Rock Island Argus., 1903-12-31
WASHINGTON LETTER
[special correspondence.l ]

notions they sometimes cultivate.
The fair daughter of one of his new
colleagues in the house was shopping
for a fine pocketbook. She shopped in
the house store, where the members
have stationery allowance. but moth.
ing there quite pleased her. 1t was sug-
gested that she go to the senate store,
where more luxurious articles are said
to be on sale There the young lady
found something very much to her
liking.
"Wait a moment" said her fond IA
ther, who has recently come to the
house and is not well acquainted on the
north side of the capitol. 81 will get
Senator Dolliver to arrange for an ex-
change on my stationery account"
The generous junior senator would
not hear of it. "Get the pocketbook for
the young lady" said he, "and have it
charged against my allowance" No
protests availed, and the senator him
self descended to the store to personally
supervise the bargain.
Mr. Dolliver did not finch when the
dainty article was found to be worth
we'll nigh a days salary. He admired
it, looked at the clerk and observed
shrewdly:
THAT old color looks as though the
book had been in stock. Don't you Of
fer little discount for that reasonF
Its the color which makes it both
stylish and valuable" remarked the
clerk The deal was forthwith closed,
and the young lady regards Mr.. Dol
liver as about the incest man in the
world.
Etiquette of the Chair.
When the secretary of the senate ap-
pears at the head of the center aisle of
the house with an official message
Speaker Cannon's backbone becomes as
rigid as a ramrod.
Early in the extra session, when Mr.
Cannon was still new to his job and
was taking lessons in the etiquette of
the chair from his elbow man, as all
new speakers must do, the senate's sec
retary pushed through the double doors
at the main entrance. One of the door
keepers assistants announced him
formally, as usual:
"Mr. Speaker, a message from the
senate" at the same time making the
customary profound bow.
''It is proper at this point for the
speaker to bow" whispered Mr.. Cam
mons elbow man.
''Bow?" returned the speaker in a re-
belIious semitone and adding one of
his famous expletives of four letters.
ggV Iel,,gA III To
and L won't bow to its secretary"
Therefore, instead of bending grace
f,;lly, Mr.. Cannon stood perfectly up
right, and he stands that way when
ever the senate deigns. in the fashion
prescribed by hoary precedents, to in
form him and the house officially what
it has been doing.
A Friend In Need.
Representative DRY Dollar" Sullivan
was the object the other day of heart
felt gratitude from one of his east side
constituents. 1t was a youth of sport
ing proclivities who has been following
the races and in pursuit of that calling
came to the Bennings track.
This and much more was told in a
somewhat illegible note which Mr.. Sui
livan received n couple of days ago. 1t
was written by the lad while in dur
ance vile, he having been placed there
by decision of the judge of the Wash
ington police court. He had won
wad of money on the Bennings track
and started out to celebrate in Wash
ington along the lines that are entirely
au fait in some sections of Gotham.
The name of the unfortunate was a
strange one to Mr.. Sullivan, so he re-
ferred the letter to his chief of staff,
Billy Watson, known as Tammany'S
minority employee in the house. Wat
son, who knows everybody within Tam
many precincts, knew the youth and
his antecedents.
Forthwith Sullivan paid the boys
fine and purchased for him a ticket
home. There is at least one boy now
who thinks the east side congressman
ft to be president.
President Gets a Snake.
The president has not only received
a live wildcat recently, but his list of
curiosities from friends has been in
creased by what is called a glass snake,
SEM him by a Florida citizen. The
snake, although classed under the
name of ''glass," was a living reptile,
its chief characteristic and the one
from which it derives it's name being
brittleness. To the touch the snake is
hard and shows neither sinuosity nor
liveliness. If struck a hard blow it
breaks to pieces almost like glass. The
reptile was sent to the Washington
zoo, where it still lives, although minus
part of its tail, which became discon-
nected by q severe shaking up. The
reptile is about sixteen inches long and
in Florida and portions of the south
where it is found has a number of
names, that of glass being the fa-
vorite. The snake reached the White
House by express in a small box.