Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-08-18
CLOSING HIS CAREER
John Chamberlin Lying at the Point
of Death.
PRINCE OF AMERICAN BONIFACES
His Remarkable Life and His Strik-
ing Characteristics.
POPULAR AND ESTEEMED

POPULAR AND ESTEEMED
The news from Saratoga Springs that
Mr.. John F. Chamberlin is lying danger
ously ill at the Grand Union Hotel and that
his recovery is regarded as improbable will
be the cause of profound regret in Wash
ngton and all the world over wherever the
famous bonifece is known and esteemed.
Probably there is no man in America who
enjoys wider acquaintance of an intimate
character with men distinguished in public
life in all it's channels, and certainly none
is more generally and genuinely liked. And
when his career is taken into consideration
and viewed in all it's varied characteristics
| he may be properly regarded as one of the
! most remarkable men in the country.
Mr.. Chamberlin is the last survivor of
coterie of sporting men who, despite their
calling, secured and retained the respect
and confidence of the best and brightest of
statesmen, soldiers and scholars. The pro-
prletor in his time of great gambling houses
was never tainted with the impurities of
that profession in the estimation of his
quaintanceS. The owner of great horses
and important stables, he was never of the
horse horSey; the proprietor of hotels, he
was looked upon more the gentleman
entertaining his friends than public host
providing for the needs of a transient pub
lie. He was the prince of good fellows and
tie acknowledged autocIat of good living.
Chamberlain as IL Bon Vivnnt.
He seemed to have an intuitive compre
henSion of the exact sympathcs existing
between appetites and that which satisfied
| without surfeiting, and he handled them
With d delicate nicely that made his dim
ners regal dreams and his every banquet
benson.
1t was at his own dinners given with
generous frequency to his friends that he
showed his mastery in che art of enter
tainment The company was always
chosen with as rare a discrimination as
the viands and the wines. and wit and
wisdom he'd brilliant sway until lights
were turned and the last cigar was
smoked. At those dinners of ChamberI.n's
were to be found the best and brightest
in statecrafi, the arts, the stage, Journal
Ism and the country'S service. list of
those who have sat around his board would
comprise names known in every household
and ii the roll was called each would an
swer with a hearty tribute 20 their good
old friend.
His Early Life.
Nh. Cnamberlin was born in Massachu-
sets. at Pittstield, in 1876, and removed 10
New York city when in his teens He re-
NAMED there year or two, meeting Ben
Harper meantime, who WAS Interested in
mississippi river Steamhoa ting, aid who
took a fancy 10 the youth. The result was
that Cha mterln went 20 the south ard Sc
cured the saloon privil ages ore of the
hoating palaces that steamed from ST.
Louis to New Orleans. Those were the
days OF luxury in the south and high ljy-
ing and royal carele ssncSs. On the boats
the planters would meet, aud cotton and
tohacco would change possasSo-s III Il sin
gle trip by way Of the poker table. In
round ngs young Chamberlin n.atureG, and
at the same time male money, so that
when he tired of the river he was enabled
to set up an establishing in St. Louis
winch became the resort of all those gay
characters he had met on his voyages up
and down.
He was then remarkably handsome and
gifted with the charming manners that
have been noted through his later life and
nls popularity was unbounded.
His Career I'm New York.
He made a fortune in st. Louis, and,
coming back to New York, opened, in con-
junction with Price McGrath. a club house
which Immediately became the center of
the higher set of sporting life in the me-
tropolis. Faro was played here with a
limit only measured by the desires of the
players: everything that money could buy
was at the command of visitors and the
two partners grew richer and richer de-
spite their prodgal expenditure.
From being the most popular man in St
Louis John Chamberlin became .he most
popular man in New York. and his gener-
oSlty was soon proverb in Gotham. Soon
he displayed desire for owning race
horses, which he had always loved and
he bought a stable and soon afterward
built the Monmouth Park race track
Neither venture proved fortunate. His
great horse, True Blue. was sent to Cali
fornia to beat the cracks there. but was
defeated through combination of crook
edneSS and faithleSsness to Chamberin's
interests on the part of those he trusted
He had meantime established the club
house at Long Branch. which has been
operated for many years past by Phil
Daily. His losses in his turf transactions
demanded a closing out Of the New York
to Washington. where he opened a club
house.
His Experience In Washington.
This was in the establishment built and
for long time occupied by the Washing
ton Club, being the building afterward pur-
chased by the Young Mems Christian AS
ISOLATION and recently Quilted by fire. He
moved thence to the mansion at the cor
ner of 18th and 1 streets, once occupied by
General Myer, and afterward to the corner
of 18th and I Streets where Chamber
Inns now stands.
Several years ago Mr.. Chamberln Sc
cured authority from Congress to build
hotel on the government reservation al Old
Point Comfort, Va, and after many vexa-
tious delays and the surmounting of count
less obstacles the Hotel ChamberIin was
opened with a demonstration in keeping
with the generous character of SIS proprie-
tor. The guests invited to this affair num-
bered upward of a thousand. comprising
many of the leading people of The entire
country, and they were sumptuously en-
tertained. The ceaseless activity exercised
by Mr. Chamberlin during the days pre-
ceding the opening, ard his sieepless atten-
ton to his guests, is believed by ms friends
to have greatly aggravated the kidney
troubles from which he has been sufferer
for several years. and it was realized some
time ago that he was in very dangerous
condition.
M Chamberlin married the beautiful
actress Emily Thorn when snn was a he
height of her artistic triumphs. and their
domestic life has been an ideal one. Two
lovely daughters are the fruit OF their
union, one Of whom. Miss Olive, with her
mother, is now at the bedside of Mr.. Cham