Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1886-07-16
Official Paper of Griggs County
Our Washington Letter.
WASlr1NGvoN. ID. G july 18th. s6.

W-\>lIlNGvoN. u. G July 18Th. S6.
There are many carnky characters i'm
Washington who are not sent here bv Il
vote OF the people. and do not draw their
Congressional salary. They are never
theless cranEs. and represent a large con-
stituencv One old fellow has been here
for several years. was once a wealthy
man in Colorado, and lost his balance
10y some ,mlucky speculation. and claims
that the Government owes him sixteen
billions of dollars and he wants the
money bad. Another from Maine has a
project to bridge the .\tlantic and
wants a charter that he may organize
his company. Says lie has the money
all pledged and ready as soon us he can
get the charter. Another has Il wonderful
invention. and wants Il patent-m in
genious device. by Which chickens are
Matched from artificial eggs Another
singular character attends the daily ses-
sionS of Congress regularly. month after
month and year after year. He never
speaks or recognizes anyone. He is
about seventy years old fully. six feet
tall, and has whiskers, which look as
though they had been blackened with
stove polish. lie always wears long
cape overcoat. low silk hat, and carries
an umbelella of the vintage OF 1914. He
is one OF the most punctual members of
the House gallery. and always gets the
same seat--rises when the chaplain
prays, and mods his head in Il very Wig
orous fashion to all the preacher says.
1t is said that many years ago the OLD
man made Il large fortune III the slave
market. Which was swept to the winds
during the war and left Linn tinan-
cial and mental wreck, and he now lives
here ON the charity of a relative and
daily expects Congress to pass Il bill to
restore his fortune. His principal pen
was at Holly Springs. Miss, and 1. gem
tleman who has known him for forty
years tells me he has stolen hundreds of
negroes and sold them into slavery.
Another singular character is an old
gentleman about seventy who daily vis-
its the Congressional Library, and has
for the passed five years, not missing
single week day. Who he is or where
from, 10 one knows. lie never speaks
to any one or recognizes any salutation.
and is simply known among the employ
es of the Library as the "Old Philoso-
pher." lie always points in the catalo-
que to the book he wants, which is in
variably some religious or scientific work.
seats himself at the table and reads till
the hour of closing. Next day the same:
and SO it has been for years. For a
long time it was supposed lie might be
deaf and dumb, but one lay that hypo-
thesis quickly vanished. as the old gen
tleman. who had been ve:y intent i'm his
reading. suddenly arose. closed his book.
and to the great astonishment of all |
present. calculated ats all d lie.."
and hastily retreated fro n the Library.
But the next morning found him on
hand, cool and serene, and eager as ever
for his reading. Ram OF shine, heat or
cold, every day finds the old man at the
Library, perfectly oblivious to every
thing else but his book.
IT Senators Beck and Blackburn. OF
Kentucky. and Edmunds. OF Vermont.
would sign the temperance pledge, and
keep it. they would set a good example.
to say the least. Edmunds is only IS,
yet he looks older than his colleague.
Morrill,, who is rs. Senator Sawyer, OF
Wisconsin. is something after the sim
llitude OF Jack of Spades. about as big
one way as the other. There is sort
OF Wobb!c III his locomotlon that re-
minds you of a rolling hogshead. He
has good supply OF bralns. ho wever
rs well us bowels. Senator NanWyck, of
Nebraska. looks as though he was born
hung.!y, and had Travelled foot-sore and
alone flom that day to this in search of ,
to eat and hadn't found any !
thing that exactly suited his taste. /;
There is sort Of wild, cadavcrous stare !
about him which, with his quick, ner-