Evening Star Newspaper, March 3, 1894, Page 17

THE EVENING STAR. PUBLISHED PiiLy EXCEPT SUNDAY. aT THE STAR BUILDINGS, M101 Pecasyivauia Avene, corner LIth St, by Evening Star Newspaper Company, _ EH NAUFFMANN, Pret = New York Otion, 38 Potter Building, ———=——— ‘TRE FVENING STAR 's served to subscribers in the city by carriers, their own account, at 10 cents week. or 4c. per month. Copiey at the counter cents éach. BY mail—aaywhere in the United aod or Canadsa—postage prepaid—30 cents per month. SATURDAY QuINtTrPL® SHEET STAR $1.00 ° with foreicn postare adel, $2.00. — (Fntered at the Post Office at Washington, D. c., | fart Che F pening Star. Pare @@ Al mai’ subscriptions m hates of en am second-clas# mafl matter. mst be paid in advance: ew an Piet A SKETCH FROM THE —18 FEET. e st ELEVATION —— Susoae Gorromen Ice Boat Bunt oF Auminum \ Waren Weciman Eso N 184 Wasun DE st TO THE NORTHPOLE ——_s—____ ‘Preparations for the Wellman Arctic Expedition, OVER THE ICE FIELDS The Three Aluminum Boats Ex- pressly Built for the Trip. THEY ARE LIGHT AND COMMODIOUS The Weight and Clumsiness of the Boats of Former Expeditions. THE BOATS AS SLEDGES Written for The Evening Star. HILE IT IS TRUE one does not often at- tract the attention of the world by telling what he is going to do, but by doing it, we have been sur- prised at the extent of popular interest alrda@y manifested in our expedition to- ward the north pole. Our plans seem now to be well known on both sides of the At- fantic, for we have had a number of cablegrams from Great Britain and Beandinavia sent by persons who are eager to link their fortunes with ours in the dash for the pole, besides a larger number of volunteers from this country. The English and continental newspapers bave published dispatches both from Amer- fea and Norway concerning our plans. A cablegram from Christiania, Norway, a few days ago, published in the American Papers, announced that three Norwegians would accompany the American"press ex- Pedition to the polar regions and that the Norwegian ship Ragnsvald Jarl: had been chartered to convey the expedition. The meaning of this, as we have been advised by private dispatches, is that three Nor- ‘wegian men of science connected with the universities of Christiania have engaged fo accompany us, not only to work with = B ~ the boats and sledges, but to pursue their Special investigations in the far north. Other Norwegians are being engaged by eur agents in that country. The Expedition’s Stanch Steamer. The Ragnsvald Jarl, which we have chartered for the year 1894, is one of the Sianchest little steamers in Norway. She fs 100 feet long, feet beam, 10 feet @raught, and thoroughly weil built and equipped in every particular. She is rated Well in Lioyd’s and was designed and con- Structed with a special view to work in the fee. For several years she has been en- Gasged in the seal trade in the Norwegian and arctic seas, and her specially strength- ened and sheathed prow has rammed many 2 e. Her master, E. Pederson, 4s one of those hardy Norwegian mariners who do not hesitate to sail before the | Winter is over and while the arctic night | fs still on, throvgh frightful storms and | ng frozen into ice palaces which Paul or Quebec might ew t at the northern fishing. The Jarl awaits us at the town of Aale- 1, near Bergen, where she fs being over- 1 and outfitted for our use, and where hope—but probably in vain—that they Will succeed in faking some of the odor of h oil out of her ers. At this pretty port Aalesund, which the writer visited last mer while in Norway making prelimi- tions angements for possession dle of April. all sail threugh the west coast of Nor- 1 thence depart, about . for an early | and about the m later we s rds of th Three Marve Important to us as ¢ us Boats. steamer fs, vital ‘ar progress as it is to have a stanch, essing ship that will, if need be, ram her way through the ice which sometimes imcumbers the western coast of Spitzber- {quirements of size and strength, DESIGNER'S DRAWING gen, the Ragnsvald Jaz! is by no m important a feature of our proj three marvelous boats which built and are now putting the touches upon in Baltimore. If we neve anything more for the world we shall be entitled to a vote of universai thanks fo having pioneered the wa tion of aluminum life and required nerve, both of the the other sort, to in the construction expedition, but we had it, surpasses our expectati. should be remembered, is sledging and boatin expedition the pole. It is not an attempt to rea pole in a ship. After the Ragnsvald | leaves us at the edge of the ice pack these lit- Ue boats will be our only craft. y Wii be life or death to us. w finishin: lightest and stror ever built anywh The “Metal of the Future. After returning from Europe 1 sum- mer the writer determined to embark in polar explora ast one year, if he could carry out his plans. He knew the ice pack could be traversed if the we be carried could be made light enoug the power applied in moving th O made great