The Washington herald., 1911-07-03

Der sessions, surrounded by mystery anC
impregnated with gloom, the members OF
the Committee on Public Buildings and
Grounds will meet next Thursday to de,
eide the momentous question Of who
shall feed the House OF Representatives
for the next two years. The committee
hasn't enjoyed the Job a bit. for every
member appreciates to the full the lat
ent possibilities for mischief involved in
the impending vote.
Just suppose" groaned one dlsgusted
Democratic committeeman last night
that we pick somebody for the Job OF
House restaurateur who Immediately
proceeds to commit q violent assault on
the collective internal mechanism Of the
House membership
What will be the result? There will be
wrangling from convening till adjourn
ment; insurgency will be rampant; the
tariff programme viii be rent to shreds;
the Constitution will rock on its founda-
tions, and the party Of Jefferson will
blow UP with a loud report.
''Of course, It wouldn't make much diff
ference to Champ Clark and some other
folks of similar tastes whom We might
select. Champs lunch invariably consists
OF a glass Of water, q glass Of milk, a
cup of coffee, and a piece of pie. But
most members, particularly. my own
brethren, are pretty generous feeders,
and II our committee makes a bad Sc
lection it will be up to US to shoulder
the blame. And I wish somebody else
had the job"
Selection with COMMITTEES.
The selection of the House caterer by
the Public Buildings and Grounds Com
mittee is a brand new proposition. For
merly the Speaker had the say and did
the choosing.
Champ Clark, who frankly confesses
that he has active Presidential aspira-
tions, and who has been passing the
buck On all important questions with
great regularity this session, lodged this
ticklIsh problem as well.
He wants to keep all the friends he
has, and II possible to land a few more
So he turned the Job of selecting the
caterer over to the Buildings and
Grounds Committee, and chuckled when
he did It. And the committee, without
any marked evidences of gratitude, in.
vited all candidates for the job to ster
up and state their qualifications. About
a dozen men, all OF them Of long ex-
perience in the catering game, responded
Several announced that they bad man.
aged hotels, one or two were dining ca
experts, three or four more knew The
lunchroom business backward, and each
and every one seemed positive that he
and he alone was capable OF ministering
to the tickle and varied Congressional
appetite.
The committee was impressed with the
fact that not a single candidate for the
Job Of running the restaurant would con-
sent to explain his plans tc the CON-
mittee when any other candidate was
present.
do you think" said one Of them, in
dignantly, to a committeeman, who
asked him why he was using the soft
pedal, that am going to stand up here
and tell all the things have learned as
a result OF years of experience to the
rest Of these hash-house NUTS? Not OH
your life"
Hearing Is Lengthy.
The other candidates, evidently. from
their individual points Of view, felt just
the same way about II. OF course this
resulted in dragging the hearings out,
and with every candidate demanding
plenty Of time to explain his plans for
running the restaurant-some of them
took three days on the job-the COMMITTEES
thinks It will be a long, long time be-
fore 1t will become interested in food
again.
Even back in the days of "Terrapin
Tom Murray, that genial soul with the
fund of anecdote and the taste for vim
tage wines, the Job of running the House
restaurant was not always profitable.
Murray himself was an evidence Of this.
He was extremely popular with his Gus
toners and ruined himself financially
trying to conduct the place according to
the suggestions he received.
This, too, it mustn't be forgotten. was
in the days when red, red rum was still
sold beneath the dome and when folks
maze a habit of gathering at the House
bar to crook elbows with some Of the
chosen Of the people who were per-
manently or temporarily disconnected
from the water wagon.
1t was no unusual thing in those days
for the caterer to sing blithely while
counting the bar receipts, after he had
loaded a collection of distinguished but
overcome customers in hacks and
shipped them to their respective DOM
iciles.
After the sale Of liquor in the Capitol
was abolished some ten years ago the
catering privilege became less valuable.
and there was not such fight to get 1t
and so many attempts to exercise pull
on the Speaker.
Change May Be Favorable.
Champ Clarks REIMBURSEMENT Of the
power of selection may turn out to be
q good thing II it establishes q precedent,
for 1t was not so many years ago that
a certain Speaker, noted for his epicurean
proclivities, turned over the restaurant
privilege to a new man. for as long as
he should give satisfaction" This, in
the Judgment Of the entire membership
of the House, was about two weeks.
But they stood It month, and then a
delegation made q call on the Speaker.
This restaurant" they said s1s hope