The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1891-06-03
HOW TIE DAY PASSES.
WALTER WELLMAN DESCRIBES THE
ROUTINE IN THE HOUSE.
Few Are Present when the Chaplain's
Opening Prayer Is Made--The Bills for
Ciaims-Bills from the Senate-How
the Day Is Wound Up.


WASHINGTON, Feb. 26-Defore con
gress goes away, not to return for nine
long months, want to give you little
account of one days session Of the house.
You have been reading Of the proceed
ings of congress as long as you have
taken interest in newspapers, but doubt
if you have even yet a very clear idea
of how the legislative machine runs and
whirrs and grinds. Certainly you have
not unless you have sat in the gallery
and watched and listened, and even in
that case there were most likely some oc-
currences which you did not understand
So at quarter of II o'clock we take po-
sition in the press gallery, directly over
the speakers chair, like man on hill
top eager to survey a field OF battle.
An array of empty seats is before us,
only half dozen being occupied by
members. There are, perhaps, a score
of persons in the gallery, most of them
our colored brethren, who display an in
ordinate interest in parliamentary pro
ceedings. Visitors are walking about
gazing at the half circles of desks, the
pictures on either side of the speakers
chair, and the American flag hanging
back of it. There are many other persons
on the floor who will have to go in Il few
moments, but it is easy to tell residents
from visitors. The former keep their
hats on their heads, smoke cigars in de-
fiance of the rules, and saunter about
with what the new member from the
Posey district calls song fraud
The strangers, on the other hand, re-
spectfully remove their hats, walk with
respectful and timid air, and are contin-
ually in fear of getting in some ones
way. Nimble pages are running about,
fling copies of the morning Record on
the desks of members. The members
where are they? OF three hundred and
thirty and more representatives of the
people, fewer than dozen are in their
seats. We couldn't begin to tell you
where they all are. Some are in the
cloak rooms smoking their after break
fast cigars. Others are in the barber
shops. Still others are "hustling the
departments ON errands for their con-
stituents. Perhaps twenty-five or thirty
are not in the city at all, and of those
who are here not more than three
fourths will make their appearance dur
ing the day
Ten minutes before II the doorleeper's S
assistant sings out i'll a loud voice that
"persons not entitled to the privileges of
the floor are requested to retire" The
visitors at once comply, but the habitue
of the Capitol fingers till the hand of
the big clock points to one or two min
utes of II. Three or four minutes before
| the hour pink faced page leads to the
clerks desk tall, grave, bearded man,
the blind chaplain, Millburn.
| At II o'clock precisely Speaker Reed
waddles in from his room, seizes his
| gavel, brings it down with a sharp rap,
and exclaims, ''The house will come to
order" Without seconds delay the
chaplain begins his prayer. By this time
perhaps two dozen members are in their
places. Nearly all of them rise for
prayers and give reverential attention.
Mr.. Mckinley bows his handsome head;
Mr.. Springer shades his eyes; Mr.. Mills
stands with both hands in his trousers
pockets The prayer is short-a minute
and half A chaplain with a weakness
for lengthy supplications could not long
hold his place. A long speech is some
times tolerated in the house, long
prayer never. Chaplain Millburn takes
good care that his prayers shall never ex-
ceed two minutes in length, and little
gems of prayers they are, too.
The "amen' is no sooner uttered than
the big hall is filled with roar. Every
body, nearly, has gone to talking to his
neighbor, and those who are not talking
rustic newspapers, rattle books or clap
their hands for pages. Other members
are coming in from the cloak rooms,
and the rumble of blended sounds slowly
grows in volume Above all the din a
very loud but very m0notonous voice is
heard. The stranger in the gallery
thinks this must be something of i'm
portance and cranes his neck to listen.
No one else does, for it is simply the
clerk reading the journal of the preced-
| ing day's session. Meanwhile the pages
are running from member to member
with autograph books in their hands.
Members good naturedly comply with
their signatures, and the speaker, who Is
often called on, does not suspend the
conversation which he is carrying Oh
with his lieutenants grouped about his
desk, but mechanically seizes his pen
and with great flourish on the initial
"T" spreads his autograph in somewhat
scrawling characters upon the book.
The autograph business is once more in
frllmotion, as it always is in the clos
ing days Of session.
i While the clerk rattles away on the
journal f yesterday, and, for all any one
would care, might skip the half OF 1t OF
substitute a chapter of his fayor1te
novel, Joe Cannon walksin, as he usually
does, his mail in his hand and proceeds
to stand in the open in front of the
speaker chair and there open his mail.
Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania, "thC
father of the house." does not fail tC
adhere to his custom of coming IN al
this time, his letters in his silk hat
Placing the hat on his desk, he takes tht
letters out one by one and calls pagt
TO take his hat to the cloak room, just a
he has done every day for some tifteeI
years.
Now score Of members have lief
their seats and come down to the front
Each man has bundle Of papers II
his hand-a little bill which be Is auX
ious to cali mp and have passed Al ono
there issues from the throata Of thes
men chorus # "Mr speakefi Mn
Speaker" Th,r a struggle ter raas