Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-03-27
"A HIGH OLD TIME. I"
Mrs. Cougar Watches a Con-
gressional Funeral Party,
AND A TALE OF REVELRY UNFoLDs.

The Recent Report from Dallas Con-
Hrmed-A Baggage Car of Wine, and
Not Drop of water-The Eminent Tenn
perance Advocate Shoulders at the Sight
Presented - Only One Gentleman"
Along, and He without Influence or
Authority to Interfere.
ST. LOUIS March 27.-Yesterday morn
ing the Hearst funeral congressional
party came into the Union station, and
after breakfast left for the east. Just be-
hind the funeral party came the Grafton
excursion train, and on the latter was
Mrs. Helen NJ. Cougar, the noted temper
ance lecturer, of Lafayette, Ind. Mrs.
Cougar tells some startling stories of dis
graceful scenes enacted aboard the con-
gressional train. She says that about
eleven hours out of Ell Paso the baggage
ear OF the Hearst train got off the track
When 1T was found impossible to again
get the baggage car on the track the sena-
Tors and congressman came out to see
shat they got the wine out of the car and
placed in the dining car. ''Iestimate that
there were at least 100 cases, with ten bar
yels of empty bottles.
Came Near Being Tied Up.
Everything went smoothly until Tex
arkana was reached Here "A new bag
gage car was added to the train and the
porters on the other train assisted in
transferring the wine cases in the dining
car back to the baggage car. For this
service the senators and representatives
refused to pay, whereupon the yardmaster
said the train would not leave Texarkana
until the bills were paid. | think it was
Senator Vance who told tue yardmasUer
that he would not pay the bill. When
the delegation saw that the train would
not be allowed to move until they paid
they changed their minds
Rowing Up" All the Time.
Mrs. Cougar said that the excursion
train was so close behind the conCression-
nj train that she could see what was going
on. such disgraceful proceedings on the
part of men high in the government serv-
ice ! never before saw. Their baggage
car was full of wine and liquor. From
she dining room of the Grafton train we
could see tier after tier of wine boxes
stacked up. They were opening bottles
every minute night and day, and at MANY
stopping places invited people into the
baggage car to drink The train was
made up of two sleepers. n coach, dining
car and baggage car, and there must
have been fifty persons on board. saw
some women and children, and | felt
sorry Tor them. Wine was flowing like
water. Everybody must have been drunk"
Fairly Made Her Shudder.
Referring again to the scene when the
baggage car was off the track, the lady
said: such words, such actionsi 1t actu-
ally made me shudder to think that those
men running around after such stuff were
daily pointed out to growing children as
models to follow. There were some harsh
words passed by the men, which added to
che disgracetulness of the affair. Assist
ant Sergeant-at-Arms Valentine, who has
charge of the party, is gentleman. He
watched the proceedings but dare not say
anything"
Water Tanks Filled with Wine
Heretofore l have been telling" contin-
ned Mrs. Cougar, Just what saw with
my own eyes. Now l will tell you some
things that were common talk on the
Grafton train. 1t was said that the Hearst
party did not bave drop of water on
their train, but that they drank wine alto
gether, using orange wine to quench their
thirst This may or may not be true,
but the story went that the water
tanks were filled with orange
wine, and that all ON board par
took The empty bottles were, am told.
otlilB CdTIletl DdCh TO w aSnln1tOn CI-y
for the purpose of establishing with thor
Oughness the committees disgrace by
having the sergeant farms make rec
ord of how much they drank on this trim.
The wine is said to have been a present to
the gentlemen, but the government will
doubtless pay for it. l most willingly al.
low the use or my name in the denuncia-
ton of these proceedings 1t Is matter
that should be exposed"