St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-24

channels. and induce him to talk about
the statesmen of half century ago.
But he would not have it that way.
Finally he said:
The most that i remember about the
statesmen and heroes of that period is
that when Clay or Burton, or Calhoun
| or Webster. or any real celebrated gen.
tleman was to make a speech, it was
customary for the master to give the
boys holiday. And, you know, boys
| nave so MANY better ways of spending
| their holidays than in sitting tucked up
| in a hot gallery listening to some old
dutfer talk politics. | would go skating
| II the ice was good; or coasting if there
was snow; or barring these, the old
Potomac river was always there, and
| SO was my boat. L was an outdoor boy.
IN THE NAVY.
"Flnally. when l was thirteen years
| old, my friends determined that | would
| make a good sailor, and they secured
me an appointment as midshipman III
the navy. The secretary of the navy at
that time was Usher-I remember that,
as he was responsible for my appoint
ment. l remained at sea three years,
| and then grew tired of the trackless
ocean and concluded that preferred
| the life of a landsman. Since L remem-
Der the agreeable life L have spent dur
| ing the past forty years in Minnesota.
| | have never regretted the choice then
made. A life on the ocean wave is all
right for those who really like it; but,
all in all, think | prefer the prairie
schooners of our pioneer days in the
Northwest"
Our walk finally terminated in George
town. As we strolled up High street
| the Judge gaZed around:
Mot sgn-nOt one name that | re-
member fifty years ago. And yet the
buildings have few of them been
changed. They seem just as they did
half century ago. There, do you see
that building over there? Well. came
very near learning the drug business in
that building. My brother had been
nv return he was to study medicine,
! and | was given his place to learn the
business. They had soda fountain.
| There were so many pretty girls I'D
| town who were my friends and who
were fond of soda water, that l pre-
| ferred dealing out refreshments to COM
pounding prescriptions. 1t was in 1874,
! and the campaign between James K.
| Polk and Henry Clay was raging. Same
of the boys came and told me that they
| had Just raised
A HICKORY POLE
| in honor of Polk, and that they needed
| nv skill as sailor to adjust the hal
yards, or something, so we might raise
| the flag of our country to its proper
| altitude. | forgot soda fountain, pre-
scription case-even the pretty girls
| and rushed off to perform my political
| and patriotic duty. leaving the drug
| store to run itself. l had climbed the
pole about twenty feet from the ground,
| and was inst getting the rigging in good
trim when | heard familiar voice:
Charley. what did you leave the store
| for?' 1t was the proprietor. L answered
| truthfully, To raise this flag We'll.
when you get it raised you may stay
and watch it. You need not come back
! to the store any more ! did not go
back. and [ have even forgotten his
name: but have always believed the
man was an audaciouS Wing. Other
wise he would have taken pride in my
patriotic devotion to the cause OF De-
mocracy and the interests of our COM
mon country.
1.-The lines of social life were even
more closely drawn in those days,
think. than they are now. The eXclu-
sive classes. so-called, at the capital and
in GEORGETOWN were composed OF the
old Revolutionary stock and their de-
scendants, the officers of the army and
| navy. and the diplomatic corps. Posi-
ton in the little social world as then
constituted was not fixed to any great
| degree by wealth-not so much as 1t Is
| today. In fact, there were many COM
! paratively poor families who were ad-
mitted freely into the charmed circle.
| These consisted of people whose ances-
| try had in some manner made reputa-
tions during the colonial period, or as
| soldiers or statesmen during our two
wars with Great Britain. Almost every
vestige of this old American stock seems
either to have died out here in George
town, or else the younger generation
has gone West to grow up with the
country
| POVERTY-STRICKEN DIPLOMAT.
Here in this house for years lived
| Torladdi, the Portuguese minister. He
was the most poverty stricken member
of the diplomatic corps. | fancy his
government did not give him a suffi-
cient stipend to live on with any degree
of comfort. He could not keep a car
| riage, and adopted hired hack when
he and his suite ventured down to the
White house to attend a presidential re-
ceptiOn. He kept few servants, and his
house always looked dark and deserted
except on those evenings-once each
diplomatic friends. Then the house
would swarm with servants. the win
dows would be a glare of light, and
| sounds of music, mirth and reVelry
would issue from the little old building
until the small hours of the morning.
Then all would be dark again for an
other twelve months. Torladdi always
looked very swell. Notwithstanding his
known poverty, when he departed in his
hired barouche for a state visit. His
clothes glittered with gold lace,
and jewels of apparently surpass-
ing value were worn. On one of
those occasions crowd of we boys
stood admiringly by as he emerged from
his home to take the waiting hack. An
old colored woman approached him and
asked 10 more closely examine the
trimmings on his clothes. Yes, yes,
auntie,' he replied, as he submitted
to the inspection. The gold is all on
the clothes-1 carry it on the outside to
show that there is none in the pocketr
I'm these days of breaking banks and
financial disaster, your correspond
| ent begS the judges pardon for relating
this incident, and sincerely petitions
his creditors to take no advantage of it,
fright over there is living example
of what American financial institutions
should be. In that unpretentious
building there is bank. No, do not
know any of the officers of the institu>
ton. If 1 should enter there now they
would probably compel ME to be recog-
n1Zed before they would cash my indi-
vidual cheQue for $40. Well.
AM A sToCKHoLDER
in that bank. 1t has been in existence
nearly or quite century. The
stock hold has been in my family for
more than seventy-fve years. The pro-
ceeds from that stock helped to give me
bread in my youth; it paid dividends
which aided IN my education; it was re-
tanned during her life by my mother,
and left as a legacy-divided between
my brother and myself-upon her death.
We in turn have kept it sacredly until
now. Strongly tempted at times to part
with it during some of the speculative
periods in Minnesota, the memory of
what il had done for me and nine al
| WAYS served as restraining Influence