enough. To attempt this feat with a reasonabie ch: he knew certain would be necessary, and nd the questi if they were within the limits of practic in the mechanical certs. It was hoped aluminum, “‘the metal of the future," i solve of s! the problem greatest tw Men Lifting Boat No. +. with least weight, but aluminum was only coming into use, and as to ts val was everything to learn by trial. a business tir which we co ments Only before entering the not afterward; it was an enterprise in w! we early decided the very bast the arts and 1 irg successive layers of chemica!ly prepar- point of entrance into a pulpy mas ice. brash ice, and neither could endure the we expect to encounter. make admirable life-boats iron. Steel boats are very in ratio to weight, of cours ized or less in any climate and would be sorry- looking craft after a to the Indies. the copper to the extent of tion i Yuminam in this ¢ to be determ jsea that some: WASHINGTON, D.C, § ‘d paper over a mold. The result is a beat perfectly tight and very elastic, with no seams to need calking. But once pune- re or fracture a paper skin and the water oon soaks the fabric at and around the Paper oats seem lighter and stronger than wooden boats of the same size, and either would erve in water free from masses of floating But neither could live in sludge or train of sledging over the rough ice which So with skin boats, boats. One after her boats, raw-hick another, carefully investigated, fell by the wayside. ‘ Metal boats came next. Several builders i iron. But boats more month's use in the the summer the atmo: ly humid, and where rain, fogs prevail three days oat Obviously steel would not do for ice. ving Strength of Aluminum. me aluminum. The i: cost and the more or le re of the construction. nd that we could yer cent pure and 3 per ce streagth of from iach, .» Where in to ex: but Then were ine we rather stronger and with 65 per ene ier cost 207 stand in the alamo are in s bright ond seven nin n inch. neh, ho ndths of of th hata qua: our su Te of fo ; is he ovice AS a sheet of ste nd@ three times < anized iron. cident Hunt of the Pittsbu Company, the re- roiliags nd methods: aluable. We After the With the mate cted, was the yas Sought in various dire: ex! was conridered se of expeditions es to whieh we w we re io put the « dered first of all, and the signer, Charles C. Dodge of the constru tion bureau of the Navy Departm suce ful ‘d with the idea thar to be to eros: mes exists for ¢ or a |bergen in autumn. Nor was he to ove! sciences could produce and money could |Jook the fact that we might find itn buy was not too good for us, but in which |sery to land our craft throuzh ihe nothing impractical or hazardous could be |either at Spitzbergen or at those now un. ventured. known lands which we hope to reach in the Accordingly the services of a young but | farther north. thoroughly competent consult! engineer Mr. Dodz2 modeled his design v were secured in James C. McGuire, whose family is well known in Washington, and who is one of the rising men of his profes- sion. A graduate of the Rennselaer Poly- technic Institute of Troy, having had years . ery close- after the surf boat of the Hfe-saving vice, which has proved itself the best surf and life ing craft in the world. It is really a life boat, but it is called a f boat in netion m the heavier of experience in metals with the Phoe: craft of si construction which are bridge works, having seen field service with | called life boats. The service boats the Nicaragua Canal Construction Com- | usuaily from twenty-five to twenty pany, and beirg of a conservative, cautious temperament. Mr. McGuire was j the man for such a task as this. for many months he has been hard at work upon the various features of ou whatever merit many sess he Is entitled to the ven feet jong, six and a half to seven feet beam and two feet three inches t inches depth amidships. the life-saving servi not a di . the types of boats in most successful u: along the coas: two feet six The surf boats of > are a development, Y Were evolved from cover of Jersey and Long layman, projector and enthusi« They are made as light as possible, the impracticable or encroached too much| they may be uickly carried or drawn upon the “factor of safety" which e along the san beach to the scene of a true engineer loves so well, Mr. Met e@ | wreck. They are still too heavy, and no interposed a professional veto, but in the | one in this country aside from ourselves main he has carried out the pl: writer with most admirable res L What the Boats Must Endure. i One of the important questions which we had to decide was of what material the boats should be constructed. The boats must be both light and strong. They must stand between the members of our party and death in the ice fields, in the surf possibly, or on the open ocean to the north of Spitzbergen. Any one of them must be able to carry fourteen men and some sup- plies in an emergency. In weight of men, dogs, provisions, etc., two of them must