The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-11-12

CINCINNATI Commercial GaZstle is said TO
take DIS rest through cards. President
cleveland. during his stay in Buffalo, was
an expert at penuchle. and / venture to
say mat be and POstmaster-General Bis
sen nave quiet game after cabinet affairs
are over. Nearly all the Supreme Court
Justices play whisi, ana Cray of Massa-
cnusetts is said 20 be the ablest whist
PLAYER IN Washington. Harrison was a
good whist-player, and Secretary Foster
could play almost any sort of cards, and
plav them well.
Billiards are one of the best games for
nolieG brains. John Quincy Adams found
thls out years ago, and be bought the first
0llilaro-table that ever went into the White
House. There is a billiard-table in the
executive Mansion to-day, and it is said
that President Cleveland handles the cue
Tor an hour at time after he has been
worried to death by office seekers Presi-
dent Garfield was also good billiard
player. and he WAS also ndlof croquet and
ball. Arthur used the billlard-tablp of the
White House very f eely, and his besI
brain tonic came from a game of this sort.
Ex-senator Palmer of Michigan had
6llllard-room in his house, where his fell
low-Senaiurs aften came to play. He was
troubled good deal with insomnia, and
one OF his best recipes for sleep was to get
physically tired. Senator Butler of South
Carolina plays a good game of billiards.
and | am told that Reed of Maine and
Crisp OF Georgia are experts with the cue.
L understand that Hoke Smith caught
10 trout in TWO hours in The Yellowstone
Park this summer. This is at the rate of
trout to the minute and makes Smiths
1sh story one Of the biggest on record.
He had three hooks on his line and he often
brought in three trout at a time. Vice
President Hendricks once told ME that he
had pulled In four fish a once on one line
ha hlO
fish stories that you can hear in the cloak
rooms OF the Capitol are more wonderful
than the tales of Munchausen. Senator
Aldrlch will tell you of the wonderful tar
pom which he has caught in Florida.
Senator Frye will describe his cabin in the
Maine woods which he supplies with trout
from the lakes and streams, and Plat of
Connecticut will GO into ecstasies over the
delights OF salmon fishing. Senator Quay
is gOod fisherman III all branches of the
plscatorial art and Sherman has caught
bass and white fish.
One of the greatest sportsmen who ever
came to the Senate was John Kenna of
West Virginia. When he went away from
work 1t was to rest his brain in the West
Virginia mountains. He always took
camera with him, and he illustrated his
stories with photographs. He had thou
sands of snap shots taken in all parts of
the woods neal his home, and for some
time before his death he was contem-
plating the publication of a book of hunt
ing adventures. such as he thought would
b. popular with the boys of the country.
Every one knows how fond President
Cleveland is of fishing, and how he is
able to get away from himself when he
has fishing-pole in his hands. 1t was the
same with President Arthur. and also with
Andrew Jackson. Jackson used to go
down to Fortress Monroe and spend a
q q IN hn
the Rip Raps fishing. He was fond of
horseraciDg and cockfghting. and he eased
his brain by getting entirely away from
his work. Daniel Webster composed
many of his speeches while out fishing,
and some of the best sentences IN his
speech against Hayne were made while he
had rod in his hands.
Quite number of the Senators and big
officials go down the Potomac to fish and
huat. You remember the hog that Presi-
dent Harrison shot during one of his vaca-
ton jAunts. Vest and Vance often go out
to shoot reed birds during the season, and
one OF the best stories told in the CLOAK
rooms this fall was of hunting excursion
which Senator Vance, Howell jackson,
now Justice of the Supreme Court, and the
late Senator Beck of Kentucky took year
or two ago. 1t was during the Christmas
holidays, and Beck. Vance and jackson
wanted Vest to 60 with them to shoot
ducks. Vest objected. saying he didn't
propose to get his feet wet to his waist
baud all day and come home without
single ducR. "You fellows go ahead"
said he, land leave me here and | VIII
promise to eat at one sitting every canvas
back you kill" "All right" replied
Vance and the others, 1--WE will keep yon
tn vonr bargain" II will stick to nv
word" said Vest, and the trio of United
States Senators started off. Well, the
hunters had a streak Of luck. Howell
Jackson proved himself a splendid shot,
Vance knows how to handle
gun and Beck killed his snare. They
brought back a hundred ducks. mostly
canvas backs, sixty suipe and two geese.
They put the canvasbacks in pile and
sent for Vest. His white hair stood on
end as he thought of the idea OF eating 100
ducks at one meal. and his little, fat round
stomach perceptibly shrank. He got out
of the matter by setting up champagne
supper to the crowd. and a part of this
supper was imi ed number of the can
vasbacks which the Senators killed. As
to the exact number Uf the ducks there is
no certified fact; the number above given
is on ithe authority Of one of the Senators
who did the shooting.
A large number of our public men find
their rest in a change of work. Some of
them take 10 vacations to speak of and sell
dom go out of the city. Not few have
fads by which to rest their brains. Senator
Davis gets his rest by reading the classics
and by throwing himself into French
novels. During the past campaign he
read half dozen biographical and
historical works. and be is now releadng
his Virgil One of his most restful
studies is Napoleon Bonaparte. He BUYS
all he can find concerning him, and
he has more than 600 volumes about the
great Napoleon. He believes in hot baths
before going to bed as good Thing for
sleep. He says that the best rest for an
overworked brain is change of intellec-
tual diet. Allan u. Thurman read French