Pamphlets, Etc., Received.
A full and detailed account of the Polled Galloway breed of cattle is sent us by the Rev. John Gillespie, M. A., Dumfries, Scotland. The catalogue has also an appendix containing a correspondence on Polled-Angus versus Galloway cattle for the Western States of America.
Jabez Webster's descriptive wholesale and retail price list of fruit and ornamental nursery stock, etc., Centralia, Ill.
Illustrated catalogue and price list of grape vines, small fruits, etc. John G. Burrow, Fishkill Village, Dutchess county, N. Y.
The Canadian Entomologist, by William Saunders, London, Ontario. This is an exceedingly neat little pamphlet, and contains articles upon many of the most important subjects relating to entomology, by a number of prominent and well-known writers of the day.
The Argus Almanac for 1884. This almanac is replete with useful information concerning the Government, public debt, State elections from 1873 to 1883, finances of State of New York, biographical sketches of State officers and members of the Legislature, etc., etc. Price, 25 cents, Albany, N. Y.
"A Primer of Horticulture for Michigan Fruit Growers." This pamphlet has been prepared for the use of beginners in horticulture by Charles W. Garfield, Secretary of the Michigan State Horticultural Society, and will be found very helpful to all such. Price, 15 cents.
Waldo F. Brown's illustrated spring catalogue of vegetable and flower seeds. Oxford, Ohio.
R. H. Allen & Co.'s descriptive catalogue of choice farm, garden, and flower seeds. Nos. 189 and 191 Water St, N. Y.
The Manifesto, a pamphlet devoted to the interests of our Shaker friends. Compliments of Charles Clapp, Lebanon, Ohio.
"THE THIRD HOUSE."
Its Good and Bad Members—The Remarkable Experiences of a Close Observer of Its Workings During a Long Residence at Washington.
[Correspondence Rochester Democrat.]
No city upon the American continent has a larger floating population than Washington. It is estimated that during the sessions of Congress twenty-five thousand people, whose homes are in various parts of this and other countries, make this city their place of residence. Some come here, attracted by the advantages the city offers for making the acquaintance of public men; others have various claims which they wish to present, while the great majority gather here, as crows flock to the carrion, for the sole purpose of getting a morsel at the public crib. The latter class, as a general thing, originate the many schemes which terminate in vicious bills, all of which are either directed at the public treasury or toward that revenue which the black-mailing of corporations or private enterprises may bring.
While walking down Pennsylvania avenue the other day I met Mr. William M. Ashley, formerly of your city, whose long residence here has made him unusually well acquainted with the operations of the lobby.
Having made my wants in this particular direction known, in answer to an interrogative, Mr. Ashley said:
"Yes, during my residence here I have become well acquainted with the workings of the 'Third House,' as it is termed, and could tell you of numerous jobs, which, like the 'Heathen Chinee,' are peculiar."
"You do not regard the lobby, as a body, vicious, do you?"
"Not necessarily so, there are good and bad men comprising that body; yet there have been times when it must be admitted that the combined power of the 'Third House' has overridden the will of the people. The bad influence of the lobby can be seen in the numerous blood-bills that are introduced at every session."
"But how can these be discovered?"
"Easily enough, to the person who has made the thing a study. I can detect them at a glance."
"Tell me, to what bills do you refer?"
"Well, take the annual gas bills, for instance. They are introduced for the purpose of bleeding the Washington Gas Light company. They usually result in an investigating committee which never amounts to anything more than a draft upon the public treasury for the expenses of the investigation. Another squeeze is the abattoir bills, as they are called. These, of course, are fought by the butchers and market-men. The first attempt to force a bill of this description was in 1877, when a prominent Washington politician offered a fabulous sum for the franchise."
"Anything else in this line that you think of, Mr. Ashley?"
"Yes, there's the job to reclaim the Potomac flats, which, had it become a law, would have resulted in an enormous steal. The work is now being done by the Government itself, and will rid the place of that malarial atmosphere of which we hear so much outside the city."
"During your residence here have you experienced the bad results of living in this climate?"
"Well, while I have not at all times enjoyed good health, I am certain that the difficulty which laid me up so long was not malarial. It was something that had troubled me for years. A shooting, stinging pain that at times attacked different parts of my body. One day my right arm and leg would torture me with pain, there would be great redness, heat and swelling of the parts; and perhaps the next day the left arm and leg would be similarly affected. Then again it would locate in some particular part of my body and produce a tenderness which would well nigh drive me frantic. There would be weeks at a time that I would be afflicted with an intermitting kind of pain that would come on every afternoon and leave me comparatively free from suffering during the balance of the twenty-four hours. Then I would have terrible paroxysms of pain coming on at any time during the day or night when I would be obliged to lie upon my back for hours and keep as motionless as possible. Every time I attempted to move a chilly sensation would pass over my body, or I would faint from hot flashes. I suffered from a spasmodic contraction of the muscles and a soreness of the back and bowels, and even my eyeballs become sore and distressed me greatly whenever I wiped my face. I became ill-tempered, peevish, fretful, irritable and desperately despondent."
"Of course you consulted the doctors regarding your difficulty?"
"Consulted them? well I should say I did. Some told me I had neuralgia; others that I had inflammatory rheumatism, for which there was no cure, that I would be afflicted all my life, and that time alone would mitigate my sufferings."
"But didn't they try to relieve your miseries?"
"Yes, they vomited and physicked me, blistered and bled me, plastered and oiled me, sweat, steamed, and everything but froze me, but without avail."
"But how did you finally recover?"
"I had a friend living in Michigan who had been afflicted in a similar way and had been cured. He wrote me regarding his recovery and advised me to try the remedy which cured him. I procured a bottle and commenced its use, taking a teaspoonful after each meal and at bed-time. I had used it about a week when I noticed a decrease of the soreness of the joints and a general feeling of relief. I persevered in its use and finally got so I could move around without limping, when I told my friends that it was Warner's Safe Rheumatic Cure that had put me on my feet."
"And do you regard your cure as permanent?"
"Certainly, I haven't been so well in years as I am now, and although I have been subjected to frequent and severe changes of weather this winter, I have not felt the first intimation of the return of my rheumatic trouble."
"Do you object to the publication of this interview, Mr. Ashley?"
"Not at all, sir. I look upon it as a duty I owe my fellow creatures to alleviate their sufferings so far as I am able, and any communication regarding my symptoms and cure that may be sent to me at 506 Maine avenue will receive prompt and careful attention."
"Judging from your recital, Mr. Ashley, there must be wonderful curative properties about this medicine?"
"Indeed, there is, sir, for no man suffered more nor longer than did I before this remedy gave me relief."
"To go back to the original subject, Mr. Ashley, I suppose you see the same familiar faces about the lobby session after session?"
"No, not so much so as you might think. New faces are constantly seen and old ones disappear. The strain upon lobbyists is necessarily very great, and when you add to this the demoralizing effect of late hours and intemperate habits and the fact that they are after found out in their steals, their disappearance can easily be accounted for."
"What proportion of these blood-bills are successful?"
"A very small percentage, sir. Notwithstanding the power and influence of the lobby, but few of these vicious measures pass. Were they successful it would be a sad commentary upon our system of government, and would virtually annihilate one branch of it. The great majority of them are either reported adversely or smothered in committee by the watchfulness and loyalty of our congressmen."
J. E. D.