The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-06-05

cal. The fOrtnightly meetings during
the winter months bring together many
Of the brightest men and women of the
capital Here may be seen such famous
persons as Mrs. Frances Hodgson Bur
nett, who lives in charming house on
Massachusetts avenue, with the families
Of the chief justice, Attorney General
Miller and any number Of senators on
either side Of her; George KEENAN,, the
Russian specialist, much of whose mail
from Russia and Siberia comes to Wash
ingtOn disguised under bogus superscrip-
tons: George Bancroft, the historian;
Joaquin Miller, who used to have a log
cabin on the hills overlooking the city,
and Mrs E. d. E. n. Southworth, the
novelist, who lives in a quaint old house
in quaint old Georgetown.
At one of these "Neighbors" meetings
there recently met four persons who are
engaged in writing the lives of trio Of
great men of the war era-John Hay
and John e. Nicolav, authors Of The
Century Life of Lincoln;" George Cor
ham, who is engaged upon a Life of
War Secretary Edwin NJ Stanton" and
Mrs. Katherine Chase, who is writing
the life Of her father, the great chief JUS
tice. MANY newspaper men may be seen
IN these gatherings, among the more
conspicuous Of them being Charles Nord-
hoff, of The New York Herald, who, to
his $1,000 year salary from Mr. Ben
nett, adds many thousands from his pen.
A lucky man, Mr.. Nordhoff, for his
newspaper work takes but mere frag-
ment of his time. Weeks often go by
without line from him appearing in
print; but if there are diplomatic dis
turbances or international complications,
Mr. NordhOff is expected to be heard
from, and this is an expectation which is
rarely disappointed The field of diplo
macy is peculiarly his own.
George Alfred Townsend is often seen
with 1.-The Neighbors." He is the great
est newspaper correspondent which this
country has produced, so great that
when his work Is mediocre or Inferior
as it sometimes Is, of course, it sells as
readily as ever and is read with almost
as much avidity. Townsend is one Of
those correspondents who learn little
but think much; single fact passing
through his mental hopper is broken into
fifty parts, and each one is swollen up
with the imagination to be as large as
its parent. Il am more than telephone
between takers and readers" Townsend
said at one Of The Neighbors" meets;
Il am phonOgraph, into which ten
thousand men have talked, and their re
corded conversations are a stOrehouse,
on which | draw at VIII by simply
turning the crank"
The government incidentally encOur-
ages authorship. Some Of the best
writers of the day, most earnest and
best equipped specialists, are govern
ment employees. There is Librarian Spot
ford, Of the great national literary mauso
leum. lie does not write much, because
he has not the time He is one of the
busiest, one of the most remarkable men
in Washington. From morning till
night he stands at his desk in the big
library. giving personal attention to the
details of work One would think the
responsible head Of a great institution
like this would content himself with
mere management; but not SO with
Spofford. He VIII take your application
for book and either get it for you him
self or send one Of his assistants. Lucky
for you sometimes that Spoford Is there,
rY- of all the hundreds of thousands of
hooks and pamphlets IN the library there
Is not one which he does not know as
we'll as be knows the thoroughbred horse
which he rides every fair day. He knows
these books - wn'' tr.. he can tell Won