The herald., 1896-12-15
purest alabaster-the most magnificen

purest alabaster-the most magnificent
building of it's kind in the world.
Inside of the capitol the same old
crowd of former years, or one just like
1t, packed every available fnch--fa-
miliar greatness, clothed in Importance
and spick and span attire, and newer
legislators obviously oppressed by the
conviction that the gaze of an admiring
world is centered upon them; the noble
army of majaws, jedges and other to-
bacco eXpectorating gentlemen, for
whose convenience a vast array of GUS
pdors has been vainly set; ubiquitous
reporters; lobbyists, male and female,
buttonholing congressman with perse-
verance worthy a righteous cause:
seedy men with long-pending claims to
urge; sadfaced women, entreating ''ap-
pointments" by which to earn their chill
dren's daily bread. and women galore
whose painted cheeks and amorous eyes
tell other tales. There are few places
in Washington from which the Scarlet
Woman" is officially debarred, but there
is no law to restrain her from plying
her trade openly in the nations capitol
where, perhaps, the scarlet man is not
a stranger.
An hour of gay greetings, of pushing
and jamming and elbowing for admis-
sion to the galleries, of animated scenes
on the floor of the house and senate, of
noisy demonstrations on the entrance
of particularly prominent statesmen, the
buzz and hustle which mark the en-
trance of social lights to the reserve
galleries, and then the drop of the gavel
at precisely II meridian announced the
opening of the second session of the
Fifty-fourth congress. AT the same mo-
ment the judges, in their long black
gowns filed solmenly into the old senate
chamber-now the supreme court room
I
cred to the shades of Webster, Calhoun,
Clay and host of illustrious dead which
one enters for the first time With that
feeling strong upon him, Take thy shoes
from off thy feet. for the place whereon
thou standest is holy ground!" But.
alas. there is not much holy ground"
nowadays beneath the colossal Goddess
of Liberty. In fact there is rather too
much liberty of various sorts. One is
not surprised to learn that the bronze
goddess aforesaid is twenty feet high
and weighs IA ,965 pounds, and that she
is not more empty Of heart and brazen
of cheek than many who walk in her
shadow.
Every day the opening and closing of
both houses of congress is heralded by
the prompt raising ard lowering of
flags upon the roof of either wing; and
when there is a night session, the cleo
trio light aloft in the dome is plainly
visible all over the District of Columbia
ard in the adjacent states of Maryland
and Virginia.
There is never much business accom-
plished on opening day beyond the regu-
lar ceremonies attending the beginning
of a session. and the receptior~of the
presidents annual communication to
congress When the last session closed
there were two vacarcies in the house
by death, and since then Speaker Crisp
has gone over to the great majority.
Therefore, the first thing to be done
after the fall of the gavel was to swear
in the new members. Mr.. Charles Crisp
will succeed his father, but his election
will not occur until next week. Mr..
William Stokes of South Carolina and
Mr. C. !. Boatner of Louisiana came up
and said their "cuss words" but neither
took what is konwn as the ironclad