Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-03-29


To ne Besees:
There is : popular superstition tIzt
even Homer was caught noddiag IL
times possibly under the drooe q his
sleepy hexameters; but no such accu-
sation can be brought to bear on Ne ~
erage republican politician Of Virginia.
They certainly'are fishy set Of beings
II aliude more particularly 70 the car
petbaggers-and the apparent compla-
cency Of mind that ensues the placing
the hand before their eyes so they can
not see the "hand writing on the wall, I"
Is, as Dominic Samson wouidsay. sspro-
digious." Possibly each one thinks that
notwithstanding the word has gone forth
to unload the "carpet-bagger," and 2.
on with native republicans alone, Ae
may show cause and claim effect sun.
Gent to enable kim to hold on. Noe
long siuce-just after the Inauguration
Of Hayes number ofrepublicans held
. meeting in the Custom House in this
city. Nearly all were officials. Meet
ing the Deputy Collector on the street
on has way up he invited me to 90 also.
And such meeting! How the noun
tain did heave. You would think pan.
demonium had broken loose; the uni
versal cry seemed to be, from the Col
Iector and subordinatess Postmsstersand
subordinates, white and black, down to
the man who firesthe heater in the cellar,
''send committee from our band to rep
rescntto Mr.. Hayes the jeopardy inwhich
the republican party in this State win be
placed by adhering to such policy"
] couldn't help it. had to ..laugh right
out in school," My friend came to me
and said: II tell you-you needn't
laugh, because things are looking d-n
squaliy." l laughingly replied: al
think things do look decidedly saually
for you fellows that are making ali this
row. but do you think you are going to
impose on the credulity of Mr.. Hayes
and make him believe that the perpetu-
ity Of the republican party, and the per-
sonai safety OF its members, can only be
maintained by a policy similar to the
past. and that, too, by a committee
composed of two small-fry politicians
and negro mail-carrier It is sim
ply ridiculous; | had a right to laugh"
| saw afterward BY the papers that the
committee went, and succeeded in get
ting an audience. but with what sue
cess the actions Of Hayes in other local.
tiles will indicate. Even our Post.
mistress, Miss Van Lew, has been dan
cling attendance on prominent officials
for retention. and, ! opine, successful
ly, for there has been no cause offered
IN objection to her except unpopularitv
arising from actions during the war. II
is remarkable how completely this wo-
man is Stunned by the white element
IN this city. She is as absolutely alone
in this respect as if she were in the
heart Of Africa. And yet no one de-
mics that she is refined and cultivated
lady. She belongs to an old Virginia
family who always lived, and do vet, in
atfluence, and highly respected before
the war. II has become the fashion to
hate her; even old men from whom we
naturally expect some show of conser-
vatlsm in such things have been educa-
ted INTO this intensity Of feeling agains.
her. This feeling is not the result of
the recent campaign pariicularly-al-
though she m@nGuvred and used the
party lash among her subordinates sci.
entitically and with great zeal-but it
has been constant and lasting since she
first entered the post office. Sometime
after the war had commenced, although
the family was known 10 possess a great
deal of city property. Miss Van Lew
called upon President Davis and repre-
sented that herself and mother were in
a starving condition, being unable to re-
aiize on their property. and begged for
some employment under the Govern
ment, in order to get some money upon
which to live. MIR. Davis felt compelled
to do something for her, and, conse-
qucntly, gave her position in the State
as clerk. She had no sooner
gotten this position than she opened
line Of communication with General
Grants army, and kept him informed.
to the best OF her ability. Of all going
on in the confederacy. In this she
played Arnold to the coufederacy and
thereby damned herself and fame. -
This story may be true or il may not,
| give it as have heard il. time and
time over. No doubt there is some
truth in it, but, like all such stories, /
Judge it 10 be greatly magni6cd. How
ever, she is SO completely ostrac,zed
that, as she says, her door bell has not
been rung BY visitor paying a social
call for years. and when her mother
died colored people only rendered their
services in that hour of tribulation. and
pall-bearers were the only atten-
dan,s on the funeral" The above she
embodied in letter to the press during
the campaign. This Is certainly the
only reason why they object to her hav-
ing the office, because with a plausible
show of defence to justice in the mat
ter Of condemnation, it is universally
conceded that she is very efficient
in her management of the post-ofiice:
in fact. 1t is run better than It ever was
before. None deny this. The moral
stamina required to stick and brave out
all this opposition must be tremendous.
Soon after the Inauguration Of HAYES,
a reporter of The State called to inter
view the Col" as they call her. On
known his business she asked the
name of the paper he represented. On
being told. she said Are you not the
person who interviewed me just after
the st. Louis Convention He re-
piled he was. ''You are no gentle man.
SIR" she replied, and then, from one of
Sydney Smiths brilliant flashes of