St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-03
GHOSTS OF THE LOBBY.

AS an evidence of how hope will spring
eternal in the human breast the Washing
ton correspondent of the Chicago Herald
tells Of the persistent hanging on of the old
claimants who from year 10 year have
haunted the lobby of congress in the vain
hope that they are to get relief, living on
promises, and at last dying of disappoint-
Eent. Perhaps one in a hundred have
their hopes realized, while the other ninety
nine linger around the capitol until in time a
paragraph in a local paper announces the
death of "a well-known character" The
history of these congressional claimants
is most unique, They soon become cranks.
Their life becomes absorbed in prosecuting
their claim. 1t becomes a passion with
them. They think of nothing else and
talk of nothing else. Congress after con-
gress adjouIns with the claim still hanging
fire. But, not bit discouraged, they turn
up with the converting of the next congress.
The claimant becomes spectre 10 the
vision of the average congressman and
haunts him by night and by day. He pur-
sues the congressman from his home to his
seat in the hall of congress, and
from his desk TO the commit
tee room. He is always confident
of success and pours into the ears of the
congressman his artless prattle about the
justice of his claim. And thus il continues
from year to year and from decade until the
claimant becomes a relic of the past and is
viewed as myth and his claim regarded as
fraud. A story is told of one of these
claimants who had the exceptional luck
of securing the passage of a bill allow
ing the claim after a struggle of thirty or
forty years in prosecuting it. 1t was of an
old woman who came with claim dating
back to the Revolutionary war. The
amount was too small to tempt an attorney
TO take ii up and she concluded to follow il
up herself. AS year by year went by and
congress after congress adjourned, the
supplemented old lady wondered why IL
was that her Just claim was not recognized.
She exhausted all her means in prosecutin
this one claim. At length some kind
hearted people, touched by her poverty, at
last interested themselves and not only
urged the passage of the bill, but gave her
support in the meanwhile. The bill would
sometimes pass the house. but would not
be reached in the senate before adjourn
ment. Then again it would pass the senate
and would fail in the house before the fatal
objection of some crusty member. The
old lady and her friends would
follow the measure in its alternating
career. There was always one place
in the gallery where the old lady
could be seen day after day patiently sitting
and waiting for the bill to be disposed.
The matter was finally brought TO the at
tenti0n of Gen. GARFIELD, who was then
representing an Ohio district in the house.
He became interested i'm her story and
promised to aid her. The bill passed the
senate that session and came over to the
house, where it was assigned to its place on
the calendar. Watching his chance
GARFIELD took advantage of an opportu-
nifty presented one day when there was
slim attendance in the house and Mr.. HoI,-
MANS throat was so sore that he
couldn't speak above a whisper, TO call I'D
the bill of the little old lady and in five
minutes passed it to law. When the bill
passed he sent page to his client. who sat
in her usual place in the gallery, to tell her
what had been done. AT first she failed to
realize the truth of it. But when she did
she dropped her knitting, and clasping her
hands as If in fervent thanksgiving fell over
in faint. She was picked up and carried
into committee room, where restoratives
were applied. But it did no good. The
shock of the good news was too much for
her frail nature, and after a few hours of
Inconsistencies her spirit winged its ever
lasting fight.