The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-02
THEFREAKSIN CONGRESS
THE DINE MUSEUM FEATURES OF
THE HOUSE.

Ringmaster Tom Reed, and the Sho W
over Which He Presides-Co1gres
sional Fat Men and Living Skeletons.
Pigmies and Giants-W What the Is
tabnshnent Costs
From The NetC York World.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25.-The congress
sionaI museum Is the most wonderful show
in the United States. The three-acre tent
which covers it Is our national capitol, and
the two rings at either end of the building
are opened precisely at - o'clock every
day. l. lne.tbe senatorial acrobats bal
auce cannon balls of legislation on the tips
Of their fingers, and 60 through their gym
nastics on the parallel bars under the eyes
of Vice President Morton, and in the other
the so political giants and pigmies, clowns
and freaks, trot out and show themselves to
the buzz-saw directions Of the biggest giant
Of them all, Thomas B. Reed, the speaker.
1t is a costly show. The people Of the
United States pay nearly 100000 year
To Keep ii going, aud the House OF Repre-
sentative ring costs fully S2,o0O,O JO yearly;
The actors Of the lower house are PAID
81, so, 900 a year III salaries, and the door
keepers and understrappers who run the
messengers and clean the spltuoOns get
S700.00O more. The actors of the Sena-
-torial circus cost us about 100000 year,
and we pay Just as much to John j.
ingalls,, who spits fire from his mouth con-
tinually, rs We do to George of Mississippi
whose chief distinction lies in the fact that
he has sworn never to wear dress suit or
TO ride in a carriage.
COSTLY SHOW.
The most amusing part OF the show is the
of ia | the COSfl IL
est dime museum of the nation, and as l sit
in the press gallery the biggest legislative
ha-l in the world lies before me- Ii covers
fully a quarter Of an acre of ground, and
six men Is tall as Stewart of Texas, who is
over six feet in his stockings, might stand
one on the head Of the other, and if the
socks Of the first rested on the floor the gray
hair of the sixth would just Craze the cell
ing. The room is thirty-six feet high, and
its floor is covered with 200 yards Of green
velvet carpet of a quality so good that 1t
must have cost 50 yard The light of the
show room comes IN through the ceiling,
and this is made of iron and glass.
This ceiling is made in panels, which are
painted and gilded, and each bears the coat
of arms of a state of the union. Below this
ceiling, all around the room, run banks Of
galleries, which terminate at the edges of
great central pit fifteen feet deep, which
forms the bear garden Of congress. In this
pit the curiositles are Gagged. 1t is ISL feet
long, and 81 feet wide, and Its walls are
paneled in pink and buff paper, and around
each panel is a gilt frame fine enough TO
bind Titan or a Corot In these walls are
cave-like doors, which lead to the cloak
rooms, the barber shops and the lobbies of
the House, and at each of the outer doors
stand two men to keep the outside world
away from the congressional animals.
But let US take a look at the animals
he I've. Of nd
they sit in half-moon rows of chairs rising
one above another on the sloping floor Of
the chamber. Each has a little white-wood
desk in front of him, with a lid covered
with blue baize. Behind each row of desks
there are white cane-seated Office chairs SO
fixed upon springs that the sitters can lean
back and put their feet upon the desk when
they viii Dockery OF Missouri is sitting
so now. The middle of this half-moon of
rows is bisected by an aisle, and on one
side of this aisle are the democrats, while
the other side is given over to the republi-
cans.
THE HEAD SNOWMAN.
Behind a marble desk aud under the
American flag, with the reporters above,
sits the head Snowman, Thomas B. Reed Of
Maine he is the most curious figure in
the whole museum. and is freak of nature
in both brains and body. Six feet two, his
body is ali muscle, and his bald head, as
big as a peck measure and as white as a
boys new drum. is nothing but brains. He
lacks the dignity of the ordinary ring
master. Sitting, he leans over his desk,
resting his football of brains on his beefy-
like shoulders and playing with his gavel.
Standing, he throws his paunch to the
front as though he would lay it down for
The time on the speakers desk, and throw
ing his head back he pokes the gavel at the
members as ne bobs both it aud his head TO
the front in counting the roll. He is the
highest-priced member in the whole con-
gressional show He gets $4,000 year, aud
he is worth it.
The congressional museum has its fat men
ana its living skeletons. The latest has
already attained a national reputation from
his superabuudance of adipose tissue. His
name is George Barnes of Georgia. He
weighs 400 pounds, and he says he would
not take 81 900 for a single pound of his
flesh. He is nearly 6 feet tall, and from the
center of his spine TO the button which rests
over the center Of his shirt front he meas
ures 3 feet So inches. His flesh is solid and
he carries it well. He is by no means an
intellectual nonentity, aud he ranks as one
of the leading men Of his state.
He has been in congress for several terms.
and | am told by Georgians that he will
stay there until he becomes the fat old
father of the House. Rife of Pennsylvania
IS as broad as he is long, and in fairness
alone he may be called enc of the freaks of
the House. He has been tanner for the
last twenty-five years, and he is living
proof Of the healthfulness of the trade. He
is a man Of means, as well as of flesh, and
is the president of a railroad company. as
well as q congressman.
The thin men of the House are lerion
Gen. Joe Wheeler DOES not weigh more than
50 pounds. Wickham Of Ohio has not an
ounce to spare, and John 4. Game of Utah
is all bones and brain. 1t is wonderful to
think of the different amounts of beef it
takes to run human brains. Roswell z.
Flower. with his 200 pounds of flesh aud
bone, has made fortune, while jaw Gould
with 100 pounds Of sinew, has tens Of mill
ions. McAdoO OF New Jersey weighs about
100 pounds and he is brainv enough.
Mckinley weighs 100, and Buchanan of
New Jersey kicks the beam at 225. 1t takes
1000 ounces of flesh aud bone that make up
the Speakers weight to nourish the gray
matter on Tom Reeds Uranium, and nearly
the same amount is required to supply that
used up daily by Baker of New York
Gen. Spinola carries about 155 pounds
under his big collar, and the 40 pounds of
Frank Lawler elevated him from a Chicago
saloon to the House of Representative.
One hundred and forty-five pounds have
sutfced to get up Henry Cabot Lodges
biographies OF Statesmen and all of AoI