The Opelousas courier., 1884-07-19
sTATEsMEPs SIGNATURE
How the Thrifsy House Pases at
faafa~

low the Thrifty House Paeesa at I ta.b.
ineeon Turn an Honest PENN.
a favorite occupation anon, the
page boys at the House end Of t an Cap
ltol, says a Washington letter, thai
OF procuring autographs. PERI ps it
might better be said, however, fiat it
IS a faVorite business, for these little
fellows make a business of it. You
can see them any hour before the open
Ing OF the session, or immediately. !
after Its close, when members are still
IN their seats, rushing about, autograph
album in hands, asking members for
their signatures.
You see" explained one of them,as
ne stopped to catch his breath after
flashing here and there among the
assembled solons just before the fall Of
the Speakers gavel-"you see, we get
from $5 to$10 for getting these albums
filled, and it is worth while making the
effort"
Whose are the albums? ?" he was
asked. .
@Those of peoplein and out OF Wash
ington. A good many of them belong
to families of members, especially
from TIKI rural districts. Nearly every
fellow among us pages has an album
or two, and sometimes three and four
during the session to get filled. There
are a hundred or two filled a session."
do you have much trouble in get
ting these autographs from members?'
Not very often. There are a few
cranks who won't give them to us"
They are a curious study, these
albums, filed with the autographs of
the lawmakers of the country running
from the President down; for your
autograph collector usually begins at
the White House, goes down through
Cabinet officers, Justices of the Supreme
Court, Senators and Representatives.
Of course the Presidents autograph,
where one album is to contain the en-
tire lot mentioned, is the first, and a
queer one it is. 'Chester A. Arthur
it says, all written with scarcely rails
ing the pen from the paper. The
letters lean way over towards the right
chasing each other in a hen track over
the paper, sometimes up hill, some
times down. There is character anG
vigor in the signature, but it is neither
graceful nor business-like. 1t is
great hurried scrawl. Mr.. Waite, thu
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
signs himself IN. r. Waite, Chief Jus
tice, United States" the letters chas
ing each other up hill in a somewha
dignified, ambitious sort of way. MI
Justice Miller signs himself "Sam F
Miller, Justice of the Supreme Court
u. S. but the signature might as we
be SAL and Julia" so far as its legibil
ity is concerned, for it looks more Xix
!, those two feminine appellations thai
that of a Justice Of the Supreme Court
Judge Reagan. of Texas. signs with
very unsteady, scrambly sort of hand
Congressman Singleton, of Mississippi
! who was a member of the Confederat
c Congress, writes a very pretty, nea
! hand, straight as though written upo
, lines-characteristic of this tall. slende
neatly-attired old man of sevent.
i Barksdale, Of Mississippi, who was ais
a member of the Congress, writes {
: though he was writing for a deaf MAJ
Y with characters very large and hig
and broad. His name stretches Gle;
across the page Of the album and. wit
his post Office address. reaches dow
Z and covers one-third Of its length. Ca
3 isle, the Speaker, signs in a schoolbt
hand. 81. G. Carlisle. KY" The J
d more like an o than a j and the ave
! AGE reader would probably make Ca
4 olines out Of the Carlisle. Hilt,of II
nois. who's a college graduate and
! gentleman Of large experience. max
i 4 signature as large a bis experient
stretching it across the full sheet, a
d occupying nearly a half page with t
signature and address. Murray,
] ohio. writes Respectfully" and tn
follow a lot Of marks which look
though he had been testing q very D
pen. It may spell out aR. NJ. Murra.
hut no living man would ever susp'
4 i Of being that. There are some Gu
{ nus contradictions among these sigl
t.res. For the man IN the VII
3 House from whom you would have
nected the worst signature writes
] hest. This is Kleiner, OF Indiana.
8 SIGNATURE is, as the boys put it, !
q copy-book writing. and yet he wri
s i with Iightning.like rapidity, as
u HE case iii all of his writing. Belfo
II Colorado, who would not be expo
ii to write a decipherable signatr
signs with q good, clear, round ma
A name quite indecipherable turns
on consultation of the C~ongressio