The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-09

| lieve, set the example to the capital by not
using wine ON her table at her state dim
| ners?"
YES, that was the case,' replied the ex-
secretary Of the navy. But my use of wine
at Washington was not confined to the peri
cd while was in the Cabinet never drank
a glass during all my public service, in Con-
gress and elsewhere. felt that had need
of all my faculties and that l could not af-
ford to impair them by the use of wine. AS
to Mrs Hayes, she insisted that no wine
should be used at our Cabinet and at her
private dinners. She did not do so at the
state dinners given at the White House to
the diplomats. She refused to serve wine at
the dinner given to the Grand Duke Alexis,
although Secretary Evarts asked her to do
so. The omission created such decided sem
sation that she gave in to the State Depart
ment thereafter on the basis that the diplo-
matte dinners were national matters, and
not private entertainment over which she
had control"
Mrs. Hayes, however, was a very strong
minded woman, was she not? You know it
was charged by some that it was she and
not her husband who ran the government
during the Hayes administration"
THAT is not true" replied ex-Secretary
strong character. She was a lovable woman
in every respect, but not an ambitious one
in the way some people thought. 1 don't
think she bothered herself at all about the
policy of the administration. She liked the
social position which came with the presi-
dency. She was fond of being the lady of the
White House. She was always present after
each Cabinet meeting to shake hands with
us as we came out of the room, and she
seemed to delight in seeing people and max
| ing them happy. At one time, / remember
we considered the ACCESSIBILITY of moving the
business offices of the White House to the
State, War and Navy building, but Mrs
Hayes objected to this saying she would
not then be able to see so much of the Cabi-
net and of the public men whom she so de-
lighted to meet
How about Hayes. was he an honest
| President?"
81 think he was replied ex-Secretary
Thompson. II will not say he was the pur-
est man have ever known but that he was
among the purest Of men, l think he did
what he thought was right, and that this
was his sole aim. I don't believe he was
much actuated by desire for sef-aggrandze-
ment."
STORIES OF LINCOLN
''When did you first meet Lincoln?"
asked.
Lincoln and grew up together about the
same time" replied Colonel Thompson.
He was on one side of the Wabash river,
in Illinois, and 1 was on the other side, in
Indiana We had known about each other
for years before we came together. 1 knew,
of course, of his election and when, at the
first of the session, I saw a tall, ungainly
man coming across the hall or the House of
Representatives, with a smile on his face
1 knew that it must be he. He apparently
knew me in the same way, for as he
reached me he held out his hand, saying:
How are you Dick?'
" How are you, Abe?' replied, as 1 took
it, and then began friendship which last
ed until Lincoln died
81 was very fond of Lincoln" Mr.. Thomp-
son went on. I'VE We're much together dur
ing his first term in Congress, and believe
he made his first entrance into fashionable
society with me. A most accomplished lady
from Virginia a friend of mine, gave a re-
ception early in the season. About fifty dis
tinguished men were invited, but Lincoln
was not among the number. I concluded
he should go, and went to my friend and
told her that / wanted an invitation for
him, as was anxious that she should meet
him. She gave me the invitation. I remem-
Der how Lincoln looked as he sat among
the company that night. He was, you know
tall, angular and awkward. Some time
after his presentation he became engaged in
conversation with my lady friend, taking
seat on very low rocking chair at her
feet. AS he grew interested in talking he
kept edging closer and closer to his hostess
He was so low that his knees almost came
to his chin, and to get rid Of his legs he
wrapped them one around the other. As
he grew more Interested he came so close
that his knees touched the lady's dress
and as I looked 1 thought he must finally
end in her lap. The next day l met my
lady friend and asked her what she thought
of Lincoln. She replied at once: That man
has elements of greatness in him. OF all
those at my house last night think he has
the best chance of being President of the
United States. This was about ten years
before he was thought of as a presidential
candidate
LINCOLN AND THE BOSTON MAN.
The conversation here turned to Lincoln
as story teller, when Mr.. Thompson said:
President Lincoln did not originate the
best of his stories. He had very receptive
memory and stored away every anecdote he
heard. His mind was such that he was able
to use such things in the way of illustration
His favorite way of conveying an idea was
by a story. For instance, take an incident
which occurred one night when 1 was at
the White House. had been spending the
evening there with President Lincoln I was
lying on my back upon o lounge. Lincoln
was sitting in a chair, with his feet propped
up beside me. We had chatted for an hour
or SO, when the clock struck half past TO-
then got up and said that must go home
l told the President that he must be tired
and that he ought to go to bed and get the
rest which he needed to fortify him for the
worries and troubles of the morrow
No, replied President Lincoln, don't go
yet Stay a half hour longer. / have an APP
pointment at IL o'clock with man from
Boston, who has claim of something like
100000 against the government. have told
him he could bring his papers here at IL,
and he will surely call on the minute
"'All right said /, will stay
'Well, the man was announced as the
clock struck IL. AS he came in President
Lincoln took his papers and said: I can't
look over this matter now, but if you will
leave the papers 1 will attend to it as soon
as l can find time
There We're a number of parties opposing
the claim. and / could see that the man
wanted to get some idea as to what his
chances were before he left. He volunteered