Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1909-02-06
WASHINGTON LETTER
[speelal Correapondenee.l

awoke some fine morning 10 find that
the men who have given years of their
| lives to aid the senators and represent
Rtives in their duties had been sudden
~ spirited away, for there are clerks
Of committees, employees Of the senate
and house, who have vast stores of
knowledge regarding the proper course
TO be pursued with the legislative
problems that present themselves to
each congress and who are almost In
dispensable to the expeditions transac-
tion of the public business, There are
employees Of this character at the cap
itol who have been in harness for
twenty, thirty and even forty years,
Officers of tho House.
The three officers of the house elect
ed by the members at the beginning of
each new congress are the clerk Of the
house, the sergeant at arms and the
doorkeeper of the house. The present
incumbents have been in office for
years and are extremely likely to be
reelected when the Sixty-first con-
gress assemblies after March in extra
/ session. The offices of clerk Of the
house and sergeant at arms have al
most Invariably been given to former
members Of the house. The present
clerk, Alexander Mcdowell, came to
the capitol first as Il representative
from Pennsylvania, being elected to
| the Fifty-third congress on the Repub-
lican ticket. He was elected clerk Of
the house during the Fifty-fourth con-
gress
The Quorum ProVider.
The sergeant at arms, Henry a. Cas-
son, came here from Wisconsin. He
was at one time chief clerk of the de-
partment of agriculture This was In
the day of jeremiah Rusk, whose pro-
tege Casson was. The position Of SER
geant at arms Of the house requires
considerable tact, and Mr.. Casson fills
the bill to ST." He has been called
upon when members so far forgot
themselves as to come to blows on the
floor of the house, which they some
times do there. Another job put
upon the sergeant at arms is to bring
in the members when there IS call Of
the house to vote upon measure of
Importance. There are times when Mr..
Casson is compelled to take members
from entertainments, receptions and
dinners. He has cruelty yanked them
out of their beds unless they were too
Ill to come In order that a quorum OF
l.
Expert on Parliamentary Law.
The doorkeeper Of the house is Frank
B. Lyons. He came into his Office
about the same time as Mcdowell and
Casson.
No man in the house occupies more
responsible position than Asher G,
Kinds, the parliamentary clerk to the
speaker. Mr. Kinds stands ever at the
speakers right hand and Informs him
on all questions relating to the rules
of the house and to parliamentary law.
Mr.. Kinds is probably the best posted
man on parliamentary law on this sidS
Of the Atlantic ocean. He came to
Washington first as newspaper man
and had a place in the house press gal
lery He halls from Maine, and Speak
err Reed appointed him his clerk In
1890. He rapidly proved himself
wonderfully clever parliamentarian and
has held the position ever since.
Learned In Naval Lore.
Pittman Pulsifer, clerk to the naval
committee of the senate, is officially
designated as Senator Hale's private
secretary. There is no other layman
In the country who knows as much
about the United States navy, and, for
that matter, the navies Of the world, as
Pittman Pulsifer 1t has been one of
his duties to complete the "Navy Year
Book" This book has become an abso-
lutte authority upon naval matters in
the senate and is highly regarded by
the navy department. Mr.. Pulsifer I'M
derstands well the handling of big
navy budgets, and his statements re-
lating to the vessels and the personnel
Of the new navy are considered scrip
ture" when naval affairs are discussed.
Color All Right.
Some one brought Captain Pete Ri
ley bad news the other day. Captain
Pete is the chauffeur of the elevator
that takes you up to the gallery floor
of the senate-that is, If you happen
to be senator or a member of some
other privileged class-or away down
into the bowels Of the earth, if you
want to go. He has troubles Of his
own, has Captain Pete, and for that
reason other people shouldn't go to
him with theirs But this man did.
Says he to Pete: "My good friend Mike
Is dead. He passed away last night"
"And what was the matter with
himY says Pete.
Faith, it was gangrene," says Pete's
friend.
"Thank God for the color" says Pete,
Plan Monument to Allison.
A movement is on foot at the capitol
to honor the memory of Senator VIII
liam B. Allison of Iowa in an endur-
ing fashion. A proposition will be
made to congress to appropriate the
necessary funds for a site and base for
a monument to the late father of the
senate" The monument itself will be
provided through private subscription,
with the probable cooperation Of the
state of Iowa.
Why Mr.. Wilson Precedes.
Secretary Of Commerce and Labor
Oscar S. Straus, although one of the
most prompt Of the cabinet at all Off
cial gatherings at that body, is usually
preceded by Secretary of Agriculture