The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-07-27

sumed he is, for Speaker Reeds orders are
generally carried out, the order must have been
Intended not to suppress the liquor traffic in the
place, but to keepit well under cover to carry 1t
on on the strict quiet as il were. Go in and or
der some whisky and seltzer for instance. and
see how the plan works. The colored waiter who
takes your order will turn to the white man be-
hind the bar and call out "one cold tea with
setter on the side" Or "one poured out with
with your order you will find that you have II
regular whisky glass inserted in china cup just
large large enough to receive about two-thirds of the
oepth OF the glass. 1t holds the glass pretty
much as an egg cup holds an egg. The top of
the glass as 1t projects out of the cup is visible
ana grateful to the eye of the aesthetic drinker,
but the whisky in the glass is protected by the
cup from the inquistivc gaze of the neighbors.
whisky in cup is repulsive to the sensitive eye
of the aesthetic drlnker. Besides it somehow car
ries with it an accusation of guilt, aud therefore
an insult. That disadvantage is overcome @ by the
combination of the cup and glass and at the
same time the advantage of secrecy which is sup
posed to lie in the use of the cup Is retained 1t
Is ROUNDABOUT way to do IL. but the purpose is
accomplished.
The keeper of the restaurant in the House, like
his brother in the Senate end has very nice lit
tie specimen of what is generally known as soft
snap 1trequires good strong pull, politically
and personally, to win the privilege. In the Sem
ate 1t is awarded by the Committee on Rules,
while in the House it has hitherto been awarded
by the Committee on Public Buildings and
GROUNDS; but recent occurrences make it seem
quite probable that the Speaker will assume d-
rect jurisdiction and take the patronage away
has had the Senate privilege continuously for
many years. but the privilege of the House res
taurant is usually transferred at the beginning
made for the franchise, and all that the winner
of it has to do is light the fires in the kitchen,
his stock of victuals and liquors, and begin bus-
ness. The complete fixtures belong to the
House, and the restaurant keeper gets the use OF
them for nothing. Furniture, cutlery, china,
complete table and bar service, light, fuel, and
ice aa are e furnished by the Government without a
that the Committee on Public Buildings and
Grounds demand of him is that he adhere to the
quality OF fare and the scale of prices agreed
upon ut the time the franchise is given In the
ory the privilege s open to competition and it is
always competed for pretty keenly, but it is in-
variaby awarded through personal or political
influence
After the removal of the pie and milk and
apple stands and when the frugal members who
used to patronize them began to think of bring
ing small lunch from their boarding houses to
the Capitol every day, strange figure appeared
on the scene in the person of peddler-an old
woman who came along with basket of fruit
and pastry. and moved about the corridors with
the view OF turning an honest penny. But she
soon discovered that the ltinerant basket was not
to be permitted about the Capitol any more than
pursuance of Speaker Reeds rules. ordered the
basket woman to move on. and on she moved. to
sell her wares on Pennsylvania avenue or on
some other of the city's tboroughfares. Since
then the House restaurant has fitted up an an
mex, which is to be devoted entirely to pie and
milk. The restaurant has gobbed up the busi-
ness OF the small stands and now enjoys quite a
monopoly.
There must be good deal in the huckstering
anything from $4,000 to 100000. The Sergeant
trouble before evicting her to go to the Office OF
u the assessor OF taxes; on whose books he found
in the District of Columbia assessed at over
$1,000. which would represent market value of
four or five times that amount
X X
A brisk business in liquors is done in both the
Senate and House restaurants, yet neither the
one nor the other is licensed. 1t is curious that
here in the Capitol of the United States, of all
places in the world, under the eyes and under
the auspices of Congress, an unlicensed LIQUOR
traffic should be hourishing. The Capitol is not
subject to the police laws of the city of Washing
ton. 1t is a sanctuary where the will of Con-
gressmen is law and the comfort of the Con-
gressmen is the study of all who serve there
just what the laws and the practices that pre-
vail in the Capitol may be is supposed to be no.
body's business. Only those who live and labor
at the Capitol are subject TO these laws Other
people have no right to find fault.
The liquor traffic of the Senate end of the Capt.
at secrecy, although at intervals in times past
the fictitious nomenclature and the crockery
blinds now used in the House restaurant were
Congressional "cold tea" has always been pro-
verbal and has become a byword. Amusing in
cidents have sometimes happened through n con-
fusion of the literal and Pickwckian meaning of
the term. For instance, Senator Frye is an ar
dent teetotaller. He cannot bear the name or
the presence of an Intoxicating liquor With a
few members of the House he was in the Senate
restaurant the other day, when he called for
some cold tea. Cold tea, in the literal sense of
the term, was exactly what he wanted, and cold
tea, pure and simple, was what the waiter
brought him. But it had been shaken up so that
1t had a great foam, which gave it an unusual
and dangerous appearance in the eye of the Sen-
ator. He thought it ale and passed it
around for inspection. Every man agreed it was
ale; Senator Frye put on an angry scowl, and.
calling the waiter, said: