The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-06

was one of the greatest successes in the history of this famous organization of Washington newspaper correspondents. There are forty of these correspondents in the club There would be more but active membership is limited to that num- | Der. There are, however. dozen non resident members who were members when they were Washington correspond ents and who are members for life. Ev- cry one of these nonresident members as we'll as every member of the club ex- cept one. was present this evening. The club has but two rules prevailing at their dinners. which are: Ladies are always present; representatives of the press are never present."
 So what the statesmen said cannot be printed, but the following story of the dinner by Harry West, to appear in the Washington Post, will be of interest: Riff! bang!
 Up went the lid and out popped very lively figure dressed in costume and la beed Panama. It was the veritable Jack in-the-box appearance of the new re- public.
 Where did it happen?
 Where could it have happened except at the dinner of the Gridiron club at the Arlington hotel last night? Did every body laugh? Of course they did. Il was so appropriate and so true that the hu- nor of the thing was seen at once. And when, after sundry conversations between the army and navy and the republican elephant and the democratic donkey Panama yielded up canal treaty and was then clapped back into the box again, the picture of a recent interna- tional episode was carried to it's climax.
 It is this way of dealing with more or less serious events that makes Gridron dinner so unique and entertaining. No wonder, therefore, that among the two hundred and ten members and guests who sat at the table last night there were scores of men who had trav- eled hundreds of miles. from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis and points still farther west, for the pur- pose of being present.
 Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, the new British ambassador, made his debut in this country, so to speak, and Sir Chen tung Liang Cheng, the new Chinese min ister, sat near him. Mayor-elect Me- Clellan, with Charles F. Murphy the leader of Tammany, were side by side. Speaker Cannon was another prominent figure, while nearly a score of members of the house were within sound of the gavel Senator Hanna and Senator Cor man chatted together in friendly man ner, while Senators Bacon, Clark Clay Kean, Pettus and Scott mingled in the throng.
 As usual, the ringing of an old-fashion- ed dinner bell was the signal for throw ing wide the curtains of the banquet room. The scene thus revealed might well challenge all the art of the word painter. Exquisite as have been the dec- orations in the past, the display last night was conceded to have excelled all previous effort.
 The menu souvenir was an old-fashioned wooden inkstand. of the kind our fore fathers used, and was supplied with a quill pen, both the pen and the stand being ornamented with representations of the Gridiron. .H The menu was printed upon a Gridiron flag.
 The presence of George B. Mcclellan, mayor-elect of New York, was an oppor- tunity for fun that could not of course, be overlooked. The members of the Grid Iron club have known MT. Mcclellan for so many years as representative In l congress, and he is so popular with all of them that there was a personal inter- est in making him a prominent figure Of the evening Indeed, the guests had been | faI tal,I fax n Q when one of the club members. disguised as New York policeman appeared and stood near MT. Mcclellan. holding big red lantern. Having thus located the red light district in MT. McClellan's vicin- ity, the lantern was suspended over the mayor-eect's head and there remained a conspicuous object during the evening. song addressed to MT. Mcclellan was another feature. It was sung to the familiar tune of 'Tessie," and began in this wise
 "Georgie goes from congress to a brand l new place,
 George is the mayor of New York;
 Georgie was the winner in a hot old race, Georgie has a barrel full of pork" mere were references in the song to the 1 tiger that was lean and thin through starvation. and there was a promise that when MT. Mcclellan donned the solemn robes of state, the Gridiron club would pay him visit. company of singers merrily enrolled the chorus, which told | "Georgie' that they loved him madly and that he was their only only. only.
 The introduction of topical songs which hit off the guests In melody, and which I were thus in keeping with the spirit of 1 the dinner. proved most enjoyable part of the programme. One of the clubs poets had burned the midnight oil in writ | ing verses adapted to popular airs. Thus, l the well known and tuneful High Up in the Cocoanut Tree" appeared during the dinner under the title of High Up In the Speakers Chair" It goes without say ing that this song appealed especially to | Speaker Cannon. The first verse said: | "A congressman from a western state 1 Had served for many year; l He sat on the floor. so near the door, 1 He could neither see nor hear 1 So he said, No more of this for me. | I'll run for speaker, don't you see? But tonight. when he's 'it' all right,
 He sings with all his mightp- 1 And this Is what a lusty chorus repre-
 sented the speaker as saying:
 Though I am up in the speakers chair; I'm lonely;