He reserves his babble for the
cloak-room and hotel lobby; yet, to many of his constituents, he is
still a great man. There is no sadder sight in the world than the
newly-fledged Congressman in the throes of his maiden speech, delivered
to a half-filled House, busily reading the papers, talking, writing, or
absorbed in thought. An official stenographer, right under his nose,
wearily jots down the effort, and the real audience consists of a few
bored friends in the galleries who smile uneasily now and then, and
wonder what it is all about, and how long the blamed thing is going to
last. Anyway, he gets it in the Record for free distribution to
thousands of constituents, who read it, perhaps, and try to imagine why
'Applause' is tagged on to the finish."
"A gloomy picture, but not overdrawn," sighed one of the Kentucky
delegation. "Here's looking at you, Holloway," he added, more
cheerfully, "here's looking at you."
III
COLONEL MANYSNIFTERS--AN OUTING WITH THE "JEWELS"
Colonel Manysnifters, who had been quietly smoking a little apart from
the group, now drew up and joined us. He had been imbibing rather freely
since we left the station, but with the exception of a somewhat
suspicious silence, had shown no further effects of his efforts in
behalf of the Whiskey Trust. The Colonel's resemblance to Uncle Sam (as
popularly portrayed) was so striking that children taken to the Capitol
for the first time would shout with glee when he was pointed out to
them.
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