The Washington critic., 1886-06-29
WASHINGTON CRITIC
TOPICS OF THE DAY.


with as much livcliness as he exhibits
at Presidential reception. His
abounding humor is ELECTED by the
slightest occasion. The other after
noon he was riding in herdic down
from the Capitol in company with four
or five other Senators. A newsboy
jumped on the vehicle and offered the
afternoon papers. Senator Vance, with
merry twinkle of his eye when the
papers were handed to him, said: "No,
sonny, cant read" The boy looked
at him hard and offered his papers to
the other Senators. Just ~ he was
ready to step out of the herdic he shook
his finger at Senator Vance aud said:
mTbe devil will get you for lying yet,
There was general laugh, In which
the North Carolina Senator heartily
Joined. lie called the boy back and
reached in his pocket for his change,
but the little rascal had darted away to
find fresh victim
~.
Says the Washington correspondent
of the Philadelphia Rocord; General
Henry W. ITiliard of Georgia, lately
our Minister to Brazil, walked up the
White House steps the other day with
head as erect and step us firm as though
he were fifty instead of seventy.
IIilliard, who was our Minister to Bel
GUM before he was thirty, came to
Congress as n young and ardent
Georgia Whig about the time that
Robert q. Winthrop came to Congress
as II young and ardent Massachusetts,
Whig. The two became great friends.
and have so remained ever since; but
winthrop has grown almost decrepit,
while Ililliard seems ms fresh "a ever.
Hilliard is very tall and very straight.
His hair and his.heavy moustache are
white, but his brown eyes are as bright
and as sparkling as ever. He delighted
the President with his old fashioned
wit and courtesy. AS Wing Republi
can he is not, of course, thinking of
political prefernent under this Admin.
istration He is here on his way back
from New York, where he has been
making arrangements to publish his
"reminiscences of two continents during
the past half century.
Nv
Anent the coming of Mrs. Kate Chas,
to the National Capital again, "Syd.
ney" thus writes in the Chicago Ne,rs:
"Washington must be graveyard t.,
her-her father dead and forgotten, a,
dead men are; her husband sunk 10
nothingness, and not even her husband
any longer; Roscoe Conkling retirel to
private life; Edgewood and the Sprague
mansion, as it was grandly called,
given over to tavern-keepers. How
strange, how unreal, must all this seem
to her AS for herself, she has no
longer the peachy beauty of her youth,
but as long as she lives she will have
that splendid air before which beauty
pales. For Mistress Kitty has not
lowered her front one inch. She keeps
quiet and avoids notice, but she Is the
same Kate Chase. after all. She is the
ghostliest of all the ghostly visitors
Washington has had this long time.
But perhaps she set the exam
pie of quick forgetfulness her
SELF When her father died,
poor man, although he had filled
such high places, he did not own a
burial lot, and Washington banker
and ex-governor Of the District, Henry
ID. Cooke, offered resting place for
the great jurist in the Cooke burial
plat in Oak Hill Cemetery. There was
the chief justice buried, with no stone
to mark the grave and no care taken
of the mound except what the owners
of the lot chose 10 give it. After some
years friends of the chief Justice, hear.
ing of this, united and bought plain
granite monument with his name and
the date cut upon 1t, 1t was shipped
to Washington but got lost on the way.
A long time afterward it was found
boxed up in n warehouse, where IL had
lain unnoticed and unclaimed. Then
other friends of the chief justice, un.
willing to appeal to Mrs. Sprague,
paid out of their own pockets the small
cost of putting the stone in place. This
is the way the chief justice got n
tombstone.
@"~
The other day, says the Cincinnati
1imes.Star correspondent, lot of
Senators were going home in herdic
coach which runs on the avenue; and,
as the weather was bad without, they
amused themselves with firing jokes
about within. Senator George of Mis-
sissippi, who would be about the last
man you would suppose to have any
fun in his makeup, sat next the fare
box, and amused himself by shouting
down the herdic for more fares and
poking them gleefuIly into the box
when they were passed up to him. In
the enthusiasm of the moment he for
got the duties Of his self-imposed task,
and on receiving quarter from new
passenger dropped it into the box in.
stead of obtaining change from the
driver. He was profuse in his apollo
gics, and appealed to the driver for
some way of getting the quar-
ter back, but was told the only
way was to collect the fares
to the amount of the extra 20 cents and
return the money to the owner of the
quarter in this way. So he waited
anAiously, taking the fare Of each new
arrival and passing it over to the vic
tim OF his mistake until he had over
paid him two cents, as some of the
payments were made In cash and some
in tickets. Then the other Senators
joined in charging that George and the
stranger were engaged in II deep game
to swindle the herdic company, Sona-
tor Vance, who is one of the brightest
and wittiest of Senators, was one of
the party, and managed to fire in
enough cutting things to keep George
on the ragged edge all the time. Pretty
soon another passenger got in and
passed up his fare nickel, George
dropped it quietly in the box, when
the entire party joined in the as
serIion that it was dime, and
that George was agais at some
funny business. A grave, gray. headed
Spnnlnr from Now Enmlnnl whn