The Washington times., 1901-11-03

many Hall" NO place here. sir. named
| Tammany Hail..
ii appeared from the conversation that
| ensued that there were several places i'm
the neighborhood called "haIis." most of
them country mansions. but none of them
had name resembling Tammany Han.
| II must be in some other part OF the
| shire. said one man.
| Il think l hecrd tell of such a place
over near Coldash." said another. There
used to be Crocker there, and he was
| by way Of being a dealer in Goals"
Taking piece of paper. l wrote out in
large, plain letters the words Richard
Croker" My cabman handed it to the
| spokesman of the party. without a word
he passed it along to another. 1t was then
| given to third man. who, never saying
word. looked at it long and carefully
and then shook his head. A young wom-
an. connected with the hotel was then
called into consultation. and she read out
the name, Richard Croker" A suspicion
began to dawn upon my mind that the
Wantageites could not read. and this l
found subsequently to be the fact The
young woman of the hotel assured me
that there was no such person as Richard
Croker living in Vantage. unless he had
newly arrived"
What business might he be in, sr?''
This was poser for me. Finally
said: He is a statesman in a large way
of business" and the whole company
laughed. thinking ] was joking.
He is the ruler of New York
AS soon as L had uttered the words
New York" the light of intelligence be-
gan to dawn upon the wiseacres.
"Oh, perhaps you mean the American
gentlemen" said one. Him that has
He lives in no little houie up the
taken the little house up the street."
street" said 1. He lives at the Moated
Grange, a grand house"
Sure. l know who you mean now, sir"
said the cabbie. eagerly 1T is the gentle
man from America. Come to think of it,
/ do believe his name is Croker. or some
such name, though l never heerd tell of
Tammany Hall. There was another gem
ueman from America come to see him
fortnight ago. and drove him out there,
and he give me a bob for a tip"
Yes; and he had funny name, too"
said another member of the company.
He called himself Mr.. Cram"
Remembering that ]. Sergeant Cram
had actually been down at Vantage re-
Gently, felt now that was on the right
out L was driven to Mr. Croker's house.
\ grievous disappointment met me there.
the local Importance of Mr. Croker at
Vantage had been rapidly dwindlIng since
Lad actually reached the town. But this
was nothing compared to the collapse that
took place when the magnificent country
house, old feudal castle, tenantry lodge,
gate, park" and even the celebrated
''moat" resolved themselves into a small
house standing close to the street and
surrounded by an acre or two of ground.
Here at last was the "Moated Grange"
of which everybody had read from Maine
to California, and whose existence was al
most unknown around the corner
There were numerous other houses like
it in the immediate neighborhood, enc of
them inhabited by a retired Vantage
butcher. 1t was not nearly so imposing
as the poorhouse, while the asylum for
inebriate women. for which Vantage is
known throughout England. can give It
cards and spades in grandeur.
My remaining Illusions were rapidly dis
PEELED as soon as was received inside the
structure The armor. the "oaken hail."
the stained glass windows with armorial
bearings, the haunted chamber and the
''feudal staircase" whatever that might
be, were nowhere to be seen. looked for
the butler in gorgeous livery" He fall
ed to materialize. L scrutinized the par
lor for the superb furniture l may not
be an expert in this line, but I must say
that Mr.. Croker's furniture failed to as
tonish me by reason of its splendor. No
where in his house at Vantage could l
find evidences of the grandeur L had read
about, and | therefore put the whole thing
down as broken idol.
was informed that the ''moat" actually
existed. Indeed, l was taken out and
with much solemnity shown this curios-
ity. But when l mentioned the fact TO
4 local antiquarian, as going to prove the
great antiquity of the place, he smiled.
Then he laughed.
You Americans always amuse me-" he
said 'by your gullibility in taking such
things. My dear boy, don't you know
that most of the moatS in England are
fakes of the worst kind? As for the moat
to which you refer, could prove TO you,
il it were worth while. that il is nothing
but a dried-up ditch which has simply
been maintained for ornamental purposes
There was no house in that part of Wan
tage when moats were used. You will
never find moat, that is, 4 genuine, an
cient moat, built for defence. anywhere
except around a great feudal castle or
stronghold. The idea of a |
moat about modern brick or stone resi-
dence Is farcical. although there are many
such in England. They are all humbugs
l was curious to learn Want1ge's opin- |
Ion of Mr.. Croker. One man assured me |
that the American gentleman was "a |
retired tradesman"
What did he make his money out OFF, |
| asked.
He used to be in large way of husi- |
ness in New York, sir. l heard that he |
kept the biggest shop on Broadway"
But there were other theories, and the |
dense Ignorance Of the Vantage people
not only about who Mr.. Croker is, but as |
10 where America might be found. was |
surprise to me until l got to know more |
about English country towns. and then l
was rather astonished that they knew so
much about him.-New York Times