The Washington critic., 1886-10-22
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

nlgnt, says inc Inlluuelpnla ILHtoS,
Mr.. Blaine found book in the library
treating Of the history of early Penn
sylvania families. In IL he discovered
a remote kinship between his mothers
ancestors and the family of McCor-
micks from which came Senator Cam.
eron's first wife, and traced IL back to
the connecting link. When he retired
to his room for the night. Senator
Cameron, missing the book from the
table and suspectlng that his guest was
losing sleep, followed him to his room
and caught him sitting on the bed with
his overcoat on and the book open in
his hand. Senator Cameron took the
book from him and said he felt tempted
to do as his mother used to do with
him under similar circumstances
blow out the light.
~
When Gen. George Sheridan Is in the
city, says the New York Star, he lives
at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. He is
possessed of very fine appetite.
Colonel William II. Nave, the st.
Louis millionaire, sits at the same
table with the General. Another gen.
tleman who sits at that table remarked
to Colonel Nave that he would bet the
champagne that General Sheridan
could eat more than any man in the city.
Colonel Nave took the wager aud said
he would have gentleman to dinner
with him the next evening who could
discount the General. The gentleman
whom Colonel Nave produced was the
distinguished Texan, Colonel Tom
Ochiltree. 1t was in the meantime
agreed between Colonel Nave and his
friend that Colonel Ochiltree and Gen
cral Sheridan were not to
know that they were pitted
against each other In courtesy
Colonel Ochitrce permitted Colonel
Nave to order for him, and that gentle.
man ordered precisely what General
Sheridan had ordered. The soup,
fish and entrees were devourcd without
incident. The next course was got
over with more difficulty. Both gen.
tlemen ate all their meats, but Colonel
Ochiltree left one of his sweet potatoes.
Then game was ordered, but the Gen.
eral ate only about half of his. This
cvcned up Colonel Ochltrecs omission
of sweet potato. Roman punch was
then ordered, and the General ate this
with relish. Next came plumb pud.
ding and pie, which was eaten leaving
the two rivals neck and neck, and the
tie seemed inevitable. But on the nuts
General Sheridan came out winner.
He ate ten and Colonel Ochiltrce ate
only seven,
~"#
Wien Senator Palmer undertook to
reduce his flesh, 50 relates q JVorld
correspondent, he sent for a boxing
master, whose first call was made one
morning at o'clock. lie was not able
to get into the Senator's bedroom until
about 0. The Senator rolled out of his
Eed, and for about fifteen minutes the
two spared in the most scientific
fashion. The Senator was then rubbed
down, given massage treatment and
expressed himself as highly delighted.
five minutes. The following day the
trainer found him propped up in bed.
The Senator then called for some
hSuVl lOiiil VI SgllnuSllCS. nav
morning was spent in exercising
the Senator by pulling his arms aud
legs while he lay in bed. This
cal training. Whenever the
trainer called after that the Senator
would simply poke cigar at him and
take q more comfortable position in
bed as he asked him to talk about eXer-
"a, TVn hn % 4, 4;
talk ON the subject, and If he would
come up every morning and give him
few practical hints while he lay there
and smoked he thought II might do
him some good. But the trainer drew
the line at the morning lecture and
stopped worrying the Senator.
~
Among the Americans who did
valiant service in Maximilian's army,
after our war was over, as we find it
recorded in the Atlanta Constitution,
was one Captain La Rue, who had
been in Sherman's army and picked up
wild mountain girl in Georgia for a
wife. This rude, unlettered being hal
much native smartness, however, and
when La Rue was killed, along with
Prince Salm. Salm. Mrs. La Rue ac-
companied the Princes widow to
Europe. There she studied French
and Spanish, and as she possessed a
captivating style OF beauty and made
the most Of 1t, she made many con
quests and entered upon career of So
cial adventure. 1t was some time in
1870 that a certain claim became the
talk of hotel circles in Washington.
The claimant, a charming woman
swore that she was unionist, and that
Sherman's raiders had destroyed some.
thing over hundred thousand dollars
worth of her property in north Georgia,
She was backed up by few decayed
Federal veterans who advocated heT
cause. She had quite an array of re-
ceipts and atlidavits, but the case
looked doubtful from the first. Finally
there was startling expose, 1t was
shown that she was almost a pauper had
never lost any property, and had
eloped from her native town during the
war with cavalry officer named la
Rue. The adventures left Washing
ton after this exposure, but in a few
years she was back there again in the
role of n lobbyist Her costumes were
gorgeous, her equipage resplendcnt
and her little wine suppers were voted
delightfully."- dangerous. In the long
run, however, the lobbying business
failed. Men were afraid TO have deal
ings with the La Rue woman, and she
disappeared. Such career always
tends downward. A few years ago
Mrs, La Rue married rich old man
He died in a short time, aud she
lost his fortune in Wall street.
Then the greedy, grasping ad'