| Show THE TORRID CAPITAL Evolution of Dignitarians 1 Into Silk Sash Dudes r J J THE FLANNEL SHIRT BRIGADE How Our Statesmen Stand the Heat Bilkers of Rochester on SlrikeAntlEurnltes Succumb to Lemonade WASHINGTON T > C July In 1800310 ciul correspondence of TUB HKRALPJ Washington in July reminds you of Tophet Both houses remain in session quarreling Over tho silver bills tariff bills and federal election bills and the minutice of legislation Nothing is settled and everything appears to bo drifting out to sea Members both iL houses are wearing yachting shirts white trousers and silk sashes They give both 1 houses a picturesque appearance Others wear the oldfashioned flannel shirts without with-out discarding suspenders Silverhaired I Breckeuridge of Kentucky is one of these entry With his watch chain swinging from his pocket his silk scarf and his dc omirtfr air he is the admired of all admirers ad-mirers Some of the Congressmen stick to tho joijcd shirt with its glossy front Maj McKinley is one of these He has discarded dis-carded his waistcoat however and moves around tho House with tumbs hanging pon his galluses a veritable Napoleon ih undress uniform Other members wear belts with nickelplated buckles Blue and white seem to be the favorite colorsalthough Jongr2ssinan Magner of Brooklyn has a belt that would have done credit to Black beard tho pirato Most wonderful of all however is the illustrious Speaker Reed le stewed in tho juices of June as long as he could stand it and then went to tho annel shirt His ample waist is encircled with a black silk sash A Texas member on seeing it said I Well Ill be hanged Look at Tom Reed wearing a dude belly bandWhen When Speaker Reed beard of the remark re-mark he threw his head back and laughed long and heartily New England representatives have been guessing and southern representatives reckoning now many yards it contains Mr Reed has not yet acquired the self I TOM HEEDS DUDES BEILT UV > D confidence which ought to accompany the wearing of a flannel shirt His coat is drawn over his breast and fastened by the two upper buttons It looks as though be was ashamed and as if he desired to hide as much of his shirt as possible Henry Cabot Lodge evidently got the Speaker into this snap Lodge wears one of a dark blue color and at times looks like a student fresh from a tennis court The Speaker looks like an honest rutabaga wound in a black ribbon The most gorgeously arrayed of all tho memoers or the House is non Ash bel Par malee Fitch No silk or negligee shirts for him His linen is as immaculate as the driven snow Tophet or no Tophet His collar and shirt bosom shino like waxed fruit and his solitaire sparkles like Al taire His lowcut shoes display elegan silk stockings He roams over the floor like l a thing of beauty and a joy foreyer arrayed ar-rayed in white flannel and sporting an ex i quisito scarf Some excitement was created tile other day when General Robert Smallls an ex Congressman of Beaufort S C appeared upon the floor arrayed in a suit identical with that of Mr Fitch The general is full as portly as Mr Fitch and has the same dignified i air Ho has the advantage of Ashbel Din one particular His complexion com-plexion sets off his snowy garments to per feotiou In striking contrast to these members are what might be termed the old Digmtari ans such as Mr Chandler of Massachusetts Massachu-setts Ezra Taylor of Ohio Judge Holman of Indiana and exMayor Vaux of Philadelphia Phila-delphia They are tho NIcene i fathers of dress in the House The heat of the mun dune sphere never disturbs their equanirn ity They appear year after year wearing the old frockcoat or an alapaca and the oldfashioned collars Mr Vaux leave the top of his waistcoat unbuttoned It is i a black silk waistcoat made picturesque by a huge old fashioned watchseal which hangs over it Judge Holman wears a white waistcoat His example is followed by Ezra Taylor Hon Elijah Adams Morse Mr Mutchler of Pennsyl vnnia and Mr Miles of Connecticut Gen oral Harry Bingham of Penns Pennsylvania is a model of neatness Ho wears a stiff shirt front and a fourin hand white tie They rf x J GENEIUI SMALLS WHITE SUIT bet him off charmingly and make him ap pear cool and inconsciant Mr Springer and Mr Coggeshall dress themselves iu I the same way I There are old timo boys who wear linen j coats and resemble the Pendleton escort of 1 lM > b Among them are General Maish of I Pennsylvania Mr Funston and 111111011 rill of Kansas and Judge Stewart of Vcr I mont Tho hot weather will never drive such j t I men as Mr Peel of Arkansas Mr Elliott of South Carolina General Ketchum of New York Mr Kerr of Pennsylvania Mr Adanii of Illinois Judge