Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-09-26
1.-THE WASHINGTON WOMAN.

forty-one persons assembled last evening In
the large hail Of the Cooper Institute to listen
to the narration, by Mrs. Jennie A. Perry,
:" The Washington Woman" alias " The Mys.
terious Cincinnati Woman" alias I" The Re-
publican Queen" OF what she saw and did in
Washington, together with some account of
the loss Of the steamer Sultana, of which ILL.,
fated vessel "Mrs. Perry" was the only lady
survivor.
age, of somewhat below the medium stature,
tending somewhat to embonpoint, of good COM
plexion, on the stage, with features OF no very
striking peculiarity, excepting, perhaps,
chubby double chin, and with dark HAIR and
eyes. She was attired in black glace silk, with
Jet trimming around the shoulders, her hair
neatly dressed, and spray Of flowers in her
hair. In her hand, as she stood at the reading
desk. she held small fan, with which she EN-.
phaszed nine words out OF ten, and drank
from tumbler, OF what appeared to be water,
every dozen or two sentences. Her recitation
was written, and the speaker, in addition TO a
spasmodic mode OF enunciatioH, seemed at
times little embarrassed in deciphering the
calligraphy. The -tastic emphasis dis
played by her in some Of her impressive pas
sages was peculiarly inappropriate from its
frequency, and though her voice was by no
means an unpleasant one, she seemed TO under.
stand nothing Of reading or oratory. Vocal in
fexIons were entirely at a discount.
When her audience Of forty-one persons in
that immense auditorium had composed them.
selves-one man reclining gracefully on back
seat, another leaning langnidly or lazily against
MS friend, and q third in q front seat had ad-
justed his spectacles in a satisfactory way and
assumed the look OF an individual OF deep SYM
pathy and commisseraton for somebody-the
fair lecturer appeared.
In the opening part Of her discourse she
stated that the question had often been asked
through the public prints and by gossipists,
"Who il this Washington womanf' &c. In
answer to them she would state that she was
Mrs Jennie A. Perry the widow Of William
T.. Perry, engineer on board the ram 10 5 +, or
Tennessee, war vessel which achieved a
,tofa .k-.-~
ring the late rebellion. She was emp loyed
during the war as a nurse in the federal hos.
pitals, and in April, 1865, left New Orleans i'm
seo Imam nslsonaa. tra PAVING S on board ABOUT
Prison pens. On the 27th OF April the vessel
stopped at Memphis to coal, and proceeded on
her way North at O'Clock In the morning was
sion Of the boiler. After many trying dinicul-
ties in escaping from the wreck, and after OBJ
tanning her life-preserver, which she had
the misfortune to put on '.hind side fore.
the wreck. The confusion % and horn horn
rors Of the scene Were delineated with
a minuteness Of detail that would Com
pletely outrank the most ultra Bohemian ex-
tant, with a grammatical inaccuraeY that
would have craxed Lindley Murray. When
the explosion occurred she was only half
dressed, and men were rushing in few min
singularly enough, she doubted if they even
stopped to to look what style of boot she wore
or the size of her ankle. After many sshair.
breadth" 'scapes and perils imminent" she
was finally rescued by fisherman. Without
S.aung how she became involved In the m ashes
Of the intriguing or lobbying clique at Wash
ington she simply stated that she could reveal
many very remarkable things in connection
with the various departments, and intimated
that in the present crisis OF national affairs no
one could afford TO be neutral except perhaps
those at the White House and In the Customs.
She seemed to regret very deeply the fact that
with al her lobbying and Influence she az vet
never had Q bite d the big plum, although She
had raised some BY her infiusnce from the
poverty OF q church mouse TO wealth aud affiu.
snce. She closed with an appeal to the BOYS
for Grant, and vaguely promised an early dis.
closure OF startling facts. Ssverals TAPS OF ap.
tlause were diecernible during her remarks.-
H. y Herdd, 2eR. > fia1s . = :.