Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-15

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" II III ted to call up bill,
10 oner an ailcndment to q pending bill,
or to make motion of whatever sort.
Besides this, much has to be done by
unanimous consent that any one member
may cut any other member off from per-
maps the only chance he has of securing
acton on measure. Under such condi-
tons personal popularity counts for much.
To be always entertaining is to be popu-
lar i'll Congress. The man who is not so
has to fight his way. or fail.
Ore reason that Hill of New York, II
spite of frequent demonstrations of ability
Is not stronger i'll the Senate is that he
does not know 10 y TO be sociahIe in the
way that his associates understand it. He
never talks anything bat shop, and that Is
politics. lie can talk entertainingly and
.nstructiveiy on that topic, but that is not
being sociable In the great senatorial
club lie is not "clulabie" man. AS he
appears on the floor of the Senate, so he
s II the cloak room, a table, in the street
cars. III the hotel lobby. or in his private
apartments. He has nc small talk nor
stories. Therefore he has no boon COM
panions; is never tie center of a socah!e
group in the cloak room. He is free
frank and fluent talkcr. but his CONVERSE
amusing and witty. Newspa per men like
to talk with him. and his colleagues often
consult him about political matters, but in
neither case is 1t social attraction.
i Gifted Conv@rsa:iouaiist.
Morgan of Alabama IS neither cloak
room wit nor story teller, but he IS
gifted conversaGorali-t His reading has
been volur1nous and over a wide range OF
subjects. He has a good imdgina ton, a
taste for the poetic and fanc:ful a tendency
| TO be philosophical, and is interested In
small things well as in large. Most any
EuhJect that $ suggested may lead him int
an interesting coaEtrSati5n. He is enter
tanning, without being sp:ighty in any
way lively, commonly grave but often fan
ci.Gl. v hatever tie subject ne treats il
from his own pa rt!clIislr standpoint, ana
takes 1t oIt OF the realm OF the common
place.
Mills of TeNa is somewhat like Hi! in
MS inability u get down to gossip, story
telling and small talk. He dos not talk
politics in the way Hill does, but as inter
asted IN the theories and principles of gov
eminent. It IS only on an occasion that
| this sort of talk is of interest in the cloak
| room or lobby.
| Two Cloak Room Magnets.
1t is not always the sparkling wit, the
| boisterous, jolly fellow who draws most Of
his colleagues around him by hi; converse
| ton. Two of the most Deliberate slow
| moving and slow-speakfng mon IN Congress
are seldom without company, whether on
|
| lobby. One of these is a member of the
| House-Culberson of Texas. The other Is
| Senator Plgh of Alabama. Nobody thinks
| Of their having a reputation as conversa-
| tioralists. The first suggestion of such a
thing would cause surprise. Yet, without
it being thought of at all, a little circle
| gathers around them wherever they hap
pen to be.
Pugh is a plain, rugged old man who let's
his words out one at time, almost reluct-
antly. in heavy, drawing voice. The
thought Of being either entertaining or i'm
| pressive seems remote from his mind. His
| manner is like that of an oil countrymau,
| who sits on the handle of his pillow and
| talks about the crops, while his horses
| stretch their necks to reach the overhang-
ing boush at the fence corner Originality
of thought, frmness of conviction and a
quaint, rugged sort of philosophy are the
chief characteristics of his conversation.
| His wit or repartee is slow of utterance,
| like that Of suffering man, and he
makes no point of it, His stories and de-
scriptions of persons are often peculiarly
| pointed but 1t is doubtful If A man on
| morous. Vanity of any sort seems utterly
foreign to his nature. His speech, like his
dress, is plain.
CulbersOn's Charm.
| Culberson is one of those men who seem
rot to talk at ALL but yet entertaining
enough to be the central figure of q group
If he simply thinks and chuckles softly to
himself, The group is intensely. interested
and entertained. If he does not speak more
than once in five minutes, they gather
around him. He makes no pretentions to
wit There seems to be some intellectual
delight in watching him think and seeing
his eyes twinkle. For many years he has
been the fountain of wisdom for very
| large circle of men in both parties, who
have enjoyed some prominence; yet he
| never has tried to impress himself upon the
House. He is the constructor of most OF
the effective political traps that have been
set by his party in the. House during his
| time, but they have never borne his trade.
mark, and he is the unsupported author OF
| nne-tenths of the clever practical jokes
| He suggests to others and has no pride OF
authorship He has a thoughtful, almost
abstra cted manner in conversation, anG
speaks i'll low tone. His conversation has
a saunterihe. longing style. He is full Of
| bright ideas, quaint insinuations ard para
| doXes. To the casual observer he is a big
plain, shaggy man. From under his shaggy
| brow his keen eyes catch everything. He i!
a student of men, and none OF their foible:
escape him. The stories h tells relate t.
| these foibies. In the seeming most uncon
scious way he is d car.caturist of men. HI
applies; the y ray and gets n picture o.
| what is hidden, and then gives the subiec
a glimpse of the picture at an unexpected
moment. He is quet. cunning and good
naturcd.
senator Vest of Missouri is sharp caustic
critical, epigramrlatic eloquent ana Otter
humorous He is a good story teller {
''clubable fellow in the senatorial sense
he is characteristic hahitue of the cloal
room. He would rather he regarded as di
rect than as polished or amiable, and Their
is certain brusqueness about his hume
and repartee. He is a good talker on mos
any occasion. but best OF all in the cloal
room.
, There has been no striking deveiopmen
: OF purely funny man in this Congress
Even John Allen, who has been making
; an unsuccessful effort to reach senatorial
l dignity, has not had nluch to say &
usual. There are some Of talent in a h,l
norous way, but there has not been nue.
de mand for wares of that sort.
; All Are Good Company.
3 Dolliver of Iowa is 81 good story telle
{ and bright, jovial fellow. He is a lively
J sprightly conversationalist, of Il give-and
take, hit-or-nlss sort. seeing always tn
| light side Of things and making peopl
| laugh from sheer good nature. In tn
cloak room, or as an after-dinner speaker
without being funny man, he eXcites az
e piaUse End nerrinient He has a sum
g face, pleasing manner and quick wi
Senator Proctor is the sort OF man VIII
is called good company" He is an enter
tanning tall1er, with an air of half serious
S ness, half jest. There is quaint, ole
I.