The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-08-19
BIG VOICES IN CONGRESS.
Some Great Statesmen who Also Had
Great Vocal Powers.
From the washfn~ton Post.

Some Great Statesmen who Also Had
Great Vocal Powers.
From the Washington Post.
There Is always some one member
OF the house who possesses O voice far
superior in depth and volume to that
OF any of the other members. which
in itself serves to give the member
possessing 1t a certain reputation. In
the present house this voice is possess
ed by Marriott BSosius, of the Tenth
Pennsylvania district. Mr. Brosius has
faculty OF talking 80 loud at times
that the people in the galleries can
not distinguish what he says. An
other Pennsylvania who possessed a
similar powerful voice was the late w.
ID. Kelley, commonly known as "Pig
Iron" Kelley. In his day he held the
voice record against all comers until
Charles H. Van Wyck, of New York,
who was afterward a senator from Ne
braska, appeared on the scene. His
voice was even greater than that Of Mr..
Kelley. Back in the old days the
greatest voice known to congress was
that Of the late William Allen, of
Ohio, whose statue now stands in Stat
uary Hall at the capitol. 1t is told of
Mr.. Allen when he was in the house
before the days of railroads that one
of his colleagues left for his home
in Ohio. The day after he was gone
Allen was lamenting the fact that he
had taken his departure so soon, as
he wanted to consult him about some
measure which had come up suddenly
THAT needn't trouble you, Allen" said
a fellow member. HE has not got
across the Alleghanies yet. Just go
out on the balcony and call him back"
The greatest voice of which there is
any record or tradition about congress
was possessed by George G. Symes, of
Colorado. Symes, who was good
deal of q character, finally committed
suicide. He was an Ohioian by birth,
but served in the Union army through
the war in a Wisconsin regiment, en-
tering as a private and coming out a
colonel. Most Of his life after the war
was spent in the west in the Rocky
mountain region. From 1874 he made
his home in Denver. Colo. He was a
lawyer by profession and an orator
noted for his great voice. Compared
with 1t the below Of "the Bull of
Basham" was a gentle murmur. 1t
was deep. heavy bass, proceeding
seemingly from cavernous depths.
Asked one day about the reputation his
voice had given him, he replied
well, I'll tell you about it," and the
words rolled out of his deepest, heavi-
est bass. You see I was out cam
paigning. 1 was addressing q Repub-
lican audience at Silverton. Over at
Oroville, twenty miles distant, the
Democrats were holding a meeting.
Along about o'clock there came up one
of the awful storms which occur in
that mountain country. The wind
howled like a million devils. 1t was
especially bad at Oroville. The people
showed signs of alarm, and acted as If
they wanted to break up the meet
ing and leave the hall. The chairman,
becoming anxious. arose to reassure
them. Ladies and gentlemen he said,
do not be alarmed. There is a Re-
publican meeting over at Silverton,
and George Symes is addressing it.
He has Just como to that portion of his
speech where he denounces the Mills
tariff bill, and the noise you hear Is the
indistinct rumbling Of his voice."