St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-06
MRS. BLAINE.
A Statesnaar,s Wife Who Is Nosat all Pop
,fIOr 1c;fH WOueu.

| Il !Statesnaa,a,s Wife Who Is NOeat all Pop
ttlar scifIt Wonten.
| Washington Letter to st. Louis Globe Democrat.
A new congressman's wife-and they hear
more gossip in their first year than in all the
rest of the time they stay here-was telling
me of the discussions she had heard during a
week of afternoon calls. At every other
place Mrs. Blaine was the topic Of talk, and
except for the sectional and lukewarm de-
lenses by the New England people, there
were no champions for the cause of Mrs.
Blaine. The majority decided that they
never wanted to see her in the White House
and would prevent it if they could. The
most Of these women are really afraid of Mrs.
Blaine, that she has frigidity of demeanor
that i'm presses some men with nervous de-
sire to get away from her. While her hus-
band occupied public positions here and her
house was open to callers on the customary
afternoon of each week, many who went
there to pay their respects owned up to
regular stage fright as they entered the parlor
They all stood in awe OF Miss Dodge Gail
! Hamilton) who is cousin of Mrs. Bla1ne's
and spends the winters with her, and when
they learned that Miss Dodge had small opin-
| Ion OF inc average WOLudu . uiluu' iCdcOhi1S
and conversational powers, they felt more
uncomfortably still. Mrs Blaine is magnif-
icient looking woman; tall and of ma
jestic carriage, with prominent aquiline
nose, strong features and crown of gray hair.
She is an ideal duchess of the old regime
when arrayed in evening dress, with her dia
monds sparkling about; and once this winter
when she wore black lace dress, relieved
with knots of orange velvet ribbons, and the
low ball corsagc revealing.her plump Shout
ders and arms, she was picture to be re-
membered. Her sons are fine looking men,
but neither of her daughters equal their
mother in appearance. All six of her child
rem have the strongly-markedfe features of both
father and mother, and their eyes and noses
would decide their parentage anywhere with
out further knowledge. Going through the
city market one morning with sightseeing
friend, we spied Mrs. Blaine at butchers
stall buying mutton chops. All the swell
housekeepers here go to market in person,
and from the time that Daniel Webster used
to stroll off to Market at o'clock in the
morning, with his servants and baskets,
there has never been question as to its be-
ing the most natural. People who come here
from some other cities think it wonderfully
strange TO meet in the market the same wo
men who astonished them with the lustre of
their high position and the richness of their
dressing at reception the night before.
When my western friend, therefore, became
convinced that the matron standing so near
us in the market was really Mrs. Blaine and
the wife of a possible president, she watched
her intently for few moments. Everything
about Mrs Blaine is strongly individual and
characteristic, and she has the same majestic
austere manner in the market house as in the
parlor. She stood with stately and uncon-
scous pose before the man of chops and cuts
and her calm, direct gaze, and the way in
which she dropped the change into her purse
and snapped it shut, was as characteristic as
any studied move in the drawing room.
When she had walked away my friend drew
long breath and said: "Well, I'd like to see
the butcher, the politician, the man, woman
or child who would try to cheat or deceive
her. She could freeze me solid with one
such look.'