Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-18
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in the legislature of Missouri, and was on
the republican ticket last fall as the can
oidate for lieutenant governor He studied
medicine and graduated in Chicago, AMI
mas for over twenty years practiced med
icine in Missouri. when 1 lived in Wash
ington.' he said Il resided on 18th street.
a few doors below / street northwest and
bn'"necd to a crowd of boys known as the
Franklin Square belly beaters.' What Is
now Franklin Park was then field COW
pasture. ] went to school at the corner of
18th and streets. my teacher being the
late Strong John Thomson, and at his
death I, like thousands of others, felt, as it
was. personal bereavement. I well re-
member his maxim, The root is bitter but
the fruit is sweet After leaving school. /
went to work at Gibson Brothers print
ing office. 1 the first printers
devil employed by that firm when they
moved into that building. I called on the
remaining members of the firm a few days
ago. and though none of them remembered
me. they remembered my name and the
fact of my employment by them. I have
not been out to Rock creek yet, but I
promised my boys, now entering manhood
that before I left the city l would do so.
and will certainly go out and take look
at Big Rock and Little Rock. which were
the great swimming places of my boyhood
days, and only regret that the weather now
will prevent me taking swim there for I
have found no such delightful swimming
place ever since, though I have roamed
very considerably. I have the most pleas
ant recollections of the public school exhi-
bit1ons here or commencements. as they
now call them, which frequently took place
in the big hall at the Smithsonian. Though
i suppose kept in pretty close touch with
affairs here. I had no idea of the present
grandeur of this city. l am entertained a.
almost every step I take in the city by the
marked change and wonderful improve
ments in the appearance of things. The
old public buildings appear much better
than they did. and the new ones are to me
series of entertainments. the browning one
of them being the new library. I have
however, met but very few of my boyhood
companions. and I regret it very much"
x X X X x
THE term The Black Book originated
with the famous Anne Royal. who. besides
being the first American interviewer, pub
lished The Huntress' and Paul Pry.' two
publications of peculiar kind and of
enjoyable reputation" said a well-known
citizen to a Star reporter. 81 have often
heard my grandfather tell of her and her
operations. Anne Royal was the widow OF
a revolutionary soldier. and she was depend
ent on herself for support. Originally
she had the entree to the best society of
the capital and she had picked up many
things and pieces of gossip about public
men. These she entered in what she called
her Black Book" Every now and then il
soliciting subscriptions for her paper, Paul
Pry,' and her prior publication, The Hunt
ress.' she threatened to publish certain
things in her paper from the Black Book
unless the subscriptions were forthcoming
She die publish unsavory things now and
then, but she never enptied her book. Her
main dependence, in a business way, was
Sally Brass, a masculine looking woman,
who was even more of a terror than Anne
Royal herself. The Paul Pry printed
in the house. for many years afterward the
residence of General Dunn the northern
of the three houses that constituted the Old
Capitol prison. facing the Capitol, and in
the room where John c.. Calhoun, Il sena-
tor from South Carolina, afterward died
1t was never known exactly whether Anne
Royal had Black Book or not. The prob
abilities are that she had not, and that she
only used 1t as a threat to eXtort money
from her victims. Paul Pry had no merit
in itself and was only dreaded because il
was a matchmaking sheet. The two women
with the aid of a one-legged Scotch print
er. set, the type, did the press work and
distributed the paper to its subscribers. 1t
was not much of a financial success, but
during. its existence it supported the trio
who ran it. The fear of it's Black Book
produced more money than was secured in
other WAYS"