The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-02-03
The Experience OF a
l'INew Congressman

middle liff Dut tlllA
that I have reached that stage
earlier than most men IN ny sphere
of life. Ihaye come 10 The concln-
sion that il IS letter to * a big
frog ina little pond than a little
frog ID 4 Big p9nd These rehel-
tioushaveb=en Induced b. mye xper-
ieucs as a new meuber In Congress.
7 was nominated IS number q
ms mistaken friends IN order 10
lead a forlo-n hope ID a district thar
had been carried By the opposition
for 4 generation 7 paid littie az
tention 70 The canvass ard that III
4 perfunctory wayi but 70 ny Own
amazement and that Of everybody
concerned. I was elected BY a con-
Portable majority. am not a
proud mar nora vain man; but ]
must confess that when first be-
gan 10 " addressed as "Congfess-
man, had a sensation about tHe
head that very much r-sembled All
enlargement of the cranium. I be-
came at once tie leading man ii
ny own town. Evlfy5ody IN
stinctiyely deferred 10 me. Att of
the letters that I reosrsd were adj !
dressed TO the Hen. John Smith
Smith IS not my name, bni I'll
will answer all purposes in tile mar
ratire that am about 10 tell.
I went to Washington on the eve !
OF the opening Of Congress, and |
was treated 10 rude awakening
At home everybody regarded me a.
man Of importance. At the na-
tional capital no one thought ii was
worth their while to pay any at /
tention to me. The tension be- /
meath the leather Of my hat 6isap- I
peared. and the proud. d.feeling evap
GRATED into thin air Ambassadors
Senators, Representatives, cabinet
ministers, and other personageS
who figure ID the news columns Of
our daily papers are 50 common ii
Washington that scarcely any orc
pays any attention to them. Even
the President goes to and fro with
out attracting any unusual notice
or observation. This is all reason
able enough; but it took me long
while to become accustomed to the
shocking neglect which falls to the
lot ofthe average new Congress
man.
I confess that I was as green as
grass. had only visited Wash
iugton once or twice before in my
whole life, and while had gone
through the important buildings.
I had but vague notion regarding
their location and the particular
usesof each one Of them. | might
as well say frankly at the outset
that I got lost in the Capital On
my first visit. Through some
blunder or other found myself in /
the basement, amid a wilderness Of II
marble columns and packing boxes
] groped my way out Of this, and (
walking around in sort Of circle
up pair Of iron stairways. ! finally {
landed iii the Hall Of Statuary,
where the marble eHgies Of Cen 1
eral Washington Robert Fulton, t
General Muhlenberg, Father Mar
quette, and other worthies frown-
ed down on me with undisguised {
disgust. I hurried out Of this e
apartment only to land at the c
entrance Of the United States 4
Senate. I vas on the wrong side t
of the building. After that /
to take az elevator; but a
was confronted BY a large sign on t
which was printed: q
THIS ELEVATOR IS FOR THE ExcLU- o
sIyE USE or MEMBERS OF THE b
SUPREME COURT j
Now no one has a higher regard l
Or veneraiion for the Supreme 4
Court than I; butat that particular v
luncture I was so mortified with
my own ignorance and with the
series Of misadventures that / had n
encountered that felt anarchistic :,
enough to say some very warm \,