THE STORY OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST 



ing on F Street. It seems strange to think o£ the present busy 

 F Street between Seventh and Fourteenth as still bordered in 

 part by residences. The First Congregational Church at the 

 corner of Tenth and G had been built, and a fine organ had 

 been installed. We often went there Sundays, to hear Professor 

 BischofI, the famous blind organist, and also to listen to the 

 excellent sermons preached by the Reverend Doctor Rankin. 



Carl Schurz was then Secretary of the Interior, and people 

 spoke of his culture and of his ability as a pianist. 



It is really surprising that a man can live in Washington as 

 I have for more than fifty years and yet see very little of 

 Congress, even though connected with a government department. 

 That may be due to my individual tastes. Politics has never 

 interested me as much as it should a good American citizen, 

 and the professional politician has not appealed to me as an 

 agreeable companion. In my boyhood, a professional politician 

 was not an agreeable person, even though he tried to be all things 

 to all men. Of late years the general average is higher, and many 

 admirable men have gone into politics and pushed to the front. 



When I first came to Washington I was naturally interested 

 in Congress as one of the sights of the city, and several times 

 went to evening sessions and, from the galleries, watched the 

 men on the floors of both houses. In the House at that time were 

 several men of mark, notably James G. Blaine and L. Q. C. 

 Lamar, the leaders of the two sides of the chamber. I liked 

 Lamar, although he was a new type to me, as he was typically 

 Southern. Blaine I did not like from the start. On several occa- 

 sions I happened to see him acting in what I considered to be a 

 brutally discourteous manner, and that was probably the begin- 

 ning of an antipathy which continued until the time of his 

 death. A man in the House at that time whom I admired very 

 much was the Honorable J. D. Cox. 



[6i] 



