Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-05-06
FROM THE HOUSE GALLERY.
A Legislative Body in Which the Baldheaded
Men Have Majority
Washington Star

A Legislative Body in Which the Baldheaded
Men Have Majority
Washington Star
Looking down on it from the gallery.
the House of Representatives presents a
scene of picturesque badness. It is as
bald as the orchestra at a ballet. One of
the men who shows the most head to the
number of hairs visible is Mr.. Bennett
of North Carolina, who said the other
day, concerning the civil service reform
what many Democrats feel. He has
large head. which badness rather becomes
and the lack of hair on the crown Is made
up for by an immense beard. There are
comparatively few men in the House who
have not some sign of badness, though
some of them are quite young. Mr..
Camphill, of Ohio, is one of the very
young bald-headed men. Considerable
of his head has peen cleared.
Mr.. Reed, of Maine. has head as round
as an apple and as smooth on the top as
if he polished his wit there. No one
looking at its surface could guess how
much ,shrewdness there is inside. 1t is
one of the most deceiving heads in the
House.
Tillman, of South Carolina, has good
head, without much hair to cover it. What
he has is snow-white, like his beard. which
is more prolific. As a whole, the heads
in the House compare favorably with
those in preceding congresses, both as to
size, shape, and badness.
Crisp, of Georgia, has what might be
termed good-natured bald head, one
that would attract attention from the
galleries, but would not suggest the idea
of its owner being aged, which is by no
no ic
table, satisfactory baldhead-one that it
is pleasant to look at
Brown, of Pennsylvania, is more con-
scious of his badness than is anybody
else. Every now and then he rubs his
hand over the top of his head, to the
great discontinue of the short hairs that
are claiming the right of settlement
there.
McMill1n, of Tennessee, and James, of
New York, try to conceal their badness
by cOmbing the hair over from the side.
Several members wear wigs. Bingham,
of Philadelphia, makes no attempt to
conceal that the top of his head is to slip
perry for hair to stand on. 1t has been
slipping down until it just hangs on to
the edges.
Gilfillan, Miller and West are quite bald
and Wade has very little hair to speak of.
Randall has just little vacant spot right
about the crown, the rest of his head be-
ing pretty thickly covered, and Carlisle
has quite big bald spot.
Ranney and Breckenridge, of Kentucky,
could spare enough hair to cover the
heads of some of their brethren. Ran
ney has quite fine head of steel-gray
hair, quite likely to attract attention,
while Breckenridge has beautiful suit of
soft, snowy hair, matching a well-trimmed
thick white beard and contrasting with a
youthful face.
The house is filled up mostly of aver
age sized men of middle age. Barnes, of
Georgia, fills his chair the fullest and has
the most trouble to carry his weight
around. But there are a number of 9TH
ers who run considerably over 200 pounds
Baker, of New York, would probably hold
the scales on a balance with Barnes, but
he is taller, and his flesh doesn't seem to
be quite such a burden to him. He has a
smooth face, round head and good |
manner. Hiscock and Warner
are both big and tall, being we'll matched |
in weight and size. The Ohio man sup
ports part of his weight on a big black |
cane with hook at the end, which he has
a leather stall for in front of his desk;
while Hlscock is as active as any of the
lighter men in the house. Reed stands as
a proof that lean men are not the only
ones that ''think too much" Besides be-
ing one of the heaviest men in the house
he is the most alert and quick-witted.
He reaches the most remote conclusions
in the most direct and astonishing way,
and always appears at greatest ease in
close quarters. Reagan, Burnes, Cutcheon
and Crisp are all big men. The three
smallest men in the house are Belmont, |
Merrimaq and Swope. The thinnest is
Geddes, and Hayden is the most dressy.