Evening star., 1898-12-24
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WHO HTS ipl ilidliS StsilS btcH
identified with the social life of the capi-
tai THAT among the many "reminiscences
of old Washington published from time
To time in The Star no mention should
have been made of Madame Bonfls cele-
brated French school, and the many beau
tifuI and talented young girls who were
among her pupils. This school was situat
cd on g street near 11th, and there were
gathered the daughters of all the men
then so prominent in the life of the Dis
trict. Among her scholars were Miss Mar
cia Van Ness niece and adopted daughter
of General and Mrs. Van Ness; the three
beautiful daughters of Mr.. Richard Smith,
Esther. afterward Mrs. Mason Graham.
Katharine (Mrs William r. HID, and
Elizabeth wife of Robert Chew, so long
identified with the State Department.; the
brilliant and popular daughters of General
Walter Jones, Virginia tMrs. Dr. NilleD.
and NannetJe Lee (NrS. DR.. PeytOn); the
daughters of Mr. Seaton, editor of the Ma
tioHal 1ntelligencer Julia (Mrs. Columbus
MonroeD; Caroline CMrs. Shroeder) and
Josephine. who died unmarried few years
since. Miss Forsyth of Georgia, daughter
of the secretary, and Miss Cora Livingston
of Louisiana. were among the pupils from
distance. and the Misses Pearson of
brentwood, Miss Gloevina Blake tMrs. Cor
don of GeOrgetown), Miss Mary HELEN
Mrs. John Adams). Miss Dolly Cults
niece of Mrs Madison, and numberless
others were among the attractive fair ones
who here formed life long friendships
While perfGcting themselves in French
They amused themselves as well with
charming entertainments at home and one
of these entertainments have heard most
graphically described. 1t was a May day
fete, in which these young girls took part
Mrs Van Ness. with the ideas and feelings
of that day. objected to her niece taking
part in an entertainment in a public place,
so 1t was decided TO hold the fete at the
Van Ness place, and there in the beautiful
grounds surrounding the old house. Miss
Marcia Van Ness was crowned queen of
May, her intimate friends and companions
acting as maids of honor. and little Miss
NannetIe Lee Jones as crown bearer. A
beautiful sight it must have been to see all
these lovely, graceful girls dancing around
the maypole, which was erected on the
lawn. Miss Van Ness figured prominently
in Washington a few years later, when
she became the wife of William Gore Ouse-
ley. attache of the British legation latter
ward Sir Gore Ouseley). Her wedding was
long talked of. with its double ceremony,
the religious service being performed by
Rev. DR.. Hawley. rector of St. Johns
Church. and the bridal party, consisting of
bride and groom Miss Virginia Jones and
Baron Won Stackelburg, and Miss Nancy
Kerr and Prince LiSben, were then driven
to the British legation. then occupying the
large house at one time owned and occu-
pied by Mr.. and Mrs. Markoe, where the
civil service under the English flag took
place Another brilliant wedding that win
ter was that of Commander Charles Nc
Cauley to Miss Dickens. Miss Virginia
Jones officiated as bridesmaid at this we'd
ding also, which was made a memorable
one, Independent of the prominence of bride
and groom, by the dinner given the bridal
party at the White House by President
Jackson. How viviGly the pictures present
themselves to US of these witty, sparkling
beauties as they appear first in one scene
then in another. until they fade from our
view in the dim past, and We begin to real
ize that Washington is losing Its old time
characteristics and charm. and we no
longer linger to catch glimpse of the
giants who then governed the land, and
around whom gathered the wits and beau
ties of the day Our city is gradually sink
ing into a resort for wealthy residents of
other cities. who are not interested in the
traditions people who here once reigned
supreme
X * = :: =
Il have recently finished" said en-
inent Shakespearian scholar TO a Star re-
porter yesterday, "some tables that give
The number of lines spoken by each of the
principal characters in Shakespeare's plays,
and / find they furnish a basis for sundry
interesting comparisons. The lines in my
tables are taken from the Globe edition,
and parts of the lines at the beginning and
end of the dialogues are counted as whole
lines
''As might be guessed, the leading male
characters have much more to say than
theiI female counterparts Hamlet is by
far the most loquacious-using the word
in its arithmetical sense-of the men, His
share ir the dialogue of the play that bears
his name is 1863 lines. Next to the royal
Dane comes Richard III, with 16l lines
and 1dgo follows hard upon with LIZ
Henry in the ma gnificent mOnologue' of
the play named from him speaks ,Us' lines
These four characters are the only ones
that have more than thousand lines
apiece. At some distance behind ,hem
comes Othello with SIS, corilanus with SS6
the Duke in Measure for Measure with
$50 and Timon with $50. Anthony in An
thony and Cleopatra is the only other man
with more than $40. his reckoning being
so Then comes Lear with 10; Richard
III. 800: Brutus in Julius Caesar 727; Fall
staff in = Henry W. 719. Titus Andronicus,
us. and Macbeth, 7o5; and between 100
and 900 fat Jack again, in I Henry w
HsS; Leontes. 6sl; ProSpero, 66J; Berix 621
Romeo. 6ls. and Prince Henry in 1 Henry
" 6l6. The others above 500 are: Meme
mus mus. '.'S: Petrucio. 80; Hotspur. 566; the
King in Hamlet sol; Troiiers, 54I; Philip
FaulconbridSe. 522, ard "a s5ius in Julius
Caesar .oT.
Among The worner there are but five
who exceed the limit OF 800 lnes Most
people would think that Porr'a would be
first. but her $50 lrss era SURPASSED Nv
Rpsalnd's I49. Cleopatra has $40 Innceen
has 336 and Juliet has 541 lines to speak
Other female parts having between 400
and 80 lines are: Helena in 'Alps Wcl -
iis, and Isabella 42s Those above Efsj a-e.
Desdeuona. $50; ka.hsr'Ge of Arascr. 374:
Mistress Page. 361; .Eida 35z: Pauline 331 :
Julia in the Two Gentlemen OF Verona. )
323 Olivia. 81; the Queen in . Henry VI
81; No!umnia. 3l5; Cressida 212; Beatrice
3u9; the Countess in 'Aus Well' 3Isj. and
Celia :Oi.
only twenty of Shakespeare's women
have more than 300 lines each, while TWEEN
ty-one Of their lords exceed 600 and Rosa
Ind. who leads her sex by seyenty-rine
lines. does not talk half as much as Hamlet
Some of the famous female characters have
surprisingly little to say. For instance.
miranda has only 142 lines. Peruita lbs and
Cnrdelia 10 Kate, the shrew, though very
sh.tip pf tongue. uses the unruly member
only To the extent of 22D lines inclusive of
her long lecture of forty-four lines 10 her
untamed sisters in the last scene Lady
Macbeth has but 2Gl lines and Hermoine
but 211''
=
MOI many people are probably aware
that all the hard brushes used in this coun-
ry are made out of bristles which come
from Russia said a leading brush MANN
facturer in New York to The writer recently