The Washington critic., 1886-09-10
WASHINGTON CRITIC
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 10, 1886
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The C0urtor.JOuTRdt, and then MIR.
Bayard will take his vacation. The
latter is at present the only Cabinet of
1lcer in the city. Secretary Lamar has
gone off somewhere, and the Postmas-
ter.General is still absent. AS for Soc-
rotary Endicott and Secretary Whitney,
they are absent from their places of
business so much that their present
prolonged absence occasions no remark.
1T is said to be fact that the present
Cabinet officers have talSen more leaves
of absence than those Of any previous
Administration. The Secretary of War
docs not spend one'third of his time at
his office, and the Secretary of the
New York city and Washington. At.
that he is in good health and enjoying
himself at "Hominy IIill," Ark, safe
from the sharp criticisms and harsh
attacks of a vcnal press. The first
eighteen months of the present Admin
istration has developed the fact that
the best, clearest- headed and most sue
cessful Cabinet officer selected by the
President is Secretary Lamar. He has
done more good substantial work for
the country than any Of his associates.
This Is little singular, as 1t will be re.
membered that when he was appointed
1t was generally predicted that he
would prove a complete failure as Sec
retary of the Interior. 1t was said that
he was only a dreamer devoted to
books and flowers, aud that he was as
untitled as child to do the tedious de-
tail work of the Interior office. Quite
contrary to those predictions, Secretary
Lamar has TO the surprise and pleasure
OF his friends completely mastered the
big and little matters of his great and
expansive bureau and is justly regard
ed to-day as the master mind in the
Government at Washington.
~.
Says the Washington correspon lent
Of the Boston Trdrellor: The telegraph
operators of this city are to man the
champion of one of their lady asso.
tiates. They call her "Our Alice" 1"
and she has more influence over them
as body, than even the association to
which they all belong. "Our Alice"
is very pretty, petite girl, with brown
hair and dancing blue eyes. She is a
splendid operator, and asks no favors
of any one in the transaction of her
business. When the signal came from
headquarters that general strike was
to be inauguratcd all over the country,
"Our Alice was the first to leave her
instrument, put on her little hat and
march out into the street. She stood
by the boys to the last, and they will
do the same by her.
w.
Says Mr.. Carpenter of the Cleveland
Leader in u late letter from Dublin: 1t
is no wonder that the Irish are friendly
to Americans. The United States as
ever been Ireland's best friend, and
now supports many an Irish family in
Ireland. The rent of many of the farms
is paid by those members of the family
who have gone to America or Australia
to earn enough to keep their families
out of the workhouse. / am told OF
numerous instances where fathers have
gone to America to support their fam
lilies here, and 1t Is not uncommon for
one member Of family to emigrate and
send back enough to bring over the
others. Within the past forty. six years
nearly 500, 900, 900 have been sent into
Ireland by the friends and relatives OF
the Irish in North America, and the
sums sent increased greatly since 1880
In that year they amounted to over
SIOOO,O00 in. 1881 they amounted to
$1,000, 900, and in 1884, the last year
for which l have the figures, America
sent to the Irish poor, In round mum.
Iers, S7,S0O,000.
The same correspondent recently
visited the -Four Courts Of Dublin, OF
which he says These are among the
most famous law courts of the world
and in them O'Connell, Grattan, and
the o her noted Irish lawyers of the
past have practiced. They are the
courts of Chancery, Queens Bench
Excheauer and Common Pleas, and
the grand stone buildings in which
they are held cost, when they wert
completed in 1900, about $1,000 900
The buildings form massive tier oI
stories around hollow circle of sixty
four feet in diameter, over which is {
dome. The barristers or advocates
and jury lawyers all must wear gray
wigs and black gowns, and l saw hall
dozen of these In their togas talking
to clients when ] entered. They were
whispering and protesting, laughing
and chatting, and in some cases were
reading papers of legal size to theil
clients. l went into the Court OF
Chancery, long, narrow room, with {
ceiling about four times as high as the
lcr 9Th of the room, and with seats thai
rose backwards from the judges bench
and the lawyers toward the ceiling
Away. up. perhaps fifteen feet from
the floor was Il round box like
pulpit with red curtains about 1t, il
which the cricr of the court sat. The
lawyers, the barristers in gowns ant
wigs, and the solicitors in busines
clothes, sat below the judge in II llttl'
pew formed in the shape of an elipst
about table of the same shape, Tn,
judge was raised about six feet abov,
these under canopy Of red curtain
and behind a long bench lie was claC
in white wig and black gown, will
two little flaps of white linen fallin!
down from his Adams apple nt hi
neck upon his chest I Ii 'se flaps wer
fastened by n string tied aroun hi
neck, and he looked, on the whole,
very digniiied character. He was
noted man, too, and was the hcld o
the bar of Ireland. 1t was the ney
Lord Chancellor who has just bee
appointed with this new ministry. Iii
name Is Lord Ashbourne, and h
has place in Ireland somewhat CORE
spending to that of Chief Jus
tice Waite in the United States. ii
gets nearly three times Wate's salary
of about $50, 900 year, met in thi
court an Irish bnrrister, the Hon. 5. L
Richardson, of Dublin, and we wen
together over the courts, and after