The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-01-23

just lett his workbench, or a hard
working clerk with ink-stained linen,
added TO the popular character of the
assembly. Usually the president stood
in the famous Blue Room, or at the
head of The East Room; and those who
wished to shake hands made their en-
trance, one by one, and were intro.
duced by the functonary detailed for
that occasion. 50 vast were the crowds.
and so affectionate their greetings, that
Mr.. Lincoln's right hand was often
swollen so that be would be unable TO
use it readily for hours afterward;
and the white kid glove of his right
hand, when the operation of hand
shak ng was over, always looked as
If it had been dragged through dust.
bin. Much of the time, / think, the
president never heard with his inner
ear the names of persons presented to
him by Secretary Nicolay, Commits.
sioner French, or United States Mar
shall Lamon. His thoughts were apt
to be far from the crowd of strangers
that passed before him.
AT a luncheon given by General
Sickles at his headquarters, among the
ladies present was the Princess Sam
Sam, whose husband was staff officer
in the army. This lady attracted much
admiration by her graceful and dashiog
riding in the cavacade that attended
the reviews. Before her marriage she
was Miss Leclerc of Philadelphia. 1t
was this remarkable woman who as
tonished the president, on his entering
General Sickles headquarters, by hy-
ing at him, and imprinting bouncing
kiss on bis surprised and not altogether
attractive face. AS soon as he could
pull himself together and recover from
his establishment, the presiden. thanked
the lady, but with evident dscompos-
ure; whereupon some of the party
made haste to explain that the Princess
Sa!m Salm had laid wager with one of
the officers that she would kiss the
president. Her audacious sally won
her box of gloves.
During the war the proportion of
civilians TO those who wore the trap
pings of the army and navy was so
small that men felt it almost a dstinc-
ton to wear the ordinary evening dress.
An order from the war department for
bidding military officers to come to
Washington without leave did not by
any means abate what was felt to be
great nuisance. Too many officers
haunted the Hobbies of the capitol in
st arch of political aid to secure them
the promotions that they desired, or
the passage of bills in which military
or naval officers had special interest.
l saw curious example of military alb
senteeism one night at Ford's theater,
where l had accompanied the president
to see Edwin Booth in "The Merchant
of Venice"
The president had sent word late in
the afternoon that he would like to
have box for himself and friend :;
but when we arrived at the theater, 60
ing in by the stage entrance, we were
met by the manager, who said that the
boxes bad all been taken before the
presidents message had been received,
but he would use his efforts with a
party of officers, as soon as they ar
rived, to induce thom to give up the
he was speaking, an usher came behind
the scenes, and said that the officers
had very willingly relinquished their
box for the pleasure of the presiden..
Between the acts the manager came to
pay his respects to the president, and
to inquire for his comfort, and Lincoln
asked the names of the military gentle
men who had 80 kindly given up their
evenings entertainment in his behalf.
The msnager replied that he did not
know, but afterward quietly told me
that he knew that one-half of the num-
Der were officers absent from the army
without leave, and that they consid-
cred it good joke that they could es-
cape the presidents observation at the
cost of relinquishing their box at the
theater. The manager shrewdly guessed
that the president had asked for their
names in order to discover if they were
in Washington on leave; but that was
not Lincoln's way
President Lincoln's theater-going
was usually confined to occasions when
Shakspeare's plays were enacted; for,
although he enjoyed hearty laugh, he
was better pleased with the stately dig
nifty, deep philosophy, and exalted po-
etry of Shakespeare that with anything
that was to be found in more modern
dramatic writings. But | remember a
delightful evening that we once spent
at the old Wash jngton Theater, where
we saw Mrs. John Wood in John
Brougham's travesty of Pocahontas. "
The delicious absurdity and cracking
puns of the piece gave the president
food for mirth for many days there
after. AT another time we saw Ed win
Forrest in King Lear" and the presi-
dent appeared to be more impressed by
the acting of John Mccullough in the
role of I" Edgar" than with the gre at
tragedan's appearance as the mad
king. He asked that Mccullough might
come to the box between the acts; and
when the young actor was brought to
the door, clad in his fantastic garb of
rags and straw, Mr.. Lincoln warmly,
and yet with diffidence, praised the per-