The morning call., 1893-12-17

lars, but his estate footed up about $50, 000
and you can't tell anything as to what
man is worth here in Washington. In the
rear Of the Senate chamber as / write ]
see the son OF Alexander T. Mitchell, the
Milwaukee, railroad king, who died worth,
II was said, something like $50. 600. 000
When his son first came to Washington he
was unknown TO the real estate men, and
when he wanted to rent a house costing
several thousand dollars year one Of
them called upon Rusk and asked him if
This man Mitchell was good" Uncle
jerry replied: ''If John L. Mitchell makes
deal with you to the extent of 81, COG. 900
and you bring the check here / will in
dorse II, but my Endorsement won't make
the checkany better, for Mitchell is worth
many times that amount" Since then
Mitchell has had suits concerning his
property in Milwaukee, and though he
is probably still rich. one would have to
| go to Bradstreet TO find out Just how much
OF how lutte he is worth. Take the case
of Cal Brice. He lives in one OF the finest
houses Of Washington and he gives single
! dinners which cost $4,000 apiece. He may
be worth millions. He may be a very rich
man, and be probably is. But in taking
with one of his old friends, General Gibson
| of Ohio, short time ago, he said TO me:
mo one on earth can tell what Cal Brics
| is worth. He has the nerve of a great
| Speculation, but he Is always as cool as the
center seed Of cucumber. He can lose
million and not bat his eye. His face is
| like an iron mask. 1t never changes. His
life has been filed with ups and downs.
To-day he may be worth millions and to-
morrow he may be feeling around in his
pockets for coppers, but from his actions
you would not know the difference. He is
one of the biggest plungers in the country
and has enough shrewd business ability to
generally come out on top"
Rich men, in fact. are dropping out of
the Senate. You can count the million
aires on your fingers. and the great major
ity of the body will not run over the $780,
600 mark. Most of the Southerners have
nothing TO speak Of, though Vance has
big estate through his wife. Senator Nor
gan owns a plantation. Pugh has big
| farm which he works with negroes in Ala
bama. and as Senator Walthall was max
! ing $4,000 a year at the time he was
elected he has probably saved something.
George Vest Is not rich man. Roger q.
| Mills cannot afford to keep carriage, and
Senator Joe Blackburn lives a. a hotel. [
don't know what isham q. Harris is
| worth, and 1 never looked upon him as
having the money-making instinct, but 1
learned the other day that he lost $50, GOO
by the war. and that he had made all this
money himself. His father was a poor
farmer of Tennessee. He had piece of
clay land and ten negroes 10 work it, and
young Isham had to fight his own way.
He began as clerk and soon had store
| of his own. When he was quite young
man he had amassed $1,000 when the bank
| failed he lost II all. He took rich part
ner and in two years had regained all b..
had lost, and he went on from this point
until he made the fortune which I've had at
the time of the war. He is probably we'll
| TODD to-day. but he lives very simply in an
questionable quarter of the city near the
Capitol.
The Senate grows smaller the closer you
get to ii. 1t has shown its humanity to
the people and its divinity is fast going to
the dogs. Look at the careers of these
men below me and eXclaim:
| Upon what meat haNe these Caesars fed
That they have grown so great?
They are fat and famous now. but>thev
had to hustle In the days gone by and they
may have to hustle In the days to come
Senator Perkins of California had to shin
Cp the mnsts of sailing vessels In ali kinds
of weather, and he scrubbed the decks
with the fear of a ropes end in his eye
Senator PETER grubbed stumps out of the
| soil before he got a chance to stand upon
the stump and farm with his mouth. He
had to hustle for the victuaIs which made
| the lean meat which covers his bones. and
| he was making S25 week as editor of a
| farmers paper when he got from the
| Legislature of Kansas this Senate lob.
which pays him $1,000 a year. Hans
borough lives at the Cochran Ho-
tel now, but he was half starved
when he cleaned type ana turned the
press as printers devil. and his colleague,
Senator Roach, was quartermaster's
clerk. John Sherman carried a surveyors
chain for daily wages. Cal Brice had to
count the coppers while he was teaching
school, and the first year of his law prac-
vdl Co. H.
| worked as common labOrer when he first
| went to Dakota, ana when Kyle was
preaching, up to the time of his election,
silver dollar was ten times as big as it is
now. Don Cameron, though his father
was rich, began his life as bank clerk,
and soon became a bank president, John
| Mitchell of Oregon asked carpenter to
| trust him Tor pine table which he
wanted to use for his office when he first
hung out his single in Portland. and was
refused on account of his poverty. Palmer
of Illinois worked has way through college,
and Wilson of Iowa made his first money
by working at harness-making and study
Ing between the stitches. Men who gradu-
ate from such schools are usually humb le
but the Senate would corrupt an angel.
These old Senators like to put on airs
now, but they had to get down and root for
their living in the days of their youth.
! Nearly every one of them has had to trot
about and ask for votes at some time in
his life, and not few have risen stage by
stage from being justices of the peace and
prosecuting attorneys up to the Senate.
| They have been just as tricky in their
ways as other men. and their boyhood has
been as full of queer pranks. l was in
| Mount Vernon, Ohio. last month and
they pointed out to me there an old build
ing in which John Sherman lived with
his uncle when he was boy. 1t was at
| Mount Vernon that Sherman got part
| of his education, and one of the old stagers
| of the town told me a story concerning
| him. Said ne: John was a tall bony,
black-h youth. who was full of fun
and was always ready to play trick
upon his teacher. He had set of school,
mates who were as bad as himself, and
some of their dongs created decided sensa-
tons. One | remember was out of the
| ordinary. The teacher was named Lord
and one day the boys went out in the
county and picked up a sheep that had
been killed by the dogs and brought it
! ipto tnwn with fhom fnhav did tbis off