Little Falls transcript., 1884-07-04
BLAINE AT HOME.
The Young Congressman's Deliberate Ambl
tion- Dinner Table wit ana Domestic Goo

Mr. T. ". Smalley writes from ST Paul to-
the Chicago Tribune his o1lechons Of Mr.
Blaine in the early years Of his public life.
Nh. Smalley says: Il first knew Mr. Blaine
"a the Thirty ninth cong the one which
met in 1865, just after the war closed He
had served Ia the preceding congress, but
had only fairly got hold Of the ways Of legis.
lation. In fact, be had made 10 little
impression that Speaker Colfax put
him we'll down toward the tail Of
the military comn1it ZEE an absurd place Tor
him, because he had always been a civilian.
AL the rest OF the members, except two Dem!
Ocrats, were generals fresh from the field.
Blaine's mouth was closed, for how could he
pretend to any right to be heard on miitarys
matters in the presence of six brigadiers?
OF course, he was uncomfortable. ~ was q
clerk of the committee. Blaine appeared to
take a liking to me because was q neWspa-
per man. remember to have thought that
il ever there was q born journalist it was that
bright young congressman from Maine, who
was complete cyclopedia Of political facts,
and had q tsrse interesting, paragraphy
way Of talking. He told me Id the course Of
confidential chat one day that session,
when the proceedings In the house were dull
and we sat alone IN the committee room by
a blazing wood fire, that he meant TO get
upon the appropriations committee in the
next congress, and in the following congress
he hoped to get q chairmanship Then, he
said, he should look forward to the speaker
ship It all came about as he had planned.
only he became speaker two years soone,
ahan he had hoped would be possible He
was always a man who laid out his line of
life in advance and worked up to it There
was nothing accidental i'll his career.
= At first he lived in Washington in no..
madic sort of way--in hotels or boarding
houses. as do most congressman but when
he was elected speaker he bought house on
Fifteenth street, in the best quarter OF the
town. Opposite lived Hamilton Fish, then
secretary OF state; next door lived Fernando
Wood; Gen. Sher1nan's house was only q few
doors distant; and Gen Butler could be
found just around the corner. Blaine'6 house
was thought q handsome one at that time,
but it was only plain brick structure in a
row, and it cuts no sort of a figure in
these days when big mansions in the
Queen Anne, Elizabethan, Norman, and I
the capital There We're two big parlors on
the first floor, and back of them sitting
room and dining room. and all four rooms
connected by folding doors, SO that the
crowds that used to surge in at the speakers
official receptions We're measurably well ac-
commodated In the belongings Of this, his
first Washington home, Blaine showed a fond
ness for engravings, for substantial furni-
ture, and for books He was much given to
hospitality, and never appeared so
happy as when entertaining a congenial
dinner party at his big round table. For his
dinner table talks he had an inexhaustible
fund of anecdotes and withcisms. never
heard him tell the same story twice. He did
not resemble in the least the hand organ
type Of man who has only one little set of
tunes. Indeed, ] think he might dispute
with Henry Ward Beecher for the honor of
being the most original man in America.
No matter what the topic may be, he is
sure to contribute to the conversation some
thing particularly bright and entertaining.
When not entertaining friends at his own
house he usually dined out. I remember to
have warned him once Of the perls of the
diner-out-hoW many an eminent man had
come to an untime ~ end by eating big din
ners He said he observed a strict rule at
dinner parties-he took soup and roast beet,
but no prepared dishes No dessert a little
ice cream, and no wine save dry cham
paigne By sticking closely to this dietary
programme he could dine out every
day in the week without injuring his
digestion. In those days Blaine was not a
great letter-writer, either with his own hand
or yicariously through that Of his secretary
He did not like Garfield, reply to all the let
ters he received He was great newspaper
reader, and always knew the attitude Of every
really important journal in the country on
the dominant issues ofathe day He knew the
history of these journals, too, and something
of the men who made them, and if there
was any power behind the chairs Of their
editors he was pretty sure to be informed
about it. He was not accessible at all times
and to all the world, as many men who cher
ish great political ambition think it necessary
to be- The impossible black guardian of the
hall door was never quite sure that Mr..
Blaine was in, but he would see IT the yisi-
tor was not welcome he would manage to
make him believe that the speaker had just
gone out few minutes before This colored
person had a fine instinct for discerning the
men whom his master would probably wish
to receive. They We're shown into the front
parlor; others waited in the hall.
: In the Fifteenth street house Blaine lived
Garfield. He had previously begun to build
huge, expensive red brick pile out on the P
street circle, deeming himself comfortably
rich at the time, and thinking the position
OF secretary Of state carried with it duties of
enlarged hospitality. The house was a mis-
about a year: As q private citizen it was
much too large for his needs; be-
fortune melted away in the g1eat shrinkage
in stocks, and he did not feel able to support
the expensive establishment which the house
demanded. He considered himself very
fortunate to be able to lease it for a sum
which amounted to per cent on it's cost.
Then he condensed his household into a
dwelling of moderate capacity, facing on
Lafayette square. From his front windows he
could see the White House through the
trees in the pretty park Not many of his
own belongings came with this house save
his books and few pictures In it he did
most of the work on his Twenty Years of
Congress" living as retired as his friends
would let him, and getting his exercise mainly
from daily morning walk to the capitol,
whittier he Went to cor suit the books IN the
congressional library. 4E# ss5s.. s + s..
+1,.e @;-,,~, hi, ,o.,7 ..,.~
ments of himself and the members Of his
family were considered, was the large. old
fashioned, broad -fronted white house, with
it's green blinds, it's NAPLES, and its grassy
yard, which stands on q quiet, shady street
near the state capitol, in Augusta, Me.
of village life in New England as it ex-
pressed itself in architecture before
the recent mania for colors, angles, bal
comics, and fanciful forms came in It
represents the plainness, solidity and con-
servatism of the last generation. Mr. Blaine
has modified it very little, and not at all at
the expense Of It's sober, old-hme appear
ance. He has added two or three rooms in
the rear-one large library, which is his
work room, and a which during the many
hard fiohts he waged with the
= Is Scrags Y en when he was chairman OF
to be rendezvous for his 1ieuten- ten
ants from all parts Of the state In
the course Of two Maine campaigns / saw 4
good deal OF Mr. Blaine He was the busiest
man in the state, hurrying from county to
county to address mass meetings. writing
telegrams on the TRAINS getting 4 l,ocketfuI
OF dispatches at every town, die.aSing letters
at night to his secretary, yet always cheerful
and companionabl ble, and with good Joke or
ianecdote ready to enliven every occasion.
He knew the whole state as well as his own
dooryard, and was acquainted with
the leading men in every town. He brought
the canvass down to the school districts The
hurrah work of processio ons banners and big
meetings he estimated at it's proper value
but he never. depended on it to produce re.
suits The real business Of q campaign was
to perfect local organizations, ascertain who
were the doubtful voters and hrino, a,re11I..