Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1902-05-14
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FOND OF WASHINGTON.
Mrs. Chauncey NJ. Depew, Reared I'm
Paris,s Is Pleased with the
American Capital.

Depew, and the verdict, already pro-
nounced, is unqualifedly in her favor.
She is what was anticipated rather
that what was hoped for, and that is
the equivalent of a gracious compli-
ment.
On the other hand, Mrs. Depew has
practically completed her survey of
Washington, and Mrs. Depew is de-
lighted with the result of her observa-
tions.
Right in the heart of society's domain
Mrs. Depew is domiciled. Corcoran
house, long famous as a rendezvous for
fashionables, is her home. II is visible,
through Lafayette square from the
white house, and is pointed out to Wis
itors who are taking in the sights.
There the late Calvin S. Brice and
Mrs. Brice dazzled the capital with
their splendid entertainments when
Mr.. Brice was a senator from Ohio.
Forty years ago it was occupied by it's
owner, w. w. Corcoran, whose sympa-
thies were with the south when the
war came on and who discreetly leased
1T to Great Britain as a legation in or
der to save it from confiscation by the
federal government. In the commo-
dious garden which runs back from
Fl street, Lord Lytton, then an attache
of the legation, under the pseudonym
of "Owen Meredith wrote LUCILLE
In Paris, where she has spent nearly
all of her life, the aesthetic in most
things is developed to the highest de-
gree; yet Mrs. Depew is genuinely en-
thusiastic over the American capital.
To ascertain her impressions of Wash
ington, writes Kansas City Star cor
respondent, 1 called at the Corcoran
house.
The first the world heard of Mrs.
Depew was that she was mere slip
of girl and that the wedding was
one of the May and December affairs.
Next it was told that the bride was
no girl, but woman perceptibly gray.
Mrs. Depew is woman in the prime
of life, neither middle aged nor very
young. Her hair is not gray, but
brown. Her eyes are large and soft
brown and her teeth are white and
even.
What are my impressions of Wash
ington?" repeated Mrs. Depew. "It
will take some time to tell you, but the
most prominent thought in my mind
is that at last am here. have wanted
all my life to come to America, and
especially to the capital. I have al
ways had such great expectations of
Washington, and they are everyone re-
allied, and more than realized. Wash
ington is so different from any other
place have ever known. You know, l
went abroad when only year old
with my mother, who was southern
woman, and / have spent all my life
in Europe, mostly in Paris. 1 never
forgot, however, that was an Ameri-
can. All my studies were along Ameri-
can lines, and before me has always
been the fixed purpose of coming to
my native land. Washington is delight
full. Every one has been so kind, so
cordial"
"The sincerity of Washington So
ciety has often been questioned?" 1
ventured.
"Oh, no, indeed" interjected Senator
Depew; there is no nonsense here.
Why, there can't be. Washington soci-
ETY. is totally different from any other.
Here everyone's rank is fixed, and YOU
can't be other than you are, can you ?"
mot very WE'LL Ireplied; but that
remark goes to show you do not believe
in this question of precedence so much
talked of here
Precedence? How can there be any
precedence? Everyone's position So
cially, is fixed for him. Either one
is a diplomat, or in the cabinet. or has
some official position; and that is lust
what makes Washington so delightful.
There is always some element of in
terest in the social functions here. It
must be of interest or it doesn't get in.
SIN New York it is so different:
there is such, a ~sameness- about the
social life. Society hives by itself. So
ciety is separate from literature. So
ciety is separate from Bohemia. So
ciety is separate from the lifeeof the
judges, the preachers, the physicians
and the politicians. But in Washing
ton all is different. A clever, am
bilious man from the west or the south
or the New England. states can come
here, and if he has it in him can be in
society and hold his own"
washington is something like Paris
in that respect" remarked Mrs. De-
pew, in her soft, we'll modulated voice,
''and yet it is different, too. There
there is no political element"