Evening star., 1896-01-11
SEEN At THE CAPITOL

that loomed on their bewildered gaze AS
they emerged from behind the huge screen
which keeps the draughts from getting full
sweep on the grave judicial gentlemen in
black silk Mother Hubbards they saw the
grim muzzle of a Calling gun, or mi
trailleuse, or some other murderous end
of-the-century invention staring them in
the face They got away from in front of
1t quicker t',an scat, too Looks of fear
gave place to surprise, and then inquiry, as
they glanced from gun to the bench, where
the men Of judicial mind sat, calmly OBJ
livious, apparently, of the warlike appear
rance of the historic chamber.
The first thought of The Star reporter
was that Mr. Justice Brewer, out of "emi-
nent precaution," was getting ready to sit
In judgment on the Venezuelan question,
cies iii case England should undertake to
burn the Capitol or invade its sacred pre-
cincts with force of armed men. But
the justice sat there, so calmly contempla-
tive, that that idea had to be abandoned.
Then, in the dim light, the big screen be-
gan to assume armor plate proportions,
and The Star reporter had to poke 1t siyiy
to make sure that its soft surface wasn't
contemplation. That action brought
sable attendant hustling along to prevent
such desecratiOn.
What is that business, anyhow, and
AOSoSAoAA
fired at the functionary. as he gently but
urgently intimated that The Star reporter
must certainly sit down or get out.
Deed. miss it amt nothin' but gun
that man has sent up here to let the
cou't see If it amt the best thing to use If
we has anothah wah!'
In feet, it is gun that two men are
quarreling about both claiming to have in
vented a turn-table or something that the
government is using. 1t is placed in the
court room, where the Supreme Court
judges, who are, of course, up on all ord
nance, can see the thing work when the
case comes up. If some blooming London
newspaper reporter should stumble In
there accidentally, wouldn't he have
bloody tale of horror to send back about
the bristling armament that surrounds the
chairman of the Venezuelan commission,
who is in fear for his life?'
* x *
The chair of Kicker Kilgore of the
Fifty-third Congress Is now occupied by
Judge Miller of Kansas. He is one Of the
youngest-looking and mildest-mannered
men on the floor. but he has quite as much
force of character as the gentleman from
Texas, though it does not lie In his boot
heels Judge Miller is the Kansas man
whose vote defeated the election OF the
Rev. Mr.. Fisher of Kansas for chaplain OF
the House. He Is Yankee, Maine Yam
kee, If you please. and his tenacity OF pur.
pose is as tough as one of the big pines of
his native state.
X X 4
Speaker Reeds manner Of asking the
chaplain to invoke the Divine blessing Is
somewhat odd. His voice loses its sharp
nasal twang and lowers to a deep bass. that
is not natural at all. 1t makes one think
a prayer himself that would be worth lis
teninE TO. i
X X X X
Every woman who visits the Senate spies
Brices carnation, and Immediately begins
to wonder where ne gets the superb bios
SONS. They are twice as large as anything
that can be bought at florists. and it must
eating.
X X X **
It is said that Yankee doesn't know the
letter "a" at the end Of a word, but always
turns it into ''er." Speaker Reed goes one
better on some words. For instance, Iowa
gets to be 'Ioway" at his hands, with the
accent on the last syllable. Mr.. Crisp al
ways says Iowa." with the accent on the
second letter. hence it Is that neither Of the
gentlemen get 1t right 1t Is
an Indian name, and should be pronounc ced
"I-o-wah," with the accent on the first
syllable.
The Senate sofas are splendid loaf1ng
places, and some Of the new members know
it. One came over from the House the 9TH
er day, and deposited his manly form at full
length on one Of them, as he has a habit
Of doing in the House, and was soon fast
asleep, under the soporific influence Of Sena-
tor Stewards silver accents. The attend
ants Of the Senate eyed him askauce, but
did not disturb him till a resounding snore
slammed up against the sleepy air, and then
the new member was yanxed out of dream
land with violence that broke second
snore spang in the middle like a firecracker
that gets tired wnen. only half exploded
and the attendant showed him into a cloak
room to recover his breath.
y y X
Senator Sherman and Senator Morrill,
cling to the old style of many plated shirt
bosoms with very little starch in them.
They are the only man In the Senate who
dc. Senator Sherman comedies little Of
his old-fashtoned taste, and wears stand
ing collar with turned-back points, but he
wears good-sized ties almost like the
half a century ago. Senator Morrill, wears
black string tie.
X X X
''The third justice from the corner has a
face such as you only see in these days on
old Roman coins and medalhons," said a
lady who was visiting the Supreme Court
room for the first time on Wednesday. She
was referring to Justice Brewer, who has
just been appointed on the Venezuelan
commission. Senator PETER ought to take
heed or the improvement that "clean
shave has made q the distinguished jurist
from his own state.
X X X X X
A member of the finance committee has
congratulated himself until recently upon
the efficiency Of his private secretary, who
the Senator considers perfect genius when
it comes to the matter Of handling a large
mail and extracting therefrom those things
necessary for his immediate personal con-
sideration. The secretary opens all Of the
Senator's mail, personal and otherwise ex-
cept certain letters which he is instructed
about Those that he has any doubt about
he Is supposed to look at the heading and
the signature and Judge Of its privacy
without reading. It IS on his ability in this
line that the Senator has boasted.
The Senator's mail has been very heavy
recently, owing to the tariff and other mat
ters being under consideration by the
finance committee, Of which he is a men,
Der. 1t Is quite an unusual thing for the
secretary to make a mistake, but Of all he
ever did make, his latest will serve to de-
tract from any glory he may have won in
this line. and it takes the premium. His
employer was late in arriving at the CAPITOL
the other morning and instead of going to