Evening Star Newspaper, November 11, 1893, Page 17

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Want advertisements will be received up to noon of the day of publication, precedence being «iven to those first receivea. WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1893—TWENTY PAGES. MARCHING TO MEAL Ss. WORK AT WEST POINT The System That Prevails at the; THOROUGHNESS ALWAYS AIMED AT. There is Never Any Chance to Shirk. EVER ON THE MARCH. sical aciats Written for The Evening Star. HE TWENTY- eighth of August isa red letter day at West Point. On that day the second class return from furlough, and in the evening a “big hop” is given in their honor. This “feed hop” from the fact of refreshments being served. The usual hops last only | till 10 o'clock and wa- ter is the only solid provided. The fur- ough hop is kept up until 1 o’clock, but that fact does not prevent the sounding of the inevitable reveille at 5:20 o'clock the next morning. The 29tk of August is moving day. The Previous afternoon the cadets of each com- pany have met at the captains’ tent to draw for rooms in barracks. This drawing con- sists in the cadets selecting the available rooms in order of rank. Each cadet choos- @s a room mate from those members of his own class who are in the same company with him. The senior of the two when his turn comes picks out the best room that is left. Among cadet privates, that is those that are not officers or non-commissioned officers in the cadet battalion, rank is de- termined by class standing. The first floor Fooms are the least in demand for the rea- gon that they are the first reached by the imspecting officer in his rounds. On the ture. A plain roller shade covers the low- er half of the single window. Curtains, car- pets, rugs, rocking chairs, bric-a-brac, pic- tures and ornaments of all kinds are strict- ly prohibited. To return from the moving from camp. After marching from oreak- fast each cadet puts on his oldest uniform Thayer Monument. and sets to work to move the contents of his tent to his room in barracks, or his new house, as he would term it, for a cadet al- Ways speaks of his tent in camp or his room in barracks as “my house.” Bedding and the heavy articles are loaded into army wagons pulled by the traditional mules. For clothing and light things a stretcher is used with a cadet at each end, and before the wide plain is traversed the load seems like lead. Two hours of brisk work and only rifles and equipments remain in camp. The camp is now cleaned or in military lan- guage “policed,” arms are stacked and all tent cords unfastered except those at the corners. The cadets now go to barracks, put on their oest uniforms and return to see their friends among the pretty xirls on the visitor's seats. When the clock strikes eleven every cadet is in his own company street. At the first tap of the drum he springs to cast off the remaining tent cords. Axain the drum taps and the tents stand supported only by cadet at each upright. Thirty seconds later comes the third tap and a hundred tents fall with a single sourd. Camp is over and in recent years the cadets loudly proclaim that fact by giv- ing their class yells, regardless of the con- mi general ary principle that rank de- | serves consideration these rooms according- | ly fall to the lot of the plebes. The second | floor rooms are the most coveted and those | on the third floor next. The fourth floor, or “cock loft,” is usually tenanted by “low | ranking yearlings” and by plebes. It must | be remembered that location is the only | factor entering materialiy into the question of sel s The high and | nd the poor, have the | of rooms ang the same plain The are fourteen by | and airy, and are | steam. epee: were constructed about forty y open fire p . for which in rought up their own wood, assist In ventilation. At one end of the room a low partition about feet in length separates the s; alcoves, in each of which ts a soldier's bunk. Agai the end of the partition} Stands a cheap washstand with a galva: are retained to ace the floor at each end. nest from the door,” as n hané n reads, bucke below, in the j Thi fm the yard dipper. urne at side of the room are two tables and two heavy wooden cha’ In one corner are a gun rack and pegs for sabers and s; A clothes- press of open shelves completes the furni-instruction was ez! i i sternation produced in the beautiful ceme- tery a half a mile away, where, at such an innovation, the old offic turn over in their honored graves. Like the Arabs the cadets fold their tents, but here the simile ends, for before they can steal away they are formed in line and marched over the plain to barracks to the music of the band and the voices of a host of fair admirers. ers of the academy | d who became superintendent about seventy- five years ago, and earned, during a ser- vice of some fifteen years in that position, the title of “father of the Military