The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-10-03

l
membs of the Senate always pointed
out to tourists by the guides as among
the men worth seeing in the Senate
MT. Payne rarely spoke; In fact, it Is
not recalled just now that he ever made
speech OF any length or Importance,
though it is recalled that on one ocos-
sion, after having given notice that he
would address the Senate. and having
thus obtained an excellent audience, the
venerable Senator arose in his seat, and
after looking around at his colleagues for
moment, sat down again without ut
tering word, with the pleased air ola
man who has worked of q joke on his
friends. Mr.. Payne was one Of the
Sights" because he was at his time
pointed out as the richest man in che
Senate. and guides told with ahHted
breath of the inoonceivahle millions
which he controlled, explaining that an
presidents of the Standard Oil Company
he was the modern Monte Cristo.
To daily habitues of the Senate gallery
Mr.. Payne was interesting because of an
odd trick he had of chewing string.
He always carried in his vest pocket q
piece Of cotton Irvine about half a yard
long. He was very regular in his attend.
anoe on the sessions. and no mattery how
dreary the speaking Mr.. Payne was
manfully sitting in his seat listening ap-
parently with rapt attention. But when
ever he sat thus absorbed he would un.
consciously pull his cotton string out of
his pocket, and, putting one end in his
mouth, he would hold the other end of
the string in his left hand, and after
stretching it out to its full length, he
would gradually begin feeding 1t into his
mouth until it was all gone, like
young girl chewing piece of gum. Then
after he had masticated it for few
moments he would reverse the process
and gradually, unfeed the string again.
until he held only the end of it between
his teeth after which he would again
resume feeding it into his IN outb. Mir
Payne did this little act In absolute un
consciousness. None of the Senators e.4r
allied his attention to it, though toe
all noticed it, and Senator Payne anu
his string were rs we'll recognized as ssi,a
of the Institutions of the State, as Ssra-
| tor Wilson of Maryland and his snuff
box.
Mr.. Payne was not the only member
the unconscious victim of an uncontrol-
| able habit. Mr.. Reagan, of Texas, was
another man given TO petty pe,uliarities.
| One of Mr.. Reagan's great tricks WAS
the making Of "cat hddles.' or scat
cradles. ALL day long the great ex-
Postmaster General Of the Coufederacy
would sit In his seat making the most
| complicated devices with long string,
! the ends tied to his fingers end, to an
observer In the gallery it would appear
as though the whole weight Of ibis great
intellect was devoted solely TO the propex
manipulation Of the strings on his I'm
gers. Mr.. Reagan had another babit
which was intensely. annoying to the men
whose duty it Is to clean up the Senate
floor every afternoon. Every card that
was brought to him the Senator would
fold in the middle with mathematical
precision. tear into in two parts, and
thus keep on dismemb ering the card I'M
til he held it in his hand lot Of infini-
testmal scraps, which he would then
blow out into space with a mighty puff
Of his lungs, producing an effect some.
hingt like the snowstoYm that enyelops
the fOrlOrn heroine ous on the prairie
in the modern realistic drama. Anoth-
or popularity OF the Senator was an an
noyanoe to some OF his superstitious COL
leagues. He had great way Of selsct-
Ing any seat on the Democratic side, pro-
vided that 1t was not his own. When.
ever Democratic Senator was siok Mr..
Reagan invariably appropriated his
| chaiz, and ns during the course Of his
long career In the Senate number of
his colleagues died, Mr.: Reagan began
to be looked upon as 'hoodoo" for any
sick Senator whose chair he would ap-
propriate. 1t is we'll understood that on
one occasion, when Senator Vance was
sick, he wrote up to Senator Pasco, who
arranRes the pairs for absent Senators,
telling him that he was sick, and adding
pathetioally, "For Gods sake, don's leG
old Reagan have my chair" Senator
Vanoe's cnair was taken out uf the Sem
ate chamber.
Senator Edmunds's great fashion of
twirling his thumbs still clings to him,
aud even now, when he sits in the Sa-
preme Conrt chamber waiting to ad-
invariabls habit to twirl one thumb
around the other. The great Vermont
statesman hos acquired an accomplish
ment, however that few thumb twirlers
can achieve. Mr.. Edmunds can twiddle
one thumb from right to left and the
other one from left to right. This is no
mean achievement.
Senator Hears trick of swinging his
Keys by the key chain can be seen every
day In the Senate. Mr.. Hoar's seat is
next to Senator Sherman, and as his en-
joyment of swinging his keys increases
he increases the length of the chain ra-
dius of his CIRCLE, SO that Mr. Sherman
frequently finds it desirabl to move his
chair away from the circle of influence
of his Massachusetts neigh Dor. MIR. Hoar
ls about the last of the SENATOR with u
habit. New men are coming into the
Senate who wear short coats and silk
hats. Their manners are free and easy,
and they ale not above comm enting on
the idiosyncrneies of their venerable
colleagues, with the result that these
elderly gentlemen are ali curing them-
selves of whatever little habit of that
kind tn hich Ihav haWa baay, ad1foSod