Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-02

was signed of solid gold, and solid gold
invitation card as big as q postal card and
about four times as thick, which was sent to
Grant in a solid silver envelope, inviting
him to a masked ball at San Francisco.
The Washington relics have only few
silver articles, but they contain many fine
pieces Of china and cut glass. The punch
bowl is as big as a halfbushel. Some of
the plates were given by Lafayette to Mrs.
Washington, and the museum has lately re-
ceived from the family of Lewis Washing
ton number OF autograph letters which
have never been published.
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON.
His camp plates are also here, and there
is letter In Washington's handwriting in
which he invites some ladies to dine with
him from these plates. 1t is dated at West
Point, and shows that Washington, though
he appreciated the good things of this lie
and liked to eat his dinner off Of fine linen,
could get along with ham and greens, and
had the happy faculty of making the best
of things. This letter reads:
Since our arrival at this happy spot we have
had ham and sometimes a shoulder OF bacon
to grace the head of the table, a piece of roast
beef adcrns the foot, and a small dish of greens
or beans, almost imperceptible, decorates the
center when the cook has a mind to cut a
figure, and this, i presume he will attempt to
do tomorrow. OF late he had the surprising
luck to discover tina. apples will make pies, and
it's question that, amid his efforts, we don't
get one of apples instead of having both OF
beef We have two beefsteak pies or dishes of
crabs in addition on each side of the center
dish, dividing the space and reducing the dis
tance between dish and dish to about SIX feet,
which, without them. would be IL feet apart.
If the ladies can put up with such an enter
tainment and will submit to partake Of it on
N
labor of scouring-I shall be happy to see them.
MILLION DOLLAR CLOAK.
There are vast number of fine dresses
| from all parts of the world in the National
| Museum, and the most extraordinary article
of this kind is the 81 900, 900 feather cape.
| This comes from the Sandwich Islands, and
is made up of red and yellow feathers so
| fastened together that they overlap each
other and form a smooth surface. These
feathers shine like the finest of floss silk,
and the red feathers are far prettier than the
yellow ones. 1t is the yellow feathers, how
ever, that are expensive. They are about an
inch long, and are worth in the country in
which they are found, 30 cents apiece.
They were in times past taken for taxes
| by the Hawaiian kings. They are taken
| from little bird known as the Uho, which
are very rare and very shy, and very diff
/ cult W IIdCu HAS bWO VI Lutst
yellow feathers under his wing, and the
birds are caught in traps and the feathers
are pulled out and they are then freed. There
| is letter in the museum from the Prince oi
| the Sandwich Islands who states that it took
| more than 100 years to make this coat, and
the authorities of the museum say that it is
worth more than the finest diamonds in the
| EDglis regalia.
HISTORY OF THE CLOAK.
This cloak belonged to a chief of the Sand
wich Islands, who rebelled when slavery
was abolished there in 1919. He owned this
cloak, and when he was killed in battle il
came into the hands OF the King, who gave
it to Commodore Aulick in 1841. 1t still
belongs to this mans grandchildren, but il
is deposited in the museum for exhibition.
In another case there are two other capes oi
these same feathers, and in another part oi
the museum there are some fine specimens
OF cashmere shawls.
One of these is about 10 feet long and I
feet wide, and it was given by the Imaum
of Muscat to the wife of Lieutenant Shields
in 1910. 1t is wonderfully beautiful. 1t is
made entirely with the needle, and must
have taken years in its manufacture. The
aesthetic dress of 1882 sent here by some
dress reformers at that time is fine cos
tune of terra Gotta satin lined with white
hmere. It is the same dress as that worn
:. the ladies of to-day.
1t is hard to appreciate the size of the
| National Museum. 1t is growing faster
| than Jonah's gourd, and it is now one of the
| best organized museums in the world. II
surpasses any other museum in the line o.
Indian antiquities and matters connected
| with America. MISS GRUNDY, JR.