New-York tribune., 1895-12-16
MIR. CLEVELAND RETURNS.
NET AT THE PIER AS USUAL By THE
EVER FAITHFUL THURBER.
HE BRINGS BACK LOTS OF GAME AND A coon
NORTH CAROLINA COLOR-APPAEENTLY IN
GOOD HEALTH-AT NO TIME WAS
THE PARTY IN DANGER
FROM THE STORM.


Washington, Dec i5.-Presdent CLEVELAND
and his shooting companions returned 81 WASH
ington to-day at 2:3o p. m. on the lighthouse
tender Maple. laden with ducks, and deep
brown color At the wharf there was the same
little crowd of oungers, the same wagon TO
carry away the slaughtered game. the same Mr..
Thurber summoned to meet the President by
telephone message from the Indian Head Prov
ing Ground and the same Sinclair, the White
House steward.
There only one thing 10 mark differences
between Mr. Clevelands return to-day and on
former occasions-and that was in the weather.
Heretofore the Presidential voyagers have
landed at the wharf in the midst of falling snow
or wind at half gale" To-day was warm and
pleasant, and the balmy atmosphere must have
seemed strange to the tanned-faced hunters
after their unpleasant experiences in the Hat
teras storm of last week.
The telephone message sent by the President
from Indian Head said that the Maple would
arrive at her wharf here at O'Clock. Some
time before that hour Sinclair and one Of the
White House servants drove down to the wharf
in a covered wagon intended for baggage and
game. little later came Mrs. O'Reilly, the
wife of Major Il. II. ORey, the army surgeon
who has attended the President on his shooting
trips to North Carolina waters
Owing 10 the presence Of several vessels at
the ice wharf where the Maple usually ties UP
the little tender could not land her passengers
there and obliged to run in at the pier OK
the Riverview excursion boats. At 2:20 o'clock
she was sighted coming around a bend in tho
river and Private Secretary Thurber. who had
arrived about half an hour previously in the
Presidents coupe. waited on the end os the leo
wharf, unconscious that the landing would be
raJx dc hal, ,;it q
eyes of the score or more of newsboys, boot
blacks and wharf loungers who had surmised
from the presence of the White House coupe
that Mr. Cleveland was near at hand and had
gathered on the end OF the wharf, saw that the
Maple was turning i'm TO the Riverv.ew pier. ana
made a rush down the street in that direction.
Mr. Thurber followed driving over the rouGn
cobblestones at rattlinS pace
The young gatekeeper was at first inclined TO
view the Private Secretary es a newspaper
man and TO refuse to admit him. but Mr.. Thur
Der finally managed to pass the portals OF ex-
clusiveness through the efforts OF CommandeS
BENJAMIN p. Lamberton, Of the Navy Hght"
house inspector for this district. He and Com"
mander George F. f. Wilde. the naval secre"
tary OF the Lighthouse Board. were the other
COMPANIONS OF the President on his shooting
trip. Paul Lamberton. Commander Lambertons
son. was with Mr.. Thurber.
Those who were not admitted to the wharf
peered through the wooden palngs of the gate
and watched the debarkation with interest.
They saw Mr. Thurber grasp the Presidents
hand and inform him that everybody at the
White House was well. The President wore .
silk hat and a beaver overcoat. He appeared 10
be In excellent health. For ten minutes or so ths
President and his friends and Captain frehcns
of the Maple. chatted on the wharf and then tho
party marched the gate with Mr. Cleveland
and Mr.. Thurber In the lead. DR.. OReily drove
away with his wife Commander Wilde, Come
mander Lamberton and his son took the street,
cars and the President and Mr.. Thurber en-
tered the coupe and were whirled or TO the
White House.
Meanwhile Sinclair his assistant and the sail-
ors of the Maple were carrying to the Nhts
House wagon the Presidents guns and traps
and the game that had been killed. Altogether
there were sixty ducks. thirty-two partrldgess
five geese and four brant. There We're no
swans in the Presidential gamebag this year.
The longevity of these birds is proEerOlaA Last
winter Mr. Cleveland shot several OF them. ana
one Of them in the general distribution fell to
the lot of Private Secretary ThurDer. HOW GA
Won like that swan?" Mr. Cleveland asked Few
days later Haven't been able to taste 1t YET
Mr. Thurber replied. Why so? asked tho
President "Well. sir" replied Mr.. Thurber
after boiling it for three whole days | was not
able 10 get my teeth through one OF its cen-
tennial tendons.
With this experience to guide them the Presi-
Dental party decided this year To let the swan
remain in the classical language OF the Eton
Latin grammar, a "rara avis In terra. Inc
President and his companions Kept small pire
OF the game killed and the rest was delivered
tonight at the houses of the members or the
Cabinet Assistant Secretary Hamlin. or the
Treasury Department and Private Secretary
Thurber.
4 member of the shooting party said this
evening that no alarm need have been felt for
the safety Of the Presid mt and his companions
during the terrific storm that ragged at Cape
Hatt~ras while they were in that region Tpe
tender Violet to which the party was trans
ferred from the Maple at Norfolk, was Wen smell
torad during the gale i'm tn Cape channel. She
did not drag her anchors. and everybody had u
good time he said The trip in the Maple from
Norfolk TO Washington was without nouceaole
incident.