Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-08

RfSnSJ ChuSetts, George Frisbie Hoar,
- the other day and said:
Senator, l congratulate you on being the
new object of eager interest to visitors to
the national capital
The venerable representative of the Bay
state beamed through his g"old-rimmed
speCtacles at MIR. Aldrich.
"Why?' he drily questioned.
We'll" was the reply, "a dozen sight
scers from Providence hunted me up not
an hour ago and asked me to point out to
them 'Hoar, the trust buster And I've
gathered in chats with other senators and
many representatives that their constitu-
ents are daily imploring them to exhibit
you in the role of octopus hunter"
One visit to the senate galleries is sufii-
cient proof that Senator Aldrich was right
when he told Mr.. Hoar that he is an object
of great interest among Washington's thou
sands of visitors. Any day in the gallery
can be seen groups of two and three with
heads together having Senator Hoar pointed
out to them, gazing at him long and curl
ously, and discussing him in whispers or
undertonos. They seem to come just to see
Mr.. Hoar and, when they have taken him
in to their hearts content, they steal 81
lcntly away.
But if these same visitors knew that the
AuoN bhoNNAf IL bNhNAoHs
disappoints them in his physical appear
ance, reads genuine yellow-back novels and
ten-cent productions on the same order
with all the avidity of a messenger boy
or a giddy factory girl, perhaps they would
SAFE longer and with increased curiosity
and wonderment. For truth to tell, Mas
sachusetts' senior senator has this mental
pastime and refuses to be separated from
it. Aa.A
Mr.. Hoar's favorite time for reading
these hair-raising productions is while
travelling. Whenever he has a railway
journey of any length to make he carries
with him a pile of literature of the Dead
wood Dick "Red-Headed Ralph" 1.-THE
Ranger of the Roaring Rialto' type. He
reads the stuff through from first to last
never skipping a woodland gets the keen
est enjoyment out of the plots and impos-
sible characters. And he likes nothing
Rpetter than to discuss with his companions
, the curious working of the human mind
that can evolve such situations.
But this is not Mr.. HoaT's only trait that
amuses his legislative peers. When he is
feeling in particularly good humor he keeps
bis neighbors in the senate in a constant
litter of amusement by his sotto-voce COM
ments on the proceedings.
His colleagues have a unique way of
gauging his humor. 1t is by the manner
in which he manipulates a bunch of keys
that bangles from his fingers. When he is
at peace with the world and everything is
going smoothly with him Mr.. Hoar swings
this bunch of keys with an easy regular
motion. If the swing should stop or be-
come irregular, then there is a little temp
est brewing in his mind. If he should tap
his desk with the keys, then it is k , n
that the views expressed by someon, IN
the floor are displeasing to him. When he
draws the keys up near his face and swings
them in a circular motion, he is amused at
the verbal antics of some of his opponents.
But when he sweeps the bunch through the
air in a long curve his colleagues know
that he is disguised and about to take the
floor to reply to some displeasing argument
or to reproach the senate for some proceed
ing not in accord with his ideas of pro-
priety.
Unlike most of his colleagues in the SEN
ate, Mr.. Hoar fancies no particular sport,
and this, too, causes not a little good-na-
tured chaff to be poked at him. He is
neither a fisher nor a hunter. His tastes
are quiet and his outdoor exercise limited
to carriage drives and trolley rides. Every
summer during vacation it is his habit to
gather a company of his old cronies in
Worcester, charter a special trolley car and
go to the seashore at Gloucester, where
they enjoy a fish dinner. The carload Of
old fellows go from Worcester to Boston,
where they remain overnight. The next day
they go to Gloucester, eat their fish din
ner, return to Boston and, on the third
day, get back to Worcester delighted with
their outing.
/ These crOnies are the senator's dearest
friends, and are more numerous than his
intimates in Washington, for this mild
hammered man, whose blue eyes beam so
ignly through huge spectacles, has not
made many close friends in his public
capacity. This is due to the fact that he
Yields a free lance in debate and is as
liable to wound a friend as a foe. He has
u hiAinn tin tnnnn1n mhinh mara than