Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-22
a Quorum Was Finally Obtained In
the Senate.
II WAS HARD TO GET
Mr.. Quay Was Severely Afflicted
With Deafness.
A ELOUS CASE

o
an hour and ten minutes today, but Of this
time not more than eight minutes were oc-
cupied in actual business The PRAYER.
which was longer than usual, took two
minutes, IN order TO allow the chaDlsfn In
hciuoe IN mis- remarks all of the public
functions and functionaries. Then the Sem
ate received a message from the House. i'm
the shape OF an announcement that the
speaker had signed the general deficiency
DILL and Immediately afterward Mr.. AIdrich
arose with manner that boded no good
70 the democrats, and seemed on the point
Oh causing trouble, when one of his COL
.edeues pulled his coat and made.e sugges-
uon' Ar. Aiorich waved his hand ana ex-
eianheo: Let the deficiency bill be laid
before the Senate" The Vice President
took advantage of this act Of eenerosity.
signed the bill, and then announca. h,.
stsneture. thus formally completing the lee-
is,suVe work Of the session Tken NJ
~ noincn i,,y saaNeiy suggested that there was
no quorum present
Cases of Deafnes.
On the first call of the roll ,hera v,.,.
thirty two Senators present. Eight a, -
were from the republican side ana twen,,,.
Tour from the democratic Mr.. QUAY w..
suicseh With deafness during the cau M
this roh and did not hear his name For
over an hour he wandered about the chan-
per with his hands in his pockets totally nm
,Sa S ON account OF the agitation OF
ehe democratic Senators. Several appeals
were made 10 him to answer to his name
pot ne was 50 deaf that he could NOT .avav,
near them. He was the only Senator thus
amicted and he accepted the syunatbv ~
MS friends In a philosophical spirit
When The absence Of a quorum was noted
on the first call Senator Tur2ie became
an,etsa ssa win deafness also. and 1t was
thought for few moments that the dis
ease would become epidemic Serenely
unconscious Of the fact that the Senate was
moi IN tne condition to do business the
venerable statesman from hoosler land
arose and calmly asked to have the Senate
take up the bill TO establish the National
Rome Tor Aged colored Persons The
chair gravely Informed him that the Senate
had become becalmed and couldn't budge
an inch. Thereupon Mr.. Turpie entered
into an elaborate and intricate explanation
of his mistake. which Mr.. Gorman inter-
rupted by motion TO adjourn This was
listened to with an expression of great dis
gust from Senator Berry. who was leaning
on his crutches In the semi-circle. whea
Mr.. German made his motion MIR. Berry
snorted after the Arkansas fashion and did
a very clever senatorial clog dance on his
crutches. This melted the heart Of Mr.
German, who withdrew his motion
The Vice Presfdenfs Work.
Then the sergeant-at-arms went out 70
use his best efforts to persuade eleven moro
Senators to come into the chamber and the
Senate settled down to a long wait. occa.
sionally a Senator would drop in. answer 20
his name and Immediately disappear. Slow
ly the total crept up to the desired forty.
three. The spectators in the galleries be-
gan to nod and those who were induced to
remain awake Through the vigilance OF the
doorkeepers wondered when the show was
going 10 begin. Suddenly they began Il
take an intense interest In the actions OF
the Vice President. He was the only ono
in the chamber who found means to occupy
himself. Realizing that the end Of the ee9
sion was at hand, and that while art mas
be everlasting life Is exceedingly agile and
time is a cracked splinter, Mr. Stevenson
engaged himself in cleaning of his desk
Had there been a most engrossing fisticufY
going on on the floor the visitors in the
galleries could not have shown a more
acute interest. The Vice President firs1
tackled the right-hand drawer and hauled
out a mass OF papers, from which he ees
lected certain souvenirs of the session to
be taken home. Into the waste basket went
a handful Of notes from visiting ccnstitu.
ents asking for seats In the reserved gal.
lery, followed by another handful of re-
quests from Senators for recognition. Ther
he unearthed lot of note paper. which he
found piled UP among the souvenirs Next
he struck a mine OF old blotters. The SUM-
ply was something abnormal.
The lowest estimates are that he tooa
three pounds OF old letters out of the desle
All these Joined the litter on the floor untt
the Vice Presidents shoes and legs began
to disappear from view. Next came a loS
of newspaper clippings about the steven
son boom for President Then followed 4
lot OF rubbish from which the Vice Presi.
dent selected a card OF hayseed FRIEND
who called on him last month.
An Undelivered Decision. 4.
The destructive career Of the Vice Prssi,
dent was suddenly checked. From beneath
a mass Of rubbish In one OF the drawerS
Mr.. Stevenson found four or i've pages Of
penciled manuscript which he read and re,
read with evident calmness. Ills elbox
rested on the desk and his head fell into
his hand Rumors as to the contents OF
the manuscript flew through the galleries,
Finally IL was reported with assurance thar
the paper contained a decision on a ques.
ton of order which the Vice President in.
tended to deliver one day last winter. n
was expected 10 be a marvel i'm the way OF
legal disiuisition. But unfortunately the
point OF order was never made, and the de,
cisien was never delivered. The Vice Presi>
dent heaved sigh that was heard through.
cut the galleries, read the manuscript for
the third time and then destroyed IT.
Meanwhile the Senators on the floor wers
amusing themselves within the limits OF
senatorial dignity. The only one whc
seemed uncomfortable was Mr. Lindsay
whose Ss1erous anatomy has been hlled
with diS1ourse for several days. Ii is an
uniortunAts iniLs for a man to Get a speeck
inside OF him In the Senate and then ~
choked on from Its utterSnce. IL is ant tc
lead to severe internal complications In
view OF she fact that the republicans have
lindsay's speech the rotuad statesman from
the blue grass region is not very happy thesa
days under the best of circumstauccs Ths
democrats put their heads together ana
conferred. Senator Faulkner sat an q s.ss~
In the front row and wrote telt,grans ia
absent Senators, urging them 10 return
Occasionally the sergeant-at-arJns .nfersS
The chamber and was Immediately s,rn
rounded by anxious statesmen. whost Gloon,
was increased when he despondInely shoor
his head. S''oS
These conferences took all manner OF eeo.
metric FORM sometimes the Senators wooId
get INTO a solid box. then stretch out IN
straght lines. and at hast they formed 4
circle with Senator Berry I'm the middle and
seemed 10 be enjoying @ game Of congress.
sionai ring round ,he roses" Absence IL
Is said. makes the heart grow foDder. and
the missing Statesmen were ycarned for by
their colleagues on the floor with the ten.
derpess OF a lover.
Meanwhile Mr.. Quay was silent At I2l0
there were "a responses 81 at I2:20. - a
la:22, and then a long wait until L. AZ ,yheH
Mr.. McI.auiin made 50. Chief Clerk TowleG
OF the House Of Representatives was how
ering around the Senate with another med.
sage from the House. but al last he goS
tired aud went back. AT l2:43 Mir. HIN and
FIR nd re1 4