Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-29
THE SENATE PAGES,
The Well-Paid Boys Who Run Errands 70,
the Members of the Millionaires' Club.
An Age Limit which VIII Cause the Re
moval of Several Boys 1t the Be-
ginning OF This Congress.

ginning OF This Congress.
| With the beginning Of the session OF Con-
gress several OF the pages of the Senate
will 20 out Of Office. There will be no re-
movals on account Of politics. Pages have
political views-or they think they have
but these are never held against them by
the Senate. OF all the Ito appointments
under the sergeant-at-arms Of the Senate
these are the only ones which can be said
TO be non-political. A number Of republic
can employees will be kept In Office by Ser
| eeaht-at-arms Bright In accordance with
lhe ihvariable custom recognizing the mi
mori'y In the distribution of patronage.
ne pages Will stay In Office whatever their
| ponucai backing unless they have reached
the age limit. No boy can be appointed a
page OF the Senate who is not twelve years
| OF age; and no boy can continue as a mage
| VINO Is sixteen years Of age ut the bes1r-
! ning OF session OF Congress 1t Is oiten
his say.u uay LOT the page when he enters
s seventeenth year. 1t may be a long
Time before he finds employment 80 lurra.
i've again unless he is fortunate enough
| 70 De selected for the position of riding paae.
Usually four of the boys who gradnetc
| from the pages position at the berianinR
8I session are appointed riding pages.
Ior emciency and faithfulness. The mage
| On tne moor OF the Senate draws $3.50 a d.,,
curing the session of Congress. The rid
| ing page receives $3.50 a day the year around
ana mas horse to ride. His duties keen
nlm OUT or doors a great part of the time,
tha g gins messages between the Capitol and
the departments The position Is consider
ed more desirable than that OF n papa
r11ty years ago the pages received 81 so a
gay Tor the session and a lump sum of s2OG
at the end OF the session to Keep them dur
| ing the recess. This pay and allowance
was doubled in 1876 The page now re.
posed to have laid by enough out Q. IP w
salary to keep him going until Congress
| meets again.
| Good Pay.
The pay averages $3.50 a year This is a
| great deal more than the average youth
needs to keep him going. but usually the
page has some one dependent on him, a,
least In part. In fact the pages are aI-
pointed In most instances because they
are the sons Of widows and deserving of as.
slstahce. IL the Senate wished TO do so q,
| Souio optain labor for much smaller sum,
out II could not obtain anywhere a
more refined looking. courteous set OF nrtle
sen.emen than those who answer TO the
clapping OF a Senator's hands and run his
errands to the document room or the H.
Senator Moody of South Dakota violated
an precedent by having his son nppoin tel a
page rtano some years ago. This is the only In
stance OF the appointment of a Senators
son 70 THIS position. Sometimes TIE sons
| OF ex-Senators have been appointed One
| OF them is in the service of The senate to-
day. He Is the son OF the late u. ii Ria
| oleberser Of Virginia Mr.. Riddleberger died
soon after his term In the Senate expired
1850 He left a widow and several children.
MIS- Riddleberger IL still running the paper
at Edinburg, Va, which Senator Fiddle
berger owned at the time OF his death.
She 10 not well-to-do and several Senators.
who had known her husband IN his better
s eey ana IN sdmired him inters.e5 them
his appointment as page 70 the senate. lie
| ID one OF the hold overs Of the present Con-
gress.
Pleasant Duties.
The pages life II Q pleasant one. He
must be on duty At o'clock each morning,
but the serious business OF the day does
not begin until noon, when the Senate meets
Before that time he arranges the files OF
| the Congressional Record and the bills ana
reports on the desks OF the senators who
teen pages and eighty-eight Senators, SO
none OF the pages have very much TO do.
The morning hours are not all working
ment OF the Capitol furnished especially for
their use. They exercise their arms and
tneir chests there every morning; their legs
When the Senate meets the pages range
themselves along the steps at the side OF
| the Vice Presidents platform. When a Sen
ator claps his hands they run to his desl
to go on whatever errands he may have FOR
them. The pages seldom leave the CAPITOL
Almost all OF the outside work is done 10y
the riding pages. They are older and bet.
ter capable physically of covering a wider
territory The pages duty keeps him al
a .de oapitoi short time after the Senate
o'clock. When there are night sessions of
congress. though. the pages must remain
an night And very tired ana very sleepy
the little Fellows are before the night is
over: -'
Opportunities for Making Money.
Although the riding pages receive more
pay for their work they do not have the
opportunities for money making which fan
70 the lot Of the pages on the floor Of the
portunity for study and advancement. A
page who Is ambitious has many oppor-
tunities for preparing himself for a better
career: and he will find many to assist
him. The Senators take a very warm per.
sonal interest In the welfare OF the pages
one OF the pages Of few years ago is a
Mann: He attracted the favorable no
tice Of Senator Quay and the Senator 20,
MIN the appointment TO the Naval Acad-
envy: He prepared himself to enter by
studying during the recess of Congress.
The chief page. who is known on the books
mess .ne ersaeia ant as assistant
law IN his leisure moments and has tak ~,
MS degree. Stewart began as a page and
s ns n ssys Deen In the employ OF the Senate
the assistant doorkeeper, was a mage haif
e century ago. One OF the employees Of the
page. and q good one. But the paS We
have before their eyes q better examnIs
Snan any or these-Senator German M
MARYLAND. who began life as a mage ~
the Senate and who graduated into the
Senate post office and from that into Nary.
| land politics. The late Jim" Chris,ie foy
50 many years assistant sergeant-at-arms
OF the senate, worked with Mr. German
on the Senate mail wagon Other men
VINO were congressional pages and Who
came back to Congress to occupy more
exalted positions were the late Representa
tive Townshend Of Illinois and the Ia re-
representative Scott OF Pennsylvania fhe
famous millionaire and turfmar. A recent
graduate OF the Senate service Is Jacoh
L. Doty, who was appointed consul TO tbe
Iahitf Islands during President Cleve-
lanos nrst term and who gained fame by
marrying native princess.
Autographs and Speeches.
The congressional pages have a great
many sources OF income outside their SAL
aries. One Of the most fertile of these a
Few years ago was the collection OF auto
graphs. An autograph hunter will very
autographs OF the members of the Senate
The boys frequently execute commissions
Tor autographs and sometimes thew do a
little speculattng their own Account
very Few OF the Senators are disarreeah HE
about giving autographs TO the bows They
recognize this as a legitimate industry
Inc boys have to watch their chances
though, so as not to take a Senator when
ne Is In a bad humor or very busily en-
gagged with public matters. Very often
curing the day when the So,a,o