Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-03-27
"THE THIRD HOUSE"
ITS Good and Bad Members-'rhe ne
markabie Experiences of q Close
Observer Gifts Workings Dur
ing a Long Residence at
Washington.
Correspondence Rochester Democrat9

| Washington. 1t is estimated that dur
! ing the sessions of congress twenty-five
/ thousand people, whose homes are in
arious parts of this and other coun-
| lies, make this city their place of resi-
I Cence. Some come here attracted by
he advantages the city offers for MAX
ng the acquaintance of public men: 9th
/ ers have various claims which they wish
to present, while the great majority
| gather here, as the crows flock to the
carrion, for the sole purpose of getting a
mOrsel at the public crib. The latter
class as a general thing originate the
many schemes which terminate in vic
| iOuS bills, all of which are either direct
ed at the public treasury, or toward
! that revenue which the blackmailing of
| corporations or private enterprises may
! bring
While walking down Pennsylvania
avenue the other day [ met Mr. vii
liam NJ. Ashley, formerly Of your city,
hose long residence here has made
him unusually well acquainted with the
operations of the lobby,
III 4ving made my wants in this par
| ticular direction known, in answer to
an interrogatiye, Mr.. Ashley said:
eyes. during my residence here I
have become well acquainted with tn"
workings 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
body, vicious, do yOu?,
Not necessarily so, there are good
and bad men com uprising that body; vet
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 a study. [ can detect
them at glance"
''Tell me, to what bills do you refer?''
'Well, take the annual gas bills, for in
stance. They are introduced for the
purpose of bleeding the Washington
Gas Light company. They usually re-
suit in an investigating committee which
never amounts to anything more than
draft upon the public treasury for the
expenses of the investigation. Another
squeeze is the 0bdttOir bills, SIS they are
called. These, of course, are fought by
the buthers and market-men. The first
attempt to force a bill of this descrip-
ton was in 1877, when a prominent
Washington politician offered fabulous
sum for the franchise.
"Anything else in this line that you
think of, Mr.. Ashley"
eyes, there's the job to reclaim the
Potomac flats, which, had it become a
law, would have resulted in an enormous
steal The work is now being done by
the Government itself, and will rid the
place Of that malarial atmosphere of
which we hear 50 much outside the
city"
During your residence here have you
experienced the bad results Of living in
this climate?"
"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
stringing 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 per-
haps the next day the left arm and leg
would be similarly affected. Then again
1t would locate in some particular part
of my body and produce a tenderness
which would well nigh drive me frantic
There would be weeks at 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 twnntv-fOur hours. Then
| would have terrible paroxysms of pain
coming on at any time during the day CT
night when [ would be obliged
! TO lie upon my back for hours and keep
as mOtionless as possible. Every time
attempted to move chilly sensation
would pass over my body. or [ would
faint from hot flashes. I suffered from a
sHasm0dic contraction of the muscles
and a soreness of the back and bowels,
and even my eyeballS became sore and
distressed me greately whenever wiped
my face. ] became ill-tempered, peevish
tretful, irritable and desperately despon-
dent;
''Of course you consulted the doctors
regarding your difficulty?'
Consulted them? well I should say
did. Some told me [ had neuralgia
others that [ had infammatoTy rheu-
matism, for which there was no cure
that I would be afflicted all my life, and
that time alone would mitigate my suf-
ferings."
''But didn't they try to relieve your
miseries?7
eyes, they vomited and pbysicked me,
blistered and bled me, plastered and
oiled me, sweat, steamed and every
thing but froze me, but without avail"
But how did you finally recover
Il had friend living in Michigan
who had been afflicted in similar way
and had been cured. He wrote me re
garding his recovery and advised me TO
try the remedy which cured him. I pro-
cured bottle and commenced ifs use,
taking tablespoonful after each meal
and az bed time. | had used It about q
week when | noticed a decrease of the
soreness of tie joints and a general feel
ing OF relief. [ persevered in its use
and finally got SO I could move around
without limping, when [ told my friends
that it was Warmers Safe Rheumatic
Cure that had put me on my feet"
"And do you regard your cure as per-
manent?"
Certainly. 7 haven't been so we'll in