McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-04-24
NOTED WASHINGTON PEOPLE.
Glimpse Of Col. Bob Ingersoll, Judge
Merffck and the President,s Sisters
-Hrs. McElroy's wonderful Tact
The Home Of Beautiful
Kate Chase sprague.

-
Eyes, want me to introduce youp"
''Of COURSE
The postulant is taken up to ''the
genial colonel" as the correspondents
describe him. The genial colonel,
hopping red and shining face, has
the new arrival presented to him. The
new arrival murmurs something about
the colonel's far-reaching fame, at
which the colonel's eyes glisten and
his mouth comes open as if it were on
hinges; for this great agnostic, az he
loves to be called, is vainer than forty
peacocks. The world in general APP
pears to have missed the ridiculous
side of Bob Ingersoll. He is amusing
when he means to be, and twice as
much so when he doesn't mean to be.
Thackeray died too soop; he ought to
have got hold of Bob. There is a fla
vor of Capt. Costigan about him which
Thackeray would have described with
an unmistakable raciness. Everybody
who comes to Washington wants to see
Col. Ingersoll, and they are easily
gratifed, as he Is everywhere eto
wunst," as Senator Logan would say.
popularity. His house is open to all
corners, and everybody goes to his re-
ceptions-once. He even has circle
of devotees, chiefly beardless young men
and women with youthful bonnets and
lined and haggard faces. The successor
OF Anarcharsis Cloots is not personally
imposing; in fact, he looks like we'll
to-do butcher dressed up in his Sunday
clothes. His clean shaver face set on
big bull neck, beams with coarse
good humor. The colonel is very good
natured he makes great piles of money
perhaps with less bodily and mental
effort than any man in this country,
That is conducive to amiability. He
keeps fine house, and has following
imposing in number if not in quality.
The colonel's strong point is philan-
tbropy. He boasts of three extraordi-
nary children He says they have
never disobeyed him, have never told
q falsehood and have never had q re-
quest refused them. 1t is scarcely nee
essary to say that this example is SIM
ply unparalleled. Col. Ingersoll'swork
is his play. He loves to hear himself
talk, and he talks with kind of femi-
nine volubility. The words roll off his
tongue, and are generally Alternative;
if ALTERATION were out of the question,
the great weapon of Col. Ingersoll's
eloquence would be destroyed. He is
always ready to talk, either in public
or private, and the lecture platform is
to him what an arm chair at a tavern
was 10 DR.. Samuel Johnson-he is
king upon his throne.
The colonel processes to be great
admirer of Shakespeare, and in his
drawing room, on bookstand,- is a
splendid edition of Shakespeare, in
scribed "The only inspired book"
There are many portions of Shakes
peare which must read to IngersolT as
though they were written by bowling
idiot. He, however, kindly excuses
the bard. As a lawyer, it is said, and
is probably true, that he makes hand
some income. 1t is put down at $780,
600. 1t is no doubt $4,000. The col
onel, although pretty nearly as wide as
a church door, is nevertheless not so
deep as well in any particular. 1t
has been suspected that he is not so
profound a lawyer as Matthew Hale or
Lord Thurlow, to say nothing of Chief
Justice fancy, although in point of
philosophical research he has far out
stripped them all. 1t is an egregious
mistake to imagine that the colonel's
philosophy makes big sound because
it is empty. Just go to him and ask
him if he is as empty as wind-bag.
In the intervals of practicing law,
monetary enterprises, political cam
paigns, Occurring and book writing,
social and family duties, he has been
able to bring all the powers of q phil
osophical mind to bear upon problems
which he has settled de6nitively. The
colonel leans to the sublime. In his
flights of oratory one is tempted to say
ssShool" to the soaring bird. All,
Robertl never will we believe that
Judge Merrick kicked all the bottom
out of your law in thel star route
cases! Cause why? Well, don't you
ask.
Judge Merrick is the one lawyer who
passed unscathed through the fiery fur
mace in the star route cases. He is a
tall, handsome, white-haired man, very
erect, very stern-leoking-and rather
cross, it must be admitted, in regard to
the celebrated case. He is a strict
Catholic, and goes regularly to St.
Matthews church, the church frequent
ed by the diplomatic corps. Some of
the witnesses before Mr.. Springer's
committee said that Judge Merrick had
been selected by the government be-
cause they wanted to have the moral
support of his character. At this Judge
Merrick's eountenance grew very, very
black. He does not like to have his
character to be traded upon, not even
by the United States government.
For two years nearly Edgewood, the
home of Mrs. Kate Chase, as she now
calls herself, has been deserted. ''Mrs.
Kitty her friends call her. She was
back for few days in the early part of
the winter, but she seems finally to
have broken off all associations with
Washington. Three years ago she fire.