The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-06
THE SENATE PAGES.
TAn WeIl-Paid Boys Who Run Err,
nriS for the NilliOldiTeS' Club.
A. Age Limit Which viii Cause the
psmoval of Several Boys at the Be
inning of This Congress.

Ginning of This Congress.
From the Washington star.
With the beginning of the session of
CONGRESS several of the pages of the Sen
ate will 90 out of Office. There will be
~. rsrovalson account of politics Pages
hove POLITICAL views-or they think they
b,ve-but these are never held against
,fem by the Senate. OF all the ITO ap-
continents under the sergeant-at-arms of
rbe Senate, these are the only ones which
can besaid to be non-political A number
ofrerublican employees viii be keptin office
Inv cergeant-at-arms Bright in accord
ance with the invariable custom recogniz-
inc the minority in the distribution of
patronage. The pages will stay in Office
whatever their political backing unless
they have reached the age limit. No boy
can bo appointed a page of the Senate
who isnOt twelve years of age; and no boy
can continue as a page who is sixteen
years of age at the beginning of a session
of congress. 1t is often a sorry day
for the page when he enters his
seventeenth year. 1t may be a long
time before he finds employment so lucra-
five again unless he is fortunate enough
10 be selected for the position of riding
mace Usually four of the boys who grad
nate from the pages position at the be-
ginning of a session are appointed riding
pages Their selection depends on their
records for efficiency and faithfulness.
The page on the floor of the Senate draws
- 80 a dav during the session of congress.
The riding page receives 81. 80 a day the
wear round and has horse to ride. His
duties keep him out of doors great part
of the time, carving messages between
the capitol and the departments. The
position is considered more desirable than
that of page. Fifty years ago the pages
received 81 80 a day for the session and
lump sum of 500 at the end of the session
TO keep them during the recess. This
pay and allowance was doubled in 1845.
The page now receives nothing for the re-
cess. He is supposed to have laid by
enough out of his salary to keep him go
ing until congress meets again.
GOOD PAY.
The pay averages $3.50 year. This is
a great deal more than the average youth
needs to keep him going, but usually the
page has some one dependent upon him,
at least in part. In fact the pages are ap-
pointed in most instances because they
are the sons of widows and deserving of
assistance. If the Senate wished to do so
it could obtain labor for q much smaller
sum, but it could not abtain anywhere a
more refined looking, courteous set of
little gentlemen than those who answer
to the clapping of a senator's hands and
run his errands to the document room or
the library.
Senator Moody of South Dakota viola
ted all precedent by having his son ap-
pointed a page some years ago. This is
the only instance of the appointment of a
senator's son to this position. Sometimes
the sons of ex-senatOrs have been appoint
ed. One of them is in the service of the
Senate to-day. He is theIson of late H II.
Riddleberger of Virginia. Mr.. Riddle
berger died soon after his term in the
Senate eXpired-lSS9. He left a widow
and several children. Mrs. Riddleberger
is sUill running the paper at Edinburg,
Va, which Senator Riddleberger owned
at the time Of his death. She Is not we'll
TODD and several senator's who had
known her husband in his better DAYS
and admired him, interested themselves
in obtaining for young Riddleberger his
appointment as page to the Senate. He is
one Of the hold overs of the present CON
gress.
PLEASANT DUTIES.
The pages life is a 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 Sen
ate meets Before that time he arranges
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
senators, so that none of the pages have
Very much to do. The morning hours
are not all working hours. There
Is gymnasium in the base
ment of the capitol furnished
especially for their use. They ex-
erclse their armssand 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
lhe Nce-president's platform. When a
senator clapS his hands they run to his
desk to 90 on whatever errands he may
nave for them. The pages seldom leave
the capitol Almost all the outside work
Is done by the riding pages They are
oder and better capable physically of
covering wider territory. The pages
GUY keeps him at the capitol a short
Time after the Senate adjourns each even
ING That is usually about ) O'Clock
Nhen there are night sessions of congress,
though, the pages must remain all night
ana very tired and very sleepy the little
fellows are before the night IS over.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR MAKING MONEY.
Although the riding pages receive more
pay Tor their work they do not have the
opportunities for money making which
IAN 10 the lot OF the pages on the floor of
Ine senate, nor do they have the same OPP
portunity for study and advancement. A
page who is ambitious has many oppOr-
1uuIlIes Tor preparing himself for a better
I4teer and he will find many to assist
mn. he senator's take very warm per-
SoudI lntorest'in the welfere of the pages.
S Gue OF me pages few years ago is u ca
S az aJ annapolis. His name is George
nam, Gdhh, lie attracted the favorable no
we Oh senator Quay and the senator got
allu me appointment to the naval acad-
o.4' lie prepared himself to enter by
nv TTyau5 ing during the recess of congress.
&c fe CAlet page, who is known on the. books
~ 1he sergeant-at-arms as assistant
messenger AlonzO Stewart-hass studied
iiaWm his leisure moments and has taken
ms degree. Stewart began as a page
ana ne has been in the employment of the
88eudle Tor seventeen years. Capt. Isaac
haSsett the assistant door-keeper, was a
rase mali century ago. One of the en-
royes of the Senate document room.
Bgorge Boyd, was page and a good one
Put the pages have before their eyes
t.l.'er example than any of these-Sena-
,';or German, of Maryland. who began
,rt dS page of the Senate and
van Mao graduated into the Senate post
Isrc and from that into Mary
5 f1n politics. The late Jim" Christie,
as ~ many years assistant sergeant-at-
70 y,l