Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-07-30
have made with entire prcpriety in IL
presence of yirtuous and refined women.

have made with entire propriety in Il
presence of virtuous and refined women.
1 accompanied Grant to the Loudon
county (Va.) fair one day in the fall OF
1874, where be was of course the center OF
attraction, as he always was, wherever he
he went. We were lettering among the
horses in the stalls, and 2-year-old colt
lying down in loose box, attracted his
attention. No groom was near and the
President quietly opened the door and
entered the stall, closing the door behind
him. He laid his hand on the anlmals
name, and as it rose with q snort and
toss of its head he caught it by the nos
tril and spoke to it in a soothing tone.
Just at that moment q colored groom
rushed in in terror, and said the colt was
vicious and that the President, whom he
did not know, must get out or he would
get hurt. Grant did not move but con-
tinued to fondle the colt for some min
utes, rubbing his eyes and examining his
feet with impunity, the negro protesting
all the time that he would be killed.
Grant seemed entirely Indifferent to the
danger, and as we moved away l told the
groom that his visitor was General Grant.
He was all smiles and bows in an instant,
and said, DAT colt know'd you, general,
if didn't, or there would a been trouble.
You's the first stranger that ever went into
dat colts stall widout gittin' hurt."
In 1872 l returned from a visit to the
hostile Sioux in Montana under Sitting
Bull, where had spent three months with
the late Hon. N. J. Turney of Circleville.
We brought with us to Washington some
twenty or thirty of the principal chiefs
that we had induced to leave Sitting Bull.
On an appointed day those chiefs visited
the President at the White-house. In
dians have an exaggerated idea of the
power and greatness of the great father"
as they call the President, and to have
called on him and held his hand in theirs
is mark of distinction that tends to emo
BILE the savage who has been thus favored.
Medicine Bear" was the head chief of
the party, and led the column that fled
into the Presidents room. i walked be-
side the chief to introduce him and those
who were to come after him. Medicine
Bear was gotten up regardless of expense,
his crowning garment being richly orna-
mented buckskin war shirt which he
priced very highly. As we walked slowly
across the room toward the President, /
noticed that Medicine Bear had his hands
and arms thrust up under the breast OF
his shirt, and did not understand it but
watched him closely. Just as l pro-
nounced his name to the President he
lifted his war shirt over his head and
made motion as if he intended to put it
over the Presidents head. The President
started back asking hurriedly what it
meant. Mrs. Grant and the other ladies
present were alarmed. l arrested the
II ~ 4 l.
| him, telling him that the President would
wear it on future accession, but just now
he was in full dress. To the President it
was explained that Medicine Bear in
tended the highest compliment.
| The old chief was far from an imposing
| object as he stood in the group stripped
| of his chief and almost his only garment,
but nothing abashed, he bore himself like
| chief in the presence of chief, and the
| President thanked him for the present,
and directed that he be furnished with q
suitable outfit.
Did General Grant write any of his own
| papers2 Certainly he did, and he wrote
| rapidly, though perhaps not with the
| graceful ease and facility which only comes
| of long practice. l can recall two or three
incidents which will illustrate the truth
| of what say, which came under my own
| observation.
On the last day of each session of Con-
l gress the President with his Cabinet re-
| pairs to the Presidents room at the Cap
| itol, where bills are examined and signed,
thus obviating the delay which would
| arise if they were sent to the White-house
| in the usual way. The session of 1872
| closed, think, June 10. In the evening Of
| that day after dinner, the members of the
| Cabinet had assembled in the President s
| room, with some other gentlemen, sena-
tors and others. All were engaged in
| pleasant conversation, when about z
/ o'clock the President came in and at once
sat down at his table and began to write
| with a pencil, the conversation proceed
| ing without interruption. After he had
been writing about five or ten minutes,
| he tapped on the table and said he wanted
| to read something that he had been writ
| ing. All were silent, while he read his let
| ter raceepting the second nomination. After
reading heasked for criticisms. Secretaries
| Robson and Bristow each ,uggested
| slight verbal alterations, which were made,
and General Logan suggested the trans
/ position of two phrases, which was also
done, the President, however, asking
L IN lOcOS6 manner, w no Is WElLlng
this letter." The pencil copy was handed
| to clerk who copied it and it was signed
| by the President. General Bristow asked
for and obtained the original draft of the
1 letter.
Another document which l know he
wrote himself was his message transmit
ting the report of the civil service COM
mission, of which George William Curtis
was president, to Congress. 1t was writ
ten at his room in the White-house, where
the members of the Cabinet and Mr.. Cur
tis were present, and during the lively
conversation of all who were present ex-
cepting the President. After he had COM
| pleted the message he read it aloud to
those present and asked for criticisms and
suggestions. My recollection is that there
was discussion but that no changes were
made, and it was sent to the private sec
retary's Office to be copied. Mr.. Curtis
asked tor, and presume received, the
| original draft of the message.
have in my possession the original
| draft of a portion of treaty with the Red
| Cloud Sioux which Grant wrote atmy table
in the Interior department, after coun-
| ell with the Indians. Several other doc
uments in his handwriting, in my posses
sion, also show that he wrote readily and
very accurately.
HDAHr IN TIT ADNrX