The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-03-14
LARSON As A FINE Art"
a CHAPTER frOm Washington SOCIAL MIS-
Isl tory How Ia Hide Fraud.

Dom Piatt. in the Sunday Capital
adds q remarkable chapter to the recent
social history Of Washington. The
Belknap and Mrs. Robson to whom
Mrs. Williams the wife Of the late At
| torney- General, wrote the anonymous
| letters which led to the retirement OF
Mr.. Williams from the Cabinet. Piatt
We have been reminded OF strange
circumstance that came to us some two
years ago. We took from tho carrier
one day q letter, an anonymous letter.
that read as follows:
you are aware, no doubt, that you
have enemies but you do not know That
mt this time there Is combination OF
them, determined to ruin you Two wo-
men, having high positions, are plotting
against you Now, these women are not
to be feared IL you know all about them.
l will tell you. One of them made u
fortune out of the Sicor claim and the
French arms; the other out of George
T.. and the French arms. In the war
and navy department buildings are the
proofs of their evil conduct. If you will
make the acquaintance Of Mr. ----, he
can put you i'm tho way of getting copies
OF these papers, and the publication
Washington"
This is but part of the letter; the rest
Is made up OF tho vilest ISLANDERS ever
put i'm circulation We do not generally
pay any attention to anonymous letters I,
but there was something in this which
attracted our attention, and we pre-
served 1t. We did not make tho ac-
quaintance suggested, nor did we en-
deavor to procure. tho papers to which
our anonymous friend referred. But
not long after an attempt was made TO
burn the. old Navy Department build
ings, and remembering the hint given
lished the editorial headed carson US u
Fine Art, in which we spoke Of the
clumsy attempt ut arson as indicating
the female mind. Not long after we re-
ceived secoud letter, evidently from
the same source 1t read:
you have scotcbed the snake, not
killed It, and by not following my ad-
vice you have lost agolden opportunity
to finish for good your enemies. This Is
not the last fire, nor arc these people
the kind Of people to give up without u
desperate effort to save themselves.
Again followed matter unfit for pub
LEGATION, evidently designed by the wri-
ter to provoke us to attack the two
ladies' she charged with wrong doing.
Not long after this second letter another
effort was made to fire the navy
building. This was followed by q third,
and then came an unmistakable attempt
ut arson in the Winder building, whore
many Of the archives and records OF the
War Department. are preserved, on
account OF tho fire.proof character
Of the structure. About ten o'clock at
night the Waterman on duty discovered
n dense volume Of smoke issuing from
one OF the rooms Of the basement. I'm
mediately, before he could give any
alarm, n column OF fame burst OF and
shot up through the grated openings in
the corridor to the fourth story. The
fire. by the mercst accident was con
fined, or rather confined itself, to the one
room. 1t burned out almost MS sudden
ly rs it kindled, and was under control
when the engines reached the locality.
An inspection OF the premises revealed
the facts, first, that petroleum had been
and furniture Of the room. The
odor was quite strong, and the manner
In which tho flames had shot out>and
then subsidized indicated beyond a @ubt
the mineral oil we named. Secondly,
the windows on the north side were
found open, SO as to give sufficient
draft. But further investigation re-
vealed the fact that the incendiaries had
mistaken the room, and through acct
dent selected that next adjoining the
one in which the more valuable docu.
ments had been fled. We found after
ward that these anonymous letters were
scattered very generally over the city.
There was no doubt but that they ena-
mated from the same source. But tho
most startling fact that was subsequent
ly developed was that the authoress OF
these troublesome missivcs was herself
tho wife OF a Secretary of the Cabinet.