Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1877-12-08
(Spccial Correspondence
DEAR SENTINEL:

night, on IL grand 'xcnrsion to Washing
ton City, and if your readers will bear
with us awhile, We will tell them some
of the things that we saw on that men,
oraLlc occasion. 1t was announced that
the excursion train would arrive here
;lbont IL o'clock p. IN. We reached the
depot in good time, that is about three
hou's before the train did; because don't
suppose you or anybody else ever saw an
| excursion train Oh time. However, 1t
| came at last; but was so crowded that
many of us were unable to find seats.
Nothing of Importance happened on the
| way. We reached Washington early
Tuesday morning, and after partaking OF
a good breakfast at Ha rvey's Restaurant,
| started out to see the public buildings
and other places of interest.
First we went to the ''Smlthsonian In
stitute," where we spent Il most delight
full hour viewing the curiosities collected
| from all parts of the world; among other
things we saw the skeleton Of the cele-
brated race horse, LeSington, presented
by gentleman of Kentucky.
| Wen visited the Treasury Depart
ment. This is Il magnificent building,
covering two and a half acres of ground
Having secured Il guide near the south
| ern entrance, we were conducted all
through it, and had everything explained
| to us. In one room we saw ali enormous
file of United States Bonds, representing
three hundred millions of dollars; i'll an :
Other room, might be seen old Bank notes
that had been redeemed by the govern
ment,si another room was a large ma
chine used for the purpose of destroying
| these redeemed notes; further on, we
| found them making Bank notes, and in Il
| large room just beyond this, our guide
| showed us the new money "dore up" in
packages, ready for distribution to the
various National Banks in the country.
It was noticed that most of the employ L.
ees We're women.
Then our guide took us to the secret
service Department in the Treasury build
ing. There we saw photographs of all
the persons that have been arrested for
counterteiting money in the United
States. Among the pictures were old
men, young men. women and children;
whites, negroes, Japanese and Chinese.
When we had finished looking at these
we started for the White House; on
reaching it, we were first conducted into
the East room.' This is the room where
all the large receptions are held. 1t is
magnticcnt'y furnished-there are eight
large mirrors around the walls reaching
from the ceiling to the floor, and they
lars apiece. The three chandeliers cost
two thousand each. The carpet was so
soft tina: a foot fall conlh not be heard,
and the rich larc curtains when drawn
a side, disclosed to our view the waters of
the beautiful Potomac. After leaving
this room, we assembled Il flight OF steps.
+: ere we met an usher whs asked lis if
we had come on business, or merely to
shake hal.ds with the President. On be-
ing in formed that we only wished to pay
our respects, he babe us wit in the ante
room, while he carried in our cards.
About twenty minutes had elapsed when
he returned, ami told us to follow him.
We entered a large room and found Mr..
Hayes standing near Il table. He is r;lth-
| fifty years Of age. He welcomed lis very
cordially by shaking hands with us, re-
marking than he was glad to see rs, and
thai we had ad fine weather for our
trip.
Leaving thaa Presidents Mansion, we
went to the Capitol TO see Congress in
! session.
In the Senate Chamber, we spent an
hour, listening to some interesting
speeches from Senators Thurman ana
| Maxey. Prominent among the Senators
we noticed NlCssrs. Conlling, of n. Y,
Bayal,l, of Del, and Voorhees,. of Ind
From the Senate we crossed over to the
House of Representatives. Here every
| thing was turmoil and confusion, compared
with the Senate. The Paris Exposi ton
Bill was before the House, and the debate
over it was exceedingly interesting. Mr..
! Springer Of H., was in the chair, while
Speaker Randall occupied a seat on the
floor After the House adjourned we
started for the depot and arrived just in
time to get good seat on our crowded
train. We lett the National Capitol a
little after dark, and soon we were rush
ing along the fertile fields of the Old Do
minion. We arrived at the University,
about o'clock Wednesday morning,
having been delayed several hours Oh the
| road, by being obliged to wait for regular
| trains that We're behind time.
Once more we are poriltg over the pa
| ges of ancient lore, and now We think OF
| + n
We're" CLIFTON.