The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-11
SPEAKER HENDERSON'S WAYS
ONCE THE HOUSE VOTED TO FINE
HIM $4,000. 80.

DiCtuIH w 10 y OCAitiCutth -
WASHINGTON, March IO.-Long before
the late David B. Henderson ever aspireo
TO the Speakership OF. the House OF Repre-
sentatives he was summoned to the pal
Of the House and menac@d with a hne 81
$1,000. This, however, was aejoke'
The incident occurred in. 1883. when the
House was engaged in debate, night and
day, on the Mills Tariff bill. John @. Car
Isle was Speaker at that time.
The. Speaker found considerable difficulty
In maintaining a quorum during the might
sessions. The assistants Of the sergeant
alarms were kept busy trotting all oyeI
Washington, corralling absent members
The absentees were formally arrested
and brought to the HOUSE, where, after
making all sorts OF excuses to the Speaker
for their absence, they were In ell cases
excused by Mr.. Carlisle.
One night, shortly after II O'clock,
Speaker Carlisle sent an assistant to the
sergeant-at-arns after Mr.. Henderson.
The assistant found Mr.. Henderson at one
Of the Washington theatres, and e1thered
him in.
1t was Just about midnight when the
Iowa Congressman appeared in the House
! VNT IlouuSlEOhI duol AK Sho
that his excuse, no feared. might seem a
lame one.
Il was with a theatre party, Mr.. Speaker
he said, when l was arrested and brought
here"
John Allen, the joker, solemn]y rose to his
! feet. ..,... 81 -
Il move" said Mr.. Allen, In q sepulchral
tone, and his usually amiable face as stolid
49, - feNVn b. NNua
be fined 5000" O.
About thirty Of Mr.. Henderson's chum-
miest colleagues rose to their feet az this.
Il second the motion, they all yelled In
chorus.
Mr.. Carlisle, standing on the Speakers
rostrum, put on an expression OF implaea-
bility.
Il hear it moved and seconded, p he said
that the gentleman from Iowa be fined
IS, 900. Those In favor Of the motion will
say Aye"
There were about 800 members present
in the chamber. Every mar OF o Joined
in a vociferous and hilarious "Aye!'
"Those opposed, " continued the Speaker.
still wearing his inflexibie expression,
will say No." " '
Pathetic in its thin solitariness was Mr..
Henderson's voice saying MOI .
Here was a straight case Of a motion
ha wing been parliamentary put Inc parlia-
mentarily carried. Speaker Carlisle saw
that there was only one way in the world
out OF. it, and he was equal to all OF these
! sudden occasions.
1.-The noes ave it, said the Speaker, with
the greatest imaginable gravity, and the
gentleman from Iowa is excused -:
During Mr.. Henderson's early days in
Washington he was known as a player OF
a pretty nifty game of draw poker, but
he gave'up cards a long time before reach
ing the Speakers chair. He used to tell
Of a shocking thing that happened to him
In a game OF draw at Chamberin's with a
bunch Of six of his Iowa constituents who
were visiting Washington for an outing.
They played all jack 'pots that night.
and Henderson solemnly vowed, vurnmed
and affirmed in telling the story that he
didn't catch q single pair in ~forty-three
straight hands. His disgust was so keen
that he fell to passing blind when under
the gun without looking at his cards.
If somebody would open it he would
I pick up his cards and look them over. but for
all these rounds he had no chance to stay,
having nothing to draw to, and he'd been
chippiag his life away, as he expressed it.
He hadn't won even q smell Of a pot all the
evening. -,
Finally, when he was once more the next
man to the dealer. there came a round when
he said II pass" without picking his. cards
up. Everybody else passed all down the
line.
Mr.. Henderson idly picked his cards up
and saw that he had four ives. And all
the rest Of them would nave stayed, as they
were people who stayed in on any old thing
and who. consequently caught something
right frequently: The experience was too
bitter and Mr.. Henderson quit the game
for the night. ...
Mr.. Henderson wasn't in the least sensi-
tive about the absence Of his right leg
which he lost during the civil war. He
wore a cork leg during most Of the time
he lived in Washington, although when
he first came here he went about on clutches
for a while with his right trouser leg tucked
up, because Of the difficulty he found In
getting the right kind Of cork leg,
Every time anybody asks me about that
missing member of mine," he said once
q am reminded Of a spinster Of 80 or 30 who
lives out in my State. This young lady
while amiable enough, was kcenly sensitive
about a leg which she had lost in a railway
accident. She went about on crutches.
"There was some sort Of a religious con!
vention in Dubuque. and n day, when
the one-limbed spineter was riding on q
street car, a fussy elderly clergyman, who
sat next to her in the car. leaned over to her
and said:
81 beg you to excuse my inQuisitiveness
my dear young lady, but it seems 30 shock
ing that a young person should be bereft
OF one of her limbs as you are. Would you
mind my inquir1ng how o happened to
lose the-er-limb?',
"The spinster looked the inquisitive man
Of the Gospel square in the eye. and then
she replied. with the greatest oivility:
mot in the least. I lost my leg in the
Battle Of Waterloo
THE ministerial person fa~bbergastedly
threw up his hands and got of the car al
the next stop