River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-04-03
"rHE THIRD HOUSE. "
Its Good and Bad Memberships Remark
able Experiences of Close Observer of
Its Workings During Long Residence
at WASHINGTON


Some come here attracted by the advan-
tages the city offers for making the ac-
quaintance of public men; others have
various claims which they wish to present
while the great majority gather here, rs
the crows flock to the carrion, for the sole
purpose of getting morsel at the public
crib The latter class, as a general thing
originate the many schemes which ter
inmate in vicious bills. all of which are
neither directed at the public treasury,
or toward that revenue which the black
mailing of corporations or private en-
terprises may bring.
While walking down Pennsylvania
avenue the other day met Mr.. William
NJ. Ashley, formerly of Your city, whose
long residence here has made him UNI
usually well acquainted with the opera
tions of the lobby.
Having made my wants in this par
ticular direction known, in answer to an
interrogative, Mr.. Ashley said:
Eyes, during my residence here have
become we'll acquainted with the work
ings of the Third House, as it is termed,
and could tell you of numerous jobs,
which, like the Heather Chinee, are
peculiar"
"You do not regard the lobby, as a
body vicious, do you?"
"Not necessarily SO, there are good
and bad men comprising that body; yet
there have been times when it must be
admitted that the combined power of
the Third House has overridden the
will of the people, The bad influence
of the lobby can be seen in the numer-
Gus blood bills that are introduced at
every session.
"But how can these be discovered?"
Easily enough, to the person who has
made the thing study. / can detect
them at a glance"
"Tell me, to what bills do you refer ?"
''Well, take the annual gas bills, for in
stance. They are introduced for thepur-
pose of bleeding the Washington Gas
Light company. They usually result in
an investigating committee which never
amounts to anything more than draft
upon the public treasury for the expen-
ses ofthe investigation. Another squeeze
is the abattoir bills, as they are called.
These, of course, are fought by the
butchers and market-m men. The first at
tempt to force bill of this description
was in 1877, when prominent Washing
ton politician offered a fabulous sum for
the franchise"
Anything else in this line that you can
think of, Mr.. Ashley"
"Yes, there's the job to reclaim the
Potomac flats, which, had it become a
law, would have resulted in an enor
nous steal. The work is now being
done by the Government itself, and will
rid the place of that malarial atmos-
phere of which we hear so much out
side the city"
During your residence here have
you experienced the bad results of liv-
ing in this climate? 2"
"Well, while I have not at all times
enjoyed good health, / am certain that
the difficulty which laid me up SO long
was not malarial. 1t was something
that had troubled me for years. A
shooting, singing pain that at times
attacked different parts of my body.
One day my right arm and leg would
torture me with pain, there would be
great redness, heat and swelling of the
parts; and perhaps the next day the left
arm and leg would be similarly affect
ed. Then again it would locate in some
particular part of my body and produce
a tenderness which " uld well nigh drive
me frantic There would be weeks
at a time that would be afflicted with
an intermitting kind of pain that would
come on every afternoon and leave me
comparatively free from suffering during
the balance of the twenty-four hours.
Then / would have terrible paroxysms OF
pain coming on at any time during the
day or night when L would be obliged to
lie upon my back for hours and keep as
motionless as possible. Every time at
tempted to move chilly sensation would
pass over my body, or / would faint from
hot flashes. / suffered from a spasmodic
contraction of the muscles and sore
ness of the back and bowels, and even
my eyeballs became sore and distressed
me greatly whenever | wiped my face.
/ became ill-tempered, peevish, fretful,
irritable and desperately respondent.
"Of course you consulted the doctors
regarding your difficulty"
Consulted them well | should say /
did. Some told me l had neuralgia
others that I had infammatory rheuma-
tism, for which there was no cure, that
would be afflicted all my life, and that
time alone would mitigate my suffer
ings."
"But didn't they try to mitigate your
miseries ?"
Eyes, they vomited and physiced me,
blistered and bled me, plastered and
oiled me, sweat, steamed and every
thing but froze me, but without avail. y
But how did you finally recover?"
II had friend living in Michigan
and had been cured. He wrote me re-
garding his recovery and advised me to
try the remedy which cured him. | pro-
cured bottle and commenced its use,
taking a tablespoonful after each meal
and at bed time. had used it about a
week when I noticed a decrease of the
soreness of the joints and general feel
ing of relief. / persevered in its use
and finally got so [ could move around
without limping, when told my friends
that it was Warmers Safe Rheumatic
OuTTe JlldJ ndO pun AlS Oh NY ACSps
"And do you regard your cure as
permanent"
Certainly, / haven'n been so well
in years as / am now, and although I
have been subjected to frequent and Sc
we're changes of weather this winter, /
have not felt the first intimation of the
return of my rheumatic trouble.
/ "Do you object to the publication of
this interview, Mr.. Ashley?"
mot at all, sir. | look upon it as
duty / owe my fellow creatures to allie
viate their sufferings so far as / am
able, and any communication regarding
my symptoms and cure that may be
sent to me at SOC Maine avenue will re-
ceive prompt and careful attention"
Judging from your recital, Mr..
Ashley, there must be wonderful cura-
tive properties about this medicine?"
Indeed, there is, sir, for no man suf-
fered more nor longer than did | be-
fore this remedy gaveme relief. "
ITO go back to the original subject,
Mr.. Ashley, / suppose you see the same
familiar faces about the lobby session
after session 2"
"No, not so much as you might think.
New faces are constantly seen and old
ones disappear. The strain upon lob
byists is necessarily very great, and
when You add to this the demoralizing
effect of late hours and Incorporate
habits and the fact that they are often
II Il