Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-24
"reminiscences of Famous Men Long
Since Passed Away.
FAMILIAR FIGURES IN WASHINGTON
Cuttings From the Mental Note
Book of an Old Resident.
SIDE L1GHTS ON HISTORY

NJ William H pnnoho. friend of five
d.,.,ia- of great ana famous men in Wash
iucr.n. was born in This city in the year
1~..r With the exception Of Il few EearS
~rrlIt in foreign travel. and another period
a.. -.;fd to the study Of law in the Tcrre
iIarIt,, office of the late Richard Thomp-
son Air ponoho has lived in the capita
continuously since his birth. Ills memory
IarIzs even back Of the time when Trollope
visited Washington ara called it a 'morass-
Mi Donoho's undimIned reCollections carry
him back to thai remote. almost unbe-
Ii.vahlt. period when Washington was yet
in dismal embryo-to put the matter IN MS
Own words. when the beautiful capital III
today was "drsary phantasmaSoria OF
shauties. dumps numbered with Tin cans.
Zig pens. goats and kline. and ducks and
geese and chickens disputing the paths with
,.ne-snakes and frogs everywhere emerging
pactedly-Pompeiian stepping stones
Offering more or less precarious assistance
III ones velturesome passage across the
rnirv streets the Gilipidat"d omnibus
Criv ling hither and y0n AT long intervals
and a; tXurhtant rates Of fare when
F,ir Washington. in fine. still the
sTry-. dis 1t seems sIIperflcIOUS 10 say that
Mr. fiou"hn is entertaining gentleman
L. spend az evening with. over a pipe OF
tobacco. MvriaGS Of matters IN connection
W 'rH old Washington. and scores of famous
percentages and incidents appertaininG
thereto. were touched upon by Mr.. Dun"ho
IL he IrruG-rtsS of such evening not long
since y few Of his recollections are here
sci down
Mt long since" said Mr. .Donoho to a
Star reporter. branching off from some
anecdotes of notably brilliant women who
shed TN" lUSter of their wit upon old Wash
iuEton Il read somewhere treatise on
Woman in Journalism. which set forth
quite cnck-surely the statement that the
l. l,s., srN
hand matter of a quarter of century
ago or Whereabouts That statement will
hardly do. The first woman Journalist
practiced her profession i'll Washington.
back III the thirtfes- She was Annie Royle
-Editress Annie Royle she was called. She
was an attenuated person. gaunt and ter
rihIe in the eyes of the ganins who fol-
lowed her in the streets, when she dawned
in Washington. Well do / recall her huge
bonnet of the calash pattern, her sharp,
sour features and her long. imperious
stride. I grieve to confess that she once
stopped in the street. removed one of her
shoes. and threw it at my head-providen-
italy her aim was poor. With some other
lads | following her and making
merry. perhaps, at the expense of her weird
hesgddresS-henCe the hurled shoe-vhich
was thrown with such force that it had
surely removed my head from my Shout
ders clean and true had it reached the
mark
Editor and Printer.
Il don't remember where Annie Royle
CAM from. but she started paper here
rl.,, everybody knew as Annie Royle's
newspaper She did all Of the work her.
s-If-wrote- the copy. set it up in type, ran
the press and did all of the distributing.
Her paper was largely devoted 70 pOlitiCa
matters. and it is certain that many of the
most eminent men at the Capitol stood in
fear 0f Mistress Rpyle and her newspaper.
Indeed. she had many of the notables under
her thumb. for she could write the most
and
them around legislators or other officials
who incurred her displeasure- on the other
hand. she was quite skilled in the art of
landing her nallea BILE friends among the
legislators to the skies. and there al
ways "a suspicion I am bound to say. that
Annie welded her newspaper chiefly Il
Legislative" club. and that she profted i'm
moderately upon the successful passage OF
Suudry and divers bills in the Congress. 1t
was astonishing 10 note the wholesome fear
in which she was held by many eminent
mon and AT her pleasure she would stop
prominent men who had fallen out IF her
good -rdceS and rate them soundly, in the
most fnrc,ful, if not the most feminine.
English speech n the very corridors of the
Capitol In Annie Royle's day q mothers
nr nurses Of querulous children We're wont
To- qlIirt them by saying. warnirgly. If you
d. not mend your behavior. You shall he
given To- Annie Royle.' and the warming
meyer failed Of it's effect, such a bugaboo
wa~ Annie in the vision of the little ones.
I old man. but / feel confident that
~ uIShtfall and cry out the name OF Annie
Ruylc | should look around apprehenslve-
", Washington may unQuestionably claim
The distinction of having offered asylum to
th- original woman journalist
\ Congregational Heavy-wefght.
spanking Of great men, said Mr.. Dom
Ohio with humorous twinkle in his eye,
'.i-t NJ. recall Dixon II. Lewis of Alabama
a. l remember him
Mr.. Donono's listener compelled to
admit that he didn't exactly recall the
greatness Of Dixon H. Lewis Of Alabama
al the moment
-.IucreIibIer' exclaimed Mr.. DonohO. with
q wyll-Sirnulated expression Of surprise.
why. ne was the greatest man that ever
entered the Capitol.
Stiu tn" listener was forced to acknowl-
Gig. that Mr.. Lewis name did not occur to
him.
In what did the greatness of Lewis OF
Alabama consist2" Mr.. Donoho asked.
In his eirlh - was the amused reply: in
his FaiStaffien measurements. Indeed if
what W. know of Sir John be authentic in
thu description of his person. he was n slen-
der graceful soldier and not in comparison
with Dixon H Lewis Of Alabama 1 am
ahOHt t. tell You something that may seem
entirely out of the question. but il is liter
ally true: Dixon H. Lewis of Alabama
weighed trifie .s0 pounds at his
Death He weighed more at his death than
h.. did wnen ne was an active member on
IL" tlrrr "t the lower house Of Congress-
hing IF his stay in Washington. Nor was
h man Of great height. His greatness
was Cfreun'fercntial- The payements and
paths ri Washington were narrow in those
days. and You may he certain that Lewis
o. Alabama could not walk arm-fn-arm
with his friends. His friends had either to
Proceed before or trail behind him. Indeed
! "Hc" saw the Vastly Lewis sandwichcd be-
tween no less pair of men than Henry
Cay and Daniel Wenster-Clay walking
along in front. half turned around nd con-
N"rsInS earnestly, and Webster bringing up
m. rear and frequently ducking his head
N nrier To catch an occasional glimpse Of
lay in the van. The three men lived in
the same boarding house on az street-Mrs
Petub"n' :. l believe il was Mr. Lewis
Was an amiable gentleman-a man of the
highest character, witty, learned of ex-
aI''fI intellect. in truth-and he had the
respect and affection of the eminent men
"i +Il parties who were his contemporaries
IN congress in the forties. His tremendous
szr Was natural. for Lewis was a very
moderate drinker in those days of heavy
drinking men of station. and by no means
a considerable eater
Too Much for One Carriage.
"One morning Mr.. Lewis was watkins
slpns Pennsy ivania avenue In the direction