The times., 1900-12-29
IN THE HOTEL CORRIDORS.

A group of Representatives who did moi
leave Washington for the holidays be-
| cause they are as much at home here as
in their own districts were gossiping and
smoking in the Arlington lobby last night
AS is common with members of Congress.
the theme of their gossip was their fell
low members. They were talking Of the
rich men in Congress and OF the poor ones.
and OF those who from humble starting
points have won esteem of constituents
and reputation for themselves. 1t was
conceded that the richest man in the
| House is Representative ConnelI of the
Scranton district Of Pennsylvania. 1t is
the report In the cloak rooms that the
fortune of this member is above sIc o00 :
o0o HIS money was made in coal OPERA
lions, and tfty years ago Mr. ConnelI was
breaker boy al the mines Representa-
tive Levy, OF New York, who inherited his
wealth. and who is the owner of Jeffer-
sons estate, Monticello, is said to be
nearly as comfortably situated as Mr.. Con-
neil. while Mr.. Sprague of Massachusetts
whose fortune. it is said, was brought to
MIN by his marriage, is in the same class
with Messrs. ConneIl and Levy. II was
SAID that Messrs- Sibley, Stewart of Wis
eonsin. Hit. Cannon, Dalzell. Adams
RUPERT. Mcclellan, Chanler. Babeock,
Lowering, Wadsworth. and Burleigh are
among the rich men of the House
In the matter of the early history of
members. it was pointed out first by one
OF the gessiping group and then by an
other that Senator Thurston. Representa-
tives Adamson, Haugen, Wheeler of Ken
tucky, Baker, II. c. Smith and Champ
Clark were farmer boys, and that before
their advent into public life earned their
bread as farm laborers. Mr.. Lorimer of
Illinois, ore of the strong men OF the
House and the Republican boss of Chicago
was bootblack and later became a car
driver; Mr.. Robinson of Indiana was a
newsboy; Mr.. DeGraffenreid was rail-
road brakeman Mr. Brownlow was tin
ner and a locomotive engineer; Mr. Ryan
OF Pennsylvania was mule driver In the
coal regions of his State; Mr.. Tawney was
a blacksmith: Mr. Smith of Illinois was a
blacksmith, and Mr. Graham was brass
founder. Messrs. Mercer of Nebraska
Breazeale CT Louisiana. and Swanson of
Virginia were clerks in country stores.
Among those members of the House who
were printers when they started in life
as men are Messrs. Hepburn. Heatwole
Young. and Cummings. Senator Stewart
was stage driver and Senator Perkins
cabin boy before he became an able sea
man.
Henry C. Williams, of Boston, who is at
the Ebbitt. was telling a significant story
of a lesson learned from the returns made
Of election expenses incurred in his State
during the last campaign. Mr.. Williams
said the returns show that the amount Of
money spent by the Republican State Com
mittee and the county committees was four
times as great as that spent by the same
~ Of he ito
reason, though, the Democratic organiza-
tion did not spend it, he said was because
it did not have it, the very wealthy men
in the State being mainly of the Repub-
lican faith. large part of the Republican
fund was spent in legitimate ways, as. for
instance, liIuidating travelling expenses Of
campaigners. rental OF halls, hire OF bands.
apd printing. A very large percentage of
the fund, though, was expended in the
outrageous method of employing men as
canvassers with tho understanding, of |
course, that they vote the ticket of the !
party employing them. This practice, said |
Mr.. Williams, approaches near to the line !
CT bribery but technically does not cross /
1t. He believes that the law requiring that |
be given to campaign expenses /
has tendency to keep down the bills.
Two excursion parties, aggregating 100 |
persons. mainly from points In the State
Of New York, are at the Metropolitan, and I
will remain in Washington for two days /
The travellers visited the Capitol and other
yesterday. Excursion parties are
also at the Ebbitt, Normandie, Wiilard's, /
and the Riggs House.
Representative Lawrence of Massachu-
setts. whose Washington home is at the
Cochran. is in receipt of many letters
him upon the part taken
by him in securing from the River and
Harbor Committee the Recommendation
hat So. .666. coo be appropriated to dig a
,5-f0ot ship channel from the wharyes
,f Boston to the open sea. II is esti-
ma ted by the engineers who have been
employed that the shipway will require
light years in its construction and that
is cost will be about eight million dol
ars. The survey contemplates a channel |
800 feet wide in the inner harbor and
500 feet wide below. Ten years ago |
he largest steamers which entered Bes-
on were $50 feet long Now the new
liverpool liners are close up to 600 feet,
md New York has one or two ships of
bout 700. The longer ship is not only
he wider but the deeper she must be
o possess the requisite strength and
igidity of structure. This fact gives the
leep ports a great advantage. and the
bigger the ships the lower the cost per
on at which they can carry cargoes.
Franklin Brooks, who went from San
francisco to Manila as a correspond
mt at the outbreak of the Spanish
American war, and who is now cdi-
or of the Manila American" was
t the Arlington last night He is pros
erous. He started the American about
wo years ago with a handful of type and
hand press, and his mission to the
Jnited States is to purchase a battery of
linotype machines and $4,000 press. Mr..
Brooks is Democrat, but the policy of
n the Philippines.
NJ A. Glyndon. of Boston, commercial
raveler whose specially is silverware, is
t the National. He is a strong believer
Il prosperity and likes to talk about this
elief. Incidentally he remarked, though,
hat man is more apt to sell goods when
e eulogizes the times as prosperous than
'hen he complains of dullness. ''If you
I'LL shout good times with the right ex-
ressioa in the voice and with the proper
ight burning in your eyes you can hyp- |
otize a bankrupt customer into the be- |
ef that trade is simply hummiug. Only {
RUNNERS on good sure salaries can pay {
otel bills and railroad fare when they |
ak hard times. II has depressing eff !
sct on customers-kind of makes them
sel bilious. It's as true as Gospel that |
hen a man wants to sell anything he '
hould put up a good buiIish talk" {