Show 0 P E NIN G OF 0 F CONGEES CONGRE 88 dingley and bailey open 0 0 n the struggle by shaking king hands speaker reed Is cheered wh when e ube he enters friters tho the house flowers in profusion decorate the of or senators Sona tors and congressmen law kak nak ers listen to the presidents message washington diplomats abd society inter b ec ea actors washington dec 5 congress reassembled today under tinder circumstances of unusual public interest the same congress six months ago declared d eel ared war against spain and now with the war fought and over it came together forthe tor the first legislative consideration of the questions developed by the eventful months just passed the spirit of the occasion was not however one 0 of immediate disposition the four months month seft jett to the existence pt the fifty fifth congress give promise of little more than a beginning As ai usual all washington turned its to the capitol tor for that gala even t which marks the opening day of the session the weather interposed no barriers for the hurricane of yesterday has given away to clearing skies and balmy air long before the noon hour when the senate begun their work the corridors were filled with surging crowds no so evidences remained of the explosion and fire which recently ravaged the building at 11 the leaders began to make their appearance and the public galleries filled rapidly washington dec 5 in the opening hours of the last session of the me memorable m or fifty fifth congress the se senate nate chamber presented an animated scene on the senate floor the scene presented was unusually brilliant and the desks of the members were loaded with magnificent specimens of the florists ests art it was a veritable chrysan therum with rosea roses flowers of tery Ce description script joh with the chrysanthemums and all formed into novel and elaborate designs mr air morgan of alabama was the first senator to enter the chamber and closely following came mr air morrill of vermont one by one the members dropped into the chamber and the floor presented a scene as animated as that afforded by the galleries above in the diplomatic gallery just before the senate convened appeared sir julian fote the british ambassador and party with mr air wu ting fang the chinese minister and others on the senate floor was lord herschel the chief representative of canada the anglo american commission accompanied com compa panted nied by mr jefferson coolidge of massachusetts promptly at the stroke of 12 ocl ocl vice president hobart entered walked to his desk and rapped for order by thy good providence the chaplain prayed the triumph has hag crowned our arms by land and sea so that peace has bas come to us A call of the senate developed the presence of 67 members regular resolutions were offered and adopted senator collum introduced a resolution that the house was ready to transact any business and a committee I 1 was appointed to inform the president I 1 of that tact fact mr merrill of vermont and mr air cockrell were named by the vice president to join a like committee of the house at the committee appointed to wait upon the president completed the perform performance anco of its duties and an bounced the president would immediately communicate with the senate in writing scarcely had this report been made when maj pruden executive cleric of the president entered the chamber and presented the message the reading was begun at washington dec 6 5 exactly at noon speaker reeds gavel came down with a sharp crack the great ebony mace entwined with silver and surmounted with a silver eagle was lifted into place on its marble pedestal spreading folds of american flags were broken to the breeze about the brilliant stained glass ceiling cel ling and the house of representatives entered upon the closing session of the memorable war congress the scene within tha the great ball hall was animated brilliant and picturesque the scene of desks within the brass rails which cut off the lobbies in semicircular semi circular lines from the speakers rostrum like waves from a center were a veritable flower garden A majority ot of members were in their place while the cn en ci ieng gall galleries erien were banked to the doors with people the assembling ot of the session ot of congress Is always a great magnet for the multitude but today the attraction was fraught with added interest of all the memories which clung about tho the war congress and triumph and reverses of the recent political battle at the polls and the eagerness to hear tho the presidents message with its review or of the events which have crowded to the doors ot of this tills memorable year and the recommendations ions of policies ot of the future the people seemed to feel that this was to bo be an epoch making session and for an hour before noon a steady stream ot people deployed into the galleries even the private galleries were crowded an hour before convening and they ey contained many distinguished in social and official life the dainty creations 0 of the milliners art and brilliantly superb gowns gave color to tho the pi picture C ture the members began arriving shortly before 11 and the balls halls tobt izz as they exchanged greetings congratulations or condolences for had gone down at the november elections there were expressions pres press lons or sympathy for those who had been victorious words of congratulation some of the members held regular levees as they appeared athla tbs was remarkably true of W 0 stoe 1 of pennsylvania mr sayers of texa and mr air mcmillan ol 01 tennessee eich each of whom was chosen governor state at the recent election the floral which the hurrying pages bore hall and desks Z tor for whom they were w tt destined were much more numerous than usual some of them were of gigantic gigant Jc size completely concealing the recipients there were huge baskets of roses anchors horseshoes and floral pieces of many designs at 11 45 the floor was cleared of all those not entitled to the privilege tho the leaders as a rule were late in arriving but as they appeared they were surrounded and cordially greeted mr hitt of illinois chairman of the committee on foreign affairs mr dalzell ot of penn one of ibe the committee of rules henderson of iowa of the same committee were each given an ovation mr dingley the floor leader of the majority and bailey the floor leader ot of the minority came cama in simultaneously from their respective sides bailey dailey went immediately to bis his seat and mr dingley as soon as he could disengage himself from those around him went over and shook bands hands with his political adversary As the hands pointed to 12 1 the speaker pushed through the green gree arx door in the rear of the hall and as mr air reed ascended the rostrum a wave of applause swept the floor and up through the galleries the blind chaplain stood in bis his place for a moment the speaker waited for a minute and every eye was r riveted I 1 feted on the chaplain heads were bowed reverently aa as the eloquent chaplain in eloquent words invoked the divine blessing and the giving of praise for tile victory of our arms and the peace which has come and asked for strength and wisdom to face the problems which confront the nation at the conclusion of the Ig prayer the speaker announced that the first business in order would be a ell cak of the roll to determine the presence of a quorum gen wheeler cam came in and took his seat he was immediately surrounded by halt half a hundred members the roll call developed tie tae presence of members being beluga a quorum tho the new members were sworn in mr air grosvenor ohio introduced mr dick to 1111 the vacancy caused by abe the death of the member from that state mr alien allen of miss introduced mr spigot to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of mr air sullivan eno was elected to ane senate and mr air grow of penn W 11 II graham elected to 1111 the v vacancy a caused by the resignation of stone mr dingley offered tile usual resolution for the committee of three to wait upon the president the house then took a recess until to await the arrival of tho the presidents message when the house reconvened after the recess the committee appointed to wait upon the president appeared and reported they had discharged their mission dingley had hardly made this report before maj pruden the presidents president lar executive clerk appeared and announced the message of the president the envelope in which the message was contained was broken by the tho speaker speake 17 himself and laid before the house |