Cothran of South Carolina and the Hon Roswell P I Flower of New York into wearing negligee negli-gee shirts They stick to tho old time costume I cos-tume and mop their brows every minute with oldtime en handkerchiefs 1 WQll may tho House and the Senate rush to their flannels Tho heat hero has boon I mo intense Yet with it all there is no abatement n the number of officeseekers i They swarm like flies in a lish market i Pennsylvania aveno is undoubtedly as hot I tin avenueas can be found in the United States The suu beats upon jt every hour in the day Its broad concrete pavement I retains the heat and springs beneaththe pressure ofhot feet A thormometerDlaced 9 I tiPOP it atiLoccicalniIlitrecentlyrogis weil lii 1CrOeS Theaveaue is nnihk l ll oWerthan t + dct r il ip gets fcviyiss ll brcezes ob Q KWMW jiaiV UVV blf ULOfcJX V J aro liJe blasts frOfii tUe Torgboin Gehenna The beat i ire 11kb the tieit in Now I york is a humid heat It melts and then roasts a wan lfi r Aurelius Smith the dI elcgato from Arizona and one ot the I RRUcl shirt brigade says Its bOat that parboils and than roasts you Out in I Arizona it is hot but not steaming hot Ian c I-an stand 110UcJjree of that dry heat out I t her much easier tufin 10 degrees of this i h eat hem j L The heatin Washington appears to ovei1 come all physical and Intellectual life and I nimation Men drag tbimsolves through he corridors of thf c pitol as though im tp cllfd < by no mental motive Very few use j I f ans The physical cxerc iso required to j wavC thorn is too much Some members d raw long breaths regular intervals and utter the words Whew but its hot Liters stand fn the doors and windows with their coat sleeves above their plbows und their wristbands thrown bacK As friends pass thorn they shako their hca sand s-and say nothing They are in a state of l ssitudo and cannot summon even enough lergy to talk Otljeis like General SJin ola Charles ONeill and Asher G Caruth remain at their desks answering letters blotted by the beads of perspiration which drop from their brows A good story is told of Hon Charles S Baker of Rochester lie usually walks up to the capitol Ono morning it was hotter than usual When hnlf way up the nil he gave out Ho threw himself upon the sward beneath u magnificent tree and aid There blast you breathe if you want to I shant The Democrats have in their cloak room a large cooler filled with lemonade On extremely hot days the crowd surrounding e2ii THE DEMOCRATS LEMONADE rounding this cooler reminds ono of r scenes around popular soda fountains on street corners All eagerly quaff the cooling beverage Somo elevate their leads and pour down long tumblers of r it without taking a breath Others assume as-sume an attitude of dignity and take it swallow by swallow A few members sip it as though it was coffee maintaining a lively conversation All however seen to bo refreshed by it The cooler on bot days is refilled every hour On one torrid day there was a greater crowd than usual around it EverYbody commented on tho mproved quantity of the lemonade Quite a number of artistic Republicans hearing of its excellence crossed over and treated themselves Each smacked his lips and took a second glass It was a long time be fore the secret of the excellence of the fluid was discovered Somebodyprobably Asher G Caruth md surreptitiously emptied three quarts of old Kentucky whisky into the cooler The horror of the Iowa Kansas and Maine members was amusing A few of them had partaken of the lemonade and had praised it in the highest terms When they learned that they had been drinking whisky their faces looked as though they I had just received news of the destruction of their towns by tornados or worse still another original package decision Joo OOneil of Boston was one of the unfortunates Although an antiprohibi tionist hehad not touched a drop of whisky before for many years Ho said that his whole inner man responded gallantly to the attack and it wtfs with tho greatest difficulty diffi-culty that he brought it down to business again Another unfortunate was Congressman Congress-man Quinn of New York He was so un fortunate as notto got any The most enraged of all however were the antiadulteration Representatives They included both prohibitionists and reeliquor menii All were equally excited The freeliquor men were angry because lemonade was mixed with the whisky and ho prohibitionists because whisky was mixed withthejemonade Speaker Reed appeared to be the most horrified of all He said he did notwonder at the seduction of the Maine members but he gasped for breath when told that members from Kansas and Iowa had fallen victims by the wayside I AMOS J GUMMING s |
