Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-04

ION the WHOLE" said
- Senator in my pres-
ence one evening last
week, ''the House 10 composed Of the hardest
lot OF fellows havo ever seen together. Such
an assault a. Kennedy's was never made be-
fore in the history of our government"
The remark set me to thinking, and re.
solved to find out how does this Congress COM
pare with past Congresses in drinking, swear
ing, fighting, gambling and other manifesto
tions OF brutality? And then hunted up the
| record.
FIGHTING on THE rIooR.
find that there has been considerably more
than one personal encounter on the door dur
ing every Congress on an average.
In 1898 the first occurred, and greatly dis
gusted Washington, in retirement on his
Mount Vernon farm Roger Griswod Of Con-
necticut had violent contention with Matthew
| Lyon of Vermont, which ended in a quarrel
Lyon abused the Connecticut members for
their position on q certain bill and said: Il
| have mind to come back there and teach you
| good manners"
IF you come, Lyon" cried Griswold, "don't
| forget to bring your wooden sword!" alluding
| to the fact that the Vermonter was drummed
| out OF the army during the revolution.
Lyon, without a word, but in a frenzy of rage,
crossed the room and deliberately spat in Girls
wold's face. There was a motion to expeI him,
| and during its tendency the offender made
| speech in self-defense which was SO obscene
that the newspapers Of even that free-and-easy
time could not indicate its purport. The mo-
| ton to expel was defeated, whereupon Girls
void ran over to Lyons seat, jerked him out
| OF 1t, threw him down and beat him on the
| floor OF the House. Lyon escaped to the fire.
| place and defended himself with the tongs but
| was beaten again. Friends OF the parties
rushed into the melee and the battle came to
an end only after considerable damage had
| been done.
After that scene splitting in the face became
| fashionable method of beginning a fraoas be-
| tween members in Washington--like shaking
| hands at the commencement Of duel. Two
| or three cases OF this character we're reported
under Jefferson's administration and several
| In succeeding yeas. AT last our President suf-
| fered the indignity.
| When Jackson came to Washington he
| brought with him q quarrelsome reputation
| He had wounded two men in duels and kille
one and had received two wounds in street
| fracases, one of which from the hand Of
Thomas n. Benton he bore consciously all his
| life. 1t was said that "Old Hickory" had been
| in dozen duels and hundred personal fights
| when he entered the White House.
| Duels between Congressman were common,
but they were not often deadly. Men be-
lieved that if they were called liars or cow
| ards only blood-a greater or smaller guam
tlty, as the case might be-would wipe out the
stain OF the dishonor. And it seemed to make
| no difference whether it was contributed
from the arteries of the offender or the person
whom he had injured. Anybody's blood
| would do.
This spirit has we'll nigh passed away. do
| not believe there will ever be another duel by
or between Congressman. Even gentlemen
| from the gull states regard it a preposterous
ana lmbeolle method OF settling disputes. In
| reply to my question Congressman Breckn-
ridge OF Arkansas said, Il shall never fight if it
is avoidabe. If attacked suppose should
try to get away or defend myself as best
could, but had good deal rather be thrashed
| than draw a revolver on a man, and I had
rather be kicked down Pennsylvanla avenue
| than to shoot man."
introduced this topic in Gen. Banks pres
ence the other day. "Ah!' sighed the vener-
able man, this Congress lacks the self-poise
crosses from 1855 to 1860" The old gentle.
mans kindly memory misleads him. Was il
not In those two Congresses that Grow knocked
| Keith down under the reporters table; that
Washburne scalped Barksdale; that Wilson de-
| ned Butter; that Burllngame and Brooks
arranged to kill each other with rifles, and that
Potter and Pryor selected locked-up room for
their duel with bowie knives?
CONGRESSIONAL DRINKERS
Never since Washington saluted the first Con-
gress have there been SO many total abstainers
and so few drunkards in that body as there are
now. For the first time it is highly respectable
and rather fashionable to say Il do not drink "
Probably majority of both houses do take q
| drink occasionally-at least of beer-but only
two or three members of the Senate and half q
| dozen members of the House are conspicuous
| as hard drinkers.
Half a century ago all the members drank,
and half Of them were occasionally drunk.
| Meudlin scenes were common on the floor.
Now they are very rare, though Senator Rid
dleberger got in some amusing demisemiquavers
last year.
Our grandfathers saw the time when drunk.
enness was as common as sobriety is now
when it was expected that guests at dinner
| would end by rolling upon the floor, and when
it was the duty of every bachelor who gave a
party to persist in his conviviality till every
man was helplessly drunk. There were such
festive scenes here during our early Congresses
when unanimous inebriety was the end at.
tanned, and when all toasts were drank standing
on the table and yelling until standing and yell.
ing longer became impossible.
Henry A. Wise records a maudlin scene here
at public dinner in 1888, where q prominent
Senator hccuped a speech in favor of union
forever, and Kentucky member jumped on the
table, yelled Liberty or Death!' and franti-
cally flung champagne bottle at the head OF
the speaker.
No such thing could happen now. Occasion.
ally still a Senator or Representative loses his
self-coutrol in public, but he keeps out Of sight
as much as possible and the correspondents
agree not to say anything about it with the
tacit understanding that the exhibition 10 moi
| 70 De repeated.
| CONGRESSIONAL GAMBLERS.
1t 10 in regard to gambling that there hal
been the greatest revolution among Congress
men within the memory Of such veterans a
Banks. Morrill,, Buckalew and Edmunds
| Forty years ago, and even less than that
there were gambling saloons ON every bloch
from the Capitol to the White House, and OF
| the five blocks between the National Hotel Il
the Capitol were something like q dozen fare
banks. In October, 1870, just about twenty
years ago, 10 Halls bank was broken up and
closed by the marshal, and He'll went steadily
down the gamut Of dissipation and died
pauper. 1t was the last of our great gambling
saloons, and there is now no faro bank OF
roulette table in Washington--not one public
gambling place Of any sort.
There IL still some betting, Of course, fol
there 10 no incident 30 insignificant that mer
cannot gamble over IL. Some Senators and
good many Representative play poker in eacl
others parlors, but the old Berserker madness
Of their predecessors is gone. They play will
animation, to be sure, and with sharp rivalry
some Of them 80 cunningly that the ghost o
old Bob Schenck lowering about must be dc
Z lighted with the exhibition Of vocal blud aps
0 facial tranquility, but no Senator stakes hi
J, next years salary, as they did in the fourtl
decade; no army of6cer compels his wife Il
& mortgage her house, a. In the Rossip OF th,
B past; no foreign minister lays ON the table th,
y | money he has borrowed TO take him 70 Ger
many, - in one well-known case BY diploma
who u still alive-in short, nobody q ssruined
q Il ID tradition here that Henry Clay Oh
!, tanned one Of the finest corner lots in Walking