The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-12-07
TWAS A VERY WEAK NUMBER
Say the Leading Members From Alabama and the Retir
ing of Greenbacks Will Not Be Accepted Senator
Money Present But Not Sworn In-Gages Re-
commentators For Alabama Rivers.
Special to The Age-Hera1d.

Special to The Age-Herald.
Washington Dec. 6.-The gayel which
the speaker called the house to order
with was presented to him by j. G.
Greenes, sheriff of Knox county Tennes-
see who sent 1T ;he name of the 'stal-
wart republicans of East Tennessee" Tt
was formally presented through H. Gay
Evans the commissioner of pensie MS.
The gavel is made of apple tree wocd,
which grew beside the house in which
Farragut was born. This house stood
at loves Ferry on the Tennessee river,
six miles below Knoxville.
Tom Reed let This gavel fall heavier
than was his wont as ITO warn the MEM
bers of the house that he had not re-
Taxed his grip since the last session.
THE sound was ominous. Even Bailey
and NIcNillin exchanged glances. Joe
Cannon, the dancing sdervish of Danvile,
gave q. sudden start as the gavel fell,
and Bonnet, of Brooklyn, the sportsman
of the house. looked oyer at Mcclellan of
New York, and herd up his hand as If to
say They're off"
Some of the Notable Visitors
Unusual interest marked the opening
of the session. The people off the pave
ment as Talleyrand was won't to cali
them, had crowded the public galleries
long before the hour of assembling. The
reserved seats were filled with beauty
and the wealth of Washington. In the
speakers pew was Mrs R5'ed and her
daughter, Kitty, with number of young
f1fends There VIA salso Mrs. Hit, the
wife of the chairman of the commit ee
on foreign affairs. Mrs. Hjtt is easily dis
tinguishable wherever she appIair+s She
is compa raltively young woman with
hair as white as the driven snow. I'M
enedi ate1y back of her sat Mrs. Bailey,
the wife OF the young and ambitious
leader of the democratic minority. Other
notable women were PR tsent. Mrs. John
"A Logan, who never misses = public af-
fair of amy kind, occupied "a prominent
position in the speakers gallery Under
her chaperonage was the little Cuban,
Mis Cisneros, lately liberated from one
of Weyqers dungeons. The frightened
look had disappeared entirely from her
face, and though understanding English
but little, she took the greatest interest
in the proceedings of the house.
The little Cuban has been placed in a
convent here and there was something
pathetic about her when she said this
morning in broken English: eft is the
greatest cross / have to bear, but Mr..
Journal" she always speaks of Mr.
Hearst as Mr.. Journal, says l must
learn English and music, and whatever
Mr.. Journal says of course 1 will do"
over in the executive gallery were to
be seen a number of new faces. Mrs.
Alger and Mrs. Gary were there, cha
peroning the ten cabinet girls, none Of
whom had ever seen an opening of con-
gress before. Almost Immediately after
the gavel fell, however, they left in or
der to avoid the crush in the corridors
Down ON the floor all was a crush and
a commotion at a comparatively early
hour The members had become ac-
quainted during the extra session, when
many friendships were formed and at
tachments made even among members
of the opposing parties. Among the
three hundred and one members present
there were only about twenty whose
physiognomies were known to the gal
leries. 1t has been said that twenty
men in congress make the laws of the
country. Sometimes there are not that
many. In fact during the last session
responsible for the laws that went on
the statute books and that man was
Tom Reed. But today, while the demo-
Gratis eye the republicans with suspi-
cion, and the republicans in turn size up
the democrats as men about to make
trouble; still the best of humor prevails
among the members as views are ex-
changed.
Well Known Members
Among the first well known members
to arrive was representative Hit, chair
man Of the foreign affairs committee.
He entered from the south door rubbing
his palms together, as If washing his
hands with invisible soap and imper-
ceptible water, a quotation made IA
nous by John ]. ingalls,, in describing
old Senator Joe Brown, Of Georgia. Hit