The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-25
SNAP SHOTS AT STATESMEN.
Pen Pictures of the Lives of Legisla'
tors at the Capitol.

IOIB db inc OhpALol.
Washington Letter In Philadelphia Times
The saying that mo man is a hero to
his valet" is an apt way of expressing the
fact that when we penetrate the divinity
that doth hedge about a king we gener-
ally find our ideals shattered-our hopes
doomed to disappointment.
In nine cases out of ten that is true,
and for perfectly obvious reason. We
are apt TO clothe all who possess genius
or unusual prominence in extraordinary
attributes and imagine they are not sub
ject to the laws and necessities that
govern ordinary mortals. Who could
picture Shakespeare as rising in his
wrath and an old night shirt and hurting
epithets and bootacks at some feline
songstress on the back fence2 Or who
would think the GLORIOUS Sorceress of
the Nile" ever had to minister a spanking
and a dose OF paregoric to a squalling in
FAINT of the Pharaohsl Any one who did
such q thing would simply be an icono-
clast ignoring life's pleasantest proprie-
ties and deserving no respect from de-
cent people.
Our famous men of to-day, we imagine,
are all possessing remarkable and pecu-
liar traits. And not having any royalty
about whom we can excite our curiosity,
we substitute our politicians and love to
hear the details of their daily lives. Per-
haps if studied up carefully, as one can
do in the shadow of the capitol, the halo
of political fame scarcely compensates for
the drudgery and annoyances of our
statesmen.
THE PEST OF oFFICE-sEEKERs.
The greatest trouble with which our
represeE tatiVeS have to contend is the
multitude of office-seekers that besieges
them, imagining that at Uncle Sans
~ 1pla bGa pd fbarn ie a w We fot
more hungry mouth. There are hun
dreds of olt1ce-seeking letters coming by
every mail from far of and poverty
stricken constituents But the senator's
and congressman from the states border
ing on the district have the hardest time
of all. Their begging friends come in at
all hours and at all times, aud the weary
representative is forced to make the
rounds of the departments at their re-
quest in search Of vacant place. And
sometimes such n gang of place-wanters
meets him at the train that he is almost
torn to pieces in their hands.
But the hotel Hobbies are the haunts
where they mostly congregate, and here
the politicians, successful and unsuccess-
full, are in their glory. Here we see the
lashy sport from the haunts of the Tam
many tiger. the rough-and-ready west
erner 'out Of job" and the colonel from
the south who has not yet realized that
the war is really over at last. All are
equally long wiuded on the tariff and
equally shortened in regard to raising
the wind"
Strange to say, most of the congress
men live in hotels and boarding houses
There are 356 representatives and four
delegates in congress and of this number
at least two-Ihirds have no homes of their
own. The expense Of renting and furnish
ing house for few seasons only is one
that most men do not care to incur And
many congressman not only live in hotels,
but at least half of them are unattended
by their wives.
LIVING IN HOTELS.
OF the eighty-five senators in Washing
ton thirty-tive live in hotels and many of
the others are at boarding houses, though
there are more homes owned by senators
than by congressman. Senator Dolph
has a handsome house on Lafayette
square, and just diagOnally across is
Brice's palatial mansion, while other
members Of the American house Of lords
are possessors of fine dwellings in which
they entertain their friends.
Though IL is Lent, the observance of a !
fast or abstinence is mostly confined to
the feminine members of the households
Of our statesmen And up in the big |
Senate kitchen the chief and his assist |
ants are as busily preparing dainties TO
tickle epicurean palates as II IL were |
Christmas week And in spite of the
fact that diamond back terrapin are $50 a
dozen there are plenty of senators who
pay that price and wash them down with
Mumm's extra dry.
Don Cameron is not only good lunch
giver, but he knows how 10 order dishes
that will please the inner man, and he
likes calves liver and bacon and chatting
dish stew washed down with champagne.