The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-13
written for the Sunday STANDARD.

Written for the Sunday Standard.
Washington. ID. c., Nov. S.-This is
Uncle Sans ANNUAL house-cleaning. A
little army of workers are busy as bees.
unrolling congressional carpets. shak-
ing congressional portieres and irrev-
erently beating the seats of congress
sional chairs. Janitor III. c. Water
house of the house of representatives
comes from the little extreme upper
ri%ght-hand corner of the United States.
where cleanliness is accounted one
with Goodness. His duty is to see that
the benches are all in good condition.
the members desks re-varnished, and
the brass ratings polished like mir
ros. Visitors to the capitol during Un-
Gle Sans cleaning season, who are IA
miliar with the house n senate in
their normal condition, would be thor
oughly disenchanted could they see
those dignihed halls in their present
state. Stripped of their glory, their car
pets, their green baiZe covers and their
famous occupants. they present a scene
of devastation and desolation, i'm live
" contrast to their characteristic air
of hubbub and excitement.
Everything movable has been taken
from the house, even to the very hands
of the clock which ticks above the
speakers desk. The place looks as If
il had Just gone through a grand dis
robing scene. Speaker Reeds desk is a
sight TO make angels weep. 1t stands
a silent monumen in the midst of the
surrounding ~wreckage: as smooth, ex-
pansive and memorable as the speaker
himself. George Washington and Cen
eral Lafayette. a little dusty about the
coat-tails and the nose. respectively.
glance deprecatingly from their frames
at the massive marble edihce. Small
boys scale it's dizzy heights; fippant
brides pose in its huge c~revices and
peep saucily at their spouses over its
massive top: camera fiends level their
instruments boldly at its broad sides,
and one little red-cheeked urchin was
caught pounding vigorously upon its
green baize cover. with a pair of iron
skates, supremely happy in the excite
ment OF playing at making laws
The clock above the speakers desk
looks as though time itself la ceased
with the speakers hammer and the
flow OF last springs eloquence. Around
the walls, the famous paintings have
been left hanging; but the floors are
bare and dusty and rise in semi-circu-
lar tiers of rough and unstained planks.
The very registers are getting ruty
round the edges: and the faithful old
s%pittoons, all bearing traces of tobacco
Juice, look lonesome for want of being
used. The committee rooms. where,
during the winter COY little log-fires
burn and friendly members gather TO
sit and smoke and tell funny stories.
have been transformed into political
waste baskets. and made receptacles
for the trash of ages.
Up in the galleries. all is dust and
confusion. Great heaps OF books, mys-
teriously done up in brown paper par
GELS. are piled on floors and benches.
Tables. chairs and ladders. lying just
where they landed when the last ir-
reverent hand tossed them into this
~off-season catch ALL" lie around the
members gallery. Planks, sawdust.
paint pots. and oil cans are scattered
about indiscriminately; and he walls
and ceilings. that only a few short
months ago resounded to the wild ap-
plause of an enthusiastic multitude.
now echo sadly to the tap tap OF the
| carpenters hammer and his usual rem
dition of Break IL gently to mother
as he pursues his lonesome task.
Outside II the lobby all is chaos.
Chairs. desks and wastepaper baskets
| are huddled together in dark corners
Party distinction and personal differ
| ences are lost sight OF. The desk of
Mr.. Bailey of Texas hugs lovingly that
of Mr.. Grosvenor of Ohio. Desks of
| redhot democrats perch triumphantly
astride the desks of hard-headed repub-
| licans and vice versa: while those be-
longing 10 members Of the same party
| are placed with their legs In good kick
ing pastures toward n another.
Mr.. Moneys desk is making love to
| that of Mr.. Moody OF Massachusetts,
| while sockless Jerry Simpsons stands
| with it's toes turned roofwards. "Cy'
| SulIoway OF New Hampshire. the tai
| pine lies prostrate: while James Ham
ilton Lewis. the picturesque. in a state
| OF mild intoxication. stands indecor-
| ously on n leg. sans all exquisite
moss The desks Of Governor Dingley
| and Long Jim" Richardson clinch as
usual, over a point OF order: and the
| desk of Gen. Joe Wheeler eallops
gracefully around a gilded pillar II
true cavalry fashion On top OF thc