Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-04

inner held, or ylelQS Elm a rlcner harvest
than the nations capital 1t is here that
| have dwelt the great of the land, here
foreign embassies have their habitat. and
here Is the most transient population of
the hemisphere. 1t is from the house
holds of the elders in the social and politi-
cal Israel, and the birds of passage in the
social and political great world, that col
lectors gather their stores.
One bleak day in winter, not great
while after the close of the war of 1851
10, n small throng of buyers and collect
ors were gathered in the sales room at
Soan's The auctioneer was monotonous-
ly crying bids and knocking down house
hold plumber of all characters and iescrip-
tons. Business was dull, and prices cor
respondingly low. There had been sent
from a warehouse in town several van
loads of goods that had been in storage
for many years. Packed in large box
was an enormous piece of Sevres of sew
eral gallons capacity-a punch bowl of ad-
mrabe workma nship and handsome de-
sign. Nobody Seemed to know whence it
came, or what its history. and when it
was knocked down for begsarly price no
particular notice was taken of it. The
purchaser was proSperous-looking man,
merchant prince of Baltimore, and he
exhibited a quiet satisfaction connected
with It. He alone knew that he had come
into the ownership of Daniel WebSter'S ia
nous punch bowl.
The vessel had a history. 1t had been
presented to the Great Expounder' by
an English admirer and had supplied the
brew for many a fesiivity at a fine old
English manor house. The October Club
has passed cups filed from 1t over the
water decanter. II has given vigor, if
not melody. to the. lungs of Roger VIII
brakes as they sang: nj
Well drink till we, bring
In triumph back the king,
Gitty as popular 0morg the tories of the
reign of George III asrit was among the
country gentry of the time of Charles II.
How Webster Brewcd Punch.
1t was valued privilege to see Web
ster brow punch inilthis bowl. No alchem-
ist in search of the tabled elixir of life
was ever more careful in quality or guam
tity. There was the " Menongahela, the
Cognac. the Santa Cruz, the Schiedam, the
Madeira, the Burgundy from pint to
quart OF each. There were the lemons
each perfect in color, Yrf soundness and de-
velopmen,. There were the fiavorings-a
suspicion of cinnamon and more than a
suspicion of Glove There was the sugar in
exact proportion of a quarter of a pound to
q quarter of a gallon. Lastly, there was
lump of butter. golden, fresh from the
chLrn and innocent of salt. And there
were other ingredients, now forgotten
which fact makes the brewing of Daniel
Websters punch as much of lost art as
the forging of the Damascus blade of Sal
ladinS Scimiter.
When the bowl vas fowing-then 1t was
that the "God-like Dan'f' put forth all his
powers In the heating. This was done by
means OF an iron wedge that had riven a
giant oak of the forest and polished bright
from constant use. Heated in the Goals of
fire of hickory felIed In June and dry
seasoned until Christmas VIXEN red hot
the great Webster seized it with the tongs
at the but. dipped the edge slightly and
nj f1a h,-rxr
nounced siZ' greeted his attuned ear he
withdrew 1t for instant and then re-
peated the performance. Again and again
ana again did he thus, going deeper every
Tune until the whole of the wedge was
submerged, the butter entirely melted, and
the punch of the exact temperature that
Lucullus would have approved. Talk Of
the nectar quaffed ty gods on high Olym-
pus! IL was swirl III comparison A bumper
of the Daniel Webster punch. brewed by
webster himself, made of the national
debt a walters tip.
The UnstrunE Bow of Ulysses.
The Baltimore merchant conveyed his
treasure home in triumph and made
party of friends-old wings, whose hearts
were scared with the WOUNDS dealt their
idol by the national conclave that preferred
Scott over him in 1852, old wings of Bal
timore, who loved Reverdy johnson, but
adored Daniel Webster. They set about
oiC"ii6 tie w eDSCer punch, as the receipt
was fixed In their memories, and this oc-
casioned garrulous, but reverend discus
sion. All was ready for the wedge. But
alas. the bow of Ulysses was unstrung and
the only hand that could bend it was in
Valhalla communing with other demigods
VINO mad crossed over Styx. The wedge
slipped the tongs the first dip, fell to the
bottom and shivered the bowl beyond re-
para just punishment for the profane
Goth that would dare the cunning of the
glorious Daniel"
Famous Card Table.
Back about Van Buren's time there was
card party in Washington made up of
Henry Clay. Gen. Winfield Scott Mr.. Bo-
disco, the Russian minister and Mr.. Fox,
the British minister. Clay and Fox played
against Scott and Bodisco. Each was a
skillful player and Clay and Bodisco often
brilliant In snatching victory out of the
jaws of defeat. The stake was 500
game. and on one occasion they played for
week at stretch with very short inter
close Clay and Fox were twelve games
ahead, which showsf how evenly matched
they Were The table on which they play
ed was sold at auction years after and
fetched ten times ifs value. The purchaser
was the agent ofra New York club and
he was prepared to bid four-fold the sue
fty 1 1ear had
house was the resort of every sporting
solon at both ends! of1the Capitol. There
that prodigy, s. S! fPrentiss, was seen
nightly in company with Wise, Crittenden
and John NJ. Bolts. 1t was favorite re-
sort OF Willie p. MaHGum, the most loved
senator In Congress, and OF John B. Thomp-
son. the greatest master of ridicule Con-
gress ever saw. Pendleton was frequently
there. and SO was Humphrey Marshall
The suppers were superb, and more brains
were gathered around Pendletons table,
more wilt flashed across it and more wis.,
dom there descended to folly than at any
similar resort on the continent. When PEN
dleton's effects emerged from the store
house. long after his house was closed,
they came under the hammer, and the
larger dining table found purchaser in
citizen OF New Orleans, the proprietor
OF an establishment on Royal street.
Henry Clay's Mantel.
There u In one of the minor committee
rooms of the House of Representatives.
part OF the original building. an article of
furniture with q tradition; It may be his
tory, it may be romance. The legend goes
that when Henry Clay was Secretary OF
State, or the dominant personality In one
or the other house of Congress. 1t h not ex-
actiy clear which. he laid the Spanish gov
eminent under great obligation to the
United states by means of some negotiation
ne conducted or suggestion he made In So