The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-08
PAGE' 3 LIE 1T OTTAWA
HE Is = PICTURESQUE FIGITRE IN
THE PARLIAMENT OF
CANADA
HIS PALMY DAYS ARE PAST
Cannot Now Make as Much in Tips
as FOrmerIy-A FnvOrlte Page
Killed ut Modder
River.

mons, and the galleries are full. The
floor of the chamber is like a huge waste
basket, as the members throw scraps Of
paper about. One of them, who has been
scribbling violently, snaps his fingers i'm
patiently. In a second a little black
CARRIED figure darts to his side, and with
hight step almost runs with the message
TO the honorable gentleman opposite.
Ihen the small Mercury takes I'D his
seat again in an unconseiousIy graceful
attitude on the steps of the speakers
throne. The pages clustered at the feet
of the impassive looking gentleman in the
black hobe of office, make a very pictur-
esque group, though the figures are al
ways shifting.
sometimes one more ambitious than the
rest VIII be seen laboriously jotting down
notes IN shorthand while a member pro-
ses on for the benefit of his constituents
and the thin house takes forty winks.
The little pages yawn in politely unob-
truslve way, but are quite wide awake
enough to rush for a glass of water to
molsten the dry speechifier's thirsty
throat.
They skip noiselessIy about in their
patent leather shoes, clad In knee breeches
and Elton jackets, with immaculate white
ties. In the senate these suits are
found yearly for the four pages, but
the tWenty-seVen commoners buy their
own each session. One resourceful bow,
Iong ago a page, used to carefully cover
the knot of his neckties, when soilel,
with rice paper, and the deception was
never discovered
Pages are chosen more by height than
by age, and it IS to their interest to ap-
pear as Juvenile as possible-their aver
age official life being from four to seven
years in the senate, and less In the COM
mons Growing up is not one of the
pages ambitions; he does not cultivate
an incipient moustache; he strives to keep
an innocent and guileless countenance,
and takes senatorial advice in an appar-
emily humble and childlike spirit. Whether
ne profits by 1t is much to be doubted.
Many think the school Of dancing Mt
tendance a very bad training ground for
youth, but in one respect, at least. il
is much better than it used to be- Fifteen
years ago drinking in the house was
much more common than now, and, to
their shame be it spoken, the members
and senators would treat page only
too often. A boy today is perhaps not
quite as likely to be led into bad habits,
but it is strange if he Is not spoiled
Timid though he may be at first, he soon
begins to feel himself an important fig
ure; he has the entree everywhere His
sworn enemy, the policeman. is powerless
to stop him in his goings out and his
comings in. He has a great contempt
Tor the grown-up messengers. who are
lower in the social scale, and he is apt
to get cheeky at times
LESS TIPPING THAN FORMERLY.
Then there is the matter of tipping,
which has tendency to lniure d boys
self-respect. The palmy days for Iages
IN this regard have departed. A dozen
years ago, besides getting his $3.50 every
day Including Sunday, boy with an
eye to the main chance could make as
much as $40 extra during q session. 1t all
depended on the senator or member.
These are marked men, and when a new
one is appointed or elected there Is much
speculation as to how he will pan OUT
I'd so to speak The new page, it Is perhaps
needless to say, is ostentatiously recon-
mended to the penurious senator
Most of the members retain a page
to attend to the filing of their papers In
the morning the notes of the proceedings.
copies of Hansard, orders of the day,
etc. are placed in rotation in files kept
for the purpose by the pages on the
desks of those who wish this to be done.
and who are prepared to pay for the
privilege. Ten dollars was a not IN
common fee at one time, but 81 IS more
like the average now, or, rather, the
out injury to his feelings. OF course,
If fancy is taken to a boy, good
things are often thrown in his way such
as secretary work, for which he is well
paid. Some of the senator's object to
any tipping on principle, and are not
heard to say, "Oh. keep the change" In
the careless manner Of the man at the
bazaar.
You will notice that I said the pages
are paid for Sundays. Do they do any
labor them? Not very much. 4 stray
senator or member of parliament puts in
his appearance to get his mall and he
wants to feel that there is some one at
his behest, but the few boys on duty
usually are allowed TO pore over the
books from the library undtsturbed.
In former days all the odd pence IN a
pages pocket, found it's way sooner or
later into the hands of a certain Mrs.
Barrett, better known as Mrs. Butter
cup" who sold various and sundry deli
cacies beloved of the genus boy. Gener-
ally she let accounts run until the end
of each month, when there was q grand
settling up, but at times she unwisely
allowed herself to be persuaded into CIV
ing credit to some graceless scamp until
the end of the session, land then and
there was hurrying to and fro to collect
the debt, and much bewailing of the debt
or's iniquities.
CHIEF OF THE PAGES.
The pages are under the watchful eye
of the chi5f of the pages, usually one
grown to mans estate, really a messen-
ger, perhaps, or a doorkeeper He is re-
sponslble for the discipline. There is not
supposed to be any talking while in the
chamber, and one rule invariably obSeTv-
ed is that no page must Cross between
the speaker and the table of the clerk of
the house. No running is allowed III the
corridors, but there are records of disas-
trous collision. Once, indeed, a particu-
larly nimble page dashed around corner
into a burly senator, ponderous and
somewhat unsteady, who was felled to
the ground.
In leisure hours baseball and cricket
Senate VS.. Commonwealth messengers
and stray officials pressed into the serv-
ice, used constantly to be played, and
keen, indeed, was the rivalry On the
last day of the session a mock parlia-
ment is sometimes hold Though the Gus
tom seems to be dying eut) for which all
the pages assemble in the house of COM
mons after that honorable body has been
summoned by Black Rod. A speaker Is
elected, and some very good speeches
are often made.
The man who has trained page after
page in the way he should go is Narcisse
Turgeon. He has bcen now for forty-one
years in the service Of the government.
which he entered as a page In the COM
mons IN 1853, when tho capital was al
ternately Quebec and Toronto. Two 9TH
ers started with him, James D'Arcy,
since dead, and Dan Mcmillan, who af-
terward became a prominent contractor
and figured in the Canadian Pacific rail-
road scandal Turgeon was head of the