Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-10-20
The Vanderbilt Guard.

TIE MANNER OF THE REPORTERS VIGIL
IN WASHINGTON PLACE.
The Commodore has been i'll so long now
that the English papers arc beginning tt
comment upon the attention New York
papers have given to the progress OF his i'll
ness. 1t will PROBABLY amuse them to
know Just how this campai IN has been con-
Quoted, and the facts will not be uninter-
esting to New Workers.
Mr.. Stewards sudden death had taken
everybody by surprise, and the obituary
notices were scanter and more hurried than
tney should have been When, soon after.
lin April last the Conmodore's alarming
illness was reported, it was generally re-
solved to be on time with him, as matter
of business merely. Comprehensive bio
graphies we're prepared and put in type,
and now lie deep in dust on the galleys.
Reporters were assigned in April to pay
daily visits to the CommOdore's residence
and inquire after his health. These visits
were usually made about II O'Clock at
night. If the probabilities, as reported by
The attendant, were favorable, that was
all: if not, the reporters remained in the
neighberhcod until midnight OF later for
further information, until it was safe" to
leave, About the middle Of June, Mr..
Vanderbilt's condition getting more pre-
carious, more careful system was adopted.
At about eight O'Clock every evening re-
porters from the 'sWorld, "s'Sun, ''''Her-
ald,o and s'Times'' came into Washington
place and made individual calls at the
house, lounged about the neighborhood
till midnight, amid suspicious policemen
and distrustful housekeepers, then made
another inquiry and sent from one to
twenty lines OF report to their respective
offices as the result of their evenings labor.
The weather Vi as warm and pleasant, and
families living in the neighborhood passed
several hours each evening On their front
piazzas. The newspaper idlerS made some
pleasant acquaintance one instance
with family of lady school teachers, who
thereafter kindly sat up many evenings
until u O'Clock Hospitality entertaining
| al fresc0.
The Commodcre's house in Washington
| place is between University place and
| Broadway. 1t is a substantial brick
structure, trimmed with brown stone, and
before the old and wealthy citizens moved
| I'D to Fifth avenue, Was a select and stylish
part of the city. Not much can be said for
| the neighborhood now.
On the 4th Of August the Commodore
had severe relapse, and his death was
momentarily expected. That evening nine
teen reporters met in the street, and stayed
there from s p. m: until a. m. Thell
presence and inquiries, as the Saturday
Review would infer, necessarily annoyed
the attendants at the house. The fear OF
Mr.. VanderDilt's immediate death soon
wore away, but each OF the five morning
newspapers deemed it a Wise pl ecautlon IL
assign two men to the watch. vi course
with such a prospect the business was
systematiZed. Two rooms were hired i'll
| the University building, one to sleep in and
the other for sitting room. Arrange
menus were made with Drs. Linsly and
! Elliot whereby those gentlemen agreed to
| come OF send to the door OF the Commo-
| dores house every night at s P. n. l0p.m.,
| II midnight and a. n. Fifteen minutes
before those hours the squadron moved
| upon the house. The incidents created
| great excitement among them. One in
| dustrious watcher saw d package OF mourn
| ing goods carried into the house, and he
| was not satisfied until he learned that the
| Commodore had that day sat up, eaten two
| boiled eggs, a watermelon, and drank two
| bowls Of milk punch.
| The midnight or a. N. report was and
| is a peculiar spectacle to the passer-by
| The troop draws itself up in front OF the
| house and waits, not too long in silence.
One of the attendants opens the door and
| comes out on the steps yaWnlng and stretch
| ing his arms. The watch opens to right
and left and surrounds him. A slight
pause ensues while the yawn is completed.
"Well," says somebody.
ssHe is about the same, gentlemen"
Another sleepy pause.
HAS he been sleeping all night?"
"He is sleeping now, but he has been
doing earlier in the nlglt.'
$50 you think he is as weak this week
as he was last Week?'
II cannot see much difference, but ne is
growing weaker all the time"
A wide awake hand, but new at the bust
ness, steps up:
"When do you think he will die, doctor?
Some one has got to die pretty soon. We
are tired Of waiting here"
'Really | cannot tell anything about
that. He may live as long as you or L.
"What is the patient eating now, doc
tor?''
Eggs, watermelon, grapes and very
light food"
A longer pause.
'.What does he drink"
"Milk punch"
GOOD night, doctor; good night; much
obliged, &C., say the reporters as they
leave and hurry to the district telegraph
offices to send the latest intelligence down
town.
This has gone on for two months with
little variation.
The habitues of the neighborhood in
which the Commodore lives are all ac-
quainted with the Vanderbilt "guard. :"
The policemen who have the Washington
place 'beat" have come to love the guard,
and when u disorderly house is to be pull
ed'' in the neighboriood, give them suffi-
Gent information beforehand to enable
them to witness the performance. In the
sitting room in University building the
reporters used to enjoy themselves long
ago. Penny ante was the faVorlte game,
and served to keep most OF the crowd
bankrupt. Songs were sung, stores told,
and mildly convivial Scenas enacted, that
oftentimes brought the janitor out OF bed
with q meek remonstranCe. All this Is
over now though, as there was some dlti>
Guilty in collecting the rent from every body
but the 'World' and s'Sun' men, and the
room is vacant.
Occasionally one Of the s'guard" attempts
to learn something directly from the Com
mOdore's lips. On one occasion when tie
doctors were delayed in coming down to
meet the reporters and make their report,
the Comm odoie remarked, with rather
grim humor, II am exceedingly sorry TO
keep the gentlemen of the press waiting"
It is understood with the attendants that
they shall be prompt in their reports under
penalty of being rung up About q week
age, at midnight, the ''guard" formed in
single file, and, in command of a Sum
reporter, marched to the. house, every man
wilistling the ''Mulligan Guards TIE
doctor was late in coming out, and the re-
porters forming in line on the sidewalk,
whistled the 'sDead March, in Saul"
until lie came, which was not long. -New
York World.
In the u. S. Circuit Court, at Richmond,
Friday, Judge Bond decided that q
homestead exemption allowed TO q BANK
rupt is not to be estimated in the assets
upon an application for discharge.
,.,., ,.,, 4 49, D..oc Of T,a1o