The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02
BEAU HICKMAN'S HOLD-UPS.
4 NEW CRoP OF STORIES AMOUR A
NOTED SOCIAL HIG HWA IMAM.

has been written around the queer life of
Beau" Hickman, whose personality was ex.
ponsively familiar t. public men In Washing
ION moro than n generation ago, has brought
out a lot Of "reminiscences II the diGnined and
unsquelchab!e Beau" II requires n man
pretty we'll along in years to remember much
that Is characteristic about lIick nan, for, al.
though he only died twenty-four years ago,
he was on the crest Of his national fame as the
most irresistible and oleaginous of borrowers
back in the later ~forties. and had about reached
tho end Of his tether when the war broke out.
For ten years before his death he had been
gradually degenerating into one Of the pumer.
GUS tribe of decrepit hangcrs-on, n few Of the
last Remaining members OF which still drrG
on their existence around the corridors OF
Washington hotels. Yet up to tho last year of
his life he preserved II remnant OF the singular
dignity of the purely theatrical sort that had
always marked him. A few days before ho
was stricken with the paralysis that killed him
he was standing in n Intel rotanda when ono
of his oli-time standbys for a touch came
along. Tho Beau, who was hungry and looked
it, asked his man tor a dollar. IIo had timed
his request for the loan unfortunately, how.
ever, and IL was Rruf1y refused. Hickman.
with n look Of panied surprise, turned and
swung his stiffened old frame over to another
Of his almoncrs who was standing ut tho other
Iide OF thu rotunda, and. without any p-elimi-
nary beating about the bush, preferred tho
Same request for the loan of a dollar, and got
I out of hand. Just then ono OF the little flower
girls who used to be common figures around the
Washington hotels passed along in tears. The
Beau asked the child what allied her, and she
, gave him a tale Of WOO about not having sold
aay flowers. the prospect of a beating when
she got home, and so On. Hickman handed to
the little girl the dollar that had Just been
given him. and she went out. drying her eyes
on her apron. The man who had first refused
the Beau's request for a dollar was looking In
Hickman's direction when the incident &C.
Cured. and 1t moved him.
That must have strapped YOU" he said to
Hickman, walking up to him and holding out
a hand containing a fve-dollar gold piece.
This will compensate you."
The Beau clanked his heavy cane on the stone
floor and drew himself up.
"Suh," he said. when asked you for a
little cum of money a while ago you told me
you dill not have 1t. You either lied, or you
have come by this money dishonesty. In
either case / would not acce;t It." Then the
old man spun around and walked way.
A couple of years before his death lie came
into a sum OF money. a little more than 81 900.
which he dissipated with his usual prodigality
in less than a month. He vas walking along
Pennsylvania avenue shortly after he got this
money. and passed the jewelry store of a Wash
ington man Who knew him well. Tho joweller
pointed hickman out To one of his out-of-town
customers. and. presuming too much upon the
Beau's hardness OF hearing, remarked:
That's the famous Beau Hickman. who used
to keep this town awake o. nights with his ex-
travaRance twenty years ago; but he's way
down In the ditch now. and hasn't a cent in the
world"
THE Beau must have heard me- said the
je weller to THE Sun reporter In describing the
incident. "for he wheeled around and walked
up to is. 1t happened that a grea: trotting
race was to be run off in Now York on that
same day. Hickman calmly dug into his right
hall trousers pocket and hauled out a roll OF
I'm looking for some gentleman to bet this
!op accommodate me'' The thing made me
For twenty years after Hickman's arrival in
%ash,nst 70 6a oaSx IN so I'VE ,h Tn ! ne gsVs eVers
problem OF how TO live well on nothing n year.
He belonged TO a nne Virginia family. but from
mis- bOyhoOd his life WAS so tumultuously irreg-
ular that his father finally concluded he could
stand him at home no longer. and shipped him
off to Washington with the outfit OF a gentle
man and $4,000 in cash. This was only a
couple Of years after Hickman had attained his
majority. He had received a rrst-rate collie
glate education. was OF handsome and dIstin-
guished person. was skilled in horse nanship
s Srsc ese Of the the 9 gallant :. srMs Of his nsa day go'St Tpen h a. ar rre
val here lie Immediately began to sc: n pace for
the swift set OF men who at that period were
with their wild idiosyncrac!es in dissipation.
1t was u time when Young men used 10 flush
men friends would clip them with their fans
and call them sad dogs with mock mournful-
ness. The thirties saw the last expiring throes
Of the BeirS LJt period. with it's diclng. cock
fighting. and apOtheosis OF siN-bOttlc men. and
pre enIn in n WusnineIS . liz Was WINS NM ~ mun nitn
cent patron OF the theatre. IL lowering about
and spending money in sreenrooms may en-,
title him to such n denomination he could
drink great men under the table. and appear on
his horse a pattern Of all that WAS spick and
span. with n clear eye and a clear head the next
mornings: and he had a large recklessncss at
hazard that won him man; parasitic friends
oven II 1t made his rockets yawn. In less than
a yenr after his auspicious entry into the Wash.
ington vortex his $4,000 had dis9npeHred: he
For nearly n dozen years after his money W as
gone he made no change whatever in his mode
of life. lie still reima.ned THO dictator OF
proper form in meas attire. the creator of
II AhcrdnsherY, for a considerable portion OF
this continent He was never REQUIRED 10 pay
apparel. and on the periodical visits OF the
mems outftters VINO at that time made e prac-
philadelphia. and Baltimore TO get the trade
of famous men here. they would oil look up
Wsaa Hi fa + tns s .nfe o OF the nim naH %ngisims his his
wearing of their goods. would give them. lc
lived at tho best hotels in the city. holding
ing q cent for his accommodations. When he
would finally carry the thing too far for u
landlords submission Mt one hotel he would
calmly remove his effects TO another. The
hotel men IF that time were different from
what they are to-day, and they h~esitated TO
dun n man who spent all his time cheek by
low. with the most famoIs men In the land.
Hickman during this period was never lacking
In pocket money: he had not vet degeneratcd
into the pensioner. but WAS the elegant bene-
iiciary of the scores OF noted men on his list
of intimates TIE ne Wy arriving senators
and Congressman made a practice OF greeting
tho Beau with a Glldei palm when they came
to Washington: the younger public men. flushed
with political success and ambitious for dis
tinction among the rapid all. night set among
whom the Beau introduced them here. consiG-
cred II rather an homer TO put so eminent n
speeder as Hickman in their debt, and re-
sponded willingly to his taxation.
But this roseate period OF the Beau's life
came gradually to an end. a billy goat was the
cause Of the belinning Il his eclipse. for the
goat caused him to be laughed at-and the
doom Of II famous man may be rresaged when
his friends feel II safe To smile at him In their
boards. Hickman was in the act OF making
n sweeping bow OF the mos approved Chester
heldlan character to n lady OF his acquaint-
ance who passed him In her carriage on Penn
sylyania avenue when n notoriouslv disrc-
s~pectiul goat that then terroriz"d Washington