Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-04-04
WASHINGTON LETTER
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE.

pressible fighter on the floor of the
House-a regular bull-terrier in dis
position. Grusvenor never gets up
to speak without batting somebody
into scrapping match. He is II
sure provocative of a quarrel, and
there is nothing he enjoys 80 much as
getting an under-cut on too previous
democrat. He is criminal lawyer
said to be the best ut the Ohio bar
and his method of debate shows it;
for every thing he says is suggestive
of the court room, and OF scraps be.
tween rival counsel. I don't know
inst how close Grosvenor is to Nc.
Kinley, but he certainly does all the
Ohio candidates talking in Washing
ton, and if Mckinley is elected he
ought to get something pretty good.
BUrToNs AND BADaEs-The air Of
Washington is fairly alive with buttons
and badges. Reed and Allison but
tons have been out for some time, and
now Quay has put in au order for
500, 900 Quay buttons which are ex-
pected to blossom almost every day.
But the buttons distributed by the
friends of Cuba Libre are more in
evidence than any others. Some of
these are in the shape OF miniature
flags, with the lone star of Cuba, and
others are bronze with the words
"Cuba Libre" in relief. Many mem
bers of the House wear them, and
there are very few hangers-on about
the Capitol who haven't been deco
rated.
A CoMGcAL LOOKING Fellow Con
nelly of Illinois, who succeeds the
bouncing Springer, is n comical.look'
ing little fellow. If he were three
times as large he would look like Steve
Elkins, but, being d;minutive, he re-
minds one of csricature of the West
Virginia statesman. Connolly is one
of the brightest of the new men in
the House. He is one OF the very
best lawyers in Congress-, and he talks
with common sense, and with homely
directness that gives him a great deal
of weight Springer was never noted
for his convincing powers in debate,
but that seems to be Connelly's forte.
If he stays in Congrass long enough
he will rank very high, indeed.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. ollum
is one of the most approachable of the
numerous candidates for president
who infest the CIpitoI. He jokes
about his candidacy as though it be-
longed to some other fellow, and
apparently is not losing much sleep
on account OF it. Stranger things
have happened than that Cullom
should be chosen at st. Louis, for he
is a western man who would be en-
tirely acceptable to the East, and he
is personally very popular with the
the men who make presidents; but he
Is sensible enough to understand that
If the nomination comes to him it will
be on account of some combination
of circumstances which has not
yet arisen, and in the mean
time lie is at liberty to act
just like an ordinary everyday SEN
ator who never expects to be anything
else. Allison doesn't seem to be
anxious, either. He moves about the
Senate chamber as noiseessly as ever,
wraps his arm as contidingly about the
younger fellows shoulders and seems
to act, as always, in the capacity Of
universal adviser and friend. Allison
hasn't IN ll-wisher in the Senate, and
he never had one. He doesn't say a
great deal, unless an appropriation bill
is up and he has to explain something
about it, and it is noticed that thus far
lie has had almost nothing to say even
about the appropriations. There is
general suspicion that Quay is groom.
ing Allison, and that the Iowa man is
acting under the Pennsylvanian's adj
vice.
No PATIENcE-Cockrell of Missouri
is the least patient man i'll the Senate.
He snarls aud storms if there is the
slightest delay in anything with which
he is concerned, and when things don't
go to suit him, he makes life burden
for everybody. There is an elevator
in the Senate wing which is devoted
exclusively to the uses of senators and
newspaper men. and in which senators
have this advantage-that when one
of them steps in, the elevator goes
promptly up or down as he desires,
without regard to the dest nation of
anybody else aboard. The ar
rangement has its disadvantages,
for occasionally senator gets
caught in the gallery Just as Call
OF Morgan or Stewart takes the floor,
and then he is compelled to wait pa
tiently five or ten minutes while the
steady stream progresses from the
Senate floor to the restaurant in the
basement. Most of them take their
medicine without wry faces, but Cock
rell is an exception. He keeps the
bell ringing continuously, persistently
and viciously till the car responds,
and then he takes his place with face
as sour as Missouri apples. The ele-
vator men are all on to him, and they
can invariably detect the first touch of
the "Cockrell ring.
WILSON CATCHING ON-Wilson of
Washington is catching on about as
handily as any of the newer crop of
senator's. He is one Of the shrewdest
and quickest of them, and he has a
way of capturing things he wants that
makes some of the older men green
with envy. Wilson comes from a
family OF brainy men. His father was
u member of Congress from Indians
back in war times, and Dan Voorhees,,
who ran against him then and who
met him often in court, says he was
tho best lawyer Indiana ever pro-
duced, and was only 40 when no died.
Some time ago Chicago paper
offered prizes ranging from $40, 900
1o,r,, Coz kho koek o,s,:ro1 - D