The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-25
5 Chat of the Capital.
) Washington Gossip, Political and
! Otherwise, for the Readers
( Of the Globe.

|
WASHINGTON, d. c., Dec. M.-(Spe-
al)-The Republicans of this congress
nave doubtless discovered that the man
| elected speaker of the lower house is not
as competent as was Thomas Bracket
Heed to rule the Republican insurgents"
speaker Henderson's authority was we'll
tested when congress finally decided to
nave recess until Jan. 8, next.
! Mr Henderson, having made up his
| committee assignments without giving
| satisfaction 70 all Of the Republican mem
| bers, found quite an fnsurgent band on
the Republican side opposed to MS will.
1t was also developed that Serene F..
! Payne, the floor leader, was not able to
manage his boiling associates, and all
! thls foreshadows trouble for Speaker
Henderson, Leader Payne and their Heu-
tenants during this session of congress
Speaker Henderson lacks the will power
OF Thomas Bracket Reed; for the latter
was able, at critical periods, not only to
| dominate the Republican side completely
put to browbeat the Democrats into sub
mission, II he saw fit to do So The Re-
| puhitcans will miss the brilliant man from
! Maine before the end of the session The
majority Of them realize that the Iowa
/ statesman has not sufficient strength.
mentally or physically to manage the
house as cid Reed, or, when the Demo
| Gratis were In control, as did Mr.. Crisp, of
| Georgia.
| If Representative Richardson, Of Ton
neSsec. is as bright man Hs his friends
believe, he Will be able, as the Demo-
cratic leader, to make political capital
for his party and bother the opposition
continually when congress reassembles
| in January. 1t IS thought that Richard
son will be able to rise to the occasion,
and II he does not Representatives Bail
ey, Of Texas; De Almond, of Missouri;
| Sulzer, of New York, and De Vries, of
Califoinia will take the reins from Rich
ardSon whenever necessary, If they dis
cover that they can rule the Republican
speaker or his associates on the Repub-
lican side of the chamber
| L have, in previous dispatches, predict
ed that Gen. Henderson would not be
able to fill Mr.. Reeds shoes acceptabIy;
that he will soon be regarded as par
| ttal failure will be proved to be true
| later on. Having made a mistake, and 50
serious a one, at the start Gen. Hen
| Gerson, even If he shows that he has
| ability to lead, will have difficulty IN
| overcoming the plumbers he made early
| in the session.
The Republicans will be compelled to
| follow the leadership of Mr.. Henderson,
| and they are not enthusiastic over his
| management Of the house up to the pres
ent time, and the early bolt may result
| seriously, not only to the speaker, but to
the Republican party At any rate the
Democrats are going to gather in all the
campaign material they can through the
| mistakes of the Republicans in both
house and senate during the first session
| OF this congress.
| Thousands of people annually visit what
! is known as the marble room and the
| presidents room just to the rear of the
| desk of the presiding officer Of the United
States senate The marble room is where
| those who are fortunate enough to Sc
cure audiences with senators during
| business hours" are received. The pres
| identS loom is q show place, and is
chiefly admired by women and dudes be-
| cause Of the multiplicity of mirrors At
| least this feature of the room is appar>
ent to the casual observer and seems to
be what strikes most visitors, because as
soon as they enter they apparently do
not observe the beauties of the apart
ment, but are most interested in en-
deavoring to ascertain how their clothes
hang. Even when confronted by nearly
half a dozen, the most unassuming is
tempted to pause and case more or less
rapturously or critically into the glass.
In a general way a majority Of the
thousands who annually view the marble
rooms could not possibly tell you what
Should you ask a lady what she saw in
any one of these rooms she would prob
ably say: II had pointed out to me Sem
ator So ard So, who was seated on very
comfortable and MISUNDERSTANDING
leather sofa talking to a woman" The
word woman" pronounced with a most
significant sheer. Then probably this Wis.,
itor could not for the life of her go fur
Their In describing the room or it's furni-
ture, other than to speak of the fun
length pier glasses which enabled her to
ascertain just how her skirt hung
and how much dust it had accumulated
about the hem during her journey to the
capitol building.
To those who have not visited the mar
Bile room and the adjacent apartments at
the rear of the United States senate, Col
Dick Bright, sergeant-at-arms of that
august body, tells in his annual report
just what furniture is really ensconced
In the marble" apartments. 1t may be
OF interest to enumerate these various
articles as given by Col. Bright.
The presidents room, so called, it may
be remarked In passing, is rarely used by
the chief executive. He could come there
every day and sit with his feet cooked
upon the table, smoking cigars from
Cuba or Manila, but he doesn't He is
too busily engaged down town umpirin.e
nomination and incidentally a reelection
But the furniture OF the presidents
room, which he (the chief executive) very
rarely enters Col. Bright in his annual
report says, consists of 2 linen curtains
gilt cornices, / silver pitcher and
tray and tumblers, large leather
chairs, cuspidors, grandfathers's
clock mot stated whose grand
father purchased 1t. probably Uncle
Sans, howevcr), pairs Of lace curtains,
j carpet rug, L cocoa mat, l caucus chair
doubtless for the use of the president
when he comes to the capitol to commune
with himself, lar from the maddine
crowd which habitually surrounds him at
the White house,, 1 table, 2 leather sofas
3 large mirrors, pairs of damask cur
tains.
Col. Bright does not state in his report
what usually goes with the pitcher of
ice water and three tumblers Probably
that is a matter dependent entirely upon
the president or the humor the ex-
ecuttve, whoever he may be, Is In at
the time Of his visit. In the marble room
proper, where senators usually deign to
give their constituents the gleeful hand,
Col. Bright's report informs one that
there is clock, just an ordinary clock
one table, five mahogany chairs, two
leather-covered sofas, one bronze urn.
linen curtains, ten leather-coYered chairs
one bronze statute Of Lincoln (only one
mind YOU'D, one thermometer and a barom-
| eter. The chronometer, thermometer and
| barometer are probably the most useful
| Of the furnishings of this room.
Of ho HI