The San Francisco call., 1898-08-21


 +baniel Curzon. Under Secretary
 of Foreign Affairs, has been ap-
 nointed Viceroy and Governor
 General of India and in conse- ouence his wife shares in his semi royal honors. Four years ago she was plain Mary Letter of Chicago. Now she holds official rank in the British empire second only to Queen Victoria
 Mrs. Curzon is 31. She has great beauty. S5, ,O00, 900 as dowry and a young husband who is already one o1 inc great men of his nation. She is tall, dark and majestic. Her hair ana complexion are entrancingly beautiful. She is brilliantly accomplished and has been gifted by nature with ready wit. This is reputed to take severe turn at times.
 Mrs Curzon will appear as great sovereign before the millions Of h. dia. A beautiful, brilliant and talented American girl, she is peculiarly htted to teach the benighted Hindus how great power a woman may Wleld. The Viceroy of India has splendid palaces at Calcutta and Simla. The Calcutta palace is known as Government House, and is the largest official residence in  any of Queen Victoria's palaces. The Sirnla palace Is a large and beautiful place in the mountains, intended tor use in the summer months when life in Calcutta becomes unbearable.
 The court of India over which Mrs. CurZOn will rule is far more SpIendld and ceremonious than that of England. This is absolutely necessary in order to impress the natives and the semi-in- 1ependent princes, who still form a very important element in the Indian empire When the Viceroy receives at Government House he wears uniform heavy with gold lace and sits upon a throne. His wife. beside him, on an other throne, wears royal robes, GOV cred with diamonds and priceless jew els, and crown upon her head.
 Many histories of the house of Letter have been published, but they do not ill much space. There are brief biog -aphies of the father. longer accounts of the social triumphs of the mother and daughters and vast deal about young Joseph Letter and his wheat leal which ended so disastrously.
 So far as the biographies go the head of the family was Joseph Letter, who lived in a plain, old-fashioned brick house in the town of Leitersburg, Md. where he followed the business of carpenter. He had three sons, George, who died years ago; F'reehand, who ives in the old homestead, and Levi Z Letter. the father of the future vicerine of India.
 Levi Letter took to trade with the cer- .aintv of a man confident of his future He was first employed as a clerk in a little country store. Then he went to Columbus, O., where he sold calico and ribbons He was little more than peddler. From there he travelled to Chicago.
 It was in 1856 that he entered the dry goods house of Cooley, Wadsworth & %. Marshall Field was a clerk there 1t the time. A very excellent salesman was Levi Letter and he was advanced :apidIy He was a saving man as we'll. It was not long before he stepped ,ver the counter into the office and be- came a bookkeepers at about S2O week. He married early. As bookkeeper his .alents began to show themselves. He became an expert judge of credits Y" After a time the firm was reorganized and Marshall Field became partner. In January, 1865, the firm of Field, Palmer Letter was organized. The Palmers, Potter and Milton ' retired two years later and Letter became the credit member of the firm of Field, Letter 6 %.
 No man in the West ever made a greater reputation as judge of cred its than Levi Letter. He has a genius for finance The firm prospered to a
  Letter saw the future of Chicago. He pecan investing in real estate. He bought unimproved lots and gobbled up business property.
 He devoted his life to the accumula- ion of money. In those days he was rough somewhat uncouth man, mak- ng a god of his integrity, unforgiving, devoid of all tact without popularity and singularly reticent. But he had the Midas touch.
 When Mir Letter and Marshall Field ,uarreled in 1881 and Letter withdrew rom the firm he received about $3.000.- 100 for his interest. This he carefully invested.
 It isn't on record that Levi Letter was socially ambitious, but his wife was. The microbe of the pink tea and the ,otillon entered her brain when money began flowing into her husbands pocket.
 She made assault after assault upon he exclusive garrisons of Chicago so- iety. and was forced to withdraw with ,onor and slight loss. Tn fact, her vic ories were Spanish ones.
 Now Mrs Letter probably didn't care much anyway, because she realized that he entrance to Chicago society didn't .arry with it a sesame to the other ircles where she wished to rule.
 Mrs Letter decided to % to Wash ngton. and it was a very wise move. There are many ways of getting into ;ociety in Washington. A combination if wealth and politics makes a very .ffective lever And when one can break into the diplomatic set it in- 1res a certain standing abroad.
 The Letters first lived in the old Blaine mansion and afterward built a magnificent house fronting on Dupont Circle It is one of the show places of he capital
 Meanwhile the children were being ducated Miss Mary Letter and her lister were not projected into board ng school and then polished off in a finishing school, where young women Ire taught how to enter and leave a .lrawing-room, and to make small con- ,ersation in a perfectly polite way. The lder daughter studied seriously She
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