The sun., 1898-03-13
WASHINGTON LETTER.
a Mameless Portrait No Longer Name
less -Turnsd the Laugh on Himself.
Louisiana's Centennial.
Especial Correspondence.l


The Post stated some weeks ago that
there was an unknown portrait in the
gallery Of the rear lobby, hanging near
the portrait Of Speaker Reed, the name
having long been lost. Mr.. Russell has
ascertained, after considerable research,
! that the speaker portrayed there is Hon.
John W. Taylor of New York Mr..
Taylor succeeded Henry Clay rs speaker
in the last half Of the Sixteenth con.
gress and was again elected speaker of
/ the Nineteenth congress-
The dark, high coat, stock and light
vest, which was the dress of that pc.
riod, seem to identify the portrait be-
yond question. 1t is the only portrait
in the gallery whose name is unknown,
and the only other speaker Of the house
not represented is Nathaniel Macon Of
North Carolina who presided over the
Seventh, Eighth and Ninth congresses.
But the dress of Speaker Macon period
was distinctly colonial.
With Cues and Frilled Shirt.
The portraits Of other speakers Of Mr..
Macon time snow the subjects with
cues and trjlled shirt fronts. Jon
athan Dayton of New Jersey, who was
speaker Of the Fourth and Fifth con-
gresses, and Theodore Sedgwick who
was speaker Of the Sixth congress, are
both painted in colonial costume. That
was at the close Of the last century and
at the beginning of the present one,
/ when statesmen and other gen,lrnen
dressed in colonial style. On tn" other
speaker. fashions for gentlemen h.ti
( changed. Additional proof of this is
shown by the portrait of Philip b
Barbour of Virginia, speaker of the
Seventeenth congress, which represents
him in high, dark coat, stock and white
vest.
Mr.. Russell's conclusions concerning
the identity of the portrait are substan-
tiated by Captain Howard Kennedy, the
! veteran guide at the capitol, who told u
/ Post reporter that granddaughter Of
Mr.. Taylor recently visited here and
said that the portrait in the gallery re-
sembed other portraits in possession of
her family. Mr.. Russell will endeavOr
to secure portrait of former Speaker
Macon of North Carolina, after which
he proposes to arrange the portraits in
chronological order.
, Turned the Laugh on Himself.
boz i,,n dad
ment turned II laugh upon himself re.
Gently in the senate while arguing the
case of Mr.. Corbett. who wants a seat
in the senate from Oregon. The senator
was discussing the legal aspect of tho
case with great gravity and proceeded
to cite some Ohio decisions to substan.
tiate his statements. In referring to one
of these decisions he explained that it
was delivered by Justice White Of the
state bench, Il man who was held in
high esteem in his day The senior sen.
ator from the Buckeye State paid high
tribute to the Ohio jurist, and reverting
to the decision added, at was a unani
nous decision, saving Mr. Justice Gil
more, who, think, was the only Dem
ocrat Oh the bench.
A smile went around the senate when
by this statement the decision was rec.
ognized as a partisan one.
The Louisiana Centennial.
IL am very much interested y said
Representative Bartholdt Of st. Louis
the other day, lin the proposition to
celebrate the centennial of the L,uisi.
ana purchase which Will occur in 1903.
Although the exposition, which Is pro-
posed as a fitting memorial, is yet five
years distant, we have not STATED too
soon, because we intend to rival, and,
in fact, excel, anything ever seen Oh
this continent. The Louisiana purchase
added to the domain of the United
States all the country west uf the Mis-
sissippi, with the exception of what was
atterward acquired through Spanish
grant.
I ".All the states which are now in.
Gluded in this great territory will work
energetically and heartily to make the
exposition u success, and do not know
of any event in our history which is
more worthy Of celebration. We have
asked congress for the usual aprropria-
tion of $3.50, 600 for the participation of
the government in the exposition, and !
see 10 reason why it should not be
promptly granted.
Books For Employees to Read.
! Not long ago General Bingham OF the
house committee On appropriations
wrote up to the navy department to find
out what books and publications were
subscribed for and purchased during the
last fiscal year. The letter was the out
come Of certain critical statements oil
the floor of the house about the kind Of
light literature that the government was
paying for to satisfy the cravings OF its
employees.
The reply General Bingham received
covers 3G printed pages, which are filled
with lists of books purchased and the
prices paid for each volume. There were
the names of many technical books, law
books, professional books, reference
boDks and periodicals in English.
French, German and other foreign
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