Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-26

ever its real character may have been, was
given privately and verbally to the res.
taurant keeper. 1t has never been put on
paper, and neither the Speaker nor the res
taurant man has ever yet told just what the
order was. The Speaker seemed quite will.
ing at the time that it should be reported as
an out and out prohibition law, but for his
own part he evaded all questions on the sub
ject, and refused to specify.
Prohibition, however. does not in fact
prevail in the House restaurant. You can
walk into the restaurant any day and be
served with anything from q bottle of beer
or plain whisky to Joe Hickey, which
is both fashionable and popular in WASH
lngton this summer. It is made by squeez-
ing half a lime into large tumbler, half
filling the tumbler with cracked ice, pour
ing reasonable measure of whisky on the
ice and filling up with soda from the
siphon. It's good drink, cool and pleas
ant, and having no sugar in its composition,
is claimed to be more wholesome than the
general run of drinks. 1t takes its name
from Colonel Joe Hickey, of Missouri, who
invented it.
HOW THE SNAP Is WORKED.
IF the manager of the restaurant is carry
ing out the Speakers order, as it may be
presumed 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 70 keep it
we'll under cover; to carry it on on the strict
quiet, as it were. Go in and order some
whisky and seItzer, for instance, and see
how the plan works. The coIored waiter
who takes your order will turn to the white
man behind the bar and call out "one cold
tea with seltzer on the side" or zone poured
Or,t Will ualf1 H. yka
waiter returns with your order you will find
than you have a regular whisky glass in
serted in china cup just large enough to
receive about two-thirds of the depth OF the
glass 1t holds the glass pretty much as
an egg cup holds an egg. The top OF the
glass as it projects out of the cup is visible
and grateful to the eye of the aesthetic
drinker, but the whiskey In the glass is pro-
tected by the cup from the inquisitive gaze
of the neigEbors. Whisky in a cup is re-
pulsive to the sensitive eye of the aesthetic
drinker. Besides it somehow carries with
it an accusation of guilt, and 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 supposed to lie in the use of the
cup is retained. 1t is roundabout way to
do it, but the purpose is accomplished.
A NICE BONANZA.
The keeper of the restaurant in the
House, like his brother in the Senate end,
has a very nice little specimen of what is
generally known as a soft snap. 1t requires
a good strong pull. politically and person.
ally, to win the privilege. In the Senate it
is awarded by the Committee on Rules,
while in the House it has hitherto been
awarded by the Commute on Public Build
ings and Grounds; but recent occurrences
make it seem quite probable that the
Speaker will assume direct jurisdiction and
take the patronage away from the commit
tee. Mr.. I. L. Page, from Maine, has had
the Senate privilege continuously for many
years, but the privilege of the House res
taurant is usually transferred at the be-
ginning of every new Congress. No charge
whatever is made for the franchise, and all
that the winner OF it has to do is light the
tires In the kitchen, turn on the electric
light In the barroom, put in his stock of
vlctuals and liquors, and begin business.
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 are furnished by the Govern
ment without cent of charge to the caterer.
The only thing 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 at the
Time the franchise is given. In theory the
privilege is open to competition, and it is
always competed for pretty keenly, but it is
invariably awarded through personal or
political influence.
BIG MoNEE IN PIES, ETC.
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 bringing small lunch from their board
ing houses to the Capitol every day, a
strange figure appeared on the scene in the |
person of peddler-an old woman who |
came along with o basket of fruit and |
pastry, and moved about the corridors with |
he view of turning an honest penny. But |
The soon discovered that the itinerant basket |
was not to be permitted about the Capitol |
my more than the stationary stall. The |
'ergeant-at-arms, in 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 |
,ther of the city's thoroughtares. Since
hen the House restaurant has fitted up an
Innex, which Is to be devoted entirely to
Die and milk. The restaurant has gobbled
Up the business of the small stands and now
Enjoys quite monopoly.
There must be good deal in the huck-
tering business, for Clara Morris is said to
,e worth anything from $50, 900 to SlO0, 900.
The sergeant-at-arms of the House tells me
lie took the trouble before evictlng her to go
o the Office of the assessor of taxes, on whose
'ooks he found Clara credited with the
Of real estate in the District of
assessed at over $1,000, which
would represent a market value OF four or
i've times that amount
REGULAR o. P. HOUSES.
A brisk business in liquors is done in both |
he Senate and House restaurants, vet neither
he one nor the otner is licensed, It is cur;.
,us that here in the Capital of the limited
States, of all places in the world. unGer the
eyes and under thesauspices of Congress an
unlicensed liquor traffic should be flourish
ng. The Capitol is not subject to the no.
lice laws of the city of Washington. n isa
where the will of Congressmen is
law ana the comfort of the Congressmen is
The study OF all who serve there. Just what
the laws ana the practices that prevail in
me 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
iault.
The liquor traffic of the Senate end of the
Capitol is carried on at present without anv
attempt at secrecy, although at intervals in
times past the fictitious nomenclature and
The crockery blinds now used in the Honxe
were employed there.
Congressional "cold tea" has ALWAYS heen
proverbial and has become a byword
Amusing incidents have sometimes han.
pene1 through confusion of the literal