The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1891-07-22
"REMINISCENCES or WASHINGTON IN 1851.
Am Episode of the Beginning of the
Great Struggle.
Copyright 1891. BY Tho united Press

| OF 1861, the new Corners green, awkward,
ambitious, jealous; the old timers sneer-
| ing, contemptuous holding aloof, the hot
| fires OF secession burning flercely from ono
end OF the capital to the other. the capital
over which the flag Of the Union flew and
| still flies.
In the White House was curious COM
binatlon of brains and folly. of high nobll-
ity, feminine caprice, manly purpose, So
Gal bewilderment, anxious thought, silly
| frivolity. for there had come in the train
| OF Abraham Lincoln O mass OF Ignorance,
| Incompetence, feather headedness, which
was quickly bounced upon by the vultures
| of the day, who utilize for their own selfish
ends the wheedling tones of flattery, COM
ing with golden gifts in their itching
palms, reducing in the very temple of tho
gods the vestals who should have served
with patriotic loyalty and with fervid
piety at the altar during the sad hours Of
their country's need.
| Abraham Lincoln was absolutely access
sible during those tremendous days. No
guards hedged his footsteps, no sentineIs
paraded before his door,
The name of the humblest was as well
come as the card of tho highest. Threats,
| denuneiations, revelations of conspiraeies,
came by the hushel In his mail. He was
| lampooned from one end OF the country to
| the other, and his own homely figure and
sad, melancholy face were made the COM
panion picture to orang-outangs and
gorillas. Kissed at, sneered at, cheered at,
he pursued his frightful journey, bearing
the cross as resolutely as ever cross was
| borne.
There appeared one day In the New York
Times a despatch the echoes of which
rolled about the civilized globe for five
consecutive years. Never did dispatch
contain moro momentous information,
never was document more pregnant with
significant suggestion than that dispatch,
which consisted OF one word alone, and
was sent, IL my recollection serves me- by
Mr.. Saltus. a correspondent of the New
York Times then travelling in the vicinity
OF Charleston. That dispatch was the
single word war" Date, headline.
| introduction, report, all combined In one
| single word, war, and that was the text
| from April 1861, down to tho fall of 1866,
when peace spread her white wings once
more over dismantled South, and In
every moral sense, n disintegrated North.
| You all know William H. Seward by
reputation, once governor of this bright
State, long worthy occupant of New
| York seat In the Senate OF the nation, the
idol of the old Wing party, a foremost
| leader In the new Republican party man
of head and hand and heart, Secretary Of
State In Cabinet comprising the most
noted names In the country; unit OF sup
port to the great ehieftain In the presiden-
tial chair, Cabinet such as United States
never saw before, certainly has never seen
since.
Imagine him walking by the hour up and
down the corridors of Wizards Hotel with
slight figured youth with long black
| hair n cftObf Dan
his feet In velvet slippers. This young
man. the first martyr In the war whose
| blood first spurted, dread signal for the
barring OF million breasts In the near
future, was first seen In New York about
| 1859 as the commandment of small COM
| pany of expert drillers That | refer to
Ellsworth need hardly say. who, placed
at the head OF the fire brigade from New
York City was during the early days OF
the great struggle, encamped In and about
the House OF Representatives. Wizards
Hotel was In blaze and then the fire lad
dies whose ardor and zeal were kept In
check during the hours of peace, broke
forth at the sight OF flames, and could no
more be restrained than n tiger his chain
once broken. Down Pennsylvania avenue
they rushed like boys let loose from
school, hootlng and yelling aud scream
Ing as was the habit of the
day, until they reached the scene
OF conhngratiOn. In an instant tho
vast structure was dotted with the fire lad
dies They perehed on the cutters, they
hung to the window sllls, they ran across
the roof like lamp-ligbters they worked
the brakes with the old time fervor of the
unpaid fire department They screamed
themselves hoarse, and drank in vast |
draughts of oxygen for they were once
moro Ia their native element.
That the flames were subdued goes
without saying and the boys, drawn up In
front OF tho side entrance OF Wizards
Hotel were publicly thanked, not for
breach OF discipline not for breaking
through their camp lines, but for welcome
service at u time of emergency
This young man Walking up and down
the corridors OF Wizards Hotel, no a hum
bic colonel, the Secretary of State his com
panion affords an idea 10 anyqiicf mind
OF the.eondltion OF affairs then existing.
Would n Secretary Estate to-day be found
walking the corridors OF any hotel with |
volunteer colonel2 Hardly.
The great event after the firing upon
Sumter was the departure OF the Seventh
Regiment for Washington. Imagine a
thousand soldiers having professionally
gone with bands of music and waving |
flags. attended by half million people, |
every window open. every space occupied
with cheering men and hand-Rssing |
women on a trip to Washington. They |
are gone No word comes back. They are
gone Nothing is heard from them. Day /
passes into night. The sun rises on the
following day. Tho sunset gun tells tho
story OF another twenty hours, and so
on for week, no word. No word. That |
was the state of affairs. Telegraph wires |
-
structed Absolutely barred were we from
communication, not only with Washing
ton itself, but with the Seventh Regiment /
on its way TO Washington. 1t was an anx-
ious week In the capital as well as In the
metropolis, and from Cape Cod TO New
Orleans.
In this conditions OF affairs, naturally
enough, the first thing that occurred to
the quick mind of managing editors was
to send correspondents whose duty it
should be to get TO Washington whether
the Seventh Regiment could or not. I /
was assigned to that pleasant task, and |
started for Philadelphia. The ensuing two
days were spent on the road back and
forth from Havre do Grace, Wilmington
and Philadelphia, 1t being a physical Inn
possibility to get step beyond. On the
evening OF the third day, standing In the
corridor OF the Continental Hotel, I saw
two men enter. They registered them
selves as James w. Slmonton and Corne-
Illus Wendell Mr.. Simonton, the WELL
known Washington writer and slbse-
quently general manager OF the Associ-
ated Press and Mr. Cornelius Wendell, the t
public printer. They had come through, !
and in Washington had hired a carriage
and by devious ways succeeded in getting |
to Havre de Grace and thence to Philadel-
phia.
In their breasts were locked the secrets.
t50 information that the wires had been
stopped from sending. Mr.. Simonton was