The Portland daily press., 1891-12-28
FROM THE CAPITAL.

| len, the Humorist.
| Especial Correspondence
WASHINGTON, Dec. 24.-There are
| some fine looking men in the new house
of representatives. This is distinctively
a smooth faced house of commons. Just
after the elections of year ago some
one discovered that in nearly every case
in which beardless man had been
pitted against one with beard on his
face the former had won. At the time
| this statement was generally regarded
as joke, or as a conclusion drawn from
| two or three instances, which in no wise
established a rule. But when we come
| to look over the faces of the men sent to
the cyclone congress it is plain to see
| that in the famous congressional fight
of 1890 the smooth faced men had the
luck and the other fellows the hoodoos.
Just how many smooth faced men there
are in the house cannot say, but it is.
certain that not since the war has there
been such large number of them as
there is today.
Among them are some remarkably
| fine looking men too. Faces sure to at
tract attention in any gathering are
those of young Bailey of Texas, Bryan
of Nebraska, Tom johnson of Ohio,
Storer of Cincinnati, Miller (the Greek
from Wisconsin, Fellows of New York,
Scott Wike of Illinois, McGann of Chi
cago and many others unadorned by
hirsute appendages 1t is noteworthy
| fact that, with few exceptions, all the
smooth faces are on the Democratic side
| of the hail, though both sides are Demo-
cratic nowadays, inasmuch as the ma
| jority members have spread themselves
over large section of the space devoted
to the minority. By arrangement the
Democrats took possession of one tier of
seats on the Republican side of the hall,
and this tier is commonly known as
''the Cherokee Strip" Some of the best
men in the party sit in the strip, apart
from the majority of their friends.
1t happens that the biggest man in the
house, General Curtis, of New York,
has one of the biggest boards. General
| Curtis is giant who stands feet 6
inches in his stocking feet, and though
comparatively slender weighs 250
pounds. Since taking his seat in the
house General Curtis has been busy
forming anew the acquaintance of men
who knew him in the troublous days of
the war, and among those who have
taken the big heros hand are many who
| fought on the Confederate side. The
fame of General Curtis as a fighter
spread throughout the armies near the
close of the war and has not yet been
forgotten. He was promoted four or
| five times for gallant services on the
field, was wounded in the breast in an
engagement in southwest Virginia and
lost an eye in the charge at Fort Fisher.
An odd sort of friendship has sprung up
between Mr.. Cable, of Illinois, and Gen
eral Curtis. Why they should be drawn
together is more than their friends can
understand, for they appear to have
| nothing in common. One is the biggest
man in the house and the other the
smallest-''the long and the short of it"
one Democrat and the other Re-
| publican, and while the giant was hero
in the civil war, the little man was not
old enough to fight with anything more
dreadful than lead soldiers Curtis has
long, patriarchal beard, while Cable
has one of the cutest little mustaches
you ever saw. The young nlinoisan is
so slender and SO boyish looking that he
| is sometimes called dude, but as
matter of fact he is manly man, an
| athlete, great traveller, an adventurer
who has known what it is to face dam
ger. Out in Rock Island, where he lives,
he is known to every one as Ben Gable,
and though very rich man, being the
son of the president of the Rock Island
railway, many of his warmest friends
and most intimate companions are poor
| young men whom he has known at
school or in business.
| One story is told of Gable which is too
| good to suppress, When he decided to
make the race for congress in district
which had previously given large ma
| jority against his party, he went to an
old politician and asked him his advice
as to how to carry on a successful cam
| paign. The old politician gave him a
number Of valuable hints, and added:
"Just one word more. You are popular
in this district. You can make good
campaign. But there is one thing you
must do or be defeated. 1t is simple
thing, and yet fear you will not do it"
t'What is that?" ''Give up smoking ciga-
Fettes till after election. Can you do it?"
| Young Mr. Cable was silent for some
| minutes. It was apparent that strug-
gle was going on in his mind between
| the allurements of seat in congress and
The iov of cigarette smoking. In the
END ambition Errumphed over habit, ano
for six weeks Mr.. Cable was never seen
in public with cigarette between his
lips. If he had continued smoking the
| people of that district would not have
sent him to congress, where he smokes
as many cigarettes as he likes.
One man who went away from Wash
ington year ago without beard and
came back with one on his face is the
famous funny man, John Allen, of Mis-
sissippi. Allen is without doubt the
funniest man now in congress, unless a
new light of laughter shall be discovered
among the new statesmen. Since Horr
left the house and Sam Cox died Allen