The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1884-04-19
"THE THIRD HOUSE,

is estimated that during the sessions of Con-
gress twenty-five thousand people, whose
homes are in various parts of this and other
countries, make this city their place OF Iesi-
dence. Some come here, attracted by the ad-
vantages the city offers for making the &C
quaintance of public men; others 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
general thing, originate the MANY schemes
which terminate in vicious bills, all of which
are either directed at the public.treasury, or
toward that revenue which the matchmaking
OF corporations or private enterprises may
bring.
While walking down Pennsylvania Avenue
the other day met Mr.. William M. Ashley.
formerly OF your city, whose long residence
here has made him unusually well acquainted
with the operations of the lobby.
Having made my wants in this particular
direction known, in answer to an interrogatiye
Mr.. Ashley said:
Eyes, during my residence here have be-
come well acquainted with the workings of the
Third House, as 1t Is termed. and could tell
you of numerous jobs, which, like the Heather
Chinee, are peculiar"
''YQu do not regard the lobby as 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 COM
biDed power of the Third House has over
ridden the will Of the people. The bad in
huence Oh the Lobby can be seen in the hume
rous 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
glance"
Tel me to what bills you refer?''
''Well, take the annual gas bills, for instance
They are introduced for the purpose Of bleed
ing The Washington Gas Light Company. They
usually result IN an investigating committee
which never amounts TO Anything more than q
draft upon the public treasury for the expenses
OF the investigation. Another squeeze is the
dbdHoT bills, as they are called. These, OF
course, are fought by the butchers and market
men. The first attempt to force bill OF this
description was in 1877 when a prominent
Washington politician offered fabulous sum
for the franchise"
'Anytblng ese in this line that you think Of
Mr.. Ashey?"
Eyes, there's the job to reclaim the Potomac
flats, which, had it become law, would have
resulted Ill an enormous steal. The work is
now being done by the government itself, and
will rid the place of that maariaI atmosphere
of which we hear so much outside the city,"
During your residence here have you expe-
rienced the bad results of living In this eli
mate?"
"Well, while have not at all times enjoyed
good health, / am certain that the difficulty which
laid me up so long Mas not malarial It 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 psrts and perhaps the next day the left
arm and leg would be similarly affected. Then
sgaln it would locate in some particular part of
my body and produce tenderness which would
well nigh drive me frantic. There would be
weeks at time that would be afflicted with
an intermittlDg kind of pain that would come
on every after noon and leave me comparatively
free from suffering during the balance of the
twenty four hours. Then l would have terri
BILE paroxysms of pain coming on st any time
during the day or night when / 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
l suffered from a spasmodc contraction of the
muscles and a soreness of the back and bowels,
and even my eyebals became sore and dis
tressed me greatly whenever wiped my face
| became ill-tempered, peevlsh, fretful, irri, a.
bic and desperately Respondent"
"Of course You consulted the doctors re-
garding your difficuty?"
Consulted them? well | should say did.
Some told me l had neuralgia; others that
had lntiammatory rheumatism. for which there
was no cure, that l would be afflicted all NV
ullIlgaIG
suffeungs."
But didn't they try to relieve your mis-
erles?'
"Yes. they vomited and physicked me- bis
tered Ind bled me, plastered apd oiled me,
sweat, steamed and everything but froze me,
but without avail"
"But how did you finally recover?"
81 had friend living in Michigan who had
been afflicted IN similar way and had been
cured. He wrote me regarding his recovery
and advised me to try the remedy which cured
him. | procured bottle and commenced its
use, taking a tablespoonful after each meal and
at bed time. l had used it about week when
l noticed decrease Of the soreness OF the
joints and general feeling of relief. / perse-
yered IN It's use and finally got so | could move
around without limping, when 1 told my
friends that it was Warmers Safe Rheumatic
Cure that had put me On my feet"
And do you regard your cure as perma-
nent?'
Certainly, haven't been so well in years as
l am now, and although / have been subjected
to fgequent and severe changes Of weather this
winter, have not felt the first intlmation Of
the return of my rheumatic trouble
800 you object to the publication of this in
terview, Mr. Ashley?'
mot at all, sir. look upou it as a duty |
owe my fellow creatures to alleviate their suf-
ferings so far as | am able, and any COMMUNE
cation regarding my symptoms and cure that
ceive prompt and careful attention"
Judging from your recital, Mr.. Ashley.
there must be wonderful curative properties |
about this medicine?"
'Indeed, there is, sir; for no man suffered |
more nor longer than did before this remedy |
gave me relief"
80 go back to the original subject, Mr.. |
Ashley, suppose you see the same familiar |
faces about the lobby session after SESSION."
NO, not so much SO as you might think. |
New faces are constantly seen and old ones |
disappear. The strain upon lobbyists is neces-
sarIly very great, and when you add to this the !
demorallzlng effect of late hours and intemper-
ate habits and the factthat they are often found
out in their steals, their disappearance can
easily be accounted for"
what proportion OF these blood bills are
successfully"
"A very small percentage, sir. Notwith-
standing the power and influence of the lobby,
but few of these vicious measures pass. We're
they successful it would be a sad commentary
upon our system of government, and would
virtually annihilate one branch of 1t. The
great majority of them are either reported ad-
yerseiv or smothered in committee by the