Evening star., 1896-02-22


have had a close as
sociation with the general and Mrs. Grant.
but who. on the contrary, hardly knew them,
or, if SO, only in the most distant way. I
called on Mrs. Grant at her home on Massa-
chusetts avenue the other afternoon, and
had a long chat with her, in which she spoke
of such matters, and told a number
of new and striking things about General
Grants character.
Gen. Grant and the Coliclky Baby.
Here" said Mrs. Grant, as she handed me
paper, sis a story about General Grant and
a sick baby, which, am sure, has no foun-
dation whatever The story describes how
the general during one of his earlier cam
paigns called upon Union DOCTOR Mr..
Goodier, In one of the southern towns. Ac-
cording to this story, while the doctors wife
was engaged in frying the chicken, and the
general was talking to the husband, the
baby Of the family, a three-months-old in
fant, began to squall with the collie, where
upon General Grant went to the crib, and,
taking the baby in his arms, walked up and
down the room with him, singing and whist
Eng till the little fellow quite forgot his pain
and, In the words of the narrator, fell fast
asleep in the arms of the man who was to
become Americas greatest military leader
Now" said Mrs Grant, this is all very
nice. but any one who knew General Grant
would not have made such statement In
the first ptace he was not fond of babies.
He was, In fact. little afraid of children
until they got to be at least as high as his
waist, and the idea that he would voiuntar-
lily take up colicky baby and nurse it is
preposterous. One of his great trials
while he was in the White House was the
children brought In by young mothers and
offered to him to kiss He would perhaps
see them before they got near him and would
turn around in a helpless way so that YOU
could see he was uneasy. When the dotins
har q los .1,aI 1t
their children for him to salute he some
times blushed to the roots of his hair be-
fore he kissed them, and did it in such an
awkward way that you could see he was
not serenely enjoying the operation.
Gen. Grants Musical Ability.
'And then, this man says that Grant
took the baby and walked up and down the
room, singing and whistling until he
soothed it to sleep. Now it is a well-known
fact that Gen. Grant could neither sing nor
whistle. The truth is, he could not turn a
tune, and he had no great appreciation of
music.
During our trip abroad" continued Mrs
Grant. I'VE sailed through the Mediter-
ranean on the United States man-of-war
Nandalia, visiting Italy, Egypt and the
Holy Land. While on this voyage we
passed the island which is so celebrated in
Homer as being the place upon which the
beautiful sirens lived and where Ulysses
landed and was brought to grief by their
singing. AS We neared this island number
of the naval officers came to me and warned
Inc to put cotton wool into the generals
ears lest he be affected by the sirens of to-
day, just as was the great general of the
past. told them that there was no danger
of Gen. Grant being influenced by music,
as he did not know one note from another,
and that the singing of thousand sirens
could not charm him. The officers then
said that the danger was not altogether in
the voices. but also in the faces Of the
sirens. They were so beautiful that If the
general heard them he would be drawn to
the shores and lost, and they again urged
me to use the cotton wool. l told them
that the Ulysses Of Homer had been de-
Iuded n because he was alone and had left
Penelope. his wife, at home. 1 said l had
learned lesson from old Penelope and had
accompanied my Ulysses, and with me |
did not think he was in danger.
Grants Treatment of Ladies.
And here is another thing about which
1 would like to say a word" continued
Mrs. Grant. THAT is as to the part of this
article which purports to give the generals
conversation with some young ladies who
were visiting his camp. The doctor who
owned the baby introduced the young
ladies to General Grant and asked him If
he did not think he ought to arrest them
To this, according to the story, the general
replied: 1 am very fond of ladies' society
and l miss their refining influence in the
camp Don't you think, girls, 1 ought to
make you my prisOneIs?
Now, the truth is that the general was
never familiar with ladies. l don't think
he would have addressed those young wo-
men as girls and 1 am sure he would
not have talked as he is here reported as
doing. He was most courteous and re-
spectful to my sex, but he was never ia
miliar. The general was, you know, rather
dignifed and reserved than effusive. He
was not what you call a hail-fellow-well-
met kind OF man. He was fond of his
friends, but he did not make much fuss
over any one.
Grant Did Not Swear.
Besides" continued Mrs. Grant, from
the way this article is worded, you might
think the general was rather slangy in his
talk. He was not. He never used any
thing but the purest and choicest of Ian
guage. I have seen stories in which he
has been reported as profane. 1 never heard
him use word of slang or profanity dur
ing all the years that 1 knew him. For in
stance, l never heard him use the word
damn He did not use the milder ex-
pletives, such as 'confound it, or the
devil which you know are often used by
people who do not swear. It was the same
with his thoughts. General Grant had the
highest ideas of purity and virtue. He
never referred to women except in terms
sip nor tell stories about them On the
other hand, he liked to hear a good story.
and he sometimes repeated innocent ones
he had heard to us at home.'
He was very domestic in his tastes, was
he not?'
"Yes." replied MIS-. Grant, che spent all
of his leisure at home. He always cared
more for his home than for society,"
The Story Of Gen. Grants COurtship.
I here referred to a story. which had
heard concerning the generals courtship.
1t described how Mr.. Grant, who was then
q young lieutenant, had met Miss Julia
Dent at a wedding, and, according to a
custom which the writer said was preva-
lent in Missouri, had taken her home
On his horse behind him, she hold
ing on as best she could. During the
journey, the two had to cross a stream,
and while in the water and fighting their
way through the waves, as the writer
stated, Lieutenant Grant proposed and
was accepted. The couple then went on to
the Dent farm, where Lieut.. Grant found
Miss Dents father, q rough-looking old
farmer, sitting on a wood pile and whiting
a stick. He was asked to sanction the
match. and in rustic language consented.
1 knew this story could not be true, for
was always aware that Col. Dent was one
Of the wsalthiest planters Of Missouri and
that Mrs. Grant had been as we'll edu-
Gated, perhaps, as any girl in the United
States at the time Grant proposed to her.
When asked her as to the truth of it,
however. Mrs Grant reDljed: