The Portland daily press., 1886-06-23
THE TARIFF DIVISION.
How the Wives of Prominent Lead
ers Waited for the Result.
lcor commerelal Gazette.l }

vVbiIa tho tariff leaders on the floor of the
Uonse looked rather flurried Thursday, as
tba moment anproached which was to decide
tbe fate of the tariff bill, there was still
more excitement visible IN the gaiieries as
signed the families of members MoSt OF the
leaders wives were there ana seemed more
intent on the proceedings thah their nus
hands did. In the front row in the east gal
lery sat Mrs. Morrison with two very pretty
youpg ladies. She watched her husbands
every movement as he stirred about holding
short conversations with his 1ol,oMetss,, one ms
looked more interested than noPSlul. P VI VI
course she knew beforehand that tnSrS was
majority against the bill, since she l9llowS .s,s
legislation as closely as her n~usDnnu ~ ,s5bn 9bi,'
her expression was that OF petsIIni VIZ, ~
eonceding defeat, is eagerly Wasoi'"s A'i
some chance to escape 1t. to5ias In,
The chatterng of the two young iauleS oS
her side seemed to disturb MIS-. hfoIai0ol i,,,oDn
greatly. For several hours she bent lQrWsrt ss.i't
and raised her hand to her ear, as II " haor Inar
out the sound of their voices, so as 70 nSSa ~
what was going on on the floor. as tne
roll-call proceeded she leaned both elbows
on the gallery railing, and not once ulu Sho i,o
take her eyes off of the reading CLERK aS he
drawled out name after name from Au'.uas WI,
down to Worthington. when II Decaine IN ,ag apg
parent that the consideration of the Dill was
voted down she did not look grieyed, nut,
leaning back smiling, commenced chaesin5
with her companions.
This self-eOntrol will seem more remark
able when it is remembered that the Diil ,sa13 Wa
as precious to her as the Colonel. She aiued
him in constructing it and afterwards IN re-
vising the schedules. To her suggestions
were due many Of the changes which re-
duced the bill to its present form. she mas
charge of all the COlonels works OF REFER
ence. understands them thoroughly and can
find at a moments notice any passage re-
quired She is his c0-lab0rer in Legislation
as well as in politics, and though not mem
ber of the committee on ways and means, IL
appears that she had more to do with the
bill than any of its members, excepting ner
husband. 1t can be imagined then that the
vote of Thursday was an extremely unpleas7
ant end to her labors, and 1t will be conceded
tnat she had great self-control to rise from
defeat with smile.
In the members gallery at the other side
of the House sat Mrs. Mckinley, wife OF
Morrisons leading opponent, on the lett
During the tedious cali OF committees pre-
cedng the motion to take IN the tariff bill,
she chatted with gray-haired cid lady and
seemed in no way concerned with the pro-
ceedings of the House. When the roll-c2u
began she closed her fan slowly, ana, casting
her ewes toward her husbands seat, near the
Speakers desk, looked just little interest
ed. After while the Ohio leader glanced
at the gallery, met his Wife's eyes, ana bOJh
smiled slightly. After that she apparently
took no more interest IN the call OF Names
not even in the announcement OF the vote
1t is said that Mrs. Mckinley is almost as
well versed in economic matters as MIS-.
Morrison. She certainly looks like deeply
intellectual woman, with her broad, CLASSIC
forehead and serious, almost dreamy eyes
Mrs. Randall was not at the House. Mrs.
Frank Hiscock was there, however, as she
usually is when anything OF Importance is
under consideration. She is in appearance
one of those women who never show emo
tion under any circumstances, Although
she must have been deeply interested In
measure of which her husband was one Of
the chief opponents, she seemed entirety
passive; not even the thrilling announce
ment of the vote could stop that regular
motion of her fan or cause her to lean for
ward an inch. Mrs. Hiscoek is. conceded to
be one of the most intellectual women III
Washington. She has been student all her
life. Her knowledge Of languages is said to
be wonderful She is an ambitious woman,
and to her pushing hand Is chiefly due her
husbands prominence in national ma!ters.
Hiscock is an able man, but an exceedingly
lazy one.
1t is probable that left to his own inclina-
ton, he would still be poor country attorney
about Syracuse. His wife puts fire and ener-
gy into those big pensive eyes OF his, and
makes those gawky, dawdling limbs move
along with an air of determination. III ever
man owed his success in life to his wife,
that man is Frank Hiscock
There was one more remarkable woman In
the gallery on Thursday. ~ was Mrs; heeo,
wife of the Maine leader She seemed as eX-
cited as Mrs. Morrison during the r0ff-tsal!s
but she did not show the latter's self-control,
for Immediately after the announcement Of
the vote bright smile Illuminated her face,
and her fingers seemed unconsciOusly to
tighten about the hand of lady companion,
as if to emphasize her joy.