Acad- emy.” His statue, with that inscription, faces the parade ground, but his most en- during monument is the institution itself. The academy is divided into eleven de- partments, whose heads compose the academic board, corresponding to the facul- ty of a college, and presided over by the superintendent. The most important de- partment is that of tactics, at the head of which is the commandant of cadets, with the local rank of lieutenant colonel. As- sisted by a captain and seven lieutenants, four of whom command companies of cadets, he has charge, not only of all prac- tical and theoretical instruction in the du- ties and drills of infantry, artillery and cavalry, but of military discipline as well. The jurisdiction of each of the other de- partments attaches to the cadet only dur- ing the brief period of recitation, but that of the tactical department, embracing dis- cipline, never relaxes night or day. This is what gives the department its great im- portance, for viewed from every other point the departments are co-ordinate, and it would be difficult to say that any one is more important than another for the gen: eral object in view. Among themselves, the cadets invariably speak of the superin- tendent as “the supe,” of the commandant “the com.,” and of the tactical officer as ta The other ten departments are: Mathe- matics, modern languages, natural and ex- perimental philosophy, chemistry, including mineralogy and geology, drawing, civil and military engineering, history, law, practi- cal military engineering, and ordnance and gunnery. The first seven are presided over by professors who reside permanently at West Point, being appointed for life by the President, with the rank and pay of lieu- tenant colonel, or, after ten years’ service, of colonel. The professor of history is also chaplain, but the other six have usually been officers of the army and instructors at, as well as graduates of, West Point. The heads of the other three departments are, like the superintendent and the com- mandant, officers of the army detailed on account of fitness for the particular duty, for a tour of from four to six years. The heads of departments supervise and direct, but the actual teaching is done by leu- tenants of the army who have served not less than four years after graduation. Their tour is four years, and they are so detailed that about one-fourth are relieved every August. There are about forty-five lieutenants on duty in the various depart- ments, each one selected on account of his pecullar aptitude for the study in hand. This changing of instructors causes a steady infusion of fresh blood and outside ideas, held in wholesome check by the per- manent professor. All told, there are about sixty officers on duty at West Point, but it will be observed that only seven are at all permanent. Cadet classes come and go, in- structors change, professors die, but the abstract system goes on forever. The classes are divided into sections of about ten cadets each. The recitations are from an hour to an hour and a half in iength, so the chances are that every man will be called upon to recite and none yet what the cadets call a “‘stayback.” Each instructor has only one section at a tine and only two during the day. The instruct- or has to spend several hours in preparation every day, so that his position is no sine- cure. The system of sections is one of the main reasons for the thoroughness of the | instruction at West Point. Occasionally the whole class is instructed by a lecture from After the Drum. the professor, but as a rule the good old- fashioned method is followed of making a man dig out things for himself and then get on his feet and tell what he knows about them. There can be no shirking, no de- pending upon some one else. The instruct- or is able to devote several minutes to each man and can quickly detect any superticial preparation. Text books are closely foi- lowed, but are amplified by original prob- lems. A mere learning of truths by rote is Impossible, for the question, “Why?” is the one most’ frequently propounded. To the objection that the text book method is nar- rowing to the individual, the answer is that in the long run no great degree of breadth can be attained without a solid foundation, and this foundation !s what West Point gives, pointing out the way for the broad superstructure which will follow in natural sequence. In each new class the first division inio sections is made alphabetically, but at the end of the first month comes “general trans- fer,” when the cadets are graded according to the ability thus far displayed. The highest cadets constitute the “first sect ion,”” the next highest the “second section,” and so on to the last, which, being separated from the sheep, is known to the cadets as “the goats.” Until recent years the “goat sec- tion” was called “the immortals,” from tne French of les immortelles, corrupted ir: “lazy mortals.” This first transfer is any thing but final, for every two or three wes a few transfers are made. All recitations are marked on a maximum of three, know: as‘ a max,” and graded in tenths to th “absolute zero of arithmetic.” On Saturday afternoon the marks for the week are post- ed in the gymnasium, so that each man can see how he has been doing. Those who, oeet to Strike Tents, cadets are marched to > and draw the text the coming half cadets have “re- rh they spend in $s and in s ming about t good bye to the sounding “call ounces the beginning of of the hardest kind of en minutes before 8 the next bugle warns one-half y to mareh to first recitation 3 and the other half go to their quarters and study. It is al- most as t to omit the word “march” as it is the tv description of life a nd to funerals. i should the angel trumpet if the turn out and order the plebes in the » he would in- r heaven if no ; his shoulders back or il “t my at West Point ve present system of tablished by Col. Thayer, dates from ‘| “milord Anglais,"* after a fair trial, fail to maintain the stan ard of their sections are transferred down. | and others come up in their places. So Ss: urday afternoon brings pain to some and pleasure to others. Each daily recitation is practically an examination and those cade.s who fall too near the bottom of the class realize that at the next semi-annual exatm- ination they may fail and be sent home, not in disgrace, but in disappointment. CHARLES HINE. en Had Not Been Introduced. | From the Argonaut. A French traveler's tale of British phlegm is told in the following te-ms: A Frenchman was seated in a smoking carriage, and had for his companion a Enter a British miss—of | course with a plaid, and protruding teeth, and a skye terrier. She sat opposite the milord. He politely informed her that she had by mistake got into a smoking carriage. She made not the slightest answer, but sat grimly on. The milord threw away his cigar, much to the astonishment of the Frenchman, who, according to the story, sat watching what would happen. Wher they reached the next station, the milord said, with the cold dignity of his race and cast: “Madar can now change into a non- smoking carriage. If she does not, I will assume that she dees not mind smoke, and shall light another cigar.” Madam’ said | never a word, but stared in front of her. | The train went on again, and the milord | lighted up. When his cigar was well alight! and the train in motion, the lady bent for-| ward, took the cigar out of the milord's mouth, and threw it out of the window. The milord not only did not make any re- mark, but he did not even seem disturbed. | All he did was to wait a minute, and then! to bend over the lady, seize the skye terrier, which was lying in her lap, and fling it out of the window. Of this act the lady, to the cemplete astonishment of the French spec- tator, took no notice whatever. At the next station, both the lady and the milord got out, but without exchanging a word in re- gard to the cigar-and-dog incident, while the Frenchman turned over in his head an | etude on the subject of “Les Anglais taci- turnes.” eee Active. From Truth. Bootles—What are these gold bugs that we see so much about in the papers? Tootles—They appear to be a variety that keep sliver men from sleeping. THANKSGIVING DAY. A Festival That Dates Back to Colo- nial Times. INTERMITTENT FOR MANY YEARS, How the President Issues His Proc- lamation. THE SEAL OF STATE. Written for The Evening Star. , VERY YEAR AT % about this time the President of the United States’ issues @ proclamation fixing “Thanksgiving day,” as it has come to be known. Every year te proclamation of the President is transmitted to the governors of the states, and the day named by the Presi- dent is set aside as a general holiday. Originally it was intended as a day of fasting and prayer. Now it is a day of feasting and frolic and foot ball games. Every good American is thankful that he is an American 36 days in the year—and one day extra in leap years. He does not need # special day set aside for rejoicing. The making of the Thanksgiving day Proclamation is a serious duty for the President; for it is customary for him to write this proclamation with his own hand and to put into it as much of the spirit of the day as possible. President Harrison used to take a pencil and a little pad of paper and write out the proclamation in full. Then he would turn it over to one of the executive clerks to be copied. Mr. Har- rison preferred to use his pencil rather than to dictate. President Cleveland also writes some things with his own hand, but he uses a stenographer, too, a great deal. The first draft of the proclamation is copied and the copy is sent to the State Department. There are two or three clerks in the State Department who make a specialty of penmanship. One of these en- grosses the proclamation on parchment ar- ustically. The