Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-01-05
BIG AND LITTLE CASINO.

the talleSt branch OF the old oak
tree.
BIG AND LITTLE CASINO.
A special from " ashington saws:
For some days the denizens of q
fashionable uptown hotel have been
discussing with bated breath the de-
tails OF scandal way up in society.
AT first the matter was iealously
guarded, but of late its unsavory
odor has begun to percolate through
the veil of secrecy that surrounds it,
and your correspondent feels no fur,
ther hesitancy IN making it public.
The dramatis persOn9 are a high
Treasury official famous for his gal
lantries, dashing young widow, and
a clerk in the State Department.
Mrs. B., the lady in question, made
her debut in Washington last Spring.
Without quoting the extravagant
language of her admirers, it is safe
to say she is very handsome, a trifle
under 80 years of age, with a form
exquisitely moulded. She was a
woman to be envied by her sex and
adored by men. Her face is not
strictly beautiful, judged by high
standard of beauty, but all the more
dangerous because of its wonderful
fascination, together with that tangi-
BILE quality known as personal mag
netism. A Bostonian by birth and
education, thorough woman of the
world in all that constitutes tact,
adroitness, and knowledge OF hu-
man nature, she speedily became q
favOrite in that select circle to which
her talents and letters of introduce
ton admitted her.
Among the gentlemen who Huttered
about her was the official spoken of
above, and who, for convenience sake,
will be designated as MIR. G. Many
and frequent were the curtain lee
lures which G. received from his
wife, inspired by his attentions to the
fair widow, but the effect seemed lost
upon him. Day by day he grew
more fascinated, until at last the old
dowagers voted it was scandalous
and poured forth their sympathy,
we'll mixed with innuendo, into the
ear OF his angry spouse. What ex-
asperated them the more was the
widows discreet behavior. Like
Caesars wife, she was outwardly
above reproach and the breath Of
scandal could find no lodgment on
the polished front she showed to the
world. Still, there was an indefinable
something about her that made the
wiseacres suspect that all was not
right. Her means were not ample,
she would say, with charming
naivette, but nevertheless sufficient
to support her genteelly. I have
said the gentlemen paid court to her
charms. There was one exception,
the State Department young man.
Instead of following her about, hap
py to be rewarded with q smile, his
manners were cold and distant.
People marveled at this more when it
was discovered that the widow en-
tertained real penchant for the
handsome clerk, but his department
was always the same-studiously
polite.
One night last week when the house
was wrapped in slumber and each
yirtuous matron sleeping the sleep of
the just, a succession of screams
broke the stiffness. The sound pro-
ceeded from the direction of the
widows apartments: soon q number
OF white-sheeted figures, issuing
from the different rooms, huddled
together in the halls and corridors.
At last one more bold than the rest
turned the lock of the widows door.
1t was curious spectacle that pre-.
sented itself. Prone upon the floor
lay the official and the clerk. The
latter was on top, pounding his su
perior with all the weight of his
vigorous fists. The widow, attired
only in the most abbreviated Of gar
ments, vainly essayed to part them.
1t seems G. had long suspected
what had been a revelation to others
in 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 his pill
O"Ss PAOy W euc 3 SAOOulcot tAOu&uCS.
The demon jealousy had seized upon
him, and he could not shake it off
until his doubts were removed. He
stole cautiously along until the Wild
ow's room was reached. The door
yielded to his touch. The gas
burned dimly, but there was sufi-
cient to prove his suspicious. Mad
dened with rage, he confronted them
with his presence. The lady burst
into tears and begged forgiveness.
Not SO with the clerk. He struck G..
full in the face. The two men clinched,
and then followed a struggle, during
which chairs were overturned and
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 spec
tators, and now a suit for divorce is
ON the tapis, a whilom society belle
has fed the town, and a Government