Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-04-29
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
fFrcm our regular CORRESPONDENCE


WASHINGTON, ID. c., April %, 1882.
In spite of the grim tragedy that
hung like pail over the opening
of the fashionable season at the
Capital, vanity fair has never shown
with rnore brilliancy than during
the past winter and present spring,
and now that the six months of
mourning prescribed by our Eng
lish initiating official etiquette is
over, and the repressive days of
lent are passed, all semblance of re-
straint is laid aside and Washing
ton, from sage Senator to sweet six
teen, is nightly massed at a recep-
ton, Il dinner, a bail, or the opera.
at the Presidential receptions dur
ing the last two weeks, the dressing
was unsurpassed by anything l
have ever seen, except perhaps the
toilettes of "Nana" and those of her
class at tine grand pTir de Paris in
1878. The gentlemen of the for
eign legations wore court dress with
great display of golden lace and
buttons and it was necessary for the
ladies to throw the utmost possible
splendor into their costumes in or
der to vie in brilliancy with the
tinseled soldiers and diplomats.
The display of diamonds was liter
ally dazzling. No such display has
been seen since Mrs. Aston appear
ed, during the last administration,
loaded with precious stones and fol-
lowed by a hired detective.
Among successful dinner givers
Senator Fair must be awarded the
first place. He lives in a large
house adjoining the Arlington hotel.
The building is superb in all its APP
pointments. The practically I'M
limited wealth of the bachelor Sen
ator enables him to dine everybody
that is worth dining. 1t was i'm
possible of course for Congress, Of
ficers of the army and of the navy
to sit down at his table at one time,
but he has followed the programme
of the Presidents state dinners, and
by inviting them EN- groupe, has
gotten pretty well through the list.
At dinner given by him attended
by the President, Cabinet and their
families, there were sixteen courses
and eight varieties of wine.
President Arthur has not upheld
the banner of tetotalism with very
great enthusiasm, and has incur
red the displeasure of those who la
ment the end of the administration
of Mrs. Hayes. He has been ac-
cused of unseeming debauchery,
and of making the White House
chapel of saturnalia. On the other
hand it is claimed that while not a
total abstainer ne has complete cor
troll of his appetite, and that neither
he nor his companions ever go be-
yond the bounds of decorum. One
of his defenders goes so far as to
say that his cares and his devotion
to the business of his exalted Office
have caused him to lose twenty
pounds in. weight. do not believe
this last story. He is certainly
stronger looking, and has more
color than he had when he presided
over the Senate Il year ago, or
when he appeared at the inaugural
ball at the National Museum,
scarcely noticed among the greater
celebrities there.
| went one day last week to at
tend the lectures of the Academy
of Science now held in one of the
rooms of the National Museum.
Mr.. Cushing was lecturing on the
Mythology of the Zuni Indians,
while half-a-dOZen representatives
of the tribe, in native costume, sat
on the platform behind him fast
asleep. | could not help thinking
of the last time | had been in the
building, lighted and heated to suf-
location, crowded with the wealth
and talent and beauty and wicked
ness of the country. About ten
O'Clock there was a cOmmOtiOn in
the crowd, and rush to the west
ern door through which entered the
pale, care-worn, bOred-lOoking
President with Mrs. Garfield on his
arm.