Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-11-16
sla AND urrLE CASINO.
Diamonds the Leading Card
ia the Game, But
Hearts Trumps.
Roaring Scandal in a Washing
ton City Hotel.
A Willy widows Treasury OH
eiaI. ana aAn0ther Man.

Special to the Cincinnati Commercial

Special to the Cincinnati Commercial.
BALTIMORE, MD, November H..
A special from Washington says:
For some days past the denizens of a
fashionable up town hotel have been
discussing With bated breath, the de-
tails OF a scandal way, way up in So
ciety. AT first the matter was jealous
~ guarded, but Of late its u1savory
odor has begun to percOlate through
the veil Of secrecy that surrounds it,
aud your correspondent feels no fur
Their hesitancy in making it public.
The dramatis persona are a high
Treasury official, famous for his gal.
lantries, a dashing young widow and
a clerk In the State Department.
Mrs. B., the lady in question,
made her debut in Washing.
ton last spring. Without quoting
the e%xtravagant language OF her
admirers, it is safe to say she is very
handsome, a trife under thirty years
Of age, with q form exquisitely mold
ed. She was a woman to be envied
by her sex and adored by men. Her
face is not strictly beautiful, Judged
By a high standard Of beauty. but all
the more dangerous because of its
wonderful fascination, together with
that intangible quantity known as
personal magnetism. A B~ostcnian by
birth and education, a thorough
woman Of the world in all that con
stitutes tact, adroitness and a knowl-
edge of human nature, she speedily
became a favorite in that select circle
to which her talents and letters OF
introduction admitted her.
Among the gentlemen huttered about
her was the official spoken of above,
and who, for convenience sake, will
be designated as Mr.. g. Many and
frequent were the curtain lectures
which G. received from his wife,
inspired by his attentions to the fair
widow, but the effect seemed lost upon
dim. Day by day he grew
more fascinated, until at last
the old dowagsrs voted it scandal
Gus aud poured forth their sympathy.
we'll mixed with inuendo, into the
willing ears of his angry spouse. What
exasperated them the more was the
widows discreet behavior. Like
Cesar's wife, she was outwardly above
%reproach. aud the breath of scandal
could find no Judgment on the polished
front she showed to the world. Still
there was an indsfiuable something
about her that made the w~iseacres
suspect that all was not right. Her
means we're not ample, she would say,
with charming naivete, but neverthe
less sufficient to support her g~enteelly.
I have said all the gentlemen paid
court to her charms. There was one
eKception--the State Department
young man. Instead Of following her
about, happy to be rewarded With a
smile, his manners were cold and dis
tant. People marvsled at this the
more when it was discovered that the
widow entertained a real penchant for
the handsome clerk, but his depOrt-
ment was always the same-studiedly
polite.
One night last week, when the
house was wrapped in slumber and
each yirtuous matron sleeping the
sleep of the just, q succession Of
screams broke the stiffness. The
sound proceeded from the direction
Of the widows apartments; soon a
number Of white sheeted figures, is
suing from the different rooms, hud
died together in the halls aud corri-
doris. At last one more bold than the
rest turned the lock OF the widows
door. 1t was a curious spectacle that
presented itself. Prone upon the floor
lay the official and the clerk. The
latter was on top, pounding his supe.
riOr with all the weight Of his vigor
Gus fists. The widow, attired only in
the most abbreviated of garments,
yainly essayed to part them.
Itseems G. had long suspected what
was a revelation to Others 10 the house.
the intimacy between his mistress, for
such she really was, and the clerk
On the night Of the episode, long
after he had retired to rest, he lay
tossing about on hispillow, q preyto the
gloomiest thoughts. The demon
jealousy bad seized upon him and he
could not shake it OF until his doubts
we're removed. He stole cautiously
along until the widows room was
reached. The door yielded to his
touch. The gas burned dimly, but
there was sufficient light to prove his
suspicious. Maddened with rage he
confronted them with his presence.
Thelady burst into tears and begged
forgiveness. Not so the clerk. He
struck G.. full in the face. The two
men clinched and then followed a
struggle, during which chairs were
overturned aud the furniture smashed
generally, but the clerk was the better
man. He pounded G. in true pugilistic
style, and would probably have killed
him but for the interference OF the
spectators, and now a suit for divorce
Is on the tapis, a whilom society belle
has fed the town, and a government
clerk is out Of a job.