| GOSSIP °F > LI .-» ,•• >H£ ,^FN?P''P^^ \i ' -«4 t \ mm L^^GSS 1 '' stacks- df jeene£i3&M&3m&& CHANGES which are certain to como in the membership of the United States Senate next March will involve much more than a mere disappearance of old faces and the ap pearance of new ones. It often has been said that the senate of the United States is a law unto llseii 111 matters of procedure, and so It is. The senate dees things as no other legislative body in the world does them. The senators pride them selves upon the dignify of their body and they take no little pride appar ently in tho uniqueness of the rules which govern them and in the ac cepted method of doing things with out absolute governing regulation. Over in the houae members draw for seat 3. A inan Juet elected is as likely to get a first-class seat as a man who has been in the Eervice of the house for years. The leader of the majority and the leader of the minority and the oldest mem ber in point of service in the hall are allowed to select their own seats. After they have made their choice all is a lottery. In the senate the thing is different. A newly elected member of the upper house takes such a seat as he can find vacant, and his first duty to himself is to "file" on the seat of some other member so that he may get it when the other member dies or retires. At times there are five or six "filings" for the same seat. For instance, if some senator has a choice seat and he is aged and in the ordinary course of things may be expected to die soon, his seat is certain to be in request by several sena tors provided that those lower on the list of ap plicants think that those above them like the holder of the seat himself, are likely to die, or to be retired quickly from the service by their constituents. Some of the old senators do not like the way In which the younger members file for their seats. Then there are some senators who are not old who do not like to feel that others think that their seats soon are to be vacated. When a senator in the prime of life finds that his seat has bf-en "filed" on he takes it as an intimation that the senator who does the filing thinks that the seat's o< cupant is nearing tie end of ills tether because his state hat', disapproved of his services, or that tlie political party opposing the one of which he is a member is likely soon to become In the ascendant. Senator Dolliver, who died recently, had ono of the best seats in the senate chamber, a com manding place from which he could always catch —■the eye of the presiding officer. The lowan's successor in the senate will not get his predeces sor's seat, for notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Dolliver was apparently in good health and was only fifty-two years old, there were three appli cations on file for bis seat when he should va cate it. Of course It must be understood that the peats of the Republicans and those of the Democrats are separated and that no man of one party ever files an application for the seat of a man of the other party. Senator lieveridge of Indiana was in the upper bouse for years before he succeeded in getting a seat to his liking Early In hVi service lie had fllfd an application for the seat occupied by Benator Spooner of Wisconsin, a vigorous man with apparently a long lease of earthly and sena torial life ahead of him. Unexpectedly Senator Bpooner resigned, and Beverldge moved to what is perhaps the best seat in the house, one on the middle aisle midway between the front and rear of the chamber Kllhu Hoot, who is accounted one of the fore most men in the upper house in point of ability, Is obliged to sit in what Is known as the "Chero kee Strip " There are ko many Republicans In the present tsenate that they more than fill the Seat* allotted to the majority on the left side of the center aisle There are not enough Demo crats to I'll the allotted to them The va cant Democratl< seats are away iroiind near the wall to the extnitiM right of the vice president, who has to turn his btrted It to the senate Kvery bill which has to do with the raising of revenue goes to Mr Aldrlch's committee I'mler the constitution all such revenue measures must originate In the house of representatives, but frequently the I'lilted States senate takes houso hills und strlkis out everything In them except the •nactlng clause, thus gets around ttio con stitutional question, and frames revenue bills much as It wishes to of course thexe bills have togo back to tho house for agreement, hut the enat" despite constitutional Inhibition does just aliotil as much original work In revenue mens tires ns the house Itself Who In going to ciicc.dd Nelson \V AMrlclt ns chairman of the most powerful comiultUM In the units of the Culled