New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1883-01-24
Row Consrassmsn Live.

How congressman Live.
The Washington correspondent OF the
! Vew York Times xiYeS / he following I'M.
attractive sketch Of the life OF the aver.
| age Congressman:
/; So many fine new houses in Washing.
| ton having been lately described in the
| Times. perhapSs;s readers think that all
the higher officials Ut the Government,
! including the members ci both houses
| IT Congress. live hire in .sunptGo,s
| style. As . ma:ter 81 fact, however,
comparatively few, :.%;.:i2nt the Sena-
! tors. keep hiuSs, her. ::.id fewer still o.
the Representatives
The style, or rather lack ri it in th<.
conventional sense. il, which many 9!
them live while il Washington wonl,l
amaze dweliers in o1hpr cities ii truth
fully depicted; SO will give, By way Of
! contrast to the luxurious mode OF life OF
the officials who ARE occupying the
! splendid mansions, few sketches of
the manner in which, some of their own
colleagues live while mere. a member
OF the House. OF moderate means, was
saying pit"U,sIy this week. in referring
to the fact that the price of board had
advanced this winter, high as were the
rates last year: The truth il that no.
body wants to take member of Con-
gress for only three months, especially
when he has not been reelected
This is his own case. have heard
more than one landlord and landlady
here say: ".rhere's no money in taking
members OF Congress to board They
come, lato in the. season; they rarely
bring their families until after the sholi-
days, and they don't expect to pay full
board during the holidays when they
are away three weeks and sometimes
more, which is i. dead loss to us, and,
whether it, a long session or not, they
mostly send their families home III
March aud then go somewhere in the
city where they can get cheap board.n
'T'hey keep all sorts Of hours {;his is
the plea OF = iandlady who keeps a
clearinghouse land want their break
fast and dinner whenever they come in;
they burn more gas than anybody else
and require more attendance froEa ser
wants. 1t takes 40 extra servant to an
swer the doo7-besl for them. as for every
Senator or member there are always 1t
least twenty persons coming every day
10 see him about something, and the
muddy boots Of their constituents and
wet umbrellas III falling weather ruin
my carpets. q The members themselves
mostly smoke and chew and don't stop
to use spittoons. One who can't get
board any more in any house where
he's once been I could name, who
squirts his tobacco juice to the very top
OF the lace curtains in his room, and
throws his cigar and pipe ashes all over
the furniture coverings. AS well as the
carpet
Such are some Of the objections to
taking Senators and Representatives as
dodgers and boarders, and consequently.
even those known to be neat and in
many respects desirable inmates Of a
house have to put up with very plain
and often uncomfortable lodgings and
poor fare, for which they pay far more,
generally, than the accommodations arc
worth. 1 refer, of course, to those who
do not live in hotels, which the majority
Of them cannot afford to do. Many OF
them, even those whose wives and
children are with them, lodge in ono
place and go scvera! squares in all kinds
of weather for their meals, which last
they take. possibly. in a dining-room in
a back building on the first floor, look
ing only upon brick wall abont six
feet distant. where tue sun never shines
and where people arc huddled together
at meal time in little better order than
animals in pen.
The food in the place which l am &C.
curately describing rs one where know
certain Representatives and their fami-
lies to have taken their meals for several
consecutive months is badly served.
never hot aud tcmptingly cooked. is Of
medium quality, but abundant Natur-
ally. eating iu so cherries place, of
so unsavory diet, is apt to sow the
seeds OF the dyspepsia which irregular
hours and even occasional drinks de-
velop into the disease known. when u
Representative has it, as malaria, or,
when it seizes q Senator, rs pneumonia.
The lodgings few blocks distant used
by some OF those who eat, rs / have do
scr;bed. are up more than one fight OF
steps in very shabby docking house in
side. which is poorly furnished.
The hall and staircase are dark BY
day aud night, tor only one gas-burner
is allowed 70 flicker, in dim way, dur
ing the evening IN the hall on the first
door, and there is none in the hall up
stairs through which the ':member'' and
his wife and children stumble on return
ing from their late dinner, and he gropes
his
dense when he comes in after 10 o. clock
from any place. Their rooms are three,
q sn-called parlor and a bedroom, in !
which they and two children crowd, aud
. ballroom, OF one in the back building
for the rurse. if they indulge in such q
luxury, as some feel they cannot afford
to do. The parlor. is the members
Office, the childrvn's play-room and his
wife's sewing-room and reception-room,
where she receives visitors whenever