Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-02
WASHINGTON CHURCHES.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS CON
CERNING ST. PATRICK'S.
"A Choir of Negroes and an Incident of
the War of 1S1e-LOgan's Bad Bargain
With Blaine, and How the Former is
Bitterly Rueing 1t.

the w ar OF lSlS-LORan's bau bargain
With Blaine, and How the Former is
Bitterly Rueing 1t.
Correspondence OF the Morning Meas.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31.-The Roman
| Catholic Church now has two very hand
some church edifees in Washington. One,
st. Dominick's, in South Washington, has
hecn standing several years. The other,
st. Patrick's, has just been completed.
Both are built on the same general plan
in the high Gothic style of graystOne.
! They are very handsome structures.
Neither of them is the fashionable Roman
church, though. This is st. Matthew's,
an old church which ought to be replaced,
| standing on the corner of Sixteenth and
81 streets, diagonally across from Worm
Iey's. This is the church which most of
the members of the Diplomatic Corps at
tend. 1t was Mrs. Gen. Sherman's church,
is Gen. Sheridan sand is attended by many
other prominent people. 1t is quite
| fashionable, too, to attend afternoon or
! yesper service at St. Augustine's, the i'm
] posing church of cOlOred Roman CathO-
| lies farther up on Fifteenth street, and
still in the fashionable quarter. The
music at st. Augustine, where there is a
|
| is said to be the best church music in the
| city. The present Miss Blaine. who is a
Roman Catholic, takes her father there
when they are i'll town. This, of course.
| does not prevent Blame from using a
| rarely-cOvered old altar and a sideboard
III his dlDing-rCOm. l wanted to say
| something about st. Patrick's, the Oldest
| congregation in the city. In 1874 Father
/ Mccartney, who had charge of the little
/ band OF Catholics then living here, bought
| some lots from the United States on the
| corner of Tenth and f streets. and by per-
| seVerlng efforts succeeded in putting up a
little chapel on one of them. That was
! the first st. Patrick's Church. In 1904
Father William Matthews, President of
Georgetown College, succeeded Father
McCafrey, remaining as pastor until
his death, nearly 30 years atterward.
Although educated abroad. he was the
first native American priest ordained in
this country. He was never absent during
his long service but once, and then only
for week, when he was fulfilling a
church mission in Philadelphia. His sue |
cessor was Father O'ToOle, and his was
Father Walter, the present incumbent, /
who became pastor April IA, 1860. Father |
Matthews had no assistant for 20 years |
after his appointment. He OBLIGATED |
right through the war of 1912, remaining |
at his post even when everybody else ran |
entered Washington. The good father
was saying mass that day,
when he observed some British soldiers |
entering the church. They remained |
through the service, and then followed the |
brave priest into his house. While he was
awaiting arrest and possible indignities
at their hands with the calm fOrtitude
of man Of God, one Of them timidly ap-
preached him and said that he and his
comrades were of the Catholic faith and
had come for confession. The good
father, greatly relieved, led the way to the
confessional, where, ardent patriot as he
was, he heard the confession of the
enemies of his country and granted them
full absolption. From 1922 Father
Matthews had assistants. One of them
at least was famous. This was Father
Dubuisson, under whom some miracul-
lOus cures were effected. The
most celebrated was in the
case OF Mrs. Mattingly, who
IN 1873 was diving from consumption. Her
physician said she could live but a few
days. At Father DubuissOn's suggestion
nOYena was made. At the close of the
novena, in which many friends united
with Mrs. Mattingly, mass was cele-
brated at , O'Clock in the morning. Here,
Father Dubuisson, taking the host lust
consecrated, administered the communion
to the dying woman. From that moment
she grew better and lived for 80 years af-
forwards, dying on the anniversary of her
cure. Sister Abpolonia of the George
town convent, who was cured of con-
sumption about the same time by the same
means, is still living and well.s When
Father Walter, a little man with a
big head and big heart,
came to the pastorate in 1860, the little
church and pastoral residence were
so dilapidated that he resolved to replace
them as speedily as possible. He has
been working with indefatigable zeal ever
since, and the result is an edifce of which !
he and his congregation are justly proud. !
He might have reached this result years
ago if he Lad been willing to erect a debt 7
at the same time that he erected his
church. But this he was unwilling to do. !
A debt, he said, would put him in his
grave. When he had money he built
when he had none he stopped. So, al 4
though the cornerstone was laid in 1870, II
the church was not finished until 1894.
Meanwhile Father Walter has built g +
pastoral residence, a large hall known as {
Carroll Hall, in which the congregation
has wOrshipped since 1870, and has leased /
all the land on which the old church ;
stood for 50 years. 1t is already covered :
with a valuable business block, which s
will, Of course, revert to this church at r
the expiration of the lease. l confess to >
a great admiration for the plucky little :
priest with his high ideas and his brave '
achievements.
I DON'T WONDER THAT LOGAN IS SORE. ]
From his point of view he has been treated
shamefully. Last winter when Mr.. {
Blaine was writing history Of partial
sort with his right hand and waving pO- [
litical visitors off with the left he s
called one day Sbetween chapters I
on Mrs. and Gen. Logan. His
object in calling was to conclude treaty
with the LOgans, which ought to be as |
famous as any in political history. Under
the terms of that treaty each was to do {
all he could to get delegates in his own |
interest to Chicago, but neither was to |
antagonize the other. Then at Chicago l
he who should seem most likely of cleo
ton should receive the full strength of
the other. Well now, of course the Truth !
full James knew by that time that he
would have more delegates at Chicago +
than any other one man, and that they I
would be political workers of the sort to
be depended upon. On the other hand, !
the 'brutally candid'' Logan, who
hated Blaine quite as fervently as
Blaine despised him, blinded by
his own intense desire for the {
which developed his egotism ,
as it had never been developed before, and {
that is saying a great deal, laid the fiat
tering JUNCTION to his soul that he would
have more delegates at Chicago than any 7
other one man, and so would be the final
beneficiary of the little agreement just 7
concluded. Mrs. Logan was sensible !
enough to see that her thick-headed hus- {
band would not get the Presidential nomi-
nation, but she hoped that under an I'M /
supplementary to the agree
ment with Blaine that the latter might s
secure "JOhn'' the Vice Presidential I
"JOhn" held his peculiar !
belief that he would be nominated up to
the afternoon of the day on which Blaine
was nominated. His friends in Chicago |
bad telegraphed him the day before that I
Blaine would probably be nominated, and \
had urged him to authorize them TO trans
fer his strength to Blaine, but Logan had |
refused. Mrs. Logan had been laboring |
with him all the day. At last, in the !
he allowed her to telegraph his {
to throw his strength for
Blaine, and so saved his Vice Presiden-
tial bacon. But he was very angry, a
very sore man. His disappointment was,
in the words of his ally, "burning, bitter
and humiliating." He fumed and fused ,
all afternoon, he fused and fumed all
evening. His nomination to the Vice
Presidency did not papifv him aItbough