Litchfield enquirer., 1881-01-13
4 n 7 'efff2 1T sEi A Capital Letter.
HARTFORD, Jany. 3d, 1881.

<
 Truly Hartford has turned cold shoulder to us, for since our arrival at the Capital city ou "Wednesday last, the mercury has persisted in remaining at or below zero. till to day 8 milder atmosphere prevails and one can go to see objects of interest with some comfort as well as satisfaction. sva e,,ss~# 5as
 Being with friends who have history, and are full of "reminiscences, we have just been spending part of the day at the Atheneum, where among other objects of interest we were shown the sword of Capt. Geo. w. Rodgers, w6o lost his life cn board the Catskill, dur ing an attack on the defenses of Charleston. in Aug 1868 He was brother of our hostess, herself widow of an army officer whose bones for over quarter of a century have bleached in the waters of the Pacific.
 Their mother was Anna Perry, sister of Commodore O. II. Perry, the celebrated hero of Lake Erie, and wife of Commodore Geo W. Rodgers. Of their sons two yet survive, Admiral c. Raymond Rodgers, and Capt. John Rodgers of the Army. One son Lieu tenant Alexander R,dgers was killed at Clepultepec during the Mexican war. One of Mrs. Rodgers brothers Ensign Alexander Perry, when ten years old served SD bravely Lake Erie" as to win the thanks of Cor gress and d sword of honor .-
 One of the heir looms of this house is a chair brought to this country by Judge Perry in 17O) and handed down to the eldest daughter of each generation till now It is the property of Miss George A. Smith. young lady Of whose welfare many of the Washington peo pie will be glad to hear. .-.
 After the victory on Lake Erie. the old Judge was seated in that chair, when the ringing of bells attracted his attention. To his inquiry why they were ringing, he was told t., celebrate Divers victory. 'Oliver was always good boy" he replied, leaned back Tn the chair and never spoke again
 ' Another heir loom, is portrait of Commo- dore Decatur, by Stuart, but it is much lnferi- or to Mrs. Hollister's painting of her grand father by that artist. >. '- %'i-
 Thursday evening some of our party braved the1cold and went to the Opera House to hear the famous tragedian Salvini.. He spoke in Italian but all the other actors in English, SO that one could follow the play without being confined to the translation in the llbretto, which would have marred the enjoyment as his countenance expresses full as much as his words The play was La Morte Civile. something of the Victor Hugo style. The hero convict aud Sa.vini of course had to represent the part, as he was the star.
 Engaged by the Author of Pinafore is ridicu ously funny, and the young folks en- joyei it exceedingly, AS played at the Opera House, Saturday evening iz-. f..-..- A spiritulistic meeting, Sunday evening at tracted crowd of many hundred foolish peo- pie, of which the writer was one. The cabi- net performance is absurd if you accept the tricks as the work of spirits as they desire you to, but as feat of legerdemain. it is wonder ful. If the spirits are invisible, why draw the curtain, the audience could only see the effect, not the spirits. Of course the captive must make some exertion to free himself from his bonds, and those exertions must be con- cealed, hence the curtain. The mind reading was very clever performance, but not calcu- lated to humbug one who had seen the tricks exposed. Tbe dark seance was perfect farce. It had been announced that a piano would be raised from the floor, guitars played over our heads, flowers distributed. ete, Two s!pall tamborines were the only musical in struments seen or heard A J