The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-16
AS oNoE IT WAS IN WASHINGTON.
Customs Change with the Years-So-
ciaI and Official Life Before the
From the PHILADELPHIA Times.

War.
From the Philadelphia Times.
THE residence of Archbishop Satolli
was formerly the residence of Stephen A.
Douglass" said a gentleman who has been
a frequent sojourner at Washington dur
ing the past forty years Il was well &C
quainted with Senator Douglas. and Of
ten had the pleasure of calling upon him
in that house. 1t was one of a row of three
houses, all of them residences of sena-
tors 1 do not know how the name came
to be applied to those houses, but in the
fifties they were called Minnesota row.
Senator Douglas lived on the corner. Sem
ator Rice of Minnesota lived next to him,
and Senator John G. Breckenridge Of Ken
lucky occupied the third house. They
were regarded at that time as among the
handsomest and most fashionable houses
in the District of Columbia. Although they
are in thickly settled part of the national
capital to-day, at that time they were
surrounded by woods, commons pas
lures and all other evidences OF subur-
ban residence.
People nowadays have a distorted idea
of the hospitality of ante-bellum times
The truth is the customary hospitality
of the national capital was southern hos
pitdlity, and 1t was vastly different from
the society and social customs of the pres
ent day At that time if any man had ex-
pended $500 or $1,000 or 5000 upon an en-
tertainment of one evening, he would have
been regarded as unfit for association with
leading men and women of that day. The
mere expenditure of large sums of money
would have savored too much OF the shop
and of the salesman.
senator Douglas was one of the most
charming entertainers l have ever known.
In common with other prominent men of
the day, he had his regular servants, ana
they served refreshments such as were in
those days to be found in the homes OF
the plain people and of the leading
people of the country. NO one
ever heard of set dinners with regular dec
orations in a stilted manner, such as pre-
vail at the present time. The entertain
ments were of a primitive nature; that Is
to say, they were of a homelike nature.
Il want to tell you one thing concerning
Senator Douglas which ought to be known
to all men. The prevailing impression,
and one that has long prevailed, is that
Senator Douglas was given to habits Of
overindulgence in strong drink. know
that to be an erroneous idea. He was ex-
ceedingly abstemious when compared with
other men. AS a matter of fact, do not
believe that he had any special liking for
strong drink, but felt it incumbent upon
him to take part in the social customs Of
senator Robert Toombs of Georgia
was in those days a frequent and well
come visitor at the houses in that row.
He was one Of the most charming, mild
hammered gentleman l have ever known.
It is true that in the Senate chamber
and upon all public occasions he appear
ed as a man of extreme independence of
character and of absolute independence
or uJteTaIlce, DuI III private me- III MS
own home, he was one of the most unpre-
tentious, quiet and lovable men / have
ever known There was a prevailing i'm
preston that he at one time said that he
would call the roll of his slaves on Bum
ker Hill under the shadow of the monu-
ment;' but Senator Toombs never said
anything of the kind. He was constant
" saving sarcastic and bitter things con-
corning the abolitionists of that day, and
that expression, which was invented by
some writer Of the time, seemed so char
acteristic of the man that it was gener-
ally accepted as true that he had made
such an expression. He was always ag-
greSSive and alert concerning the inter-
ests of his state and the southern sec
ton of the country. He was always a
gentleman, and never so offensive as to
give utterance to a remark which would
have made him disa greeable to gentle
men with whom he constantly associated
on terms of personal friendship.
Another thing that appears to me as
remarkable is the change which has &C.
Cured in official life in the national cap
ital. In the DAYS before the war il was
who came to Washington as members of
the House of Representative or as SEN
ators each to bring with him a young
man who was to act as private secretary
for the purpose of being trained in poll
tics, because politics was the gentlemanly
profession of the southern people at that
time. The private secretary of a repre-
sentative or of a senator was regarded
as a student of politics, and his standing
was such as a student of Yale or Harvard
might obtain in the cities where those in
situations are. According to his family
history and ancestry and his own personal
merit the private secretary of a senator
or representative was received in society,
and he was regarded as a highly favored
gentleman. Nearly all of those young men
attained or achieved distinction as officers
and soldiers in the confederate army dur
ing the civil war. and a number of them
have become members of congress since
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