parchment is sent back to the White House to receive the President's signature. When “Grover Cleveland” has been written at the bottom of it it is taken | back to the State “Walter Q. Gresham's” signature attests that of the President. Then the great seal of the State Department is affixed. It is a very ornate seal. It ought to be, for it cost $1,000. It is kept in a rosewood case in the bureau of commissions and pardons, and its custodian is George Bartle, who has been in the department service for forty- seven years. Bartle was appointed to a clerkship by Daniel Webster. He is one of the oldest employes of the government at Washington. It takes an order from the President of the United States to procure an impression of the great seal of state. Collectors of seals and autographs frequently write to the Secretary of State for copies of the seal of state. The same formal reply Is sent to all of them—that under the law no impres- sions of the seal can go out of the depart- ment unless they are affixed to official papers. The President of the United States could give authority to a collector to ob- tain an impression of the seal. But no President has ever done so. The law of 1789 says that the seal shall not be affixed to any instrument except a commission ““without the special warrant of the Presi- dent therefor.” The President, therefore, when he sends a Thanksgiving proclama: tion to the State Department for the seal, sends with it a copy of the following printed form, duly filled out and signed: “I hereby authorize and direct the Secre- tary of State to cause the seal of the United States to be affixed to , dated this day and signed by me, and for doing so this shall be his warrant.” When Mr. Bartle receives this order he unlocks the rosewood case, puts a scalloped circle of paper in the press, and with a light turn of the heavy steel ball above brings the seal down on the paper and leaves its impress there. Then the stamped piece of paper is fastened to the proclama- tion and it is ready to go to the world. The Great Seal. Bartle is very conscientious about the ex- ercise of his duties toward the great seal, and he has controversies not infrequently with people who are in a hurry for public documents, and who do not understand why the State Department has not author- ity under the general law to affix the great seal to any document bearing the Presi- dent's signature. When the proclamation has been com- pleted by the addition of the seal clerks of the State Department are set to work making copies for transmission to the gov- ernors of the states and territories. These copies are not made on typewriters or with manifolding paper or by any other process of duplication. The State Department uses the typewriter for some purposes, but not for official correspondence. All of the copies of the proclamation are written out on the long sheets of blue paper which are used for official correspondence. Each governor who receives a copy of the President's proclamation will make a proclamation of his own. But in the meantime the procla- mation of the President has been made public, and the people all over the country know what day has been chosen for “Thanksgiving.” There is no law providing a day for gen- eral thanksgiving. “Thanksgiving day” is a product of custom. The President could omit his “Thanksgiving” proclamation in any year, or he could fix the 7th of May or the 2ist of December as the day for giving thanks. But it has come to be the custom for the President to issue a proclamation each year, naming, usually, the last Thurs- day in the month of November as Thanks- giving day. This custom dates back only to 1864, though Thanksgiving day was cele- brated at odd times as far back as the days of the colonies. Among the records preserved by Congress {s a proclamation by the council of Massachusetts dated No- Department, where vember 16, 1776, recommending ‘“‘acknowl- edgments for mercies enjoyed. A form of thanksgiving proclamation was reported to the Continental Congress November 1, 1777, by Samuel Adams of Massachusetts. Tt was Samuel Adams who urged the opening of Congress with prayer in opposition to John Jay, who said that Episcopalians, Presbyterians, &c.. could hardly be ex- pected to unite In formal worship. Adams’ form of proclamation has not been observed since, for each proclamation follows the fancy of the President who writes it. In November, 1778, the chaplain of Con- gress recommended that Wednesday, De- cember 30, be observed as “a day of thanks- giving and praise,” so the Thursday in November has not been the invariable day for this festival. In 1779 the first Tuesday in May was appointed as a day of thanks- giving, and this appointment was made hy proclamation of the Continental Congress. This was an extra day of thanks, for in the following October Congressman Root reported in favor of appointing Thursday, December 9, as a day