The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-01-17
A KENTUCKY SENATOR.
His Frugal Manner of Life at the Capi
 tal

pear, IL IS Idct IHaI the lloSI ecoHolu- ical statesman who ever appeared in Washington was from the common wealth of Kentucky Thomas c. Me- Creery of Owensboro was elected to the United States senate in 1868 to fill va caney, and served for three years. He was not chosen, to succeed himself, but was elected for the full term beginning in March, 1873, as the successor of w. B. Machen MT. McCreery retired from the senate in 1879, He served alto- gether nine years.
 When he entered congress he was poor man. When he left Washington | at the end Of his congressional service he carried with him a draft for $S1, 300, which sum represented his actual sav- ings from his salary, mileage and sta tionery accounts. He made it rule when he first entered the senate to set apart $3,500 of his salary each year as | a saving, and he saved every year just that amount and no more. He might have done even better, but he was man of methodical habits, and having fixed standard, he was content to live up to it.
 MSSlCCiy Wdo u DetCIlGlOI anu was probably one of the ablest men who ever sat in the senate. He was a very lazy man, however, and his lazi- ness seemed to affect him mentally as well as physically. It was his habit to go to sleep in his chair every day just after, he had eaten his luncheon, which always consisted of nothing more than piece of pie and a small slice of cheese.
 He was very large man and at times he snored fearfuIly. It frequent ly became necessary for the sergeant at-arms to wake him, because his snoring disturbed the proceedings of the senate. Sometimes his sleep was so heavy that he would fall out of his chair, and when this happened 1t al ways caused great comnotion in the senate chamber. In spite of these pe- culiarities MT. McCreery was very popular with his fellow senators. His "chums'' were Thurman of Ohio, ConS- ling of New York and Zach Chandler of Michigan.
 Senator McCreery lived at a quiet little boarding house in Georgetown. He had a pass on the street railroad and it therefore cost him nothing to go to and from the Capitol. A Kentuck- ian once related to me his experience during visit to Senator McCreery, and I shall tell the story, as now re- member it, in order to show the sena- tors mode of living. Said my Ken lucky friend:
 T came to Washington as sight seer. I had known Senator McCreery at home and readily accepted an invi- tation to be his guest during my stay at the capital. met him by appoint ment the day I arrived at the east front of the Capitol at five o'clock in the af- ternoon and we took street car which ran to his boarding house in George town.
 ''He showed the conductor pass for himself, but insisted on paying my fare. Everything about his boarding house was agreeable and he told me that the charges were quite reasonable. He had a nice large room and we were giv- en good supper. I remember we had fried chicken, plenty of fresh milk and butter Before We went down to sup per the senator unlocked a closet, dis closing cask from which he drew out two glassfuls of whiskey. He told me the whiskey. was sent to him by friend in Owensboro. who kept him supplied gratis with all the liquor he needed.
 After supper we smoked some very excellent cigars which he said had been presented to him by a Kentucky tobac- co manufacturer. Along toward ten o'clock we resumed our attacks on the cask of whiskey and took several drinks before midnight. All at once the senator turned to me and asked if would enjoy little sport. told him that ordinarily would not object, but I thought it was rather late to go down town
 "Oh, we don't have to go down town" he replied. We can have all the fun we want right here >
 with these words he drew out a large box from under the bed When he opened the box I saw it was divi- ded into two compartments. One was occupied by magnificent black rooster with feathers on his head and neck. In the other compartment was a white rooster with yellow head feathers. Both chickens were evidently of the gamiest stock and were very much ex- cited over the prospect of being pitted against each other
 Senator 'McCreery hastily construct ed a pit using some very straight backed chairs, which he brought from an adjoining room for this purpose, and in few minutes one of the most exciting cock fights I ever witnessed in my life was in progress. The fighting was fast and furious and was kept up for nearly an hour. Finally the black bird seemed to be pretty well exhausted and the senator returned both chickens to their quarters under the bed. He told me that it was his custom to read at night, but that his eyes were begin ming to fail, and as he did not like to go to bed early he had adopted the plan of having a cock fight in his room every night for the purpose of prevent ing monotony. . @
 My experience of the first night was repeated as long as I remained his guest. This remarkable old man with his extraordinary mental attainments could not help saving money. His tastes were simple and they were grat- flied without any expense to himself He was fond of an occasional glass of whiskey; he liked to smoke a good ci- gar and he thoroughly enjoyed a cock fight. The whiskey tobacco and game