Twenty Years in the Press Gallery

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. In this volume Mr. Stealey brings together a goodly company of Knights and Squires, for how else shall we classify the Gentlemen of the Press Gallery and the Gentlemen on the floor below? It is said that no man can be a hero to his valet. Perhaps as little can the average politician in Congress be a statesman to the average Washington correspondent. The average politician is something of a claimant, the average correspondent something of a sceptic. And yet, what loyal friendships spring into existence between them, what perfect confidence, what sympathy and appreciation!<br><br>As one who began his newspaper career in the Press Gallery at Washington, I go back a long way, and have kept up my connection, a kind of honorary membership, ever since; so that, when in Washington, I am nowhere so happy or so much at home, as when I slip into my old seat and look down upon the familiar scene. It is not much changed since the completion of the Capitol, nearly forty years ago. In my day John W. Forney was cock-of-the-walk, and not infrequently we had the Hon. Horace Greeley, Gen. James Watson Webb, and Mr. James Gordon Bennett for visitors. They sat in the Press Gallery, alongside the rest of us, and took notes!<br><br>The politicians were making history and we were reporting it. My work lay mostly in the Senate; but sometimes its exigencies carried me over to the House.