The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-06-22

tors to the organized charities, but the
greater part uf her good work she accom-
plishes by personal and independent effort
Mrs. Eva Catherine Clapp, an author and
poet and an unusually attractive widow, is
one of the latest acquisitions to Washing
ton. She came from Chicago recently, in
tending to remain at the capital but few
days in enjoyment of her first visit here,
but the days have multiplied into weeks
and now she is SO much delighted with the
beauty of the city and the warmth Of her
welcome here that she has concluded to
make this her home. She is a native of
Illinois, but the quiet, almost severe sim
plicity of her manner and dress mark her
as the daughter of Puritan stock as truly as
her quaint Observation-Disclosures in the busy
throng and her intense enthusiasm in the
presence of natures inspiring moods mark
her as the poet that she is. Her very in
tellectual face is pale and her big, dreamy
eyes, which tell all her moods make Mrs.
Clapp remarkably interesting woman to
look upon. Her mother was Of the old Con-
necticut Ely family, and was IA woman of
mind. On her fathers side Mrs. Clapp
traces her ancestry to the sturdy old captain
of the "Castle," which in 1865 was the
most important fortress in the province
of Massachusetts, Roger Clapp,
whose name can still be seen in quaint,
old-time lettering on the wall inclosin2
Boston's ancient and historic burying
ground. Kings Chapel. Mrs. Clapp (she
has resumed her maiden name) is the au-
thor of several successful novels, the first
of which were Her Bright Future" and IA
Lucky Mishap," which were written when
she was mere girl living on farm and
utterly unsophisticated, and of many
poems which show close sympathy with
nature in it's wild and lonely haunts. The
poem which she regards as her best produc-
ton is q sweet and perfectly simple little
song entitled 'Goldenrod;' and the fact
that she chose this plain, pretty little thing
from among her many more pretentious
productions argues for her true poetic ma
ture and defines her taste. She is at pres
ent revising her poems with the intention
of bringing out G collection of them this
fall under the title of ''Songs of Red-Rose
Land.''
Among the literary widows, plentiful in
Washington, none is held in higher esteem
than Mrs. Florence Huntley, the widow of
Stanley Huntley, who wrote the "Spoopen-
dyke Papers," To this brilliant woman
and her literary work recently devoted
long letter which had SO wide circulation
that at this time it would be but repetition
to write at length of her. But an article
about Washington widows would fall very
short of completeness were this lady's name
left from it.
Mrs. Eta S. Chapman, the widow of
Charles Chapman, once a weli-known mu-
full woman. She is an expert in the patent
Office. occupying, as / am credibly in
formed, the only desk of the kind in the
world. Her husband, at the time Of
his death, twenty years ago. was
an examiner of patents, After his
death his widow was appointed to a
place in the same Office, and her en-
cheney soon becoming manifest she
was placed in charge of the examination of
marks and labels for registration. such
WAS her marvellous aptitude that soon she
vas doing the work that had been done al
ways before by three men at a cost to the
government of 44.000. And she continued
TO do it all through the tremendous increase
of work until last April. when an assistant
was given 10 her. In 1884 she had to search
5000 copies whenever an application vas