The Senator And The Singer

For af ter dinner speeches Senator Palmer has an admirable voice, but it is not that of a thrush for singing purposes. Those of his close friends who have heard some of his vocal efforts say that the product is not entirely musical. The senator does not hesitate, however, to sing when it is necessary to revive the drooping spirits of a party; and this is what led to a recent performance in which operatic duets were sung by the distinguished soprano, Miss Emma Thursby, and the distinguished senator, Mr. Palmer. Miss Thursby has been here for some time, and her vocal attaimnents have made her a favorite in senatorial ciroles. Among her admirers is Mrs. Stockbridge, the wife of the junior senator from Michigan. The latter's birthday occurred last week, and the event was fittingly celebrated by an excursión down the l'otomac on board a canal boat, specially chartered and handsomely decorated for the occasion. Among the guests were Senator Palmer and Miss Thursby, and upon them feil a good share of the entertainment, which kept evory one jolly. There was a lull in the fuu, however, when some one invited Miss Thursby to sing. But I haven"t my notes, and there's no piano, and" "Oh, never mind the notes," interposed the senator, "I'll aceompany you." The offer was accepted, and jereupon the senator launched into Nilsson's favorite encore, " 'Way down upon the Suwanee river." Miss Thursby was too much overeóme to join at once. The senatorial effort was between a rumble aud a buzz, not as loud as an elevated train nor quite as discordant as the file on a venerable saw. But Mr. Palmer held the tune till the end of the verse. Then Miss Thursby joined, and her rich soprano floated through the canal boat cabin and out over the water, the astringent notes of the accompaniment only accenting the sweet notes of the singer. Witu the ice broken, the senator and Miss Thursby responded to an encoré with "Those golden slippers am laid away." "Climbing up de golden stairs." Some of the senator's colleagues now sugg-est that Palmer has the operatic stage before hira if he tires of the