Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-02-17


size or elegance
Instead of tramping to the third floor
before you get to the door of his home
you enter now from the street and you
come into big yeStibule or ante ROOM
1t was formerly Il store but it now fornS
the entrance hall. 1t is about twenty
feet square, and it is walled and car
peted in 4 rich old red, and over the
door opposite the entrance, so that You
see it as soon as you come in the room,
is draped the red, white, and blue of
the American flag. This hall has oaken
seats along it's sides and there are great
mirrors set into its walls upon tables,
below which are brushes and combs,
and it is here that the lackeys ami maids
wait for their miStreSSeS when they are
being entertained above and where you
stop While your cards are presented.
Passing under the American flag. by 4
bronze statue OF an Indian maiden, you
go by winding stairs of white oak TO
the second story, which forms the iv-
ing and entertaining part OF the house.
You go between marble columns at the
head of it and enter another hall In
which a second flag greetS you and on
the walls of which you see the red,
white and blue. Through this you come
into the parlorS. There are two of
these, and they are so connected to th4
library, the Sitting-room and the dinlngf
room that you can stand i'll the corni
of the room at the end and have ueaf
ly 100 feet of parlor stretching away
from YOU at either side. Vice Presidett
Morton has 12O feet Of parlors III Is
celebrated Washington mansion, bit
Minister Phelps has here 200 feet tof
connecting rooms, making up eight lafsse
parlorS all magniticently furnished
These rooms are separated from lone
another by folding doors, before yilich
hang portiers of colorS, which harI bniz.
with the walls. Each room is fuulshed
in a different color, and i'll pl II. Of
the dark, Sonber hueS affected Iy the
Germans, Mrs. Phelps has light ed up
Everything, and has arranged ne fur
nitue so that it is homelike rteI II than
stiff. Every room has its ind | duality.
and cS en- the stoves have bee, n made 10
harmonize with the furnitW 1 and the
walls Fei
The American legation ~ Berlin is
quite as we'll appointed h. Minister
Phelps home. Its offices l. on Kron-
On Str:iSSe, just off Fried lis StraSSe
| i'll the business center of tlET city. Most
of the foreign countries own their own
legation buildings here, but the United
States rents its quarters Mn Phelp' 5
! landlord, however, is an American in
stitution, for the building in which the
! legation is located belongs to the
Equitable Life INSURANCE company. i
had to look for half ah hour before
could find the offices OFT our legation at
| st. Petersburg. There no sign on the
door nor does the AN rican dag float
from the legation vii owS, as it does
here. The legation in Berlin has Il sign
| ON the ground floor {; d it is American
| i'll every sense OF thu WORD. Ascend NJ
! to the second floor " find Il half dozen
| large rooms, all OF hich are well fur
nished and upon walls of which
hang portraits OF gNfeslt Americans. MI
i Phelps own office lis about twenty feet
square and his dei Ek stands just in front
/ of two black ma fble pillars or which
are the blstS OF George Washington
and Frederick tht Great. Between
these two, one OF the greatest of Amcri-
can and the 9th Ter the greatest of Ger
man generals, M Phelps sits and works.
and here you hay find him at almost
any time in thIe day. There IS no red
tape about THE office, and all Amcri-
cans are weltEome Mr. Phelps in his
treatment Of Them shows that he is an
American to 1.-THE backbone. There are
something EkI e 1000 Americans in Ger
many, and i1 is safe to say that he has
entertained NEARLY every one OF the
large Berlin colony. In addition to his
diplomatic services i'll other ways he
has done a. great deal through his en-
tertairing, and he has done much for
American corned beef and pork by hay-
ing them served ON his own dinner
table to his guests, to his brother diplO-
mates and to the German officials who
had to do with the admitting or pro-
hibiting the introduction Of these pro
| ducts
1 have spent some time at the Ameri-
can legation here during my stay, and
the odd duties which an American min
lister has to perform 1 find very inter.
esting. There are a thousand and one
things outside Of diplomatic negotia-
tons to be attended to, and Mr.. Phelps
has his hands full. Every now and
then he has to marry an American
couple. During his stay he performed
the marriage services of Miss Bowler
of cincinnati to John Livingstone of
New York. He acted not long ago as
godfather to the baby of the Countess
Pappenheim, and every now and then
he has TO settle the cases of American
/ citizens who were born in Germany,
but who left for America without TAX
ing proper leave of the army. He has
-! to 20 to all sorts of exhibitions and
charity fai s and entertain to a greater
or less extent every prominent Amer
can who comes to Berlin. He watches
the interests of American companies in
Germany and the insurance companies
and the Standard Oil company get con-
siderable attention from him. He
tends to the little things as well as the
big ones. He got permit from Chan
cellor Caprivi for Buffalo Bill to take
his show through the empire and he is
called upon to make speeches at all
sorts Of gatherings from a presenta-
ton to the emperor to a Thanksgiving
Of 1o -ia -,