The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-05-16
Aow DON the Little Busy Page Improy,
Each shining Hour. .

CONGRESSIONAL ALBUMS.
liow Dom the Little Busy Page Improy
Each shiniug Hour.
From our slkcia! Correspondent NJ
WASHINGTON, D. g., May IA isyori!
occupation among tho page boys at til,
House end oithe Capitol during the qule
which succeeds the tariff agony Is that o
procuring autographs. Perhaps 1t nigh
better DO said, however, that 1t Is favor
Ito buslneaa, Tor these little fellows make
business Of 1t. You can: ees them IN,
hour before the opening Of mo session o.
Immediately after its close, when mem
bers are still in their scs.s rushing abou
autograph album in hands asking mem
Der for their signature.
"You Bee," explained one OF them. as h,
stopped TO catch his breath after daHhint
mere anu there among the assembled
Bolone, Just before the fall Of the Speaker
gavcl, you See we got from five 10 ter
dollars Tor getting these albums filled, and
1t Is worth while making the effort p" -
Whose are these albums?"
"Oh people In and out OF Washington
a good many Of them belong to families o,
members, especially from tbs rural dis,ricts
some arc from Washington people ano
others from outside otthe city, y77
Are there many requests Of this kind2'
\ es, Il good many, nearly every fellow
among III pages has an album or TWO, and
sometimes three or four during the session
to get filed There are hundred or 1--WE
filled II session." ~!
do you have much trouble in pettinp
these autcgraphs.iro members?''
mot very often. There are few cranks
who won't give them to US. There Ia Tel.
mont, Of New York, for insiance-supp,Me
he is afraid somebody might forge his
signature; he is rich, you know, He never
will give fellow his autograph, lots OF fell.
lows have tried him, but he won't do Il,
There are soms others who does not like II
much, but II you catch them when they
are in q good humor you almost always yet
them, but Belmont won't under any cir.
cumstanCes."
They are curious study, these albums,
hlled with the autographs OF the law.
makers Of the country, running, from the
President down; for your autograph col.
lector usually begius at the White House,
coming down through cabinet officers.
Justices Of the Supreme Court, Secretaries
and Representatives. OF course the presi.
dents autograph, where one album is to
contain the entire lot before mentioned, is
the first, and queer one it ia, "Chester A,
Arthur" it says. He writes it with scarcely
raising the pen from the paper. The letters
lean way over toward the right, Chasing
each other in a hen track way over the
paper, sometimes up hill and sometimes
down. There ia character and vigor in the
signature, but it is neither graceful nor
business like. 1t 10 great hurried ecrawl,
MIR. Waite, Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court, signs himself MIR. Il. Waite, Chief
Justice United S.ates," the letters chasing
each other up hill in somewhat diyni.
ted, ambitious sort Of way. MIR. Justice
Miller signs himself Samuel +, Miller.
Justice Of the Supreme Court, u. S." but
the signature might as well be "Sal as
Julia" 30 far as its legibility is concerned,
for it looks more like those two feminine
Expectations than those Of Justice Of the
Supreme. Court. Judge Reagan, OF Texas,
the ex-Postmaster General OF the Couted.
eracy, signs with very unsteady scrambly
sert Of hand, that locks Us though it had
been written by railroad laborer rather
than an Postmaster General OF the Con.
federacy.
Congressman Singleton, OF Mississippi,
who WAS amember Of the Confederate Con.
gress, write q very pretty, neat hand;
straight as though written upon lines,
characteristic oil this tall, slender, neatly 81
tired old man Of seventy. Barkesdsle, OF
Mississippi, who also member OF the
Confederate Congress, writes as though he
was writing Tor deaf man, with characters
very large and high, and broad. His name
stretches clear across the page Of the al.
bum, and with his post office address,
reaches down and covers one.third Of it's
length. Carlisle, the Speaker, signs in
NEST ridiculous school.boy hand; ~, G,
Carlisle, Kentucky" 1t is q curious sigma.
ture, weak and devoid OF character. The
is more like an 0 than ], and the aver.
age reader would probably make Caroline"
out oil the Carlisle. Hit, OF Illinois, who
is college graduate, and gentleman Of
large experience, makes o signature as
large ss his experience, stretching it across
the full sheet and occupying nearly hall
page with the signature and address. Muir.
ray, Of Ohio, writes respectfully" and
then follows with a lot OF marks which
looks as though he had been taking a
very bad pen. 1t may SPELL
out "R. NJ. Murray" but no living man
would ever suspect it Of being that. There
are some curious contradictions among
these signatures. For the man in the
whole House from whom you would have
expected the worst signatures, writes the
best. This is klnger, OF Indiana. His
signature il, as the boys put it, like copy.
book writing, and yet be writes it with
lightning.like rapidly, as is the case in all
Of his writing, Belford, Of Colorado,
who would not be expected to write de.
cipherable signature, signs with very
plain, business like han d. Budd, OF Cali
lornia, who distinguished himself in bis cam.
paign for Congress by going about his Dis
trict painting the words on every rock and
tree: "Vote Tor Budd," now signs in mod.
eat, plain hand, YOURS truly, James Il,
Budd, Stockton, Cal. One OF the oldest
signatures in the House is that Of McCaid,
oil Iowa, which might be much better ii
that gentleman would make the effort, for
be is person Of intelligence and consider
able ability. John b. Raymond, OF D4kota,
the hyc'thopean9l.ateYe farmer writes very
neat, business.like hand: - = =
The signature, which looks likes Sloan,
New York;, turns out to be on cxamina.
ton rs. s. Cox, N. Y" Blackburn signs
himself in uchool.boy style, &c. S. BLACK.
burn, Kentucky" Dick Townshendsigus,
"Truly yours, K. W. Townshend, Shawnee.
town, ILL.," in large, high, rough characters,
as though he was shouting "N1r. Speaker
at the Top Of bis voice, IS 10 does daily.
Pettibone, who from his looks would be
expected to write wretched hand, signs
in good, clear, round characters. John D.
Whites signature is much like mis- voice,
loud and pitched very high. Mr.. Turner
. OF Kentucky, whose district is termed the
Democratic Gibralter Of that State, signs,
"Youra, Oacar Turner, Gibralter county,
Ky. Chase, the Rhode Island Quaker
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