The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1884-03-22
"THE THIRD HOUSE. ~.
Its Good and Bad Memhers-The Remark
-nbie Experiences Of Close Observer of
I. its Workings During Long Residence
at Washington.


a larger floating population than Washing |
toT. II is estimated that during The sessions
OF congress twenty five thousand people, |
whose homes are IN various parts of this
and other countries, mako this city their
place of residence. Some come here, at
trected by the advantages the city offers Cor
making the acquaintance of public men;
others have varUua claims which they wish |
to present, while the great majority gather |
here, as the crows Aock to the carrion, Tor |
the sole purpose OF getting morsel at the |
public crib. The latter class, as general |
thing, originate the many schemes which |
terminate in vicious bills, sll of which are |
either directed at the public treasury, or
toward that revenue which the black mail
Ing OF corporations or private enterprises |
may bring.
While walking down Pennsylvania ave-
nue. the other day | met Mr.. William NJ. |
Ashley, formerly of your city, whose long
residence here has made him unusually |
well acquainted with the operations of The
lobby.
Having msde,my waOts in this particular
direction known, in answer to an interroga
tive, Mr.. Ashley, said:
"Yes, during my. residence here have
become well acquainted with the workings
of the Third House, as it is termed, and
could tell you ofnumerous jobs, which, like
the Eeathen Chinee,' are peculiar"
You do not regard the lobby, as body,
vicious, do you2"
"Nct necessarily So, there are good and
bad men comprising that body; yet there
have been times when il must be admitted
that the combined power Of the Third
House has oyerridden the will of the people
The bad influence of the lobby can Le seen
in the numerous blood bills that are intro
duced at every session"
"But how can these be di:opvered2'
easily enough, tn the person who has
made the thing study. Lean detect them
at glance"
"Trll me, TO what bills do you re!er3"
"Well, take the annual gas bills, for IN
stance. They are intrnduced for the pur
pose Of bleeding the Washington Gas Light
company. They usually result in an in
vesligatioD committee which never amounts
to anything more than a draft uuon the
public treasury for the expenses of the in
vestigation. Another 81 ueege is the abattoir
bills, as they are called. These, al course,
are fought by the butchers and market men.
The first attempt Ia force bill of this dis
criptiun WAS IN 1871, when a prominent
Washington politician offered a fabulous SUN
| for the franchise"
"Anything else in this line that you
think of Mr. Ashlev?'
"Yes, there's the job to reclaim the Poto-
mac flats, which, had il become a law, would
| have resulted in an enormous tea The work
| is now being done by the Government it.
self, and will rid the place of that malarial
atmosphere of which we hear so much out
side the city"
During your residence here have You
experienced the bad results olliving in this
clmate?"
"Well, while | have not at all times en-
jnved good health, | am certain that the
ilicuty which laid me up so long was not
malarial 1t was something that had
troubled me for years. A shooting singing
| pain that at times attacked different parts
| if my body. One day my right arm and
leg would torture me with pain there would
be great redness, heat ard swelling of the
| parts; and perhaps the next day the left
arm and leg would be similarly effected.
| Then again it would locate in some partlcu-
lar part of my b1dy and produce tender.
ness which would we'll nigh drive me fran
tic. There would be weeks at time that
| would be afflicted with an intermltting
kind OF pain that would come on every
lro.a suffering during the balance OF the
twenty four bnurs. Then would have
terrible puroxysms of pain coming OH at any
time during the day or night when would
be obliged tn lie upon my back for hours
| and keep as mntlonless as possible. Every
time attempted 10 muye chilly sensation
would lmss .ver my body, or would faint
from hot flashes. | suffered from spas
modic contraction of the muscles and sore.
ness Of the back and bowels, and even my
eyehalls become sore aud distressed me
greatly whenever wiped my face. be
came lll.tempered, peevlsh ,iretful, irritable
and desperately d4sPondent."
COT course you consulted the doctors re-
garding your diiliculty?"
"Cumsulted them? well should say did
Some tnli me had neuralgia; others that
had infammatory rheumatism, for which
there was no cure, that would be af1l cted
ali my lie, and that time alone would
mitigate my sufIerings."
"But didn't they try to relieve your mis-
eries2'
"Yes, they vomited and phvsced me,
bllstered and bled me, plastered and oiled
me, sweat, steamed and everything but
froze me, but without avail"
II had a friend living in Michigan who
had been alllict d in Il similar way aud had
been cured. lie wrote mo regarding his
recovery aud advised me to try the remedy
which cured him. procured a bottle aud
commenced its use, taking table spoonful
after each meal and at bed time | had
used it about week when noticed a de
crease 0l the soreness ni the joints and Il
general feeling ot relief perseryed in its
use aud finally got so | could move around
without limping. when tnld my friends
| u Sal in
that had put me on my feet"
And do you regard your cure as perma
nenl?"
: "Certa nly, ] haven't been so well in
years as | am now, and although | have
been subjected to frequent and severe
changes ul weather this winter. hAye not
lelt the first intimaton OF the return Of my
rheumatic trouble"
do you object to the publication OF this
interview, Mr.. Ashey2"
"N"t at all, sir / look upon il as a duty
| owe my fellow creatures to alleviate their
sulltrings sn far rs am able, aud any com
muuicatinn regarding my symptoms aud
cure that may be seuU to me at SOC Maine
avenue will receive prompt aud careful at.
tention.
"Judging from your recital, Mr. Ashley
there must be wonderful curative properties
about this incidence"
"Inderd, there is. sir, for no man suffered
more nor longer than did before this rem.
dy gave me rlief"
ITO gn back to the original subject, Mr.
Ashley, ! suppose You see the same lamiIai
faces abnui the lobby session after sessinn?'
"No, not so much So as you might think
, New faces are constantly seen and old nnri
disappear. The strain upon lobbyists il
necessarily very great, aud when you add
to this the demOralzing effect of late hour
and inlemprrate habits aud the fact thai
r they are often fund nut in their steals, he'll
. disappearance can easiy y be accounted for
"What proportion OF these blood bulls are
successful"
"a very small percentage, sir. Notwilh
standing the power aud influence ui tn,
lobby, but few of these vicious measures
pass. We're they successful it would be
sad commentary upnn our system Of govern
. ment, and would virtually annihilate ont
branch ni 1t. the great majority OF theu
are either reported adversely nr smothereC
, in committee by the watchfulness and 10y
1 atty OF our congressman. j. L. D.