Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1885-04-02
HERE ANb THEME

q
stopped for few moments in Manheim |
the other day with Henry Arndt whose |
store occupies the rebuilt Stiogel mansion,
which In its day was tho baronial residencs |
nous percentages in Lancaster county his
tory. Tho old tapestries that hung on the |
psrlor walls are In possession Of the Penn
sylvania Historical society. OF the tiles that
decorated the four Fireplace mantsls a the
old house some were broken ta1N1 in
d.smantling II, and most or thsm wero 6Eyon 4
away rs souvenirs 70 relic hunters and cpl- |
lectors of curiositiea From the small Store
which he preserved, Mr.. Arndt generously
gave me one with chocolate-colored draw
ing, illustrative Of the text Gen. xiv,-10
"And MelchisRaek, king OF Salem, brought
forth bread and wine and be was the priest
Of the most high God" The art may not b
Of the highest class but for all anybody can
show contrari-wise the portraits of Mslchizi-
dek and Abram are true 70 life. These old
tiles from the Mannheim mansion are fitly
priced by those who get them, not only ior
their historical association with Stiegel and
his famous house, but because since I706 no
more such tiles as these have been made at
Delft.
Rev. DIR. Dubbs*, one Of the most accurate
and certainly one Of the most industrious Of
our local antiquarians, has hunted up some
Of the Stiegel stories very closely. He thinks
| that Stiegel was no nobleman at all Certainly
| he never subscribed his name a. such, nor
| with seal The nearest baronial name TO
| Sticgel in the records Of Mannheim, Germany,
1 b Stengel. He brought with him TO this
| country "good recommendations and great
| deal OF money! the latter was not wasted in
| Improbable speculations, as Is commonly
| supposed; and even In the days of
his financial failure ne pleaded earn
estly that II his creditors would grant
him an extension he could pay his debts,
dollar for dollar, and save much of his estate.
He named the Elizabeth furnace after his
wife and laid out Mannheim upon the plan Of
his native city. His glass work were 80
| extensive and successful that at one time
they yielded him an annual income of R5, 900.
In those prosperous days he could afford his
coach and four, or even eight, and TO be
regaled with music i'm the twilight hours
not, in all probability by great hired band,
but by such of his skilled workmen who
thus indulged their own taste while they
entertained him. Even the firing Of the
cannon with which his visits to his furnace
so much an act Of pomposity as Of utility.
For thus it was that the wood choppers and
charcoal burners scattered over the hills
were summoned TO the Office ON pay day. II
was at Schaefferstown that he made his ten
plate stoves, but If they bore the familial
inscription
..Baron st.egel list der Mann
Wer die Ofen giessen kann,"
DIR. Dubbs has never seen any such. II
there anybody who can verify this story?
Where and how Stiegel died the historian,
disagree most delightfully."-. Despite his earn
est protestations TO his counsel, Jasper Yeates
his creditors would not give him the exten
sion he sought; and after his bankruptcy hi
, history is involved in doubt One repor
[ | says that he turned schoolmaster anothe
that he died In Indulgence and was buried b,
the iron masters who succeeded TO the own
ership Of Elizabeth; another account make
D him die pauper IN the Dauphin county poo
I ! house and later and yet more apocrypha
story is told of his receiving letter froI
Philadelphia enclosing $500, just in time
Q prevent him from committing suicide 9
Womelsdorf, after which he left the neigh
borhood and was never more heard Of by IL
people; DIR. Dubbs inclines 10 the belief tina
s he died at Charming forge,
Ill-luck brooded over the denizens Of tn
Stiegel mansion, When its builder was ca,
into Jail in Lancaster for debt he had to hav
: Especial act Of legislature passed TO liberat
: him Robert Morris, the great financier {
a the Revolution, who subsequently cam
+ into ownership Of the Stiegel house, an
n whose family dwelt there for a season, cut
n wider business swath than Stiegel failed
: his transactions was jailed for debt and die
9 in poverty. When his family had needed
:. place of refuge during the British occupanc
i OF Philadelphia Mrs. Morris turned TO I'll
Stiegel house-then up for sale-which st
knew, because, as an acquaintance of I'll
n Stedmans, partners of SHegel in the MAJ
\ hal IN had Tnn gi
u weeks there, and was "perfectly well a,
y quainted with the goodness of the hous
> | and situation"
', j have recently been shown a manuscriI
q copy of some most remarkable correspon,
ence, which, fortunately for the fame OF a
j. concerned and the comfort of their posterit
N has never seen print 1t would hardly
70 deemed possible, had its authenticity not bee
established i'm a court of justice that such
G document ever could have been written to
y woman--and a kinswoman at that-by OF
of the most brilliant orators and most blair
Al lights of Congress years ago-repr
n sentative, senator and diplomat Al
!, the woman not only Of his ow
- blood, but the wife of another emine
- American orator, senator, foreign ambass
v stitution. The cruelty that could have i
!, dited the epistle was rendered fiendish
N the author first submitting 1t to the husbaI
10 OF the one to whom it was addressed, 80 th
,t the poisoned shaft should pierce two victim
~ She was arraigned in the letter for the mo
+, shameless offenses in her girlhood, culn
il mating in infanticide. The pity and h
~ wonder Of it we're that there was basis
10 truth TO the accusation but the woman wi
got the letter answered it with one as crus
ing in its scorn and which outmatcht
to the other in invective. As she h,
sstold the truth" to her husband,
IA made no difference In their relation
but the sting of her rhetorical La
was long felt by her craven cousin; al
he when their honored posterity shall all ha,
a. passed away, and this memorable page
A. social and political scandal in the record
the first families Of the country is brought
es light the unmanly mischief maker will 4
ed the hated OF men and his intended victi
to will get the slow pity Of even her own sex.
" The advice given" BY Mr. Phelps-nc
40 minister to England-in his satirical letter
rd a new congressman, to always vote to a
" journ and TO vote steadily against all 9th
ks propositions whatsoever, as there is alwa
be enough legislation on hand for the next a
a; hundred years-recalls the story which tn
SO | sterling Democrat and honest man, the Ia
ia venerable Abraham Peters, of Millersvil
used to tell of his interview with ex-Pre
mt Ia.