The age-herald., 1898-07-30
A CHAT WITH
 MRS. WAINWRIGHT
From the New York World.


 well attempt to interview the queen of | Spain" l was told that every newspaper
 of importance in the country had sent rep | resentatives to Mrs. Wainwright for the purpose upon which I had set my heart, | and that each one had met with a cour- | teous and decisive decllnation It was | therefore with some little trepidation that
 1 boarded the Jamestown ferrysoat at New | port one morning last week for the purpose | of interviewing her.
 | Jamestown is an island stolen from Ar | cady-the loveliest, most pastoral and prirn- | tive bit of green turf, surrounAed by wa- | ters of sapphire and having the unusual at | tribute of trees and abundant shrubs and | flowers, it is dotted about with summer | cottages, picturesque in outline, shingled | and gabled and broadly balconied. | From Jamestown harbor to "Evelon" the | Wainwright home, is an ideal drive. The
 road the entire distance is but few feet | from the water. The turf on either side is as green as a meadow in spring; trees and | shrubs break the monotony of the long stretch of land, and the honeysuckle, which | grows in the widest luXuriance, covering
 houses and forming hedges everywhere, fills the air with languorous perfume and at tracts myriads of humming birds that fit about within the reach of ones hand. Through this peaceful smiling island road | we sped at a fair enough pace. For a mile or more the pretty summer cottage homes were numerous, then they dwindled far apart. and finally we left all traces of habitation in the distance. "Yonder is Miss Wainwrights right ahead
 there, with the front steps most into the water" said the driver.
 I looked ahead and saw shingled cot
 tage.perched upon knoll facing magnif-
 cent expanse of glistening blue water, and
 as I looked a dark-haired, rather slight,
 singularly graceful woman, emerged from the logga and approached my dusty equip
 age to greet me with charming courtesy
 Mrs. Wainwright is not an easy woman to describe.
 She is not like any other woman l have ever seen. She is, I should say, the woman we have pictured often in our ideals and rarely met in the flesh. Of medium height and rather girlish figure, the first impress
 sion one receives is of the Madonna type
 the clear-cut, pure features, the beneticent,
 frank gaze from the large brown eyes, the thoughtful brow and the simply arranged dark hair gathered together in loose knot at the lack of a symmetrical, well-shaped
 head the quiet musical voice pitched in a
 minor key full of melody and with just a suspicion of the south in the vowel sounds Suddenly the lips part in a fascinating
 smile, and the Madonna eyes twinkle with
 merriment as their owner says, with rip
 
 greeting, '1 really hadn't the heart to re- fuse, but there is nothing to say except that I am MT. Wainwright's wife, and I'm so proud of him can scarcely speak" h. wardly reflected that a woman with such a smile, with such charm in her mere per- sonality that a stranger feels its potency and succumbs at a glance from her frank, lovely eyes, is very apt to be the uncon- scious force behind many an act of ma5 5- nifcent daring, even such as Captain Vain wright displayed but a few weeks ago. I should not fear to wager that the hero of Cervera's conquest thought first and last during the engagement of the sweet wife by the sea at Jamestown, and that above all other praise would be her pride in his achievement,
 But I did not give utterance to these re- factions.
 I merely and stupidly said How beau- tiful the sea is! What a wonderful site for home!"
 '1s it not?" said Mrs Wainwright 'I planned the house all myself-I and my daughter Louise. We had no architect, and really we have almost built 1t. We know every board and shingle in it. You see, navy people are always poor people, and they are such wanderers that a home be- comes the object of their dearest dreams. We saved enough to buy this ground and built this bungalow, and we have literally
 watched every board and shingle put into it. It was just finished when the news came of the blowing up of the Maine."
 '"Tell me- I said. mad you any dream
 or fear of disaster to the Maine when she
 was ordered to Cuba?"
 Mrs Wainwright's face grew serious.
 "Fear?" she said. Why, felt 1t was
 madness. I remember perfectly when I
 heard the order. I was at tea in Wash
 ington. I think it was Admiral Rodgers
 who came to me and said Did you know the Maine has been ordered to Havana?
 Impossibe. said. Why, that would be
 a foolhardy thing to do.' oh, not at ag' Admiral Rodgers replied, the Maine will
 go on merely friendly visit; there is not the slightest danger
 Mrs Wainwright has a way of speaking
 of her husband as MT. that, considering his
 manifest right to high official dignities and
 titles, is very pretty and cutie character istic of a woman in whom there is an abso- lute lack of self-conscousness.
 "When the Maine was blown up,' con-
 tinued Mrs. Wainwright, "I was shocked inexpressibly, but I really cannot say that
 was surprised. We all knew that the har- bor was mined and we knew that the
 strictest precautions were being used. MT.
 Wainwright made light of my fears. He said and wrote me that the Maine could
 not be blown up by any ordinary mine. If they attempted it they would merely make a magnificent floating fortress of the great ship.
 "You think there is no question as to what happened to the Maine?' I ventured.
 Then the dark eyes flashed, and the mobile mouth for one moment was drawn and set. "No,' said Mrs. aWinwright, q think no one who knows much of that awful busi- ness has the slightest doubt that the ship
 was wickedly destroyed and all those inno- cent lives crushed out of existence by the Spaniards.
 q was amused when my husband was in terrogated at the court of inquiry after the Maine was blown up. He was asked where