States? N'ohody knows. Senator Julius (' llurruws of Michigan rnnks ii >«t to Mr Aldtlch ou the finance committee "'"I In th* natural order of thlnga be would suo evil CAMERON COUNT' PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1910. rooms, but in order to dignify them aa such it was neces sary to create sev eral committees which really wero nothing more than committees in name, for they seldom held meetings and it Is said that in one or two cases no rneet ings ever have been held. The sen ators as they were assigned to rooms were made chair men of the commit tees which were sup- to Mr. Aldrich's place as finance chair man. The difficulty la that Mr. Bur rows has been defeated in the pri maries for re-election to the senate and like Mr. Aldrich ho is to retire In March. Boies Penrose of Pennsyl vania comes next on this all power ful body, but it is more than whis pered that chairmanship preferment is not to be given to Mr. Penrose. Next iu order comes Eugene Hale of Maine, who is to retire in March, and thus is out of consideration. Then coines Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois, who will not accept tho chairmanship under any circumstances, for his age precludes his undertaking the hard work connected with it. No 0110 knows yet who will succeed the powerful Senator Aldrich of Rhode Island as the chief of tho finance committee, a position which carries with it ordinarily the Re publican leadership of the senate of the United States. A good deal of historic Interest centers In some of the committee rooms of the senate. The pres ent senate wing of tho Capitol was not completed un til the year 1859, but there are several committee rooms still located in the old part of the great build ing. Even in the new section there are two or three rooms which have witnessed stirring scenes. In the room of the committee on territories for irf stance, a body of which Senator Beverldge of In diana is the chairman, there were held the hearings on the Kansas-Nebraska bill and on other "free or slave soil state" matters. In the room of the com mittee on privileges and elections, of which Sena tor Burrows of Michigan is the chairman, many senators have had what might bo called grand Jury hearings on the question of their right to their Beats. The Utah cases have been heard here, and it was here that Senator W. A. Clark of Montana ap peared through his counsel to try to prove that he did not use wrongful means to secure his seat in the senate. In the room of the committee on military af fairs hundreds upon hundreds of problems were worked out during the days of the civil war. Since the United States has become a world power Sena tor Henry Cabot Lodge, chairman of the commit tee on the Philippines, has had many puzzling questions on his hands, and the hearings which have been held in this room at times have at tracted crowds and nearly always have been of deep interest. In the Philippines room the "anti- Imperlalists" have argued on behalf of Indepen dence for the Pillpplno, and there have been met In debate by men who have maintained that the day of liberty for tho "little brown brother" must be postponed until he is qualified for its privi leges. Memories of men pass quickly. While tho United States government as a government Is only MAD KING OTTO'S LIFE Some remarkable details relating to the mad King Otto of Bavaria are published from a dip lomatic source by the Giornale d'ltalia. the London Chronicle says. Though shut up for forty years In castles, now at tho Castle Furstenrled, nnd though sixty-two years of ago. Otto Is still a fine, handsome figure, with a magnificent beard and flowing gray locks. Tho stories about his periodical fits of fury are quite untrue. His court Is presided over by Mar shal liaron Redwlz and consists of a few trusty gentry belonging to the most ancient families of the Bavarian aristocracy. King Otto suffers terriby from Insomnia and oft en sits up In bed half the night staring toward the door, as If expecting somebody to enter. He, how over. rises punctually every morning at 8 and mute ly allows himself to bo dressed by his valet. He has a holy horror of soap and water, and of hav ing his hair and nails cut. so that servants have to await patiently a favorable day for these opera tions, when the poor patient Is In a state of com plete apathy. King Otto smokes Incredible quan tities of cigarettes and Is always putting away save when ho is absorbed In his favorite pastime of studying the operatic music of his pet composer, Verdi. Often he causes the castle to resound all day long with the melodies of "Hlgoletto." The diplomat relates that the first symptom of brain decay In the young prince, till then so bright, forceful and courageous, was manifested during