The Grenada sentinel., 1904-01-16
Kate Powers Letter

The great event toward which all
Mississippians have, for some time,
eagerly looked forward to, has at last
taken place and the legislature Of 1904
has, with due ceremony assembled in
the splendid halls built for the two
great law-making bodies in the new
capitol. which is already famed in the |
land for it's beauty and perfection of |
arrangement
Promptly on the stroke of twelve J
o'clock-noon-on' TUESDAY after the |
hrst Monday in January" the gavels |
fell, and the two houses entered upon
the organization of their respective
bodies. In the senate Lieut. Gov. Har-
rison presides until his successor, Hon.
Carter, takes the oath of Office. In
| the election of a president pro tenn.
! the august body honored itself in hon
oring that knightly Christian gentle
| man, Hon. E H. Moore. of Bolivar.
than whom there is no man in legis-
| lative circles more w0rthiiy beloved.
| In the choice of minor officials a mark
ed tendency toward bringing the young
men forward was manifest. There
was, however-as God grant there
will be so long as our memories last
strong sympathy for the old soldiers
who had fought and bled and almost
died for our country. This resulted in
a division of the plums in the sena-
torial fruit basket, as follows: The re-
sponsible position of sergeant-at-arms
was given to a student who has not
yet reached his majority, Mr.. P. M. B.
| Selph, of Tate county, whose educa-
tion at Mississippi College (.iinton)
is dependent on his unaided efforts.
He has, thus far, proven good Of
1icer, courteous, 4but firm, and we pre-
dict that he is going to keep order in
the court" no matter how high excite
ment may run, When the fighting times
are at hand The young sons Cor
grandsoas) of Senators Belk. Moore,
Sanders, Hicks and J. Hiram McGehee
(Of last SESSION. are serving as pages,
while the doors are guarded by two
old soldiers, who won their badges OF
honor-life-long wounds-on the field
of battle, H. J. Thornton and J. J.
Ball. At the clerks desk. that peer of
his predecessors, John Y. Murry, Jr.,
again guides the helm. That he will
do it we'll all men know, who have
known aught of the senate in recent
years. At the postmistress' desk, Miss
Minor of Noxubee, holds sway,
young girl of gentle manner and u1-
usual intelligence.
Across the great corridors, at the
south end of the building, the lower
house was organized with Secretary of
State J. w. Power presiding. Quite a
spirited contest took place for speak
er between Hon. E. N. Thomas, OF
Greenville, and Hon. Sidney Smith. OF
Lexi gton, which resulted in the Del.
ta's man gaining the coveted chair.
Indeed, it looks very much as if
the Delta had, at last. come into some
of it's "great'-but long deferred-ex.
: pectations.
That popular Washington county
editor, l.. Pink Smith, was again elect
: | ed clerk, to the great satisfaction OF
all who have the States best inter
; ests at heart. Just here it may be
, interesting to state that the two young
, men having in charge this important
, branch of legislature work are natives
, of the same town, both having beer
: born in the little town among the hills
of old Tippah-Ripley. Here they were
,, reared and together played and stud
= led until their paths, as youths, tool
l | them apart The combination is 8
1 rarely fine one and does old Tippal
e proud Two doorkeepers are reQuir
: ed in the house also, thanks to the
D very numerous entrances thereto Zone
$ of these. Mr.. Phillips, has been elect
& ed while the army of would-be pages
9 (at this writing Speaker Thomas ha:
l. not been able to choose the necessar!
l. eight out OIL the one hundred and sixty
r two applicants) is truly formidable
The sergeant-at-arms of this popular
ii but unwieldly body. Mr.. A. H. Hutch
r inson, isn't going to find his job al
t easy one by any manner of means
j. and will e:rn every dollar of his sal
ary. Miss Miller, the postmistress-
8 elected over Miss Olivia Swayze, o
Y Yazoo City, former postmistress, AM
d Miss Kate Hemingway of Jackson
d will also be kept pretty busy, as tn
# families and constituents of the repre-
Il sentatives seem "unccmmonly fond o
d their folks" If we may judge by thei
O correspondence.
O The election of state librarian wa
q the first genuine excitement in whic
S the two bodies united. Wednesday a
ir $3.50 p. M they proceeded to the ele<
t. tioa of a librarian, thus settling q
10 once and getting off the calendar
If matter that, in other times hung, lik
" the sword of Damocles, over the al
t. sembly until late in the session. Sine
c. nine o'clock Tuesday morning tn
A. candidates and their sisters and thei
s. cousins AID their aunts," with a fe'
feminine friends for good measure
o. have been ''cornering'' the arbiters c
X their fate. The scene, continual
" shifting, has had all along, too stron