have an ultimate capacity of 7,000 pounds. They must be practically non-sinkable. They must be so strong of frame, especially in stiffness forward and aft, that they could be used as bridges over leads or openings in the ice, or as levers to lift their own weight and loads over the hummocks and irregular masses of ice which we shall find more than enough of upon our journey. Their plating or skins must be tough enough to resist the blows of ice masses floating in the water, without fracture, splintering, cracking or perceptible weakening. They must be capa- | ! ble of easy and quick repair while in the field. They must be fitted with a runner or sledge contrivance upon their bottoms to facilitate hauling over ice and snow, in and out of water and upon the frozen surface of our aretic highway, and to protect the bottoms from injury. They must endure some degree of cold and be safe from injury by the salt of the sea. With all the: was | stipulated that their weight should not ex- | ceed 500 pounds, with instructions to make them as much lighter as would be con- sistent with safety. Investigating Boat Materials. Then began a laborious series of inquiries into all known materials for boat building. Wooden boats could be built with light frames, and with skins a quarter of an inch thick, within the required limits of weight. But through the sides of such boats a man could jam his boot heel, suggesting dire probabilities after a few days’ encoun- ter with the ice. Wooden skins, light weights and resisiance to blows were found tl tl t u Ke jt Working on teat No. 2. absolutely incompatible, and continued. Canvas boats are exceedingly light, and may be made tolerably safe for service in water alone, but were out of the question for use in the ice. Paper boats seemed promising. A man once cruised from Albany, N. Y., to New Orleans in a paper boat that weighed only fifty-eight pounds. Paper rowing shells have long been used by the ‘varsity crews. A Massa- chusetts firm has on the market beautiful the search e en than Supt. Kimball of the life-sa’ | shone lik art. with the hummocks and ice fields of the north in their mind's eye, it was a pleasure to see two men easily pick up one of the boats and move along with it. the party astonishment of the bystanders, been galv: is more interested in these aluminum boats ing sery- He is looking for lighter boats. and if ice. Showing the Sledge Bottom. one could judge from his delight with these ittle craft of aluminum when he went over to Baltimore to see them a few days ago aluminum service are things of the near future. surf boats in the life-saving The Record of a Gallant Craft. It is a tremendous advantage, not only upon the ice as We shall find ft, but in the surf, to have a boat that is not too heavy. The American surf boat ts superior to the English life boat, brated in song and story, count of its lightness, crew to handle her quickly in heavy seas. While an English Ife boat weighs from which has been cele- chiefly on ac- which enables her hree to four thousand pounds, an Amert- can surf boat weighs only 800 or 1,000 pounds. Superintendent Kimball tells us hese surf boats have in eighteen years been launched 6,730 times in actual serv- ice and have landed 6,785 persons from wrecked vessels. every launchi In all this service, nearly through a rolling surf, zed but fourteen times. hey have cap: Six of these capsizes were attended by | loss of life, the number of persons perish- ing being ‘forty-one. In thirty-two years he self-righting and self-bailing life boats of England were launched in actual service 5,000 times and there were forty-one cap- by These figures, lives were as others which eighty-eight as well which could be presented, are in favor of |the American surf boat as the most suc- | cessful life-saving craft of the world, and | there | model, as in our material, we have chosen is no room for doubt that in our Charles S. Rossiter & Co. of Baitimore have bullt these boats, and they have done | their work well. |ago the craft were found trim and tight. On inspection a few days “arried from the shop into the sun they silver and resembled works of he jeweler’s rather than the boat builder's To the members of the expedition, A lady of had no difficulty in raising one nd of the craft clear of the ground. Four men carried the heaviest boat a_consider- able distance with only such hold as they ould get with their hands, greatly to the who had customed to seeing boats of wood or nized tron dragged by horses or car- paper boats, the shell being made by past- |ried by as many men as could crowd about ATURDAY, MARCH 3, 1894—TWEN TY PAGES. ub them. The weight of our heaviest boat will be only 450 pounds, and four men will be able to handle her in the roughest ice. Boats of Other Expeditions. To any one familiar with arctic work it is not necessary to point out the tremen- dous advantage which we shall enjoy in this respect over previcus expeditions of a boating and sledging character. We print herewith a