Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-04-01
OUR BALTIMORE LETTER,

Author In Hard Luck; Charity, and Suicides
For the SPECTATOR
Hotels restaurants, boarding houses ant
consumers generally are very much exercised
, over the recent actions of the cake and crack
D., er trust. This trust has waged bitter figh
! against all competitors for some time forcins
one after another to the wall, until 1t hal
amounted to war of determination. Many
! of the staunch old houses of years standing
were compelled to throw up the sponge, bu
the firms of Mason & Co. and Tyler & Co
came, and they, too, were at last absorbed by
this enemy to all legitimate trade. Tyler &
Co. are no more, but Mason Il Co. have beer
made general agents, or Baltimore agents. fol
/ the trust Now see the results. Ginger snaps
! that sold for cents week ago are now
cents; cakes, crackers and other goods in this
line. have been increased in price proportion
ately, and no doubt another advance will fol.
low quickly. The trust now intends,-as evil
denced by this mOve,-to recoup itself
, and that fully, for all losses Sustained
while waging war on its smaller rivals.
Kathleen Mavourneen, the daylight is dawn
ing,
The horn of the hunter Is heard on the hill''
Poor old Fred. N. Crouch the author OF
Kathleen MaYOurneen, little thought in the
days when his sweet, sad song was first writ.
ten and thrilled both hemispheres as few
songs have ever done, that in the evening of
his life he would subsist on charity 1t seems
to have escaped the notice, and certainly the
memory, of his old friends and former ad
mirers that the famous author was living here
amongst them; and, that as time traced deep
burrows on his brow. and tinged his head with
gray, that fortune had not been kind. Yet
it must be said to the credit of the people OF
Baltimore that they knew it not until the
pathetic revelation was made by newspaper.
As soon as it became known assistance poured
in from every direction, and the last days of
the dear old poet may yet prove to be his
sweetest.
The lobbies of the leading hotels are posi-
bly, as good indication of trade as one need
wish
If this be so, the Jobbers have reason to be
quite happy just now. In fact l see almost
every day a number of Southern people who
are stopping off here to buy goods. Many of
them have been to New York, simply to say
to their customers when they get back that
they have been to the great metropolis But
nearly all come back here to buy. And how
the statesmen do take care of theml They
barely get their names on the register before
some undaunted drummer has them by the
coat collar, and with masonic waive toward
certain mysterious quarters of the hotel, says
to them; Have something's"
But Baltimore has few drunken meI l do
not mean literally that drunken man is
never seen. But he is certainly not tolerated
to any unpleasant extent; and, so far as l
have seen, he has been far less in evidence
here than in many of the small localoption
towns. This speaks we'll either for the morals
OF the place, or its most excellent police dis
cipline
There is yet just one individual left in Bal
timore who did not enter into the spirit, at
least. of Grants magnanimous concessions to
Lee at Appomattox In other words he does
not know the war is over. This is Mr.. Enoch
Pratt the great banker. lawyer, farmer. poll
tician and financier. He said the other day
that if a certain avenue, which the city pro
posed to open through his suburban farm is
named "Beauregard'' he will kick most
viciously. But if named anything else he
will gige the right of way. He said in explain
alton that be wants no rebels around him!
And this in Baltimore!
The proposition to eliminate the illiterate
vote in Virginia meets with hearty support
here. 1t will set pace which other South
ern States will not be slow to follow and the
quicker the better.
There is a perceptible reactionary feeling
cropping out on every hand in regard to Sen
ator German, and the assertion is frequently
made that he will be his own successor.
AS it now stands he has some time to serve
His successor is not elected until '97 and he
will not have to vacate for six months there
after. The Republicans put their feet in it
from the start and what with the discussions
IN their own ranks, together with the renew
ed antipathy of their old enemies, the Demo-
Gratis they are losing ground daily. A sicker
lot OF people would be hard to find than those
or the Democratic party who fought so val
iantly at the last election to help the Republi-
cans into power. 1t was not that they loyed
the Republican the more, but that they loyed
the Democrats the less. A mutiny had been
agreed upon, and it was anything to down
German and the old ring. They downed him,
and now
Two suicides have occurred here within the
last fortnight; notably, one at the Eutaw
House, and the other at the CarrOllton A
prominent physician came to the Eutam,
stayed few days and was found dead one
morning in his room. He had taken poison.
Another gentleman of prominence came all
the way from the Quaker City to destroy him
self; and, after retiring at the Carrollton one
night, snuffed out the gas