Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va) 1886-1890, 1889-12-03
CONGRESSIONAL.
THE ASSEMBLING OF THE Ma
TI0NAL S0LONS.
INCIDENTS IN B0FB HOUSES.
Friendly Greetings Between the Mem
I, bers-IEow the New Senator'S We're
Scented The House Fragrant
With EleraI offerings.
Ry Aasocia Press.

WASHINGTON, ID. q, Dec. 2.-The
holding of the democratic caucus at
.10io'clock this morning necessitated
the closing of the floor Of the house
and galleries against the general pub
lie, who surged through the lowercor-
ridors until the pressure became so
great that, in order to relieve it, in
gress wasRpermitted to the halls. on
the upper floor, and in & short time
each closed gallery door was besieged
by \ crowd of e1pectant spectators,
In the Il eantime the caucus was pro
ceeding in perfunctory manner to
make nominations for the various
elective offices. All the old officers
we're renoMinated with the exception
Of the chaplain. no nomination being
made for ctRat office. although all the
democrats will vote for Mr. Millburn
the blind chaplain of the last house
On motion of Mr.. Wike, Of Illinois.
the following resolution Was adopted
without division.
Resolved, that We. the democratic
members of the house Of representa-
tives of the fifty first congress, al
the beginning Of its first session.
hereby send greeting to the peopr
of the country, in assurance of our
continued confidence in and devotion
TO the principles of tariff reform, a,
embraced in President Clev eland',
message to the last congress upor
that subject, and in the platform OF
the principles ad rpted by the las
democratic national convention Ii,
st. Louis, and that we hail with de-
light the emphatic approval Of these
principles by the people as expressed
at the polls in the recen
Elections. and we pledge them to re-
new and continue in congress the con
test for the reduction of war taxes,
so ably begun and prosecuted il
former congresses by our representa-
lives and senators.
The subjects next preached wer'
the election Of the permanent caucu;
Ulcers, and the attitude of the part>
towards any proposed modification o
he house rules; but it was deamec
advisable, in order to accommodate thu
public by opening the galleries, Il
postpone the determination OF these
questions, and accordingly, after hav
ing been III session for half an hour,
he caucus adjourned until tomorrow
light. AS the heavy gallery door:
,wung outward on their hinges there
vas wild rush for the seats, and in
ew moments there was standing room
,nly in the wide portals. The e1ecu-
i've gallery was alone entirely empt!
md the gallery reserved for the dIplo
matte corps had but few occupants
rhe picture, for which the gallerirS
formed a gigantic and appropriate
frame, was extremely interesting. ~On
he floor the members mingled TO
:ether, chatting and laughing.
Personal aniInosities seemed forgot
zen and political differences buried
while jolity and good humor wer'
lie order of the day. But the spec
rators looked in vain for the genia
ace of Cox, the good natured
presence of Townsend, the manlyhSur.
If Laird and the stul us counter
nee of Nutting. The places whici
,ad known them so long would know
hem no more forever.
There WAS little or no e1cit' men
ittending the opening of the lift!
irst congress on the senate side o.
he capital. Public curiosity SCENE
q be largely transferred to the kou =
Idle. 1t Was nuticible that while th'
senate galleries were closely pack''
With spectators. ladies were not il
the majority, as they usually
ire. They had preferred to witness
tlle scenes in the house in which tht
usual friendly greetings were inter
changed on the floor between the
members and officers of the senate.
md outside the sun was shining warm
md bright in a clear and cloudless
ky. The interest on the floor wa
devoted largely to the senators from
the new states. They had had seats
assigned to them on the republican
side of the chamber.
Senator Casey, Of North Dakota,
took his seat at the end of the second
row, against tho north wall, directly
behind him sat Washington's sena-
tors, Allen and Squire; while Petit
grew and Moody, of South Dakota,
we're in the fourth row. Nearer the
centre of the room Senator Pierce, OF
North Dakota, has the end seat in the
fourth row, but he was not present
today. On the democratic side are
two seats, so far unassigned. They
will be occupied by the senators from
Montana when they shall have been
chosen. Flowers adorned the desks
of several of the members. Senator
Mitchell's desk was covered by a large
mound. on the face of which was his
name set in on imnortelles and sur
rounded by rows of roses. The other
offerings were more modest, being
merelN.bunches Of roses, except IN the
case Ex-senator Blackburn, who re
ceivedhla floral horseshoe. Senators
Souires, Dawes, Hoar, Kenna, Farwell,
Stewart, Payne, Hiscock and Chandler
were also thus remembered by admir-
ing friends, and the desk of Vice-Presl-
dent Morton was likewise handsomely
decorated. at noon Vice President
Morton entered the chamber, and the
chanlain, Rev. j. g. Butler, opened
the proceedings with the invocation
for divine blessing, closing with the
Lords Prayer, in which Senator Ed.
munds joined audibly. The oath OF
Office was then administered by Vice
President Morton to Senator Chan
Ter. Of New Hampshire, for his new
term.
The credentials OF Nathan F. Dixon,
senator-elect from the state Of Rhode
Island, were presented and read, and
the oath of office administered TO
him. The credentials of Messrs;