The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1890-06-29
WASHINGTON GOSSIP.
A Few Interesting Incl
dents About Leading
Statesmen.
TOM REED Is A HtJMORIST.
Senator Ingalls, Character Sketches
Brother" strout, Of Maine
Too Friendly.

s'Do you want to make fortune2u said
well-known Congressman to me few
days ago. OF course / wanted to make
fortune and told him SO with an abrupt
ness that | think almost startled him.
We'll, II you want to make fortune"
he said, get verbatim report Of the
comments of Tom Reed on the legislation
that comes before the House, pub
lish them in book form and your
fortune is made This scheme for
fortune making is hardly feasible be-
cause do not know Of any way in which
Mr.. Reeds private comments could be
had for publication. Certainly if all that
hear Of them is true, he would not care
to be credited with them IN public print.
for many of them carry SAVIOR of pro-
family which would not appeal pleasantly
to the delicate palates OF MIR. Reeds con-
stituents In Maine. The Speaker was for
SO long time an active participant
in the debates on The floor
the restraint which now hedges him in Is
irksome to him. His feelings find ex-
preston in running commentary on the
proceedings, made in conversational
tone which, in the din which prevails in
the House, can be heard usually by no
reputation as u humorist was we'll earned
when he was ON the floor of the House,
but those who have listened to mis- pri-
vate utterances in the Speakers chair
tell me that they are the superior in wit
of any of.his recorded utterances. It is
unfortunate that none OF them can be
preserved to posterity.
1t is not at all an uncommon thing for
9 presiding officer in either House of
Congress TO give vent to an expression of
his feelings in an undertone while sitting
in what appears to the man in
the gallery to be q stately
solemnitv This is one Of Mr.. ingalls,
favorire recreations. The expression Of
his countenance, always grave, never
changes while he is making, for the bene-
ut of the clerks who sit at the desk i'll
front of him, some of those brilliant but
biting remarks which nave made famous
his published utteraHces. Another fav-
orite recreation OF Mr.. ingalls, Is to draw
Sketches, crude but amusing. of Sena-
tors who are speaking to the matter uu-
der consideration Frequently he will
have little group of Senators about his
desk discussing and laughing over one OF
these artistic efforts, while the unc0n-
seious victim of it is saving the air with
mis- arms and shouting at the galleries.
David Davis, the only presiding officer OF
the Senate who ever broke through an Of
fetal chair and disturbed the delibera-
tions of the upper House by noisy
downfall. was not too dignified to enjoy
whatever was humorous IN the proceed
ings OF the Senate. He was in the pre-
siding officers chair one afternoon,
when Senator Maxey. of Texas (now out
Of political life) was speaking to some
great constitutional question. During
the course of his remarks Mr.. Maxey
said with great emphasis that q certain
person would under stated conditions be
considered ''participes crimini" in the
matter under debate. This abuse of a
language long dead was too much for the
gravity of Mr.. Davis. By -, did you
ever he ar such 49, 49, LAtius'' he said;
and then leaning forward toward his
desk he gave way to @ silent, uncOntroll-
able fit of laughter, the partial suppress
sion OF which caused his great fat figure
TO undulate like the bosom of one OF the
great lakes In storm. The clerks, too.
were unableto keep their countenances
straight and they Joined Mr. Davis very
heartily though quietly in his merriment
Mr.. Maxey saw the explosion, hesitated
for moment and then sat down. A
little while afterward his colleague, Mr.
Coke, went to Mr.. Davis and said that
Mr. Marcy felt hurt over the treat
haads Of the presiding ofi:er
whom he did not hesitate Co charge
with having trie0 TO put a slight upon
him. Mr.. Davis hastily substituted Mr.
Coke in his place as presiding of11cer, and,
going down to where Mr.. Maxey sat. he
assured him in tone of hearty good
fellowship that his speech was one OF the
finest constitutional arguments ever
heard on the floor of the Senate. aud that
the laughter at the desk was due to a re-
mark entirely foreign to the subject I'M
der discussion, made by one OF the clerks.
Mr.. Maxey seemed very much relieved
by this explanation. He was one of Mr..
Davis strongest admirers until the time
of his death. It was many years after
ward that one of the clerks of the Senate
gave Mr. Maxey the true version of the
occurrence AS will be readily believed
Mir. Maxey strenuously denied the charge
that he had misused the Latin tongue.
He repudiated the explanation and his
faith in Mr. Davis remained undisturbed.
During the fight over the. post
of Sergeant-at- Arms OF the Senate
which closed last week, one of the
days place was the Deputy Ser
geant-at-Arms, Charles B. Reade, of
Maine. In a little group. of which was
member, some one iaughingly accused
MIR Reade of being more cordial than
usual because of his candidacy. 1--WE
had practitioner before the Indiana
Courts said one of the group, a mem
Der of Congress from the Hoosier State,
sswho reached the acme OF cordially some
years ago. He would always enter the
court room Win nearly OOou morning
TO the Judge and the counsel whether
there was any case under consideration
or not. If he was engaged in a case be-
fore the court he always knew all of the
witnesses intimately and he always ad-
dressed them with familiarity which
would have been better fitted to a bar
room 1t was Tom here and Bill there,
and Hank and Jerry even with the
jurors And when he made his address
TO the jury, IL was always a personal APP
peal to each. He would address one of
the juriers by name aud lay the matter
beore him III the light of question,
which they were arguing at his own
home. Then he would turn to another
and go through the personal process with
him. His conduct finally became so often
sive that Judge Gresham issued an order
forbidding familiarity with jurors during
the trial OF cases in bis court. That order
holds good today
We had a man Of very much the same
character in Maine when was practicing
law there said Mr.. Reade "His name
was Strout and came in contact with
him very frequently before the smaller
courts OF the State. It seemed to me he
Knew every man in the State by his first
name. he would come into the court In
a glowing humor and would always
shake hands very ostentatiously with
every one In the court room. One day
was In court when Strout came in in his
vigorous way and greeted the assemblage