of thanksgiving. In 1782 the states were recommended (on re- port of Congressman Witherspoon) to ap- point November 28 as a day of thanksgiv- ine. For a great many years the custom of observing Thanksgiving day fell tnto in- nocuous desuetude. Then the editor_of a woman's paper took the matter up. Her name was Srrah Josepha Hale and she ved tn Philadelvh!a until her death fonr- teen years ago. She inaugurated a_move- ment to raise $50,000 to complete the Bunker Hill monument. It was successful. Then she began to manufacture public sentiment in favor of an annual observance of Thanksgiving day. She interested Presi- dent Lincoln, and in 186; he adopted her suggestion and issued a proclamation for a day of thanksgiving. The custom has come unchanged down to the present day. The First of the Series. The first Thanksgiving day proclama- tion ever issued by a President was signed by George Washington in 1789, The original is in the possession of Rev. J. W. Well- man, who inherited it from his grandfather, William Ripley, of Cornish, N. H. This proclamation was issued by request of both houses of Congress through their joint committee. The text of the proclamation following the preamble is: Now, therefore, I do recommend and as- sign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glo- rious Being,who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be: That we may then all unite in ren- dering unto him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind Care and Protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation;—for the signal and manifold Mercies, and the favourable interpositions of his Providence in the Course and Conclusion of the late War;—for the great Degree of Tranquility, Union and Plenty, which we have since enjoyed;—for the peaceable and rational Manner in which we have been enabled to establish Con- stitutions of Government for our Safety and Happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;—for the civil and religious Liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;—and in general, for all the great and various Favours which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And, also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our Prayers and sup- Plications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech him to pardon our National and other Transgressions;—to en- able us all, whether in public or private | Stations, to perform our several and rela- tive Duties properly and punctually;—to | render our National Government a Blessing | to all the people, by constantly being a | government of wise, just and Constitution- 1 Laws, directly and faithfully executed and obey to protect and guide all Sov- ereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them | with good Government, Peace and Concord; —to promote the Knowledge and Practice ! of true Religion and Virtue, and the increase of Science among ‘them and us;—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of Temporal Pros- Perity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my Hand, at the City of New York, the third Day of October, in the year of our Lord One Thousand, Seven Hundred and eighty-nine. G. WASHINGTON. ‘The Thanksgiving proclamations issued since the time of “G. Washington” have | usually been less elaborate. - | There is no special observance of the day | at the capital except the occasional ser- | vices in the churches. It is altogether | likely that President Cleveland will be fishing or shooting on Thanksgiving day | this year. If he is not, the traditional tur- | key with cranberry sauce will be served at the White House table, possibly to a few guests as well as to the President and his family. The cabinet people usually eat | their Thanksgiving dinner by “their own firesides.” If they feel any especial occa- | sion for giving thanks they do not show it. | ——+e+—___ Homicidal Cranks. From the Medical Record. The recent shocking murder of Mayor | Harrison calls attention again to the dan- ger to which society is subjected by the half mad. The name which science gives to their malady is paranoia persecutoria. It is not, however, so much a real disease | as it is an inherent defect in the structure of the brain. This defect exists in many, but it is overcome and controlled by educa- | tion and training. In the homicidal para-| polec natural defects and natural bad pro- | Pensities are increased by bad habits of life and thought. For example, by the over- indulgence in alcohol, tobacco and excit- able haranguing a man who has simply ex- aggerated political views becomes a politi- cal criminal or a murderer. The question naturally arises whether the homicidal para- nciac has come with us to stay and to in- crease in numbers and activity. Already it Is necessary for public men to exercise care in admitting people to audience, and the life of the American millionaire or high political functionary