The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-04-02
A DAY WITH MR.. REED.
The Speaker Of the House a Hard
Working Man.
despatch to the Boston Traveller !

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WASHINGTON, April 1.-The most inter
esting political figure in Washington is
Speaker Reed, who is more intensely ad-
mired and more thoroughly misunderstood
by certain people than any man in America
today. His life is one of pure unadulterated
hard work. The Speaker lives at the Shore
ham, the great magnificent hotel recently
erected by Vice-President Morton, which is
directly opposite to Wormley's. who, it will
be remembered, was the colored man whom
Charles Sumner counted as among his most
intimate friends. Mr.. Reed is an early riser,
and his clerk has to be on hand early to at
tend to large amount of work which is laid
out to be accomplished before breakfast. AT
about $50 a. m. the Speaker and Mrs. Reed
come down stairs and enter the breakfast
room. Half or three-quarters of an :hour is
usually spent at his meal during which Mr..
Reed runs his eye rapidly over the morning
paper. Then comes his constitutional.
With his hands clasped behind his back he
saunters slowly to the Capitol, about mile
away.
Usually he walks alone, but particularly
intimate friend is often invited to join in the
stroll, and it is one of the greatest treats i'm
aginable to go along and listen to his run
ming fire of comment on persons and things.
once to his room ana looks over his mail
Here two clerks are kept busily engaged in
transcribing the answers to his letters, which
come by the scores. The members by this
time have learned that the Speaker is in the
building, and so they enter the room in
troops. Arrangements for recognition from
the Speaker are completed here, and the
general plans of the business of the House
for the day are mapped out. At 11.50 a. m.
an alarm clock notifies the Speaker that his
time Is growing short, so he dismisses his
callers and gathers his papers together for
the days session. At 11.58 a. m. tall, hand
some six-footer, with florid face and jet
black moustache. opens the door and says:
"Mr. Speaker"
Then Mr.. Reed and the handsome brunette,
who, by the way, Is Deputy Sergeant-at-
Arms Cavanaugb, cross the members lobby
and enter at the door to the right Of the
desk. The Speaker quickly mounts the six
steps that lead up to his desk. aud just as
the electric clock sounds the noon hour from
the naval observatory, the ivory gavel de-
scends with loud crack upon the green COW
cred stand while Mr.. Reed proclaims "the
House will be in order" Immediately the
doors are closed, the members rise in their
places, and when absolute silence has been
secured, the Speaker, in low tone, says,
''prayer will be offered by the chaplain" "
Rev. DIR. Milburn, the blind clergyman,
standing behind the clerks desk, and direct
ly in front of the Speaker, offers a supplica-
tion, and the "amen" is hardly out of his
mouth before there is great hustle and
noise. The doors are opened, the late mem
bers flock to their places, a general buzz of
conversation is heard all over the hall, and
then the reading clerk in loud voice begins
to read the journal of the proceedings of the
day before, to which hardly anybody seems
to pay the slightest attention, and the day
session Is begun Tor business.