The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-08-24
there is nothing so successful as sue


in the romantic affairs of the Prince
and Princess ROspigliosi-the latter the
beautiful Marie Reid, well-known IN
New York and Washington some years
ago-will be glad to learn that their
infant daughter, who was refused bap-
tism by the Roman Catholic clergy,
will be baptized at the Princess coun-
ty estate, thus avoiding further fric-
ton with the church. The authorities
at Rome have refused to recognize
the marriage of Prince and Princess
Rospigliosi, because of the annullment
of the Princess former marriage 10
Frederick Parkhurst of Bangor, Me.
As Marie Reid, the dashing daughter
of Col. Samuel c. Reid of Kentucky,
the Princess spent some happy years
in Washington.
Think of ten and a half miles of
shelves, and each shelf piled high with
closely packed Documents These all
pertain to the doings of our army in
the Civil and Spanish wars, settle
ments and records of disbursing Off
GERS, commissaries, settlements with
soldiers, medical officers, paymasters
of the army, officers of the Ordnance
Department, members Of the Engineer
Corps and others of the United States
army. They are contained in two shah
OS DuAA0lll6S uSGQ 4Ol OlllNtS SOAilC uAa-
lance from the War Department,
though pertaining thereto. The papers
were recently weighed and measured
by Auditor Rittman and his assistants
and much to their surprise it was
discovered that there are 240 tons of
the records and that they cover near
ly eleven miles of shelving. BY the
way, If you are in search of a govern
ment position, with minimum work
and maximum pay, which requires no
effort of the intellect, l advise you TO
go for that of mending muster rolls
and other of the documents aforesaid.
Having been so long folded and pack
ed, the paper cracks in the folds and
is mended by FASTING transparent vel
lum of a peculiarly thin, strong sort
over the cracks. The vellum is cut
into strips of suitable length, the paste
is already prepared, and all you have
to do is to dab the one upon the other
and lay it smoothly over the crack;
for which brain-racking labor from 8
till 4 o'clock, you receive a salary of
SIS per month. But there is the Civil
Service lion in the way, and you must
pass as rigorous aan examination to
paste muster rolls, be able to tell how
far Mars is from the moon and all
that, as to fill the highest office in the
War Department.
There is a queer little old yellow
woman in Washington named Lucy
Latimer, who enjoys the distinction of
having cooked for Presidents of the
United States, and she makes the most
of it whenever you give her garrulous
tongue a chance to eXpitiate upon
what each President liked best. She
was a slave "befo' de wah"-the prop
erty of the Mackalls, who, along with
the Keys and Bowies and Fairfax and
Lees, were among the most prominent
families of Princes Georges county,
Maryland. 1t was an admitted fact
that Lucy's slave mother was related
by blood to one of these old families,
which perhaps accounts for her I'M
usual intelligence, as it does for her
cafe au lait complexion and hair with
out a kink in it, She was first en-
ployed in the White House by Mrs
Grant, and remained in the capacity
of cook during both of Cen Grants
administrations. Afterwards she cook
ed for Presidents Hayes and Garfield
and Arthur-although the widower
President, who knew good living bet
ter than any of his predecessors, in
stalled a French chef in White House
culinary department, which caused
the retirement of Lucy Latimer. How
ever, she was Immediately telegraphed
for by the Grants, who were then liv-
ing in New York city. and she re-
sumed her old post in their household,
remaining there until the Gener-
ais death, in 1884 1t was
Lucys hot ginger bread which
proved her open seseme to the execu-
tive mansion. 1t happened that she
was temporarily employed by Mrs.
Horace Porter. whose husband was
then private secretary to Gen. Grant.
The mistress of the White House had
several times commented upon the ex-
traordinary deliciousness of Mrs. for-
ters hot rolls-which of course were
the work of Lucy's hands. So, like the
born diplomat that she is, the Secre-
tary's wife deprived herself of a val
ued servant to favor her superior. The
transfer was brought about in this
way: 1t was the close of the season,
when the presidential party was re-
turning from Long Branch. This was
before the days of buffet and dining
cars, and Mrs. Porter had Lucy pre-
pare the luncheon for the party. Ev-
erybody enjoyed the savory contents
of the basket, the deviled crab a la
and all the rest of it to the
final crumb. Upon arriving in WASH
ington Lucy's mistress directed her
to make one of her famous cream pies
and send it to the White House. The
only trouble with pie was that it failed
to be big. as a cart-wheel and the
Grants were more than ever convinced
that Mrs. Porter possessed a priceless
treasure in the form of a coffee colored
cook. Then to clinch the matter, Mrs
Porter ordered Lucy to make a pan
of her best ginger bread, with plenty
of molasses and spice in it, and send
it over steaming hot at just the Grants
luncheon hour. That finished he buSi-
ness, the old White House steward
was promptly discharged and Lucy in
stalled in his place. During the years
that followed, through four administra-
tons, guests at the great state dim
ners and other high functions with
their splendid spreads would have
been astonished to learn that the con-
coctor of all the wonderful dishes was
4 little yellow woman. hardly five feet
tall"
1t is pleasant to hear the old wo-
man relate her remembrance" as
she calls them, rambling on in the des-
ultory way of the aged. She says: IF
all the women in the world were as
honest and reliable as Mrs. Grant
Kingdom Come would be right here.
/ never saw such a little hand and
foot on a woman of her size. She
wears a miss glove and a No. / shoe
And such a neck and shoulders. When
she was dressed for a party you would