is, perhaps, already quite as uneasy as that of the Czar of Rus- sia. We see no immediate prospect of relief from this condition of things. Certainly lynching will do no good, though so strong- ly recommended by many. Whether such people should be hanged is a question to be ividual case. In some decided in each ind: is surely necessary and help- instances it |; ful, even if from our standpoint it seems cruel, But cranks and paranoiacs will not be suppressed by hanging, because they often love notoriety more than they fear death, cr are impelled to their act by a morbid instinct, which no prospect of fu- ture punishment can suppress. The para-/ noiac is the result of bad breeding, and he will flourish as long as neurotic people in- termarry and give birth to children whose | morbid tendencies are allowed to develop. | To prevent the increase of the paranoiacs | we need good fathers and mothers. j oo—____ | Miss Jane, Sir Cupid L A Collaborative Poem. By BM. T. and F. R.& We walked in a garden of Miss Jane, Sir Cupid and I Nay, rather, she walked by herself, And never could answer me why. ‘The more I besought her, still farther And farther she fitted ahead, Laughing ahd scattering roses— Roses, the white and the red. At last she gave me her “reason: Surely I “tought to have know: “Sir Cupid’’—and—“Three are too many,” She'd walk with me, if alone! So, lost in the maze of the roses, Forever she fitted before; And I said, with a sigh, to Sir Cupid: “I'll follow the truant no more: ‘The next time I drew near to the I listened; I beard a faint stir, And when I looked into the garden ‘The rascal was walking with her! Then softly I crept in, and caught her; | She blushed, but would not be free. By keeping Sir Cupid between us Tuere was room in thove sllevs for three, —McClure's Magazine, ee Contagion in Whiskers. From the National Barber. Dr. Warren, assistant city physician of Chicago, Ill, was asked to shave off his whiskers—both of them. He didn’t. When | he entered the insane court at the Deten- tion Hospital the other day Dr. McGrath, the county physician, entered a protest. He said that Dr. Warren is in charge of the pest house and makes cheerful trips then to court with his undulating Burnsides con- verted into an asylum for spores, germs, microbes and bavilli in the face of Dr. Rey- nold’s request for their abolition. Judge | Brown told Dr. Warren to go away and stay. Dr. Warren said he was willing, and the court told him that particular pains would be taken to see that he did. ——____+e+_-___ “A Dead Beat to Windward.” From Life, |ing at the bits or kicking in the traces. | and metal, and throws all his strength into | truth. /upon the floor of the Hou: | Reed had no more loyal Neutenant in thi | Anon, he thrashes the air like a windmill and roars like one of his western tornadoes, Never does he swerve from his convictions, and his convictions are always intensely re- publican. Strange as it may seem, Cannon is @ native of North Carolina. He has all the characteristics of the Scotch settiers of that state. David B. Henderson of Iowa is eae movie although his face does cate it. Cannon, to use a vulgarism, breeds back. A look at nis face Would al most convince you that he came from the Grampian Hills and that he ate oatmeal in the morning and haggis at night, with moderate libations of Lochnagar. His re- turn to the House gave pleasure even to those who had suffered from his blows in the Fifty-first Congress. He is now in his nineteenth year of active service as a repub- lican wheel horse and he still carries weight = oa New York furnishes an admirable ub- lican wheel horse. He is Sereno E. Sox A man of magnificent presence and of lofty intellectuality, he commands the admiration of the galleries. His face and figure recall the Three Guardsmen. Indeed, Sereno might not inaptly be tcrmed the b'Artigaan of the republican party in the house. His moti» seems to be “all for one and one for all.” With a bushy gray head, flashing blue eyes and fine complexion, broad shoulders and magnificent chest, and the bearing of a knight of old, he might well attract the ad. miration of even royal visitors. Withal is a rough and ready fighter, equally at home on the skirmish line or in’ the thickest of the conflict. He strikes sturdy blows, 1 es the foil or the broad-ax with equal ability. Payne is the senior Congressman in serv- ice from New York. Since Roscoe Coniting’s time the republicans of that state have had STRONG IN HARNESS. Republican Wheel Horses Who Pull Well Together. ALL ARE MEMBERS WORTHY OF NOTE They Do Not Kick or Champ at the Bits. A FINE-LOOKING SET. Written for The Evening Star. HE REPUBLICAN wheel horses in the House are well Worthy of note. A finer looking set of men has never been seen in any legislative body. In addition td this, there is a large element of intellect tuality among them. ‘They are bright, able fellows, and amena- ble to discipline. They