The Mineral argus., 1884-04-17
.THE THIRD HoUsE

No city upon the American continent
las a larger floating population than
Washington. 1t is estimated that dur
ing the sessions of congress twenty-five
thousand people, whose homes are IN va
rious parts of this and other countries,
make this city their place of residence.
Some come here attracted by the adyan-
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 a morsel at the pubic
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 l met Mr. William
NJ. Ashley. formerly of your city, whose
long residence here has made him I'M
usually well acquainted with the opera
tions of the lobby.
Having made my wants in this par
ticular direction known, in answer to an
in~terrogative, Mr.. Ashley said:
Eyes, during my residence here Ihave
become well 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 your"
"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 a study. L can detect
them at a glance"
Tell me, to what bills do you refer 2"
"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 O the investigation. Another squeeze
is the abattoir bills, as they are called.
These, of course, are fought by the
butchers and market-men. The first at
tempt to force a bill of this description
was in 1877, when a prominent Washing
ton politician offered a fabulous sum for
the franchise.
"Anything else in this line that you can
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 enor-
nous steal. The work is now being
| done bv 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 Nv
ing in this climate?"
"Well while I have not at all time:
enjoyed good health, 1 am certain thai
the difficulty which laid me up so lonl
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 bt
great redness, heat and swelling of thu
parts; and perhaps the next day the left
arm and leg would be similarly affect
ed. Then again it would locate in som
particular part of my body and produce
a tenderness which would well nigh drive
me frantic. There would be week.
at a time that [ would be afflicted will
an intermitting kind of pain that woulC
come on every afternoon and leave m
comparatively free from suffering during
the balance of the t~wenty-four hours
Then I would have terrible paroxysms o
pain coming on at any time during TIN
day or night when I would be obliged t.
lie upon my back for hours and keep a
m~otionless as possible. Every time at
tempted to move achilly sensation woul,
pass over my body, or L would faint from
hot flashes. [ suffered from a spasmodi
contraction of the muscles and a sore
/, ness of the back and bowels, and ever
, my eyeballs became sore and distressed
me greatly whenever l wiped my face
L became ill-tempered, peevish, fretful
irritable and desperately respondent.
"Of course you consulted the doctor
regarding your difficulty?
consulted them d? we'll 1 should say
t did. Some told me L had neuralgia
others that L had inflammatory rheuma
, tism, for which there was no cure, that
: would be afflicted all my life, and tina