Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-12-13
WASHINGTON LETTER.
How The City Looks at The Opening Of Congress-
Notes on The Organization OF The
House--The Speakership
Contest-Society at
The CapifnI.
Special Correspondence.

Contest-society at
The Capital.
Special Correspondence.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 1883. The big
white pile of marble which crowns
Capitol Hill is the centre of attraction
in Washington to-day. 1t has exercised
visible influence over the common
every day life of the Capital, and has
attracted alike politician. lobbyist. the
national pilgrim, Vanity Fair, and all
that curious ensemble which goes to
make up the personnel of this legisla-
tive city. There is a temporary lull in
the din and confusion that has peryad-
ed the hotel Hobbies during the past
week, and the places where one has
been used to seeing familiar faces and
hearing talk about the gavel are all va
cant. The hotel wiseacers, and the
veiy life of the city can now be found
paying homage to the new congress
just born at the Capitol. A great throng
has passed in gorgeous array down
Pennsylvania avenue. Everyone moved
in the same direction. At the great
building the old familiar scene of ami
nation once more greeted the view in
side and out. Its long siesta OF nine
months was over. The flagstaffs which
surmount the House and Senate wings,
were again bececked with the stars and
stripes, to be worn now whenever their
respective charges are in session.
Your correspondent was upon the
ground early. He wended his way
through the chattering crowds in the
rotunda and Railways until he arrived
at the legislative hall of the Lower
House. As one looks down from the
Reporters Gallery upon the floor of
tho House at the opening of Congress,
a remembrance of the debating society
of his youth is perhaps one of the first
thoughts in which fancy finds vent.
Fancy also recalls those college scenes.
so familiar when vacation is over.
There are the big school boys slapping
each other on the back, shaking hands,
dispersed in little animated knots, tell
ing stories, and cracking jokes. North
and South East and West intermingle.
There are no party lines now. All move
upon the same platform and figure in
! q kala IS IL
constantly shifts its varying phases
through the carpeted aisles, and be-
tween the long regular rows of desks.
AT the sound of the gavel in the hands
of ex-Speaker Keller the floor and
| galleries were brought to order, and
the House of Representatives of the
Forty-eighth Congress proceeded to Or
ganize. Over at the other end of the
Capitol, the quiet dignity and decorum
OF the Senate prevailed in striking con-
trast to the noisy assembly of the Lower
House.
The scenes about the Caucus on Satur-
day night were novel and interesting.
Mr.. Carlisle took his position in the
room of the Appropriations Committee,
Mr.. Randall sat in the room of the Ways
and Means Committee, and Mr.. Cox
held his ground in the quarters of the
Committee on Foreign affairs. Around
the leaders were thoseof their stats and
friends who were not in the Caucus.
In the corridors outside was II crowd of
politicians, professional and amateur,
who filled the air with tobacco smoke.
In the ball of the House sat nearly two
hundred men playing the last moves in
the great game They had decided
after several votes that they would vote
openly, each man expressing his prefer
ence as his name was called. The Sec
Rotary had reached the middle of the
list, and the strength of the Carlisle tide
become apparent. Anxious members
who had voted carried the news, as the
ballot proceeded, to the waiting candi-
dates. Their friends did a great deal of
figuring in that last half hour. Randall
was unmoved to the last and Cox pre-
served his serenity, but neither could
conceal his disappointment. Carlisle's
! manner was as dignified as ever, but
his face lighted up and he caught some
thing of the enthusiasm of his friends as
they told him of his nomination. The
result was not such a surprise as it
might have been, for, on the last day of
the battle, indications were that Mr..
Carlisle would win. The vote on the
first ballot stood: Carlisle, 106; RAN
dali, so; Cox, so.
In the House organization, Gen. John
b. Clarke was elected Clerk. He has
served in Congress with honor and dis
tinction for ten consecutive years and is
personally popular and respected. Ex-
Representative Leedom, of Ohio, who
has been for some years in charge of
the Senate folding-room, was chosen
Sergeant-at-Arms. The political divi-
sion of the House at present is 1914 Demo-
cratic Representatives 10 Republicans,
A Independents, 2 Greenbackers, and 5
Readjusters.
| The season at the Capital fairly
opens to-day, but neither politics nor
society will attain their full blaze of
glory until after the Christmas and New
Year festivities are over. After that
Congress will settle down to the real
work of the session, and society will
caper until Lent. LENox.
Failures i'm Fine Houses.
II can tell you, moreover, that not