recognize their leader and follow him as if by’ instinct. They agree with each other berfectly, take pleasure in each other's so- ciety, and pull with a will when the time comes for pulling. They have drawn the wagon of the minority, with few exceptions, for many years, and they always act well. On important matters there is no champ- The man behind the dashboard is perfectly safe. He never has to touch his leaders with a whip. At times they sniff the morn- ing air and prance as if on exhibition. Again, they squat and buckle down to the traces, pulling with the vim and energy of Norman horses. Tom Reed can hardly be called a wheel horse. He is more like the steed that stands at the foot of the hill and assists in pulling up the horse car. He has wonderful nerve J. C. Burrows. no wiser or more doughty champion in the House. A careful student and close reason- er, quick at repartee and as ready to evade an issue as to present one, he carries great weight on the republican side of the House. A member of the committee of ways and means, he is well versed in the tariff and all other political issues. Nor has he pushed himself to the front; be has gravitated there naturally. He has a genial face and courteous manners. Although an ardent partisan, he commands the respect if not the admiration of his opponents. And the ladies in the galleries are always anxious to ascertain his name. Pennsylvania also furnishes a fine wheel horse, and the party frequently utilizes him. He is John Daizell of Pittsburg. Small in Stature, he looms up superbly in debate. Active, indefatigable and a plausible talker, he is an ideal political skirmisher. Full of pluck and fire, his ability has been tested ™many times upon the floor of the House. His attachments, personal and political, are strong. It was his defense of a Pittsburg manufacturer that led to the censure of William D. Bynum in the Fifty-first Con- gress. the balance at the opportune time. He has pulled the party out of many a rut, and at times has been so rampant as to yank the car off the track and on to the sidewalk. There ts no man in the House so ready in repartee and more overbearing and insolent when he wants to draw the fire of the ene- my. He invariably excites the admiration of his opponents, but they shout with glee when he is stung in return, and well they may, for he usually does the stinging him- self. On parlimentary points he is a “hum- mer.” He can evade or meet an issue with equal readiness. His broad Yankee accent adds to the zest of his remarks. He is as grave as an owl when in his more sarcastic moods, and this, as much as his utterances, provokes the merriment of the House. He smiles at the wit of others, but never at his own. He usually stands in a republican aisle with a hand upon a desk on either side. His dome-like head sets well back, and his mouth when talking looks like an © on ints side. There is persifiage, but no verbiage in his speeches. An adept editor with a blue pencil would find nothing to strike out. Leave out, or cut away a few John Dalzell. Dalzell is natty in dress and precise in debate. A member of the ways and means committee, he has all the Pennsylvania pre- dilections for the study of the tariff. Like all Keystone republicans, he is protection to the backbone, and ever ready to either as- sault or defend when he fancies that the in- terests of his state are in danger. A file lawyer, he is an exquisite logician. He can abridge or amplify with equal facility. Not much larger than the late Alexander H. Stephens, he has the same peculiar shrill voice. It rings throuch the chamber in times of excitement like notes from a pic- colo, but with all his warmth the speaker never oversteps the bounds of parliament- ary decorum. Facts and figures may pour from him like bullets from a metrailleuse, yet he never loses his judgment. Each shot is in line and more or jess effective. Dalzell is by all odds the leader of the republican delegation from Pennsylvania. So much for the republican wheel horses. There are a few more of them, and many more who want to be. Some throw their heels over the whiffletrees, others balk at critical moments and once in a while there is one who has the vicious habit of biting his crib. But take them all in all they are extremely useful to their party, and more or less useful to the country at large. AMOS J. CUMMINGS. words and you would ruin the speech. Mr. Reed is a magnificent condenser. It is said that Liebig could condense a whole bull within a sardine box. Figuratively, Tom Reed could do the same thing. He is the prize republican Congressman; but his op- ponents think him too smart to ever become President. The best of the republican wheel horses is Julius Caesar Burrows of Kalamazoo. Somebody has created the impression that he has a thundering voice and sweeping gesticulations. Nothing is further from the He is as gracious and agreeable in his per- sonal