Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-13
TALK WITH MR. ELAINE.
Denying in Detail the Sensational Accounts
of His Condition.

| HE Has BEEN EXCEEDINGLY ILL FROM OVER
WORK. But FEELS HIMSELF STEADILY IArpRov
IsG-aRs. BtAISE's INDIGNATION AT THE
FALSE NEWSPAPER STORIES.
A special dispatch to the New York Tribune
from Bar Harbor, dated the llth, gives the fol-
lowing report OF talk with Mr.. Blaine:
1t is pretty hot day to talk" said Mr..
Blaine TO a Tribune reporter today. ''but will
gladly avail myself of the privilege of contra
dieting some Of the false reports about me in
the daily papers" He was half sitting, half
reclining ON divan in the morning reception
room ct Stanwood He looked rather pale and
exhausted, but not seriously ILL., He spoke in u
firm voice. but slowly
Il have good deal of trouble with my back,
my eyes and my head" he continued ITO
ME 1t seems merely a little nervous attack and
nothing to call for the great volume of sensa-
tonai accounts of the inner doings Of myself
and family. am much better now. l am re-
laxing and taking rest from the heavy duties of
official life / don't think / shall return to
Washington until the fall. 1t is very hot there
in the midsummer and early FALL and it would
not be good move fo- me in my present con-
dition."
Will you remain in Bar Ha-bor nil sum-
mer!'
Yes; my physicians say must. Heretofore
have disobeyed their Commands but since
lnd that they understand my physical being
best; shall acquiesce without a murmur. Bar
Harbor air seems 10 revive me. 1t seems TO
drive away that stupidness and don't care air
which generally follow nervous troubles.
especially the prostitution"
Docs your hearing tcther you? There was
a column article in one of the New York dailies
al ~ fr,ga q rfotI,
NO. indeed ansv cred Mr. Blaine, al can
hear ~ well as when was boy. That Is alb
surd: The nexs thing know, they will have
me dumb"
'Do you sleep well at nightg' inquired the
reporter.
Not very well The first part Of the evening,
but quite soundly the latter part. 1t seems to
me that L never can sleep when The tide is
going out. But when i, comes rushing III with
that soft. gentle splash it just woos me to sleep
Ike baby. and L forget all causes of worri-
ment. Even all the humdrum duties of life
drop off into oblivion until J. awaken naturally.
Then am much refreshed. When ] was visit
Ing my daughter Margaret. Mrs. Damrosch, in
New York, l couldn't sleep at all. l hardly
closed my eyes in three days time but now
get goodly amount of sleep every night.
Ny headaches don seem to grow much better.
but time will remedy that trouble. 1t took
long time to tear nature down, and necessarily
1t will take a long time to build her up
without your papers and your books!'
''Oh. have all my favOrite papers and books
sent right here to StanwOod and my wife and
sons read them to me. Emmons is my right
hand man, and anticipates my every wish con-
corning business affairs, while Mrs. Blaine is a
capital reader, her taste in literature being the
same as mine. / am very fond of music too
and my daughters. Mrs. Damrosch and Mrs.
kmmons Blaine. are both accomplished musi-
Clans. and play just the airs like Then the
a Al.
me, are quite amusement enough for one per-
son. They quite puzzle me with their qles-
tlons, their puzzles and their conundrums."
DO you drive much?"
"Oh, yes. am passionately fond Of driv-
ing. There is such ease such comfort in that
exercise. One has only to tie put into car
rage. then the horse does the rest. l drive
every day and often twice day if my health
will permit- Today enjoyed my drive very
much mere than usual"
Then you dc not walk?''
No. not yet, only across the piazza or down
to Emmcns house. He lives at Cleftstone,
jus. below us
When die you suffer the latest attack?'
asked the reporter
Il think il was last Tuesday some where about
the hrst OF the week 1 was tempted by some
fruit which was sent me by my friends
think 1t brought on nervous dyspepsia OF some
thing just as lad. But since then / seem to
have picked up wonderfully l am quite en-
SOuidSSu now uOIl Illl.k IL was awning
unusual tEat green fruit should make me sick
as 1t Inhkes most everybody i'll, and why papers
should have gene into the details OF the affair
and nade.such fuss over i. is a mystery to
me-.
lis there any trouble with your spine?"
NJ. E,deed. The doctors say my spine is
perfectly healthy. l lie down so mach on ac-
count of my bowels ard thighs l suffer some
times with quick fiashes of cramps through NV
thighs, Perhaps that is neurosis or something
OF that character. Sometimes think it is for
When The weather changes from bot to cold or
from dryness TO dampness l suffer the most
There Is absolutely no truth in the ASSERT
that you roam over the mills, or play croquet,
or attend the fashionable hops!''
NO: not word of truth in any such asser-
tions, answered Mr.. Blaine. 81 STAY a. home.
| am able to meet only my own friends, and
sometimes am not equal to the task of spending
an afternoon with them. have not been in
side OF Bar Harbor drawing room since my
arrival this summer"
MIR. Blaine is greatly troubled over the re-
ports which have crept into the sensational
sheets OF the country. He does not like to be
wrongly quoted represented. He is, per-
haps, little thinner than when he was in
Washington and may be trifie paler and less
Duoyant Ill spirits. When he was there he was
nervousiy excited and worked up to a certain
pitch. at which it absolutely necessary for
MN to continue in order that he might carry
on MS social and official business promptly and
properly, but now he IL suffering from that
great strain. and he must pay the penalty of
oyerwork. He dresses in stout WOODEN trousers
thick flannel underwear, and wears WOODEN
stockings. He wears a light chetiot vest and
waistcoat and when driving always takes two
oVercoats. and sometimes. if the wind is heavy
puts shawl around himself. His hat is a white
felt SLOUGH and his gloves buckskin.
Mrs. Blaine, who had been walking on the
veranda, came i'll just as her husband finished
his talk with the reporter Yes" said she.
the false reports which have reached our
friends III the city have worried both Mr.
Blaine and myself more than any one could I'M
aSlne. In fact. i might say they have quite
aggravated Mr.. Blaine's illness. We tried to
keep them from him much as we could but
somehow or other he got hold of them While
out on his morning drive lie often STONED at
the village book store and bought some of the
daily papers, and i'll that way. without our
knowledge and very much against his physi-
clan wishes, he the fabrications. wholly
imaginative untrutls, gotten up by unrequited
reporters who came all the way to Mt. Desert
from towI., and who, being unable to get an in
terview with Mr.. Blaine, because he was ill and
unable 10 talk even TO his own family went
down to their hotel and reelcd off these imag-
nations by the column and two columns.
"-ir. Blaine, In reality, is ever so much better
than when he LETT New York. There he was in
! a state of nervous excitement. Even the OPEN
Jig Of a door bothered him and made his head
pain. he saId but now. why, he just enjoys a
noise and often sits i'll his chair out or tho
lawn: when the day Is fine and watches the merry