The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-26


 stant companion. silver gilt affair that looks as if it had strayed from one Of the Roman lictors in Julius Caesar" It is whispered from one to. another what mysterious power this symbol possesses, and how no congressman has ever yet dared to repeat Oliver Crom- wells words: Take away that bau- ble."
 The pictures of Washington and La | tayette, on either side of the desk, also attract notice, many persons finding pleasure in their ability to recognize the former and as many more deriving l equal satisfaction from misnaming the latter.
 That is George the Fourth, the | Prince Regent" said a well-informed | young lady from the west a few months | ago. T know him by his high stock. !" 1 Many recognitions of those on the 1 floor are fully as exact. Visitors all | ways provide themselves with dia- gram of the seats and so have no diff | culty in picking out the prominent members. For all that, Dalzell is often taken for Dingley and Dingley in turn | for Sockless Simpson; the fact being | that congressman are prone to sit in any other seat except their own.
 Simpson, by the way, is probably | sought after more than any other mem | Der, which shows the advantages of the | grotesque. Similarly Lewis of Wash
 ington is one of the sights, and when | he begins to speak curiosity is redou-
 bled
 | My, exclaimed an old lady recently,
 how that young man do go on His tongue seems to be hung in the middle, v Sometimes the local member adds
 consideration to kindness and comes up to point out the celebrities-the other | celebrities-to his constituent. Then, i indeed, there is plain sailing while
 those less favored slide along the seats in hopes of catching few stray words from the great man.
 There is one peculiarity about the view of the House from the gallery, and 1 that is that it is unflattering to the per | sonal appearance of the members. No congressman looks so well on the floor as he does face to face. The effect | from above is to belittle and distort. l Perhaps in view of this fact it is just as well that the diplomatic gallery is so
 seldom occupied There is also seri- ous, not to say sonbre, cast of counte- ] nance prevalent.
 ''They all look so unhappy" pouted | a young girl last witner.
 "They are thinking about their
 chances of reelection, my dear" ex- | plained papa, who knew all about such l things.
 | That appearances, whether unf1atter-
 ing or not, are deceitful is shown by the
 current comment. Many dullard is | picked out as leader, many a states
 man as commonplace man. One day | the attention of highly respectable, almost austerely respectable party of | elderly people, was attracted to con- | gressman whose conduct received their vigorous isapproval. He was, to be
 sure, joking rather vociferously with
 the colleagues behind him, and at the
 same time was thought too industri- ous in a wide distribution of his own particular decoction of nicotine.
 "Disgraceful," exclaimed one woman That Is the sort of man that brings discredit on our institutions" said an- ] other.
 1 Colonel Sellers" calculated third
 And yet in a few brief moments this unanimous condemnation was changed | into praise. The bankruptcy bill was
 called up for consideration, and this un-
 seefnly jester took the floor and pro- | ceeded to deliver an address fecund with the precepts of sound morality and
 pervaded with strong religious senti-
 ments of the good. oldfashioned sort. | The eyes of the listeners glistened as 1 fSar. l, 1s5 1,f feI
 have stirred heart and conscience at l weekly meetings from the days of the { Puritans, and when he reached his per- oration one and all were ready to crave his pardon and boom him forever after | for the presidency, for in homely ac-
 cents he repeated the familiar stanza:
 Blow ye the trumpets blow,
 The gladly solemn saound, Let all the nations know,
 To earth's remotest baound,
 The year of jubilee is come, Return, ye ransomed sinners, hum
 Some tourists, venturesome or know | ing, find their own way to the private | gallery, while others, tender brides and
 bridegrooms, family parties from the 1 wilds of Virginia, and squads of school
 boys in natty uniforms, are under the
 escort of a Capitol guide. Formerly | this parsonage was predatory individ- l ual, who sailed under his own flag, cap- tured the unwary, conveyed his prey | up into the dome or down among the l windngs of the crypt, and then de- manded booty under penalty of instant | desertion. Washington folk not being | so complaisant as the natives of Nigga
 ra Falls, grave scandal arose and called
 in reform. The Capitol guide was en- l dowed with a quasi official capacity; supon proof of good character and ami 1 able intention he was suffered to ply his vocation for that indefinite stipend | whatever you please" For the most | part he has seen better days, but not
 within some decades, and proffers his
 information with a deferential air,
 which says, this is all subject to amendment and correction Yet he is l well worth his price, whatever that may be- and proves himself through a | tranquil steady flow of historical sta | tistics and data, more or less veracious,
 true to his title, capital guide. Tourists are not the only occupants | of the private gallery. Thither come 1 delegations from commercial bodies to l watch legislation and who act as of l they needed watching themselves when Continued on Sixth Page) l