The sun., 1908-10-04
STATESMEN ON YHE STAGE
TYPES YOC SEE IN THE"DEPICT-
ING WASHINGTON" PLAY.

lGNA bttbuHN tNU OthNtAt 0AA~A 1gNtsAA
IAfe II Exhibits Is Different From
Anything Seen outside the Theatre.
W.auINGToN. Oct. 3.-one Ct thoi,s
r,sys depicting Washington oficial and
social life" had It's first presentation here
,bs other night. BY this time probably
n ID "deoictinG Washington" for the
entertainment Of New York audiences
n isn't such bad play. either, only II is
,ost one Of those depicting Washington
,.ys, And on top Of this 1t 10 announced
hat no fewer than 4three leading dran-
,liss- are engaged upon depicting Wash
nuon' plays.
This to washingtonians 10 a, cheerful
announcement. They are intensely fond
a plays that depict Washington Official
snd social life The answer 10 that such
olsyp take them 90 far away from home,
Aabe them to peer into a realm Of the
vhOIs unfamiliar; they portray men and
vonpen and customs and manners and
things that Washingtonians never have
sen or heard Of. There have been Wash
udon plays that breathed the spirit Of
Tymbuctu and others that exhaled the
IDEAS OF Topeka.
erizzled Washingtonian who has seen
AZ Of these plays depicting Washington
during the last quarter Of century was
t.lking about them after having seen this
last specimen.
The United States Senator in 'hese
plays always was hit with me, said he.
Hes always such a gay old cutup.
Generally he's addicted to pearl colored
clothing with frock coat and four-in-
hand oravats moro crimson than the
aapingo OF Paraguay.
Generally. too. he has a backing
brush hirsute chin piece. He rarely or
never walks on or on or AROUND the stage.
His method Of looomotion Ia sort Of
dance or hop. skip and jump.
'In his frequent moments ofelation he
invariably spreads his coattails out fan
wise in his hands and trips through the
conyolutions Of the Czech mazurka. In
his soberer moments he infallibly por-
trays the state Of thoughtfulnees by yank-
ing refiectivey at his chin piece. .
He is mighty chummy with everybody
in the play. too. He whacks his private
secretary on the. back and calls him by
the diminutive of his first name. He has
a roguish eye for the ladies, halting not
al chucking some OF them under the
chin He bubbles with boyishness, ef-
fervesces with an almost hysterical en-
thusiasm.
He has supernatural insight into
legislative jobs, and he is preternaturally
above permitting himself to be t'e bene-
hciary Of any of these legislative frame
ups.
He says breezily smart things to the
ambassador in the play about the efiete-
ness OF .monarchical States. He con-
founds the lobby, shames his sinister
colleagues engaged in playing into the
hands Of the lobby, fetches all of the
young folks together and pronounces
a rattling benediction over them. pays of
the mortgage on his faithful old black
messengers Virginia farm and is a sort
of Ctzen Fixit from canapt to coffee.
"Rubicund and registering. he wears
he smile that can't be swabbed OF. In
word he g just the sort OF man that the
ate .'ohn r. Raymond or Roland Reed
would have been had they actually
served in the United SHtes Senate.
The member OF the 'Honse OF Repre-
sentatives in these 'postraying Wash
ington' plays is pretty much the same
as the Senator, only he's purposeiy made
rOu CHER and he generally wears n 'ong
black frockcoat in combination with
haggy black trousers and broad
brimmed black slouched hat-the un-
varying raimeut. Of course, OF all Rep
resentatives in the Congress. as every
body in Washington knows.
The stage Representative liz pretty
likely to talk about the pee-pul, and to
advert pretty often to his 'deestric'-
he never calls it district and in some Of
the Washington plays he carries gun
the size OF Alkali Ike's in his right hip
rocket, presumably for shooting up
persons who leer at him for eating peas
with a knife or for forcing the Speaker
"a recognize him at critical legislative
iunctures.
'Curiously enough. the great majority
of the stage Representatives in Congress
appear to be from Texas The duds they
wear. at any rate. would help along that
suppostion No matter whence he halls.
however, the stage Representative Ia
nearly always rough diamond. and this OF
course lets him out for employing the null
tlple negative. splitting at casual targets.
going cufIless from principle and heaping
eloquent ridicule upon persons who use
such fool things as finger nail files. Wen
miss the stage Representative in Congress
down here when he drops out. II ever he
does drop out.
The lobbyist in the depicting Wash
ngton' play is another grisly canine
for you. He always wears fur trimmed
overcoat. a top hat that for gloss makes
the brook OF Mar cissus look like some
thing Opaque. and canary diamond stud
in his shirt front about the sine OF an un-
husked pgnut.
He smokes long. black cigars all the
time and he never takes the gilt bands
on the cigars. for he wants you to know
that the smokes are the real thing He
hicks the ashes Of these cigars all over
folks carpets and rugs without any
apology, but they take IL good naturedly.
for they know the lobbyist to be a power
ful and dangerous individual who has
most Of the national Legislators crushed
under his heel or reposing helplessly in
the hollows OF his fat palms.
'Dissipated looking. middle aged chap.
TOO, as a rule-you can all but see the con-
oenHated beads Of old vintages believing
bis sinister forehead.
H. l,,tlio, laziolatnra a.0&a