The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-03-18
WASHINGTON GOSSIP.
Some Personal Sketches-The story of
Miss Story-Mrs. stephen A. Douglas
Serita Brady and Camilla Webb.
Correspondence Chicago Tribune.l

Miss StGry-lnre. StepEen n. DeuSAhs-
Serita Brady and Camilla Webb
Correspondence Chicago Tribune.l
WASHINGTON, March 3.-Last evening,
at Lincoln Hall, Miss Story made her de-
but as a reader of no mean ability. Ste is
quite young, about twenty-five, perhaps,
with dark hair, fine, clear, c0lorleSs skin,
dark blue eyes, statuesque regularity OF
textures, and beautifully-even white teeth.
For several years past she has been EN-
ployed in the United States Treasury as
copyist, and has in the meantime perfected
herself in French, German, and music,
PLAYING the organ at the Unitarian Church
| in our midst. she has been reading at
private gatherings for year or more, and
has been urged by Grace Greenwood and
! Mary Clemmer to make the tragic stage
| her profession. Last night she excelled
the expectation of her friends, and in the
Garden Scene between Queen Elizabeth and
Mary Queen of Scots, as portrayed by the
vivid pen of Schiller's immortal genius,
she took the dual characters with remark
able spirit and versatility.
She is native of Gloucester, Mass,
where her father kept a hardware store
previous to the war. He enlisted during
the conflict as private, and was blown to
atoms by the explosion of an enemy's can
/
came to the door, and friends procured
places for mother and daughter under
Government during those early days when
the employment OF women as clerks was
an experimental necessity, when the men
were called to the nations defense, and
could not stay in easy chairs, with pens In
their hands, instead of needed swords and
guns.
| WOMAN TO THE FRONT.
This temporary employment of women
in the Departments has developed into an
acknowledged indispensability. No other
fingers can so delcately and deftly sepa-
rate the notes sent for redemption, whose
surfaces are so worn and indistinct as
hardly to be recognizable by the clumsy
and inexperienced. On several occasions,
when money has been charred by burning,
so that faint breath would destroy the
little remnant of identity remaining, it has
been delivered into the custody of some OF
the best counters, whose nimble fingers,
and clear, quiet eyes, have succeeded in
deciphering names and numbers from
seemingly blackened masses OF hopeless
ruins.
Many of the persons employed are la
dies born and bred, whom the changing
wheel of fortune has bereft of fathers.
forced into the world to nobly support
themselves, or those dependent upon
them. There is one thing to be said in
praise of WashingtOnians; they are not
snObs, They NAV be aristocrats, and
fashionable, and frivolous, but they are
| enyiably free from snObbery, and it mat
ters little to them whether persons are
: clothed in alpaca or velvet, possess for
= tunes or earn a livlihOod. live in palaces or
cottages, provided they are agreeable, in
telligent and we'll connected they are cul
tivated for friends.
/, THE WIFE OF THE LITTLE GIANT.
Among some of the noteworthy persons
{ who have occupied positions under Gov
{ ernment, first and foremost stands the
. han dsome face and figure of Mrs. Stepher
: A. Douglas, wife of the "Little Giant,
of whose memory Illinois has always beer
proud. When the system of employing
women was in its its infancy, Mrs. Doug
las, who was too high-spirited and inde-
pendent to receive charity, and yet WHIT
was in great need of an income, accepted
e a clerkship of $3.50 per annum. recol
lect being introduced to her on one Occa
s sion at a Catholic Fair, over which sh'
presided as Lady Superior. She was &
4 trihe too gross in outlines at that time tt
"
: ful. vet could see how strikingly hand
some she must have been when Dougla.
|. wooed her for his bride. Her neck anC
arms were fit for a sculptor, so marvel
ously white, and round, and dimpled wert
/. thew. and the skin was so fine that thu
veins shone through like glimpses of blu'
e sky. Her hair was dark and naturally
{ wavy, and she wore it swept gracefully
back from her low, broad, smooth brow
:, and wound in a sumptuous coil low dowI
on the back of her head, thus preserving
t its classical outlines.
o Mrs. Douglass second husband, Gen
Williams, of the United States Army, wa!
|, a man younger than herself, rather veal
r i'm face, and handsome in figure, but th'
brightness of whose gold lace was neve
a furnished by hard fighting. Yet she ac
+ knowIedged to the many friends who re
# mOnstrated against this second marriage
d that she married her first husband to graf
l. ify her ambition, that she married a sec
e ond time for the love she bore her lord
# and they are happy in their welded lives
O or have never heard any thing az con
h trGire.
e The Douglas estate is situated in the
e vicinity of st. Aloysius Church, in the
3, northeastern portion of the city-a hin,
d old place. occupying full square, will
e grand towering trees almost cOncealin:
e the ample dimensions of the grayston
e mansion. A high wall shuts the ground
d in from curious eyes, but, as the place Oc
d cupies quite an eminence, it is easily dis
e cernible from distance. The property
d is now very valuable, and has been sOugh
4, for by real estate spectators, but Mrs
le Williams wisely follows John Jacob AS
sr tors advice, and "hOlds on"
NEW LIGHT IN THE JOURNALISTIC FIRMA
IL MENT.
Il A bright little soul, who supported hel
self in the Departments for some time,
ar Miss Serita Brady, whose charmingly er
tertaining letters to the newspapers hav
familiariZed her to many firesides. She
somewhere in the youthful tweDties, o
its sunniest slope, with small, round, wei
formed figure, eyes full of life and light
lie and conversation sparkling with bon mot
p She left her desk over a year ago to tr
ce her fortune in journalistic fields, but wit
er a promise that if unsuccessful she coul
IN return to the protection of Uncle Sam
a. rooftree. She has evinced high order {
e. talent. not content with sending the mel
n. humdrum stale rehash of other people
ny Dens. and has ventHred into field all ht
ld own, replete with originality, vigor an
Dn thoughtfulness.
ce Miss Brady's mother was Cuban, an
oe the little lady herself first saw light undt
ne tropical skies, which two facts account II
Id the glowing depths of her dark eyes, an
ol her versatile fancies.
lr- In contrast to the piquancy of dispoS
IN ton and tropical shadows resting over q
-st hair and skin of Miss Brady, Miss Camil
IL Webb stands out clearly defined again