The Washington herald., 1906-12-04
THIRTY YEARS IN THE SENATE
Henry II. Teller Entered Upper
House December 3, 1875.
Allison Only Remaining One of His
Colleagues Of that Tfme-SOme
"Reminiscences.

no. the chamber itself doesn't seem
widely different from what it was then.
but everything else is changed None
Of the men who were here then are here
to-day. and fourteen more seats are in
use. Seven States have been admitted
since then. you know"
The speaker was Henry N. Teller, Sc
nior Senator from Colorado, and the time
he spoke Of was thirty years ago. when
he first became one of that body Of
which he is still an honored and able
member Yesterday was the thirtieth
anniversary OF Mr.. Teller's entrance into
the Senate. Il was on December 3. 1876,
that De was sworn in for the first time
Four Congressional employees who were
in Office at that time are still on the pay
roll az the Capitol They are c. s. Dra-
per, who was then Acting Assistant Door
keeper Of the Senate, and now is the Door
keeper in charge Of the diplomatic gal
lcryi AMI Smith, and Messrs. Nixon
and Richards Capt Draper came In to
talk over old times with Senator Teller
after the brief session. and the Senator
grew reminiscent.
Colorado became State in 1876 he
said, which explains why my colleague,
j.. 3. Chanee, and myself entered the
Senate at the beginning Of short ses-
sion. 1 drew the term which ended on
the Cd of March following. so I wouldn't
have been a senator very long if 1 had
not been Immediately elected TO succeed
myself for a term of the regular length.
an 0fs.s~
Just eight days after I first took my seat
Colorado had but one Representative
in the House then" continued the Sena-
tor. He was James BelfOrd, and they
called him The Red-Headed Rooster Of
the Rockies "a name he rather liked. by
the way. He is still alive, but Senator
Chaffee has been dead for years.
only one man who IS a member Of the
Senate now was a member then" went
on Alr. Teller, with a look in his eyes that
went much farther than the confines of
the Senate chamber. That was Senator
Allison. He is not here to-day, and 1 am
sorry I would ike to enjoy the anniveT-
sGry with him"
Then Capt. Draper chimed in with a
reminder that that first session of Senator
TeIler's was The one made famous by the
operations Of the aHyes-TiIden electoral
commission. That led Senator Teller on
to more reminiscences-Of the work of
that body. of the nervous times" as he
called them, that existed then; Of Henry
WatteTsOn's declaration of readiness to
bring Kentucky mountaineers to the
Capitol to see that justice. and fun
justice at that, was done the Democratic
nominee, whom Democrats still insist
should have had the Office that went TO
Hayes; Of the quiet demeanor of President
Grant. who, IN the face of all rumors of
trouble showed not the slightest dis
Composure. and continued to tell all who
inquired that there would be no diffiru ulty
and that the man who was dec Jared
elected would be inaugurated without any
untoward happenings; Of the many trips
he made with other Senators through
the corridors Of the Capitol with the
election papers in a strong box, and Capt
Draper and other employees. all armed
guarding the box.
Il was always General Teller TO Pres
ident Grant" said the Senator. I was
never anything more than military Of
ficer. and not unduly proud of that. so
one day I asked him why he preferred
the military to the Senatorial title.
Because General is a better title
than Senator, % -" he replied
1t was Capt Draper who acted as body
guard to Hayes during the time that inter-
vened between the latters arrival in
Washington and his inauguration. My
orders were 70 keep him in sight con-
stantly,' said Capt. Draper, but one day
he gave me the slip and got away, and
spent the most uncomfortable two or
three hours of my life
Senator Teller has served in the SEN
ate only twenty-seven years of the thirty
which have passed since he was first
sworn in. For three years. from April.
1882 until March. 1855, he was Secretary
Of the Interior under President Arthur.
He received the congratulations of many
of his COLLEAGUES Yesterdav