainted, without
any apparent mutual recognition, Guigon, look
ing hxedly at one, said Wise, wasn't you for
Inerly page in the United States House Of Rep.
resentatives?' Il was, answered, And wss
then Senate page added GulgOu. God bles:
you, Gulson,' said /. Let us be boys again, and
we were close friends ever after.
zone day while was In the Old House. acting
In lay capacity page said Mr. WISE knock
tug the ashes out OF his meCrschaun ana gazing
refeCtiyely up at the ceiling, 81 happened to pass
by the desk Of stephen \. Douglas aflerward
popularly known us the "L Little Giant" | don't
think should have taken special notice of him
then. but he abruptly accosled mo: HRllOo, boy
what's your name George Douglas Wise, re-
piled, somewhat displeuscd by hisrough sautatlon
George Douglas repeated the Little Giant evil
dcntly taken aback; how in the III did you get
possession ofmy nameY / retOrted that he had
Tlv name, not his, whereupon no asked how II
Can0 10 bo Douglas, | replied by the inter.
marriage Of one OF my ancestors with lady
named Ellen Douglas. which explanatiCn the
Little Giant proiessod himself satisfied ana lmme.
diatcly acknowledged we must bU kin aud dubbed
mo bis little nAmesnke thereafter Ny youthful
impressions of Mr.. Douglas" said the Congress
man, grew TO be Of the pleasaniest kind. He
Impressed mc as one Of the first minds IN the
country did not look upon him rs a polished
orator, but rather powerful aud earnest dc.
batter. He never lost sight of me, but uetted mo
with unvarying kindness We met years after.
ward, when he (Mr, Douglas) was running FOR the
Presidency, He recognized me at once, aud,
graaplng my hand with uuieiguod Gordality ex-
pressed The pleasure of meeting inc agaiu,"
Can you recall, Mr., Wise, any other distin-
aulshcd men Of the House while you ofciatcd as
pageY" inquired our scribe.
Well yes there was the Hon. John Quincy
Adams AZ that time venerable in years and famed
IN history. lie seldom, however participated in
the general debate, but was very positive and
strong whenever he did address the House. ON
such occasions he was listened TO with marked re.
spccl, and never failed to command the attention
Oi all. My b0ysh impressions Of this stnguishcd
old man were very favorable" continue Mrwtse
II regarded him as a sound statesmul and a
genial cultivated, though somewhat eccentric
gentleman. ] remember one day while sliding
from desk to desk, procuring autographs for some