The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-03-06
FrOn washington.
O thc Nashyillc union.l
WAsnrNarox. Feb. q. 1904

passed eunobserved7 IN the Federal
metropolis which bears his name. Not
a gun was fired-no bed pealed the adj
vent of the day. Government and citi-
zens transacted their business as on
other days. Congress and the Public
Schools were not in session--that's all
The great Sanitary Ball, which came off
at night in the "Fair Building, corner
of 9Th Street and the Avenue is admit
! ted TO have been lamentable failure.
The only ereat was the Inauguration
Of the great Fair at the Patent Office.
/ Quite a coneourse Of people of both sexes
were in attendance here, and the affair
passed of pleasantly After a prayer
by Rev DR.. Sunderland, l. E. Chitten-
den, of Treasury, delivered an eloquent
and impressive address, in which he
traced the history Of the war from the
attack on Sumter to the present time,
dwelling upon the causes that produced
it, and the object of the men by whom
it was inaugurated He was followed
/ by Maj. B B. French, who read a pa
triotic poem, which YVES received with
applause.
Mr. President Lincoln was then call
ed for, and addressed the audience IN
his. Characteristic way, taking particu-
lar pains, as is usual with him on such
occasions, not to say anything He ap-
peared before the audience, he said, TO
apologize for not speaking, rather
than to speak There was great OBJ
lection to his saying anything, for, in
consequence of his position, everything
went into print Laughter If he
made any mistakes, it might do him
self and the nation harm. Applause. ]
TWAS very difficult TO say sensible
things. Laughter He hoped, there
fore, that the audience would excuse
him. After expressing desire for the
success of the enterprise so auspiciously
inaugurated, he retired amid applause.
The evening of the Odd was also
marked by the advent Of two new
pieces upon the dramatic stage of Wash
ington, Ruy Bias" by Victor Hugo,
was presented at Growers for the first
time, with Edwin Booth as the 'bright
and particular star" Where two such
men as Hugo and Booth put their heads
together, the result is expected to be
immense, and public expectation APP
| pears to have been realized on this oc-
casion "Rosedale" was presented at
Fords for the first time in Washington,
with Mr.. and Mrs. Walcott in the leading
characters. This piece, as presented at
Ford's, is second only to Maggie Mitch
ellis "Fanchon" in my estimation, being,
with that exception, the most pleasant
play have ever witnessed Miss Laura
Keene with "the horse that tanned
Rarey," is playing Mazeppa at The
Washington, with "The Soldiers
Daughter" and other comedies.
The morbid appetites of the metro
pOlitans, have just been fed by the de-
tails of one of the most horrible wife
murders yet on record. James Twell,
a successful hackman, but bad nus
band, it appears, had long been in the
habit of beating his wife shamefully.
She is spoken of as ''good woman"
and when urged by her friends to leave
the. brute, declined, saying that he was
a kind man when not Gin temper"
Upon Twells return home one day last
week an alteration ensued, as the evil
denee since elected shows, and he
struck his wife on the head with an
iron hammer which felled her TO the
floor. He then took his chopping axe
and finished the work, smashing both
sides Of the head to such an extent that
the brain was almost completely disor-
ganized; he then carried her up stairs
put her in bed, along with his two chill
dren, a boy of 7 and a girl Of 5, and
left them for the night The next |
morning he sent the children to the /
house of a neighbor, locked up his
house and departed That afternoon |
he procured the digging of a grave at |
"Glenwood," for a smallpox patient, as
he stated, which he would bring early |
in the morning for interment. He pro-
cured a wagon and coffin, wrapped |
the bloody sheet about his murdered /
wife, threw her carelessly into the coffin, /
and presented her for interment by /
A. NJ on the day appointed The neigh
bors heard the alteration at the house,
and the sudden disappearance of Mrs.
Twell, and Twells mysterious conduct, +
aroused suspicion Search was made,
evidences of murder found, Twell, ar
rested, the body exhumed, and the
facts herein detailed elected Twen
was always prompt in meeting his f.
nancial engagements, and had about
$500 in gold deposited with Riggs * Co,
Bank ers, when the deed was commit
ted.
In my last letter alluded to the en-
trance, by partial friends, of Mr. Sec
rotary Chase as candidate for Presi-
dent to succeed Mr.. Lincoln. Some
startling Developments" have been
brought to light since that writing,
going to show that things are trans
piring under the surface, about which
the publie know little or nothing Many
were aware Of the classification" of Sen
ator Pomeroy, and others of the in
tensely radical school Of politicians, but
no one except the initiated suspected
that the admirers of the great inancier
had their National Executive and Sub
Committees organized, and that said
Senator was President of the National (
Committee. But the appearance, on
the 22d, of his private circular, reveal
ed these facts and surprised much peo-
pie. The circular referred to viii