The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-12-02
ANOTHER WHITE HOUSE SCANDAL.

ANOTHER WHITE HOUSE CANDAL.
One Ogle, a Congressman from Pennsylva
ria, accused Van Buren of ''corru ptiop,"
s.ating that East room 10 the White
Honse was "a perfect warehouse OF ~luxurie.
purchased with the peoples money These
charge. were made the most of at the time
hut OF course they amounted TO absolutely
nothing. The mistress OF the White fiouse
81 this time was MRS. Vaa Burss, the Presi
dents daughter in-law, a belle of South
Carol;na.
President Harrison was literally killed by
off ;c-seekers. One day, finding the Whit,
House filled with tbsn, the President an
nounced to a friend: ''Sincc they are al
inside. [ will remain outside" He did 80,
and caught a cold which resulted in hi.
death. This was the first funeral from the
White House.
President Tyler buried his first wife from
the White House. Two years afterward be
brought bis second wife into the presidcn
tial mansion. There was a larger crowd a,
the latter wedding than at the former fu
neral ceremony Such is life.
Mrs. President Polk vasa very clever, 30
eial, refined lady, and under her regime the
White House WAS one Of the pleasantes;
places in the land.
After her husbands death. the widsN
Polk received probably even more respect
than during his ife-the most t1attering Of
all possible compliments.
President TAYLOR "meant we'll" bat his
internal administration OF the White House
was full OF errors. He is said ''to have
committed more mistakes OF etiquette than
any other President, not excepting Andrew
Jackson" He was killed by too much
Fourth of July, standing over twelve hours
in the hot sun. Mrs. Taylor and her daugh
ter Betty. the ladies of the White House.
performed their social duties under ccmpuI-
sion, and never were freely comfortable in
the presidential mansion, like the President
himself.
Willard Fillmore made an excellent host.
He was ably assisted by his daughter, his
wife being an invalid. He was the first
President who ever received his own father
ct the White House. Mr.. Nathniel FIJI
more was over eighty years of age, but he
used neither spectacles nor cane. A gen.
the old gentleman, said And now, Mr..
Fillmore, you have been 50 successful with
your son, tell me how shall | bring up
mine ?" Teach him never to fatter any
body" said the old man, bluntly.
Franklin Pierce spent his presidency
horseback riding. His wife was always
ailing. Like Mrs. Lincoln in subsequent
years, she never recovered from the shock
caused by the death of her ~favorite son.
Under James Buchanan the White
House became even more "a court" Miss
Harriet Lane is generally regarded a, the
best hostess and the most accomplished vo
man who ever presided as lady of the White
House. The tender attachment which ex
listed between Buchanan and his neice is one
OF the most touching tributes to both.
Miss Lane, though rather boisterous and
hoydenish at first, became celebrated
throughout all England as par erc,Hence
the American lady" and when, as the
first lady in the land, she received the
Prince of Wales at the White House, even
British royalty was enthusiastic in its ad
miration. The White House will probably
never see her like again.
Of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln it has Justly
been said, That NO word of merited abuse
had ever been extended to the ladies of a
President. family till her time But,
perhaps, ofall the ladies who have entered
the White HOuse as Its temporary mistress,
Ara Lincoln Was really the most unit for
the position.
She was alike ignorant, ambitious and SUI
perstitious She believed in dreams, for
tune-tellers and clalrvoyance felt tlat she
was born to greatness but was too iBdo-
lent to prepare for it. She had inordinate
vanity, but little true pride, and was ut
terly deficient in the knowledge of human
nature.
After the death of Mr., Lincoln his widow
remained FIVE weeks in the White House.
With all her faults, Mrs. Lincoln was a
chaste wife and a devoted mother. She
Lever entered the guests room," wherein
little Willie died. after his death, or the
green room where his dead body had lain.
Among the ladies who lived in and VIII left
the White House with the NEST general
popularity and the most stainless reputa-
lions, We're the female members Of President
Johnson's household, embracing his invalid
wife and two daughters, Mrs. Patterson and
the widow Stoner. The last days of the
Johnson regime at the White House were