associations. Dignified and deliberate, his voice is as gentle as a summer shower. He never talks for effect, but, apparently absolutely steeped in his convictions, tries in the most gracious manner possible to instill them into the minds of his hearers. As a pariamentarian he appears to be superior to Thomas B. Reed. If he had been the Speaker of the Fifty-first Congress the extraordinary scene attending {ts death would never have occurred. Democrats would have vied with each other for the honor of introducing resolutions thanking Burrows for his impartiality as a presiding officer. His rulings when in the chair, like those of Carlisle, were eminently satisfac- tory to both sides of the House. Never did he lose his temper. Always kind and indui- gent, he convinced even his bitterest op- ponents of his absolute impartiality. A better parliamentarian never occupied a seat in the House. He receivew the hardest blows with equanimity, never losing his balance in debate. This makes him popular with both sides of the House, and, in com- parison with some of his associates, inval- uable to his party. With all his other good qualities, Burrows is an indefatigable work- er in committee. He never speaks upon a subject which he does not thoroughly un- derstand. Michigan may have produced Congressmen who filled a wider space in the popular eye, but she has produced none so useful as Burrows. Manly, persuasive, watchful, able, energetic, courteous and agreeable, no man on the republican side has more influence in the House. Joseph G. Cannon. Another republican wheel horse is the Hon. Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois. He has a long hock, politically speaking, a good barrel, and the neck and head of a plow horse. He can pull magnificently, but is apt to get one leg over the traces and injure his pastern joints. There is a solid back- bone about him, however, that forces the admiration of the House.’ In debate he is a rough rider. Wary, determined, obstinate and persistent, he frequently awakens the wrath of his opponents. There is gentle element in his composition, however, that endears him to all who know him. A'mem- ber of the great committee on appropria- tions for years, he has done serviceable work for the nation. Indeed, Samuel J. Randall, while chairman of that committee, had no better Meutenant than Joseplt G. Cannon. Aside from the work of his com- mittee, Cannon is a bitter partisan. tics he is a Puriti From the London Daily News. Do we really at length know the great se- cret of the man with the iron mask? If M. Bazeries is to be trusted, there is very little doubt that we do, and the mysterious pris- oner of Pignerol and the Bastile was neither a brother of Louis XIV, nor Count Mat- thioli, nor the husband of the Grande Made- molselle,nor Superintendar:t Fouquet.nor any other of the numerous persons on whose be- half a claim has been set up by the ingen- jous. M. Bazeries has been engaged for some time in an attempt to discover the key of the cipher used by Louis XIV for his most secret state letters, and at length he has succeeded. There exist a number of docu- ments in the Grande Monarque’s handwrit- ing in the cipher, but hitherto no one has been able to make them out. Among them M. Bazeries professes to have discovered a truly remarkable document. It is contained among the papers of Mar- shal Catinat, carefully preserved by his de- endants. It sets forth the fact that the king was highly displeased at the conduct of M. de Bolonde, who, against his orders, had raised the siege of Conti, and it ends by ordering him to be imprisoned at Pig- nerol, where he was to be shut up at night and only allowed to take outdoor exercise “in a mask.” Supposing the euthenticity of the document can be proved, it seems certain that this M. de Bulonde and the man in the iron mask (which, by the way, was @ velvet mask) are one and the same. se — English as She is Spoken. From the Fall River Herald. Inspector Perron of the central police station, says that one of his rey en left the following directions at @ livery stable in Flint village yesterday: “I don’t speak English too much. Put my horse on the barn and rub him in. If he's ary, drink him and est a quart of oats.’ —— ree New to Her. In poli- of the first water. Mr. Fifty-first Congress than Cannon. He wi a member of the committee on rules and as efficient there as Reed himself. He may be said to have represented Speaker Reed on the floor. Indeed, at times he was more for Reed than Reed was for himself. In the discussion of knotty questions he is rarely From Vogue. “Oh, mamma, look here,” said a little visitor In the country, who had got her eyes peralleled._ He warms up as the fight pro-| ene potato bi for the first time. resses. Placing one foot upon a chair he| “What will put his elbow on his knee and argue a| “A funny of fy with a tennis bie- t as closely as any Philadelphia lawyer. ! ser.’