The Washington herald., 1920-07-25
"lhe House of Diplomats, "Caterer
To White House Since Buchanan,
GiUes Way to Departmental Bank

The House of Diplomats" locst-
ed at 17l4 Pennsylvania avenue
northwest. which in the days of
Its fame housed at various times
such celebrities as the Russian.
Austrian. Belgian, Spanish and Itsl-
ian ministers. while under the ca
pable management of Charles De-
monet, and later his son. Jules De-
monet, will soon be ObIiterated as
a historical site, as it is rapidly
being wrecked to make way for
the new Departmental Bank. The
Departmental Bank is the unOffi-
cial designation Of the present So
ciety for Savings and Loans, now
situated at 522 Thirteenth street
northwest.
In years gone by The House of
Diplomats" was continually inhab-
itcd by diplomats who came there
to converse and dine. and last night
Jules DemOnet. the present owner
Of the building, related a portion
Of the interesting history connected
with the home Of his fathers
famous catering business which was
House since the days. of President
Buchanan.
spanish Minister Frightened
Mr.. DemoneS detailed the char
zcteristiCs of some of the distin-
guished persons who at various
times occupied apartments in his
fathers house He told of the Bel
gidn Minister Delfosse. who lived
there fourteen years, and whose
piano playing made frantic the Ital-
ian Minister who occupied the
apartment below. He told also of
the Spanish Minister Virgo, a very
-nerVous man, obsessed with the fear
that enemies were always after him.
on one occasion in his chancery he
accidentally dropped lighted
match in some draperies, which
caused a fire. This brought in a
crowd of men from the street,
whereupon the Minister, imagining
that they were his enemies rushing
upon him, set up a great cry for his
servant. a former soldier who serY-
ed him in the capacity of special
bOdyguard.
Listening to the "reminiscences Of
Mr.. Demonet, it was not difficult to
reconstruct in fancy the old neigh
borhood as it existed in the years of
which the speaker told-the old
Eagle restaurant, next door to
Demonet's, on the right, now oc-
cupied BY the postoffice; next to that
a coal and wood yard, and next to
that the house of Gen. Winfield
Scott, which later became a French
restaurant that was noted for the
-ayety OF the life within its walls
Not much, If anything, is left of
the structures that were there in
the period when Demonet's was
built, and now that, 100, is going
the way of the others. Before the
end of the week the last brick of
it will come down and old Demo-
nets will be a memory. The De-
monet building was built about
sixty years ago by Charles Demonet,
the founder of the catering business
that was carried on in the old place
up to a few years ago, when the es-
tAblishment was moved to its pres
ent quarters.
Business Increases
The new occupant of the site of
this historic old building. the De-
partmental Bank, comes there due
to the increase in the business of
necessary for II to ind enlarged and
permanent quarters.
The Society for Savings and Loans
is now doing a monthly business of
between 5000 and $4,000 in loans
made to Federal employees in the
District who suddenly need money
which Is not easily and quickly OBJ
tAinable from the larger financial
institutions, because the latter can
not profitably do a small loan busi-
ness. The Society, therefore, meets
a real need, although at the present
time IL is not possible for 1t to meet
that need to anything like the fun
extent 1.-THE demands made upon Il.
AS the Departme ntal Bank will be
chartered with a capital stock of
$500, 900. the savings institution will
be able to do a loaning business of
approximately s1.0oo.oo0 during its
first year under the name that II
novfuses unofSicially.
The bank will move October
tate its new building. which win