Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-03-08
LCh,cago Tribune sne !al.l

| FALSE SOCIAL LIFE AT THE CAPITAL.
| WAsmNGToN, March 1.-The fall OF
Secretary HclkGan is a eonspieNops IL
lnstration Of the effects fine false so
cial life Of Washington City. II hat
become . nrAyerb that 10 ono can af
tord 10 hold a Cabinet Office unless hi
is rich. II now anpeqrs that the poor
IN such high places will keep Up tht
style. There has been 40 difference
i'm the outward life Of Secretary Bel.
KNAPP and Secretary Fish or Chandler
ye! !hs lnttei are worth mllliops
while, Ten Years ago, this month, Bel.
KNAPP was here begging for Collect.
orship. Mrs Belknap, it is said, re.
ceiyed the first payment Of $1,000
shortly prior t9 her marriage with
General Helknap. The family have
lived in a most extravagant manner, ev
idently much beyond tLe salary alone
Of Cabinet officer would warrant
Their entertainments this winter have
been especially costly and lnEGFiOus,
and Mrs. Belknap has been so partic-
ularly assiduous in her attention to
the families of nembers Of the COM
mittee before whom these charges arc
pending as to have'atiracied NOTICE.
The wife OF pne Of the memhers Of
This committee, q Democrat, has frcs
Quently received with Mrs Relknap.
HOW HE PLEASED GRANT.
Rclknap caMp hpre Q poor man,
When appointed Secretary of War he
was Collector of Internal Revenue i'm
Iowa. lie had always been a Demo-
crat, and was ALMOST entirely UNI
known in Iowa politics. lie created
Q FAVORABLE impression upon The Pres
ident by q speech he made at the
meeting ofthc Army of the Tcnncs-
see.
After Grants nomination and be-
fore he was inaugnrated, BclInap's
friends layo frequently said that he
owed his Cabinet position 10 that one
Speech ! = ',i -
TIMES WHIRLIGIGs.
Mrs. Belknap, who figures so pom
inently in this scandal, is a native Of
llarroasbnrg, KY. Hor brother, DR..
TOmlinsOn, still resides there, and
has been using all his influence among
Southern members TO avert this dis
closure. She was great belle, and
3lnOng her admirers was member
ofthc committee which had the inn
peachment in charge. Their flirta-
ton was the subject of much local
gossip. Her first husband was Mr..
Bower, Of Cincinnati. When Bel
KNAPP was appointed Secretary Of
War he came and rented the house on
Lafayette Square, which had been
occupied by Secretary Seward. This
house was beyond his means.
The soldiers have been robbed and
the nation disgraced to maintain the
style. His desire to furnish this house
and to maintain the kospitablc style
in which wealthy Cabinet ministers
indulged doubtless prompted the
original crime. About the time of
the las! marriage of the Secretary,
there were sonc Ngly rnmors con-
ceming the payment Of q large claim
for war transpOftaidOn.to theI LouiHr
vile and Cincinnati Railroad, and
that the road was especially favored
by Secretary Pelknap, Il was said
that Mrs. Bower was agninor by this
She soon after left for
Europe in company with the Iendle-
tons oil Cincinnati. While there her
with tho Secretary Of
War was announced. The society
gossips then busted themselves with
The details of her elaborate costumes.
Mrs. Relklap's career in snpi0ty has
been very brilliant, and when Mrs.
Acknowledgement Williams was ac-
rnsed of writing anonymous letters to |
Inc wives of other Cabinet officers ac- |
cusing their husbands of intrigues
with female friends, Mrs, Re,Enap
was conspicnously indignant, and
foremost in the movement to drive
Williams from the Cabinet, OF late,
Mrs. Belknap has been equally marked
IN her hostility to Secretary Bristow,
who is said to hare been too intim-
ately acquaicted with her career inl