St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-30

left widow and several children. Mrs.
Riddleberger is still running the paper
at Edinburg. Va, which Senator Rid
dleberger owned at the time of his
death. She is not well-to-do, and sew
erai senators, who had known her hus-
band IN his better days and admired
him, interested themselves in obtaining
for young Riddleberger his appoint
ment as page to the senate. He is one
OF the hold-overs of the present con-
greSs.
The pages life is pleasant one. He
must be on duty at o'clock each morn
ing. but the serious business of the day
does not begin until noon. when the
senate meets. Before that time he ar
ranges the files of the congressional
record and the bills and reports on the
desks of the senators who have been
assigned to him. There are sixteen
pages and eighty eight senator's; so
none of the pages has very much to
do. The morning hours are not
all working hours. There is a gymna-
stun in the basement of the capitol fur
niShed especially for their use. They
exercise their arms and their chests
there every morning; their legs get
plenty Of exercise through the day.
! When the senate meets the pages range
themselves along the steps at the side
of the vice presidents platform. When
a senator ciaps his hands they run to
his desk to go on whatever errands he
may have for them. The pages sell
dom leave the capitol. Almost
all of the outside work is done
by the riding pages. They are older
| and better capable physically of cover
| ing wider territory. The pages duty
! keeps him at the capitol a short time
after the senate adjournS each evening.
That is usually about o'clock. When
there are night sessions of congress,
though, the pages must remain all
night And very tired and very sleepy
the little fellows are before the night
is over.
Although the riding pages receive
more pay for their work, they do not
have the opportunities for money max
ing which fall to the lot of the pages on
the floor of the senate; nor do they have
the same opportunity for study and
advancement. A page who is am-
bilious has many opportunities
for preparing himself for a bet
ter career; and he will find many to
| assist him. The senators take very
warm personal interest in the welfare
of the pages. One of the pages of a few
years ago is cadet at Annapolis. His
! name Is George Mann. He at
tracted tho favorable notice of Senator
Quay and the senator got him the APP
pointment to the naval academy. He
prepared himself to enter by studying
during the recess of congress. The
chief page, who is known on the books
of the Sergeant-at-armsa as assistant
messenger'-AlonZo Stewart-haS stud
led law in his leisure moments and has
| taken his degree. Stewart began as a
page, and he has been in the employ OF
the senate for seventeen years.
! Capt. Isaac Bassett, the assistant
| doOrkeeper, was a page half a
century ago. One of the en-
ployeS of the senate document room,
George Boyd, was a page. and good
one. But the pages have before their
! eyes better example than any Of these
Senator German, of Maryland, who
began life as page of the senate, and
who graduated into the senate poStoffice
and from that into Maryland politics.
The late Jim Christie, for SO many
years assistant sergeant-at-armS OF the
senate, worked with MI German
on the senate mail wagon. Other
men who were congressional pages and
who came back to congress to occupy
more exalted positions were the late
Representative Townsend, of Illinois,
and the late Representative Scott, of
Pennsylvania, the famous millionaire
and turfman. a recent graduate of the
senate service is Jacob l.. Doty, who
was appointed consul to the Tahiti
Islands during President Cleveland's
first term, and who gained fame by
| marrying native princess.
The congressional pages have a great
many sources of income outside their
salaries One of the fa #
these few years ago was the collection
Of autographs. An autograph hunter
will very gladly give So, or even SO, for
full set of autographs of the members
of the senate. The boys freuuentl !
execute commissions for autographs
and sometimes they do a little specu-
lating on their own account. Very fe W
of the senators are disagreeable about
giving autographs to the boys. Tney rec