The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-01-21

for getting an album filed in the House"
said one Of the pages of that body, who, by
The way, is the grandson Of q noted member
OF the Confederate Cabinet. THE Senate
pages get about the same for getting the
autographs of the members over there. II
40 album is to have the autographs OF the
President, Cabinet officers, Supreme Court
Justices, Senators aud Represen tatives COM
plete, we usually get SO for getting it filed.
How do We get them? Go TO the members
when they are in their seats and ask them
for their autographs. They seldom refuse.
Sometimes II they ars busy, they won't do
il, but fellow with tact won't 20 to q
member when he sees that he is busy. There
are SoEe who don't Ike il much. There's
Mr.. Belmont, for instance; ne doesn't fancy
Ii very much, but he usually signs, though.
Then when we get the House we get some
page in the Senate to get the Senators
names, and then get the riding page or some
good-nstured member TO get the Presidents
and Cabinet officers signatures for U.s.
They are curious study, these albums
after they have been passed around and
filed with signatures from the White House
down. Some of them are not only passed,
but Tepassed and passed again, until they
contain the autographs of two or three gen.
Grafton OF Statesmen. Il seems when one
gets this disease he never :recovers from it,
and whenever there comes in q new lot of
statesmen the old album is brought to the
surface and trotted around for more sign
manuals. Soft sometimes happens that one
Of these albums has the autographs OF two
or more Presidents, of dozen or go Cabinet
officers, of q hundred Senators and ex-0en-
ators and OF perhaps 500 members and ex-
members OF the House. Tbs perusal OF one
of these vel! 6lled books is really interest
ing. II mans autograph is key to his
character, as is eomtimss claimed, then
some statesmen must have very crooked
characters. II bad penmaDship lie sign of
great ness. then il is in evidence that we
have many great men, FOR they are, many of
them, painfully bad. A few sre "artisticsI-
ly' bad, evidently written badly with NAL
ice sforethought, but the majority
that are readable seem to be 80 be-
cause the writer can't do any better, or
else hasn't time to. Take the signatures OF
those two great tariff agitstors for instance,
Mr.. Kelly. of Penpsyl yanis, and Mr.. Nor
rison, of Illinois. They really look as II the
writers couldn't do any better. They look
like the signatures of men who had been ac-
cuEtomed to no ding the pillow, rather than
wrestling with problems OF ststesmanship.
And those OF other tariff men are not much
better. Mr.. Carlisle, for instance, signs ~.
G. Carlisle, Covington, Ky.," in hand that
reminds you Of that in which your butcher
bills are made out. Hurd writes fair hand,
! and r. 1dslI signs "Sam. J. Randall" ia
clear, firm, busins Like hand that is & pleas
uTe to read. Mills. Of Texas, writes as he
talks when on she tariff question-yery
I 'lOudn--his signature looking rs though it
! had been written with q wooden to0thpick,
and covering nearly half page of the a. bum.
/ Hewitt hand IS IS unsteady as his sleep,
I and bis signature is any thing but pretty or
/ strong. Washburue, OF Minnesota, writes q
1 fsilly iegibls signature, in big letters, aud
l IL is good for q million dollars when aligned
! 10 check. i pssses without criti-