Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-23
BITS OF WASHINGTON LIFE.
Scenes and Incidents Sketched on
the Spof.

the spot.
Owing to the precarious tenure OF the
ONCE, very few senators establish homes in
Washington. One half the membership live
in hotels and apartment houses. Three
fourths Of those who reside in hotels says
the Washington Star, ARE uptown, the
balance being southern senators who have
quarters in downtown houses that have be-
come famous in the past as stopping places
for southerners. and which still have mem
cries OF great statesmen clinging to them
that form an attractive feature for many
Of those who continue to give them their
patronage. All the senators except two live
in the northwest" the venerable Senator
Pottus OF Alabama being one OF those who
has taken up his domicile In another part
Of the city. He is located on 1.-The HILL"
not far from the Congressional Library
building and the capitol. A considerable
number Of those not in hotels or apart
ments have rooms and board in private
houses.
THE popularity OF hotels and apartment
houses as abodes for senator's is enhanced
for several reasons peculiar to the lives OF
public men. A house carries with It social
responsibilities which are not always easy
to avoid, however agreeable 1t might be for
the senator TO rid himself Of them. But q
life in a hotel does not mean that a sena-
tor is taking but a small part in social AZ
fairs. Some Of those whose entertainments
are the most lavish patronize hotels, espe-
cially since during the last few years all
the large houses have made extensive im>
provements in which the idea of lavish en-
tertainment on the part Of guests has been
a prominent factor. A hotel affords ideal
conditions for those who wish to provide
India rphhar conditions for ntartotnunan
which will do for a small party or for a
great gathering at dinner or otherwise"
Mr.. AMI Smith. superintendent OF the
senate document room, has a memory that
is famous all over the capitol and has been
carried far throughout the country by the
senators. He rivals Assistant Librarian
Spofford OF the Congressional library, says
the Washington Times, in his ability to re-
member everything that occurs In connec-
tlon with his establishment.
The other day the senate committee on
Public buildings reported a bill favorably
for a building of very minor Importance in
a New England city. A reporter who hap
pened to be interested in this particular bill
asked a member OF the committee IL any re-
port had been made at any time this ses-
sion or In an earlier session. The senator
appealed to did not remember and neither
did one OF the clerks of the and
there was nothing surprising in this. The
newspaper man then went to the document
room and was proceeding to have an inves-
tigation of the records made, when Mr..
Smith volunteered the that
such a report had been made during the
first session OF the Fifty-sixth congress
1.-THE number of the report" said Mr..
Smith, "is -"
And when the clerks had hunted up the
report with that number for the first ses-
sion of the Fifty-sixth congress it proved
to be exactly that report and no other.
Since that time there have been many
thousands Of reports and many thousands OF
bills in each session.
81 love to see the rosy early morning sun
shine kiss the dome OF the capitol. paint It
golden and make It look glad" detained
Representative Robinson OF Indiana In the
house recently.
BET you ten you never saw it," broke
in Representative shattuc OF. Ohio.
my SON. replied Robinson, this is a
poetical, not a bookmaking proposition"
Some new engraved cards which recently
have been furnished to the mistress Of the
White House read: Mrs. Theodore Roose-
Welt" The presidents wife has taken this
means OF showing her disapproval OF the
fad which is raging among the society
women Of Washington for using cards
which bear only the last name, with no
initial, address or anything else to Identify
them. Mrs. Roosevelt's old cards were In
line with this fad. but recently there has
been so much discussion of the annoyance
caused by such cards that she showed her
approval Of the movement TO abolish them
by changing hers, though, Of course, in her
case her name alone is SUFFICIENT to identify
her. Mrs. Knox. wife of the attorney gen
eral, started the fight against the fad by
writing a note to Miss Kean. sister OF the
New Jersey senator. asking II she was the
lady who had left a card which bore only
Miss Kean," giving no address. Miss
Kean is said to have responded spiritedly
and then the move for the overthrow Of the
fashion was decided upon.
Representative Rupert is a great thester-
goer, says a New York World letter. A
night or two ago he went to a W
and-thirty house to see a western melo-
drama. He got In at the end OF the second
act.
THE stage was pitch dark when found
my seat, says Rupert, land two men we're
fighting a duel, l could hear the knives
clash together and hear the men stumble
around the stage, but l could only family
distinguish the forms OF the actors. After
a while there was a thump on the floor and
the villain Kissed:
"'Ah, ha! Rudolph Tetherington, l have
you now, and no one nigh to see me do
the deed
Then the drummer hit the bass drum a
belt and the calcium man turned on the
light, and away up on a rocky pass the
heroine was seen standing.
Coward she shouted. Me and heaven
is here!'"