St. Paul daily globe., 1893-01-19
By the Peculiar Work Laid
Out for Them at the
Worlds Fair.
Mrs. Marion Foster Washburn,
Of Chicago, Makes a De-
cided Hit.
How the Scion Of the House
Of PettigreW Earned a
Thrashing.
The Habit Congressman Have
Of Drawing Pay While
They Loaf.
Special to the Globe.

Special to the Globe.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 1s.-If the worlds
fair does not do anything else. it will
go down to posterity as laundering
success for the good things it has al
ready done for women. | don't mean
in the way of exhibits or work, or any.
thing of the sort, but just that it has
brought into semi-public life an entirely
new class of women. We have all been
familiar since our respective infancies
with the typical woman who speaks out
| in meeting. We know the way her
gown hangs and how her collar fits, and
| it is written that reason shall not pre-
vail when petticoats sag and collars
ride aWry. We may grant intellectual
assent to the views she prGmulgateS, but
we poke fun at her just the same. Now.
the women who are holding up their
end of the fair are doing deal of talk
ing. They have meetings and discuss
measures in parliamentary way, and
some of them have even come down
here from Chicago to urge the congress
sional committee to let the fair be open
OH Sunday.
EACH SiVo lids SpOhGiI, anu WH0t 10
said is said, ana cannot be -unSaid; but
more than one man who heard thinks
the best speech Of the hearing was made
by Mrs. Marion Foster WashOurn, of
the Woman'5 Club OF Chicago. Mrs.
WaShburn is emphaticaiiy in favor OF
Sunday opening, and II the committee
decides to recommend the repeal OF the
Sunday-closing law, L think the direct
0rs of the fair and the country at large
ought to give Mrs. Washburn a m0nu-
ment, for the honOrS of the affair are
hers. Mrs. WaShburn is as nice 10 look
at as any woman one will meet i'll
weeks Journey. She is tall and of fine
figure. Her complexion is that ivory
color that goes so We'll with brown hair
and eyes. Her eyes are serious. Her
nose is of dignified cast, her chin firm,
but her mouth? Only Sir John Suck
ling could do it justice. 1t Is red as a
rose, and when she opens it a flock OF
little dlmpleS play hide-and-seek about
it. Tnen her rich voice, distinct and
clear in utterance. betrayS now and then
the faintest lisp. And she dresses eX-
quisitely. and speaks with vast deal of
tact. humor and logic.
&m
The committee could have listened to
her forever, and the WEAKNESS with
which they turned from her to the oily
utteranceS of some sleek, Well-ted Sab
Datarlan was marked. congressman
don't mind women as rule. They are
caSe-hardened and invulnerable to the
attacks of lachrymOse widows with
pension claims, and are too Wily-lnoSt
Of them-tO fall victim to the boldnesS
and indelicacy OF the female lobbyist;
but when a Well-bred, intelligent, we'll
lNoI n
ons Of beauty, education and logic,
comes to plead just cause, she can
have the stained glass out OF the Will
dows if she wants it. Mrs. Washburn
has shown that woman can do an al
most unprecedented thing and still be
perfectly the sort of woman you would
want your wife Or your sister to be.
Still, some of the women on the other
side don't think so. When both sides
filed into the committee room yesterday
morning, five women with the dlsSlpa-
ton of mothers meetings III their
faces, and the fatal influence OF
the missionary society IN the
cut of their gowns found precarlouS
perche5 on great trunk full OF peti-
tions in one corner There they sat and
commented. When the forces of Col.
Elliot +. Shepard had said their say
and the advocates OF quiet open Sun
day were announced, one OF the dear
sisters climbed down off of the trunk
and elbowed out of the room. where
are YOU going?" said sallow woman
with violets in her bonnet. Pm going
out. | won't stay to listen to such wick
ed arguments" was the indignant re-
ply. But the other four, being less
afraid of fatal corruption OF their
morals, remained and listened. they
maintained an appearance or stern dls-
approval in silence till pretty Mrs,
Washburn rose to speak. Then one OF
them leaned forward and said: The
brazen thing! l should think she'd be
ashamed of herself. Before so many
men, tool" Verify. let your women
keep silence, and if they would learn
ANYTHING let them ask their husbands
at home, and the bigotry of the Apostle !
Paul isn't entirely thing OF the past,
even yet.
Sonrtor Pettigrew's young son is rap !
idly gaining fame. Nearly every day
some new escapade of his comes to light
and furnishes food for discussion. HIS !
narrow escape from drowning SO re-
Gently one might have thought would
have calmed his spirits little, 6ut 1t
didn't. He walked up past the. White
house just as the scarlet fever sign was
being taken down. Thss suggested a
great plan to his youthful intellect.
The next day was the Pettigrew recep-
tion day, but nobody called. Carriages
drew up to the door. but drove on again.
People stopped before the house, but
only that, for nobody but the grocer's
boy entered the house. Toward night
somebody discovered the big sign.
"Scarlet fever" on the front door, and
Master Pettigrew-well, let us draw the
curtain oficharity over what befell MIN.
-
hope nobody will rise to contradict |
me when say that Hon. Joseph Bailey,
of Texas, is the only really consclen-
tious man in congress. There are peo-
pie who say that young Mr.. Bailey |
doesn't know any better, but whether
this be so or not. he is certainly as hon |
est about his work as if he were i'll any |
other business. When he is absent from |
the house he insists on deducting from |
his salary his pay for the time lost, and |
refunds it to the government. NO other |
man thinks of doing that, and, between |
YOU and me, half the men in congress |,
are not earning their salaries. What are
thew sent here for, anyway? we /
learned in school that they came |
here to make laws and pass meas
ures for the good Of the country, but |
we learn in Washington that they come |
to keep the men of the other party from
doing anything. Do you think tnat
when a man deliberately blocks the
j wheels of progress and loses a Whoie
day by filibustering, he is earning MS
salary? l don't, if You do, ana thlhK
about half the customs OF congress are
nonsense. Why must vote fall tor