The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-05-13
A Woman LAWYER.

She came with a whirr, snap, con-
seriousness and self-assertion that at
once was sort of challenge to battle.
o, woman, woman! Don't you know
that the day you succeed in making a
soldier of yourself you will have to fight
for every inch of ground you get in.
stead of having the whole earth given
you, as it is nowe
She ran around among the chairs
and tables and men like a little
speckled hen that had lost her last lit
tie chicken.
Then she fiuttered down beside the
clerk, slammed down some books and
saying, 81 am here to make a speech
this morning." proceeded to unroll pa
pers and write furiously.
The committee was not vet in session
| and | in conversation with a member
incidentally remarked that we had in
early days coined gold in Oregon. She
shot up, and not even deigning to look
on me, she shouted: And that in the
face OF the Constitution, which saws:
No State shall coin money or issue bills
OF credit. f" Then the head dropped
the deft hand flew and the pen ratified
over the paper.
The chairman called to order, the
lady lawyer was at once on her feet,
and, shouting out her purpose to be
heard on the momentous mormon
question, on motion of some one, tif-
teen minutes were allotted for her
speech. Catching up her books, bag
and manuscript, fastening to the far
end OF the room, she took position just
under the fox and rattlesnake. and.
laying down the papers, she crossed
her pretty hands and looked at us tran
gully, triumphantly, long time under
her gold-rimmed glasses. This woman,
famous in the annals of this city,
standing there with folded hands, under
the ferocious fox of Oregon, had it all
her own way at once. She was pretty
to begin with. No bangs, no frizzes,
no foolishness at all in her dress or ad-
dress. Her heavy gray hair was
combed back in the old, chaste fashion.
and showed splendid brow and fine,
earnest face. All leaned forward and
listened eagerly as she began, and as
she went on for the first few minutes.
Her English, her articulation. her elo-
cution all seemed perfect. doubt if
any man in Congress could use
better language or use it with
more grace and precision. For
the first fifteen minutes no man
moved or spoke, but at twenty
minutes she began to fail, founder
about, to blunder. She had forgotten
her piece. And then, poor dear. she
had undertaken to settle the whole stu
pendous Mormon question, the morality
and immortality of it; to expound
the Constitution, compare Con-
gress to King George, all in
fifteen minutes! No wonder she got
beyond her depth. Men got impatient;
they began to talk; some giggled as she
scared and scared to her final appeal
and got so high that she melted the wax
of her winds and fell to the ground there
under the gentle rattlesnake and the
ferocious fox of the far-of Oregon. Evi-
IDENTIFY the old member, who had NUT
tered something not complimentary as
she first entered, was, like myself, think
ing of Rome; for, as she gathered up
her papers after forty minutes of able
defense of the Mormons, and fluttered
to her seat, he settled back and said to
himself, ''Great Cesarr'
As faithful chronicler of unique
things here at our country's capital, I
am free to admit that there are many
men, myself among the number, who
could not have made, to save their
lives, such a speech! The only real
trouble about it all was in not knowing
when to stop. At the end of the TWEEN
ty-five minutes the chairman had to
call her to order She, woman-like,
wanted to have the last word. She was
allowed five minutes more, and took
fifteen minutes to end.-JoaQain Miller,
in WdShin0tOn Post.