the Franco-Herman war. Just before the Beige of I'urls Kaiser Wllllatu summoned him to the headquarters of the general staff und kept him un der observation. In company with Hlsmurek and Moltke, the reason being that King otto had called out a squad of cavalry and ordered them to charge Htralght at a stone wall, which, he Insisted, was a body of the enemy's Infant rv lie began preaching everywhere the stern neces sity of concluding peace with France at any price. Soon alter Intercepted letters were brought to the ilmperor William which tin Havatian prince had been dispatching secretly to tin enemy It was tin n that tl •• old kaiser sadly sent for the demented prince, lie. rati d him with the order of the Iron cross for ivice rendered In the campaign and packed hln Off under a medical escort for a plvat urn trip In pain and Italy •bout 121 years oM, few men can b«» found today to identify without look ing at the names, the pictures and the busts of men high in official gov ernment position or of great fame in their time in contemporary history. In the senate chamber placed in niches about the gallery walls are *>usts of the vice-presidents of the • Jnited States. Only the guides of the Capitol who have their lessons letters proof, can tell the names of these men without reference to the printed lists or the printed inscriptions. When the house cleaning days were over only a season ago two pictures were replaced on the walls of the corridor of the Benate. One of them was a picture of Patrick Henry and the other was that of Thomas Jef ferson. For weeks the fact that Jef ferson's picture has been labeled Patrick Henry and Patrick Henry's had been labeled Thomas Jefferson went undetected. Finally a visitor noticed the error, called attention to it and had the change made. Perhaps the most striking picture in the senate corridors is that which shows Commodore Perry standing in the row boat to which ho went from his sinking flag ship Lawrence to the ship Niagara at the battle of Lake Erie. Perry is pictured erect in the boat whilo a small boy evidently a "midship-mite," also standing trying to pull the Commodore down to a seat so that he will be less exposed to the furious rain of the shot of the enemy. The boy who is trying to In duce the commodore to take the nec essary precaution to save his life was a nephew of the great sailor, and It was he who later opened the ports of Japan to the commerce of the world. So it is that In the painting are the portraits of two Perrys, both of whom are famous in the naval an nals of the United States. Curari a Queer Poison Curari, the vegetable poison with which the Indians of the upper Ama zon tip their hunting arrows, remains a mystery in its composition after a hundred years of investigation by sci entists. The Indians will sell it for its weight in sliver, but will not reveal the plants from which It -is derived. Not long ago a professor in a German university was sent to the Amazon wilderness for the express purpose of discovering the secret, for curari, or urarl, as it is otherwise called, is now thought to be of great value in medi cine. The professor lived two years in Indian villages, and while he was permitted to witness the boiling of the "witches' broth," which lasted sev eral days, he could not tell what plants went into the brew. Returning from his baffled quest down the Ama zon with a quantity of the poison, the professor was met by another traveler, Dewey Austin Cobb, who had got pos session of a native blowgun. The lat ter tells in the National Geographio Magazine how he put some of the pro fessor's curari on some of his blowgun arrows, which are like toothpicks feathered with cotton, and tried it on a buck deer in the forest. "After a deliberate aim our hunter fl: ad," says Mr. Cobb, "if I may use such a word for the little puff, scarce ly heard by us, and entirely inaudible above the rustling corn leaves at the distance of the deer. The animal gave a slight start as it felt the prick of the arrow on its flank and turned part ly around, sniffing the air for a scent, and looking about as if searching for the insect that had bitten or stung it. Detecting nothing, it stood still and unalarmed. At the end of a mlnuta, or a minute and a half at most, Its head dropped a little, as if it was sleepy. "When the hunter saw this he arose and stepped out in plain sight. The deer turned his head and looked at him, and moved forward, not away from him, a few steps, and stopped. It showed no fear, but simply curiosity. After another minute the professor and I arose, and all three walked quietly to within reach of it. It made no movement to run away, but watch ed us Intently, and shifted Its position a little. Its movements seemed per fectly easy and