The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1884-03-27
IL, Good and Bad Members-The Remark
able Experiences of a Close Observer
OF Its Workings During
Long Residence at
Washington.
Correspondence Rochester Democracy

their place of residence. Some come mere,
attracted by the advantages the city offers
for making the acquaintance OF pubic
men; others have various claims which
they wish to present, while the great ma.
jority gather here, as tho 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 vicious
bills, all of which are either directed at
the public treasury, or toward that reVe-
nue. which the black mailing OF corpoi a.
lions or private enterprises may bring.
While walking down Pennsylvania ave-
nue. 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 p2rticu.
lar direction known, in answer to an in
terrogative, Mr.. Ashley said:
Eyes, during my residence here have
Sccome well acquainted with the workings
of the Third Hou sc, 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 neces sarily so; there are good and
bad men comprising that body; yet there
have been times when it must lie admitted
that the combined power of the Third
House, has overridden the will of the peo-
ple The bal influence OF the lobby can be
seen in the numerous blood-bllis 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"
"Tell me, to what bill do you refer"
swell, take the annual gas bills, for in
stance. They are introduced for the pur-
pose of bleeding the Washington Gas
Light Company. They usually result in
an investigating committee which never
amounts to anything moro than draft
upon the public treasury for the expenses
of the investigation. Another squeeze is
the dbattoir bills, as they are called.
These, of course, are fought by the BUTCH
ere and market-men. The first attempt to
for ce a bill of tIis description was in 1877,
whom a prominent Washington poll 'ician
offered fabulous sum for the franchise"
Anything else in this line that you
think of, MIR. Ashley:"
"Yes, there's the job to reclaim the Po-
tomac flats, which, bad il become law,
", uld have resulted in an enormous steal.
The work is now being done by the Gov
eminent itself, and will rid the Place Of
that malarial atmosphere of which we
bear so much on side the CITY,"
During your residence here have you
experienced the bad results of living in
this clmata"'
"Well, while have not at all times on.
joved good health, | am certain that tho
difficulty which laid me up so long was
not malarial. 1t was something that had
troubled me for years. A shooting, sting
ing pain that at timcS a tackled different
parts Of my body. One day my right arm
and leg would torture EIe with pain, there
would be g eat redness, heat and swelling
of the parts; and perhaps the next day the
left arm and leg would BE- similarly af-
fec ed. Then again it would locate in
some particular art of my body and pro-
duce tenderness which would well nigh
drive me frantic. There would be weeks
at time that l would DO afflicted with an
intermtting kind of pain that would come
OH every afternoon and leave me COM
paratively free from suffering during the
balance of the twenty-four hours. Then
would have terrible paroxysms of pain
coming on at any time during the day or
night when would be obliged to lie upon
my back for hours and keep as mo;ionless
as possible. Every time l attempted to
move a chilly sensation would pass over
my body, or would faint from hot flashes.
l suffered from spasmod:c contraction of
the muscles and soreness of the back and
bowels, and even my eyeballs became sore
and distressed me greatly whenever l
wiped my face. | became ill.tempered,
peevish, fretful, irritable and desperately
Respondent"
"Of course you consulted the doctors re-
garding your difficultyW
Consulted them? well / should say
did. Some told me had neuralgia; others
that had infammatory rheumatism, for
which there was no cure, that l would he
afflicted all my life, and that time alone
would mitigate my sufferings."
"But didn't they try to relieve your mis-
eries?" Yes, they vomited and physicked
me, blistered and bled me, plas cred and
oilaH CT in
but froze me, but without avail"
''But how did you finally recover"
al had a friend living in Michigan who
had been afflicted in a similar way and
had been cured. He wrote me regarding
his recovery and advised me to try the
remedy which cured him. l procured a
bottle and commenced its use, taking a
tablespoonful after each meal and at bed
time. l had used it about a week when |
noticed a decrease of the soreness of the
joints and a general feeling of relief.
persevered in its use and finally got so
gould move around without limping, when
! told my trends 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 am now, and although l have
been subjec ed to frequent and severe
felt the first intimation of the return OF
my rheumatic trouble"
"Do you object to the publication of this
interview, Mr. Ashley!"
mot at all, sir. | look upon it as
duty owe my fellow-creatures to alleviate
their sufferings so far as l am able, and
any communication regarding my symp.
toms and cure that may BE- sent to me al
500 Maine avenue will receive prompt and
careful attention."
Judging from your recital, MIR. Ashley,
there must be wonderful curative proper.
ties about this medicine~
"Indeed there is, sir, for no man suffered
more nor longer than did l before this
remedy gave me relief" t.
To go back to the original subject, Mr..
Ashley, l suppose you see tho same famil.
lar faces about the lobby session after ses.
rionw
"No, not so much as you might think.
New faces are constantly seen and old
ones disappear. The strain upon lobby.
ISIS is necessarily very great, and when
you add to this the demoralizing effect OF
late hours and Incorporate habits and the
fact that they are after found out in their
steals, their disappearance can easily be
accounted for"
What proportion of these blood-bills
are successfully LIZ s.st so" ~,
"A very small percentage, sir. Not
withstanding the power and influence of
the lobby, but few of these vicious meas
hes f..I a. /.