The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-11-14
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Time has q fashion Of tricking an
o~verconhdent memory. SO ] write with
limitations concerning w. NJ. SIS refer
ence to the plaster casts at Central Park
many years ago These casts, some or
them of heroic size. were the work OF
Hiram Powers. an American sculptor Of
note. as many will recall. and who died
In 1874. The sculptured statue of the
Greek Slave" brought bin considerable
fame. As I remember. these casts were
stored In the arsenal some Of them pos
sibly later may have been transferred
with other odds and ends of art gifts.
TO Mount st. Vincent. which formerly.
after this property tthe convent) had
been acquired for park purposes, had
been used a. construction headquarters.
Many Of these casts. some of them
having suffered some sort or another Of
impairment. were subsequently broken
up and buried with other debris near
the site Of the conservatory further up
Fifth venue ] think that Andrew II.
Green, then Park COMMISSIONS and
Comptroller. had purchased these casts
to help the sculptor financially, probably
at the suggestion OF Samuel J. Tilden. A
friend OF Powers and Intimately asso-
ciated with Mr.. Green.
During the earlier years of the park
builulHk VIC ~ 'fiNe b'es
quarters. The hrst, the Wagstafr family
mansion within the park at seventy
ninth street and Fifth venue a sub
stantial, quaint old farmhouse on the
ground. Here Fred Law olmsted. an
old friend of Charles 4. Dana. had his
office and a sleeping room. from there
the arsenal was occupied as the official
centre and later the old convent school
building. The nearby chapel may have
haap ,,uaJ In aprnn vNnv for axhihifIDn
purposes. but ] do not recall any facts
concerning this. JOHN Y. CULVER.
Can you tell me II the present Cler-
mont was built on the site of an earlier
house? Is there any connection be-
tween the name Clermont and the Cler-
mont at Tivoli. whore Robert Fulton re-
sided a. Mel.
Robert Fulton named his steamboat
Clermont after Chancellor Robert r.
Livingston's country seat on the Hud-
son. John Henry Livingston writes:
"The house at Clermont was erected
by its first proprietor about 1890. In
1871 1t wac burnt by the British, but not
entirely destroyed, The north and
south walls did not fall and form those
OF the present house. which was built
In IT'S upon exactly the same plan as
the original. Though several additions
nave been made the main house shows
the original plan.
Robert Fulton Was at Clermunt only
as a guest. lie married Harriet. ddugh-
ter of Walter Livingston of T~eviotdale.
a second cousin of Chancellor Living
ston. As to Tivoli. 1t has no connec-
ton with Clermont except that II is
the railway rtation and post office most
convenient to those who live at the
latter.
"A full account OF Clermont may be
seen on page AS ct seq OF The Lir
lngstons Of Livingston Manor by Ed
win Brockhoist Livingston. accessible at
the Now York Public Library and many
others"
WIN you or some Of your readers give
the origin Of the expressions TO get
In Dutch with some one talking
thu ough your hat? l.
Talking through your hat was re-
Gently brought up In this column.
Farmer and Hcnley's Dictionary Of
Slang says it means Tagging, hutfing,
clustering" but gives 10 origin.
Getting In Dutch" Is probably too
recent to have become embalmcd in the
slang compcudiarics, II is obviously
nothing but a new twist Of the colloquitl
use of "putch'-a Use winch goes back
10 the struggle for sea power between
England and the Netherlands in the
seventeenth century. Then, TO the Eng
| Hshman, everything Dutch was olpro-
brious. and the cumnon peoples chant
| Of hate took the form 81 Contemptuosis
phrases TO do a Dutch" was TO desert
a putcn feast was an entertainment
where the host became drunk before the
guests. an objectionable inversion Of
hospitality. Dutch courag. IL n libel
stl!l alive. There are still those who can
and do talk TO us like Dutch uncle'
Dutch bargains are not much heard OF.
but Dutch treats are Increasingly met
with. Other proofs of the bitterness sn-
rendered many generations ago will he
Iounu III TdtIHeT a." i'AAN 'H' ~
! Sir James A. NJ. Murray's dictionary.
The magnificent hymn "Jesu bulcis
Memorial commonly ascribcd to -.
Bernard (Cluny). a veritable JOY to all
hymnulocists. has undergone many
TRANSACTIONS into English. the most re-
ceived rendering being bryden's Jesus.
the only thought OF Thee" +. Caswall
has done the ambling rhythm into our
W tongue In Ave decades The Para
disc of the Christian Soul" Benziger
Bros. Now York;. Many Of THE SvN
family of readers will be interested In
ing his ada ptation OF the Latin vocative,
so rare In modern poetry.
a. w. RRANpr.
VIII you let me know why, in the
civil war. Mrs. Surratt was either
hanged or shot? Was she not n spy?
J. Nick. =.
Mrs. Surratt kept q boarding house
IN Washington where met John Wilkes
Booth and the other conspirators against
the life Of President Lincoln. or these
conspirators, her son, John II. Surratt,
tails are in the larger American his
tories.
Kindly tell US the busiest corner IN
the world for traffic. ELKs' HOME.
No exact figures appear, but two eS'