The Portland daily press., 1890-07-14
LETTER ABOUT Exes.
Washington has Charms that Hold
them Fast.
Correspondence Of the Press.l

Va "ASh AOAnVi tIluIlpnS OI -uioePpNA
ments, These were Warner Miller, OF
New York; Thomas j. Clingman, OK
South Carolina; Joseph E. Mcdonald, OF
Indiana; Blanche K. Brucei of Missis-
sippi Omar d. Conger, of Michigan, and
Augustus H. Garland, of Arkansas. The
presence of such large number of for
mer senators reminded me that one of
the odd phases of life in Washington is the
plentifulness of "exes." We see "exes"
riding by in their carriages, or begging
dimes ON the street corner. They sit op-
posite us at dinner, or hang about the
barrooms waiting for an invitation to
step up and take something.
The sexes" are everywhere, of all ages
and colors and previous conditions of
official servitude-all excepting the pres
idency. We have no ex-presidents resi-
dent here, though we have any number
Of men who escaped that great Office by
the skin of their teeth, and not of their
own desire, but owing to circumstances
over which they had no control. No
former presidents are here, but there are
ex-cabinet officers, ex-senators, ex-con-
gressnien, commissioners and ex-gov-
ernors galore; and as for former wearers
of the judicial ermine and those who once
issued martial communicative ''judges"
and generals" and "colonels" and ina
jors"-their name is simply legion.
Men who live in the national capital
for time as servants of the people do
not like to go away. They are fascinat-
ed by the lazy luxuriousness of the life,
the beauty of the city and the social OPP
portunities here presented. That form
Of society which is expressed chiefly in
good dinners and large, fertile punch
bowls most enthralls the men, while the
snowy afternoon and evening receptions,
the teas and the endless round of dress
parades known as calling bind the wom-
en- fast in their tolls "What! Leave
Washington and go again to the from
teri" exclaimed the pretty wife of an
army officer at one of Mrs. Oates famous
receptions last week. "Why, If that is
TO be my fate declare l shall commit
suicide. Rather than go to the frontier
and leave dear, dear Washington will
cnt my throat" The pretty woman
meant every word of it, too, and she
made shivers run round the room by
drawing fruit knife suggestiyely close
to the white skin of her neck. Then she
seized glass of punch, quaffed it with a
laugh, and what had passed for bit of
comedy in the minds Of the spectators
came to an end. But it was not all COM
edy with the dashing woman, and her
poor husband, the army officer, is out
hustling night and day for the influence
which may enable him to secure that
boon of boons in the service-waiting or
ders at Washington.
IA curious commentary on this fasci-
nation Of Washington life" said Repre-
sentative Hit, VINO is one of the brilliant
coversationalists of the capital, twas af-
forded by the surrender of Gen. Lee at
Appomattox. / was then living in the
National hotel, which at the close of the
war was the fashionable hotel of the city.
The house was filled with army officers
and their wives, and when the news
came from Appomattox and the people
in the streets began to shout and cheer
and iaunt their flags with joy 1 stepped
up to the parlors to see how happy the
ladies were. Imagine my surprise to
find three or four of them in tears, and
the others looking very sad and solemn.
What is the natter / asked one of
them. Have you not heard that Gen.
Lee has surrendered to Gen. Grant?
YES she replied, half crying, and that
is just the trouble. We know this means
the end of the war, and that we must
leave Washington and go away to the
country to live again. and then this wo-
man, like several of her sisters, burst
into tears. actually believe" conclud,
ed Mr.. Hit, ''that half of these gay
devotees of society would have been
glad to have the war continued a couple
of years longer that they might have re-
manned in the whirl of Washington soci.
ety."
With both men and women fond of
Washington life it is not surprising that
this is the place in which the "exes" most
do congregate. A man once famous and
powerful, whom many people thought
might himself become president of the
CldbtCy LOW w ttlh5 VI NllNCo blIO
streets of Washington unknown to nearly
all who see him. He is handsome
man, with iron gray hair, fine profile,
an intellectual face. His name is Bout
well-"Lawyer Boutwell," he is called
by the few who know him-and he was
secretary of the treasury under President
Grant. He was then a social as well as
olra och
daily at receptions and teas. Now he
eschews all such frivolities, and, like the
average man of experience and sense,
confines his social exploits to the stretch
ing of his legs under the mahogany
where there is plenty of good wine and
good company.
Plenty of other ''exes" of the cabinet
may be seen on the streets of Washing.
ton. William A. Richardson, who sue.
ceeded Mr.. Boutwell, in the treasury,
lives in one of the handsomest houses in
Washington, where he is chief justice OF
the court of claims. Ex-Secretary OF
War Belknap is one of the best known
men in the city of Washington. He
grows rounder and jollier and more red
in the face as the years go by, and the
circle of his friends appears to be contin
ually widening. He is gastronome, g
wit and story teller. He makes ten Oh
fifteen thousand dollars year as a claim
agent and spends it all. He has lovely
family and a luxurious home.
G''la oldest ex-cabinet officer in the city
is the Hon. George Bancroft, who WA
secretary of the navy about forty year
ago. He has lived to see the navy g
through four or five distinct periods, be
ginning with the good old days whel
our ships sailed the seas as proudly ant
saucily as those of any nation, and EN-
bracing the glorious time of war i'll whicl
we gave to the world the iron clad, tn
corrupt era following in which man.
millions were squandered in useles
wooden hulks, and the Renaissance nov
herewith the steel ships and high FIRE
boards taking the place of wooden hulk
and the sluggish monitors. Mr.. Ban
croft's claim to fame rests less upon hi
direction of the navy department tina
upon his diplomatic and literary service
and vet have heard old naval office,
say that he did much toward organlzll
and perfecting the navy, particular
with reference to the laws and regul
tions governing it. For instance, it WI
through his fundamentally that the o
law making promotions on age alone WI
changed so that efficiency became ia
tor in winning the prizes of the servic
Mr.. Bancroft rarely leaves his houi
now, and then only to walk through IL
pretty garden of his II street homestea