The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-18
DRESS IN THE SENATE.

needed any longer.
DRESS IN THE SENATE.
The frock coat Is the most common
style of dress IN the senate. Almost all
| the older members wear it. Some of
| them have pudgy figures which would
| be lost in the lOng-tailed garment. Vest
! is one Of these. He wears very much
wrfnkled cutaway coat. German wears
| q cutaway fitting his figure trinity.
For an unostentatious man German is
remarkably well dressed. His dress is
| as clean cut and characteristic as his
! profile, and he almost always wears
well brushed silk hat
The last time saw John Sherman at
| the capitol was on inauguration day,
| and he had around his neck a coach
mans collar of fur which stood out like
| a ruff from his thin figure. Mr. Sherman
| is one Of the frock-coated statesmen
whose clothing is always wrinkled and
/ oose-fitting. Senator Allison, on the
! other hand, is always attired in a black
| broadcloth coat which looks as though
! 1T had just come from the hands of his
| tailor. l suspect Mr.. Allison of having
! valet concealed about his bachelor
| home on Vermont avenue. Mr.. Aldrich
| Is in marked contrast with Mr.. Allison.
| He wears a close-fitting cutaWay suit
and looks like what he is-a business
man. Mr.. Morrill,, Of Vermont, wears
|
| His clothing is always we'll fitting and
| neatly kept. He wears his long frock
! coat hanging open. That is point Of
| difference between the senators and the
| justices of the supreme court. The sem
/ ators wear their frock coats unbut-
| toned; the justices, when they are not
in their robes, wear their frock coats
tightly buttoned about them. The frock
| coat is almost as much a uniform as
! the black silk robe with the supreme
| court justice.
! And, by the way one Of the funniest
sights at Washington is the spectacle
! or the justices of the supreme court
! in their silk robes with silk hats on
| their heads, as they are seen on any
! ceremonial occasion when it is neces-
sary for them to pass from one place
! to another.
Most Of the presidents, since long
| trousers came into vogue, have worn
! long frock coats buttoned closely
about them. Mr.. Cleveland always did,
and his portly figure sWelled his coat
out of all graceful proportion. Mr..
/ Harrison did. and the length Of the
I skirts emphasized the SQuatneSS Of his
/ figure. Arthur was very particular
about the set Of his coat. He had his
! clothing made by New York tailor,
and he tried to live up to his reputation
as 1.-The only gentleman who ever sat
in the White house''-a reputation
! predecessors.
Garfield and Hayes wore close fitting
! frock coats which were always tight
| ly buttoned. Lincoln, on the contrary,
wore loose skirted frock coat which
usually hung open. It's looSeness dis
| guiSed in some measure the ScantineSs
| of the presidents figure. President Nc
Kinley wears tight fitting frock coat.
Mr.. Bailey will find a great many
men in both branches of congress who
will sympathize with his objections to
the designations of society-men who
| believe that the duty of a public man
is to his constituents and his country,
! not to the women who give afternoon
| teas and the men who give poker par
| ties. One of these is Senator Frye
who says he despises functions" and
is never so happy as at his summer
! home on Squirrel island, where he can
wear a flannel shirt and loaf and in
vite his soul" But Mr.. Frye has
| dress suit for use when occasion de-
mards it.
BUT THE WEDDING WENT ON.
Another senator, who shall be nameless,
goes to an extreme which Mr.. Bailey may
wisely condemn. He IS out so much at night
that he spends most of the day sleeping on
a couch in his committee room. One Of my
early recollections of Washington is Of a re-
| ception at the White house which this senator
attended with a woman we'll known in social
! Washington. When he came out of the man
sion he was a little uncertain about his
movements and it is not surprising that he
got into the wrong carriage. Slamm!ng the
| door he called to the cOachman to drive
! What he did afterward only person
! knows. But the result of IL was that before
! the carriage had gone dozen yards the door
| flew open and the senator fell out. He found
! his own carriage then and drove home. but
| not before he had attracted the attention of
| some Of his friends. and furnished pleas
! ant story for society to pass around.
My memory goes back again eleven years
| to another White house incident. The presi-
| dent of the United States was to be married.
/ He had hidden only the members Of his cab
| met to the ceremony. One Of them-Mr.
! Garland-begged the president to excuse him
on the plea that he never wore a dress suit
! the plea that young Bailey made when he
called on President Mckinley the other day.
/ President Cleveland urged Mr.. Garland to re-
| consider. He wanted particularly to have all
/ Mr.. Garland was firm. He said he would
not come to the wedding in a frock coat
! and he would not wear a dress coat So the
wedding went without him.
Not long before Jacob T. Child, OF Mis-
| souri,. had been appointed minister to SIAM
/ 1 asked him if he intended to get a dress suit
the accepted court costume Of the American
| diplomat abroad. Mr.. Child said that he did
not. He objected to it solely on the score Of
| economy. He did not propose to spend $40
| or $50 for new suit, and he thought the
! king Of Siam would not care very much
| whether he did or did not. The king OF
/ Siam is coming to America soon. Perhaps
we will learn then just what he did think OF
Mr.. Child and his lack Of ceremony.
/ George Grantham Balm.