natural. Absence of fear was the only observable change, until at the end of three minutes more; then It lay down, not falling, but as naturally as a cow or sheep when ready for sleep. "We all approached Its side, and the hunter laid a hand on Its shoulder It looked up at him, but showed no re sentment or fear. Even Its breathing seemed easy and natural, which sur prised me, as I had heard that death resulted from paralysis of the lungs when caused by urarl." Gaunt House of "Vanity Fair." Writing on the original of Guunt House in Thackeray's first novel. "Vanity Fair," C. Van Noorden con cludes that this was llarcourt House. Cavendish Square, and not, as most commentators incline to believe, elth er Hertford liouae, Manchester Square, or Lansdowne House, llerke ley Square, llarcourt House, says Mr. Van Noorden. corresponds almost e* actlv with the novelist's description In "Vanity Fair." "The vast hall, the great gateway, etc.. all are here, while the equestrian statue resolves |the|f Into that of the I Hike of Cumberland, the 'Butcher' id Culloden. which was removed in lH»is, ostensibly to b« recast, but ha.i never I- appeared This itßure appears In Thackeray's own Illustration of ihit ari' *t ('apt Crawley wli-'it leaving (Intuit 110 (KM, affording another proof I the r irreetius* of thli localisation llarcourt House has now given wa> . •!" • • 112 r-' Hernial Ha'- l Oiaybl;. DEATH OF EX-MAYOR GRANT Twice Chief Executive of New York and a Man of Great Prominence. New York.—One of the most promi nent figures in the political life of New York City 20 years ago wan Hugh J. Grant, who died in the metro polls recently, at the age of 55. He was a native of the metropolis and received hia education at St. Francis Xavier College and in France and Germany, where he studied languages and music. Afterward he studied law at the Columbia Law School and en-' gaged in real estate and legal busi ness. In 1883 he entered politics, being elected alderman, and his course in the board the following year in oppo sition to boodle legislation made him a candidate for mayor on the Tam many ticket in 1884. He wan defeated. Hugh J. Grant. however. In 1885 he was elected sheriff and three years later was chosen mayor, and was re-elected in 1890. It was Mayor Grant who mado the telephone and telegraph compa nies take down their overhead wires. The wires formed a network over the city, interfering with firemen and forming a danger and a nuisance. When the subways were ready and the wires did not come down Mayor Grant settled the controversy in a characteristic way. He went out with gangs of linemen, laborers and axmen and chopped down the poles and tore down the wires. In 1894 he was again a candidate for mayor, but met with defeat at the polls. He then withdrew from active participation in politics. Mayor Grant was a man of fine phy sical proportions and was big intel lectually. He was fond of outdoor life, took a deep Interest in trotting horses and was a member of several golf clubs. He married a daughter of ex- Senator Murphy, of Troy. In business he amassed a large fortune and was charitable during his life in its dis position. At Christmas time he spent large sums in charity. While Mayor Grant like his great namesake, Gen. Grant, was a man of silence, he was not In the least morose. MOST REMARKABLE FISHHOOK Primitive Affair Used by the Indian of Alaska for Catching Halibut. St. Paul, Minn. —The picture illus trates a halibut hook used by the In dians in Alaska. It is about nine Inches long and two inches wide in the widest portion. From top to bot tom of the fork it is about five Inches. A heavy sinker is attached to the cord that is seen descending from the low er fork of the hook, and this sinker rests on the bottom when the hook is in action. The hook itself floats about two feet above the sinker, and is kept Fl»h Hook of Wood. In the position ghown In tho illiistra tion by the strips of light cedar thai are tied to tho upper fork of the hook. The book Itself la of wood In two pieces. lashed together by thongs <4 some kind of hide, with a iteel promt lashed to the upper part of the fork with thong* of hide. A ple<*« of sal mon steak is placed on tb« hook prong, and the halibut comes ahum and trie* to vat It. When the wily redskin ferls a ttiK on bis llshllne he gives It a jerk and the hntik prong la driven Into the lower jaw of the hall but and the Ash Is caught Halibut weighting aa high as Son |M>unds havn hreti taught on th>- <• primitive hooka The hiMik Illustrated waa brought t« tit Haul by Martin Kennedy, Jr. on bin return front hi* recent trip to Alaska One peculiarity that putt ihit hook nut of the ordinary cUaa c.( li>lmm and halibut hooka la that tb« l« *er piung la tarvtul In ».U«j ot au Idol