Omaha daily bee., 1895-11-24
SENATE CHAMBER CHANGES.
New Faces VIII Be Greeted by Rc-
nrrRnHcmcnt of the Eurniturc.

NASflNGTON, NOV. 23.-tSpeCiall-
Strange changes in the familiar senate cham
Der will make themselves felt to the august
senators as they stand up for the chaplain's s
blessing on the I'd day OF December.
Changes that, while not radical, are pervaslve,
and about the only things within the four
walls that have come through the Cleaning
ordeal untouched are the busts of long-for-
gotten vice presidents dimly recessed along
the walls. No such renovations have been
| made since the chamber was first occupied In
1859. Then 1t was one OF the most beautiful
! legislative halls in the world; today 1t de-
serves the same superlative recognition.
All during the recess OF the senate deco
ratoJs, painters, upholsterers and expert
! workers in wood have held high revel in the
: historic chamber with the result that the old
senators will imagine themselves in some
| highly arlstocratic church, while the new
members will look upon the exquisite
traceres over capitals arches. etc. and in
their poetic fancy people the senate again
with the gone heroes who illuminated the
pages of history before they were even
thought of. All the gliding has been gone
! ments have been painted, with the mouldngs
| in light and pretty colors. The old leather
doors leading to the lobby and from the
! lobby to the reception room have been re-
| placed by long plate glass doors, letting in
! light and adding greatly to the apparent
size Of the chamber.
But while these changes bring out all the
architectural beauty of the chamber, the most
| decided change, however, is tin the banish-
mcnt of the incongruous and i'll assorted cane
| backed chairs by means of which number
| of senators had consulted their ease rather
| than the dignity of their surroundings Today
the chair OF immemorial pattern holds court
and of the same size, there is an added dig
nifty about the chamber which is surprising.
| These chairs of dark red leather, together
with the desks Of solid mahogany, present a
picture in the now well lighted and thor
oughy ventilated room of the upper house of
congress.
| 1t would be hard to find more beautiful
| examples Of mahogany than have been put In
the desks, but for thirty-five years it has been
| custom Of incompetent workmen to varnish
| these desks, until about forty layers of sticky
| substance had completely shut out the fine
ness of the woods entering into their con-
struction. Now all these layers Of varnish
have been taken Off by expert workers in
wood and the desks Oiled making wonderful
| change in their richness and beauty suggest
| ing the times of Webster, Calhoun and Clay.
when they occupied these self same desks and
| made the laws Of the state.
The great round brass s-grated fresh air
| ducts, which were on either side of the
chamber In the rear and which have been
taken by visiting members of the house as
| fretwork cuspidors are now covered over
with carpet, beautifully soft to the tread, and
| the stains Of hundred night sessions have
| of green shade have been put down in the
| chamber proper, while red rich velvet orna-
ments the corridor leading into the cloak
room. With these changes the senate cham
Der loses its appalling character and in its
new clothes will invite new thoughts and
| corresponding "perkness" from the senators
| themselves.
CHANGES IN FACES A FEATURE.
These changes in material things will be
accompanied by corresponding changes in the
locations Of the senators. OF the thirty men,
| bers of the senate whose time expired on
| the 4th of March. seventeen failed to return.
Many of these occupied desirable seats. upon
which filings for years have been made by
other senator's, these applications being de-
posted with the doorkeeper. In the failure
of senators holding these seats to be re-
turned other senators now profit through the
whirligig of politics and will drop content
edly into the new positions when the body is
| called to order at noon of the Cd proximo.
| On the republican side the most note
| worthy change is that by which Mr.. PETER
advances to the front line, where his flowing
| beard will no longer annoy those who sat in
| front of him whenever the wind blew. As
| associates he will have Mr.. Quay and Mr.,
| Cameron, who will be the cynosure of all
teyes whsn Mr.. PETER INDUCES in his mo-
notcnous expostions Of popuism Mr.. Gal
| linger has taken the seat once occupied by
aoo and I'D nh that NINaI later knew Ts the still
next the side aisle, reserved for new sena-
| tors, will be occupied by Mr.. Gear, Mr.. Nc
| Bride and Mr.. Butler, the fourth seat being
reserved for Utah senator Mr.. Pritchard
will have Senator Chandler for a companion,
| thus nsuring him chance to be in the
thickest of the fight. Mr. Pettigrew has
| selected a seat between Mr.. Sherman and
Mr.. Wolcott. the tailor-made from Colorado,
and one of the "dandies" of the senate,
Mr.. Dubois will take the place made vacant
| by the patriarch Dolph. General Sewell
] has Mr.. Pefer's old place, Mr.. Wetmore
| will be on Mr.. Davis right and Mr.. Bur-
rows on the left of Minnesotas favorite son,
| the descendant of King Knute, Knuts Mel
| son.
] Mr. Thurston and Mr.. Wilson will be well
| back on the last row, with Elkins, Clark and
| Warren, where they all will be expected to
keep quiet together.
| On the democratic side, Mr.. Hill, of the
bald head. has left his place near the door
| for seat in the second row, that the eyes
of the gallery may continue to be upon him.
| He has taken Populist Aliens old seat, from
which he delivered the ffteen-hour speech,
Mr.. Allen choosing the middle seat in the
| front row, whence Mr.. Coke was wont to
| thunder constitutional law as understood in
| Texas. AS flanks Mr.. Allen will have Mr..
Cockrell on his right and Mr.. Harris on his
| left most uncongenisl pair for populist.
| Mr.. Morgan and Mr.. Gray will continue to
| will attack and the other defend the admin
| istration. Mr.. Walthall becomes heir to the
| commanding place on the middle aisle, where
| sat Mr.. Ransom, who many times and oft
| poured oil on the troubled waters as they
| threatened to break even over the chair OF
| the vice president. Mr.. Murphy goes to the
| third row between Mr.. Faulkner and Mr.
| Smith, the last row being captained by the
veteran Palmer.