Telegram-herald., 1890-11-15

lrtNt - --&tNsAeA&AssaS.t
WAsHngT0s. Get X M. Kate
Chase = AZ aAlucsy ssoua4a- No mAny
years Ago ths fsrenoss s-risty LADY q
10 eapltal. ths eonnd4at q th< lad
ing paolic nssa u ths d2y, shs hss for
sonae time pasE lived IA retirement Aloas
with her family ADsl few fAlrhful sery-
ants. Hsx forsUns. II such II may %
eAIisd. barely zdords income enough for
her n~eds. All she hAs was left her by
hs< father Her former husband. Gov
isTnor Spr@gue. hzs never helped - the
extent 4 dollar % support or educate
hAs children. The hardest blow she ever
had 70 bear was not the cruel treatment
or her husband and the necessity forced
uPon her ef seeking separation fscln hiH,
bat the deaGh II hsr father. u whom
she was devoteily attached.
To this dAy Mrs. Chase talks much of
her late father To her. who was from
early sirlAOod his helper and adviser he
seems the srandest figure that ever trod
the stage og hfe. She has among her
maay art treasures number 0f portraits
aaA buzts of tho chief justice, aud these
she never tires OF showing her few yisi-
tors AZ Edgewcod xrs. Chase was a
good deal broken by the news OF the sui
eide Of her son al seattle, but one OF this
womAns most striking characteristics Is
her buoyancy Of spirit, her yivacity, her
sUnny temper.
Her troubles, her disapp0intments,
have not soared her She Is without
bitterness toward those who have most
grievouAy wrOnged her. Even Cover.
nor Sprague she speaks OF with rare
charity and forbearaAce. y few days
ago | called on her at Edgewood, and
though tears came IN her still beautiful
eyes at mention OF the fate of her son, a
remark made within our hearing by one
OF the servants reminded Mrs Chase Of
one OF the stories of her girlhoOd. Her
face lighted UP and the winsone smile
appeared-the smile which years ago 50
many were proud 10 WIN from her-aS
she spoke.
Did you hear tho servant say that he
acknowledged the corn she asked.
Il think III have 10 tell you how that
phrase was started. Many stories have
been told about the origin, and only the
other day was reading III a newspaper
an alleged true account of the birth Of
the saying. Somewhere among my fa-
TIERS papers have an old letter, very
brief and now a very yellow letter,
which throws light upon this subject.
IL was written 10 my father by a Boston
| gentleman. Back IN the forties Gov
ernor Chase was travelling eastward by
train, when he fell into conversation with
a stranger They talked of the west,
then a country less known on the sea-
board than it is now. The west at that
time was everything west of the Ohio
river.
Governor Chase told his chance ac-
quAintance something about the people,
the farms, the sOil and the crops of the
! Ohio valley. and incidentally mentioned
| that he had often seen corn in the Miami
valley rising eighteen feet high. The
Boston gentleman, having never seen
any corn bat that raised in the feeble
soil of New England, was inclined to
| doubt the truth Of this statement, and
at first politely intimated and finally
somewhat bluntly declared that in his
opinion the man from Ohio had been
trying 10 give him western whopper.
Ny father simply reiterated the state
ment that be had seen such corn grow
| ing on his own farm IN the Miami val
| ley, and the matter was dropped. Be
fore parting the two gentlemen ex-
! changed C, ds, and when father came
! home be put the card Of his Boston ac-
/ quaintance away in q safe place.
Next autumn father selected from his
| cOrnfisld FIVE or six Of the tallest stalks
he could find. They were magnificent
specimens, fully twenty feet in length,
and perfect in every way. He had them
securely boxed, and shipped them on to
Boston, addressed to his train acqusint-
ance Of the previous winter, but without
word Of explanation or even his own
address. In few weeks letter came
from the Boston gentleman, and on
opening it father found simply these
/ words written on = card:
/ -.-...-..-....--.. ......-.--.-..
1