The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-04-03
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN, Director.
Washington, d. C.
THE sACRED SENATE.

I
of the mighty, the senate galleries are
certainly the seats OF the motionless.
| You can travel pretty generally
around the United States and not have
your liberties seriously interfered with.
You may not go wading in Niagara
/ washington monument without a per-
NIT, but aside from a few restrictions
| of this sort you can be your natural
self almost anywhere.
In the galleries of the senate, how
ever, the American for once ceases to
| be the nearest human approximate to
perpetual motion, and becomes a rival
OF the cigar store Indian.
| While listening to a senator make
speech you may not laugh. eat any
thing. talk Except in unintelligible
Whispers), use your index finger to
point out your favorite celebrity, put
anything on the rail, use opera glasses.
! take snapshots, read, write, address
/ the senate, whistle, applaud, or wave
| your handkerchief. This is only a
| partial list, made up from the writer's
personal observation and experience,
of how far a gallery-ite can go with
out being stopped by a guard. So
far,-we have rarely found anybody
who got anywhere.
One young man recently arose to
make a speech to the senate. He had
! Just opened his mouth and put his
| hand in his vest, when a guard leaped
down three steps at a time, and shut
him off. In another second the young
man was out in the corridor with
| four doorkeepers holding him. He
was then permitted to make his speech
in a gentle whisper 1t turned out
that he thought the ghost of Jefferson
| had picked him out to show the world
the way to peace. He had~an Ameri-
can flag in his breast pocket to wave
at the climax of his address. and he
was quite broken-hearted that the
guards would not let him go back and
! show the senate how to be peaceful. -
The list of gallery "shall nots' has
gradually accumulated to it's present
| size. There is no complete printed
copy in existence. None is needed.
Every guard knows intuitively that
the minute visitor begins to liven up
it is time to squelch him.
The present man in charge of the
galleries, Mr.. J. B. Dufault. has been
in office only since last June, but al
! ready he has added a lot of new re-
strictions to 9, supposedly complete as
sortment. For instance, guides con-
Quoting parties of visitors thru the
corridors outside the senate galleries
\ Sometimes it took ten minutes for a
big party to pass a given point, and
while it ciattered by. the people inside
would miss ten minutes of senatorial
procedure. Mr.. Dufault achieved per-
petual quietude simply by having the
guides go around another way during
senate sessions.
Another institution of Mr.. Dufault's
| is a series of cards informing visitors
in polite language that the gallery
rails are not coat racks or elbow rests.
1t used to keep two guards busy rush.
ing up and down the aisles to tell peo-
pie about this unwritten law. Even
then, hat or powderpuff would oc-
casionally sail down and hit some
Iportly and dignified lawmaker on the
nose. Some of the senators became
quite nervous about it. But now. with
an abundance of printed notices, the
| danger is minimized.
I The senate, Mr. Dufault says, is
much more Jealous OF its traditions
and of propriety than the house, and
| any sign of, disrespect on the part of
visitors is quickly resented
One of the few times on record
when the senate gallery ever got away
from the doorkeepers was during the
recent discussions of the peace treaty.
| When Senator Lodge was milking his
| eloquent attack on the League of Ma
tions, certain groups of onlookers
burst again and again into loud ap-
plause. Guards suppressed the Of
tenders twice. and the third time in
formed them that they would have to
! calm down or get out. Vice President
Marshall, referring to the incident,
sn1ilingly said that he would not object
to the applause except that none OF II
was for him. At this, Alice Roosevelt
lLongworth who was in the gallery,
| started to clap and the spectators
broke into applause for the fourth
time that afternoon. Later, however,
Mr. Marshall decreed absolute silence
| Visiting the senate in action is
formal rite carefully prearranged to
avoid any disturbances. No one Is
allowed on the floor of the chamber
! except the lawmakers, employees, the
president and his cabinet, members OF
the house of representatives and dig
nitaries such as kings and princes
when especially invited.
The loft space around the senate
chamber is divided into eight galleries.
Visitors who attempt to enter are first
catalogued and then assigned to their
proper section. Only persons bearing
pink or green cards signed by the sec
4 rotary of state are admitted to the
diplomats gallery. The senators
gallery is reserved for families and
friends of members and its doors are
also open only to bearers of special
cards.
! The first and second rows of this
section are reserved for use of the
president and vice president respect
lively Admission here must be by
order of these executives. The presi-
dents chairs are rarely occupied ex-
. cept on days of unusual interest, or
when some innocent friend of a sena-
tor wanders into the front row.
wondering why the best seats are left
vacant. 1t is only about two minutes,
tho. before Pop Moore. the veteran
custo of the executive chair is
upon him. Pop" as the doorkeep-
: ers all call him, is said to weigh S1o
, pounds, but at the sight of any un-
, ticketed mortal reposing in the front
ROW of his gallery. he sprints down
with the agility of a puppy and urges
the intruder in agonized tones to move
to less exalted quarters.
The press gallery is just over the
speakers desk. This section is re-
served for the 225 newspaper cor
respondents. Back of it are the pres:
offices, outfitted with typewriters
desks, telegraph apparatus, and
operators and telephones. Loca