The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-03-21

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Correspondence Rochester Democyat)
No city upon the American contin-
ent has larger floating population
than Washington. 1t is estimat d
that during the sessions of congress
twenty-five thousand people, whose
homes are in various parts of this and
other countries, make this city their
place Of residence Some come here.
attracted by the advantages the city
offers for making the acquaintance of
public men others have various claims
which they wish to present, while the
great majority gather here, as the
crows flock to the carriou, for the sole
purpose OF getting a morsel at the pub
lie crib. The latter class, as a general
thing, originate the many schemes
which terminate in vicious bills, all of
which are neither directed at the pub
lic treasury, or toward that revenue
which the black-maiing of corporations
or private enterprises may bring.
While walking down Pennsylvania
avenue the other day met Mr.. Will
liam 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 par
ticular direction known, in answer to
an interrogative, Mr.. Ashley said
"Yes, during my residence here |
have became well acquainted with the
workings 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 you 7"
% "Not necessarily SC, 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 over
ridden the will of the people The bad
influence of the lobby can be seen in
the numerous blood-bills that are in
troduced at every session"
eBut how can these be discover
ed 7"
"Easily enough, to the person who
has made the thing study. l can detect
them at glance"
''Tell me, to what bills do you re-
fer Z"
"Wel, take the annual gas bills, for
instance. They are introduced for the
purpose of bleeding the Washington
Gas light company. They usually re-
suit in an investigating committee
which never amounts to anything more
than draft upon the public treasury
for the expenses of the investigation.
Another squeeze is the dbdttoir 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 politi-
clan offered a fabulous sum tor the
franchise
Anything else in this line that you
think Of, Mr.. Ashley 2"
"Yes, there's the job to reclaim the
Potomac flats, which, had it become
law, would have resulted in an
enormous steal The work is now be-
ing done by the Government itself,
and will rid the place of that malarial
atmosphere OF which we hear so much
outside the city"
'During your residence here have
you experienced the bad results of liv-
ing in this climate ~
swell, while have not at all times
enjoyed good health, | am certain that
the difficulty 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 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
parts and perhaps the next day the
left arm and leg would be similarly af
fected. Then again it would locate in
some particular part Of my body and
produce a tenderness which would we'll
nigh drive me frantic. There would
be weeks at time that l would be af-
ficted with an intermitting kind of
pain that would come on every after
noon and leave me entirely free from
suffering during the balance of the
twenty-four hours. Then l would have
terrible paroxysms of pain coming on at
any time during the day or night when
i would be obliged to lie upon my back
for hours and keep as motionless as
possible. Every time I attempted to
move chilly sensation would pass
over my body, or | would faint from
hot flashes. l suffered from a spas
modic contraction of the muscles and a
soreness of the back and bowels, and
even my eyeballs became sore and dis
tressed me greatly whenever / wiped
my face, ] became ill-tempered, peevish,
fretful, irritable and desperately des-
pondent."
"Of course you consulted the doctors
regarding your difficulty?"
consulted them well | should say
l did. Some told me had neuralgia
others that | had infamn.atory rheu-
matism, for which there was no cure,
that ! would be afflicted all my life, and
that time alone would mitigate my
sufferings.'
"But didn't they try to relieve your
miseries = "Yes, they vomited and
physiced me, blstered and bled me,
plastered and oiled me, sweat, steamed
and everything but froze me, but with
out avail"
''But how did you finally recover o.
81 had friend living in Michigan
who had been afflicted in similar way
and had been cured. He wrote me re-
garding his recovery and advised me
to try the remedy which cured him.
procured bottle ard commenced its