sketch showing fifteen men of the Jeannette expedition pulling and hauling away for dear life on a single boat. The small boats of that expedition,though some- what larger than ours, weighed from 2,500 to 3,500 pounds, without anything in them. They were English boats, bought with the Pandora and retained on board when that art was rechristened Jeannette and sent for the pole. The wonder is, not that De- Long and Melville were so long in crossing * pack of open water, but that with such enormously heavy boats to drag they were able to cross it at all. One of the most pathetic pictured, known ‘o arctic literature is that of the discovery ock of a boat that had belonged Franktin party. In either end of it, buried by ice end snow, was the skele- ton of a man. of the boat ts to haul the t across the ice and snow had t n axes and timbers in order to t f Sir John Franklin had | equi |p had ats and other light ment such as ours he might not have ed in the : rt. When Sir Edward Parry m de his memor- jabic dash tor the poie, the effort which varned for him the distinetion of being the mest brilliant of all plorers, he ans Men io Ove Boat . each of which weighed, nearly 1,700 pounds, carried t with its f raft wert nd that Parry Spitzbergen, with a late start nd yet the record which his day been beaten only ade that How Our boats hteen feet long, four and one-half fe m, two feet deep amid- sips, with breadth carried well forward and aft, thus giving stability and capacity. They contain no frames, the gunwales of alumi- num angie bars, the thwarts and knee- b s and the water-tight compartments in either end giving the necessary rigidity. Teo much rigidity is undesirabie, elasticity serving to cushion the blows of the ice and to transmit the force of concussion through whole structure. The plating is only three thirty onds of an inch thick, but so strong and tough is it that vigorous blows with a hy hammer or sledge upon any part of the boat caused no injury, and it Was impossible to see where the blows had struck. The keel fs a plate of aluminum stood vertically and riveted in. The two } Water-tight compartments, which are to be used also for stowage of instruments, rec- ords and other articles of which special care must be taken, render the craft practically. hon-sinkable. A baenboo mast will -sup| the sail in case we find open water. plates which form the skin of the boat are riveted together, clinker style, with strips of Canton flannel between, after the usual manner of building metallic boats. A water- proof awning will cover each boat, end within these little houses we expect to sleep, to cook and eat and rest our weary limbs after each day’s toil amid the fce for a pe- riod of more than one hundred days. With one of the water-tight compartment decks for a desk, we hope to write there many a good story of our adventures, and send it back, with appropriate illustrations from photographs developed in our portable dark room, for the entertainment of the readers of The Star. Sledges as Well as Bouts. A distinctive feature of these boats is the shoe for running upon snow and ice. One of our illustrations shows this device quite clearly. It is composed of two keels of ash, ten feet long, placed two feet apart upon the bottom of the craft. Across the bottom of these keels, and up their outer sides, is riveted a sheet of aluminum an eighth of an inch thick, thus forming a perfectly smooth broad bearing surface, a part of the boat Itself, for running upon the snow, the slush or the hard ice. Our boats, there- fore, are sledges as well as boats, The space between the bottom plate, the two ash runners and the skin of the boat is packed with cork, not for the sake of buoy- ancy, but to take up and distribute the pressure and the blows which will be sure to come upon the bottom plate or sledge. Boats used in former expeditions of this character have been mounted upon sleds, or have had separate runners fasten- ed to their bottoms. The sleds are heavy and unwieldy, and runners standing apart one from the other are likely to be broken or twisted off by hard usage. More than one expedition has been delayed or defeat- ed by the turning in of a sledge runner. In our construction the runner is as solid as the boat itself. It stiffens the craft enor- | mously fore and aft. It cannot well be broken, and the two pieces of wood, en- ; rely covered by metal, are not liable to become water soaked or to splinter or crack. Again, ordinary separate runners cut into soft snow and make the task of pulling exceedingly difficult. With their broad, smooth bearing surface our boats are expected to run over snow or slush of any consistency. Two of our boats are of the size already given, while the third is smaller, only four- teen feet long, though built in the same manner. It is a working boat, a tender. Though we have built the first aluminum beats In this country, racing shells only ex- cepted, we believe they are the lightest, the handsomest, the strongest, the most’ per- fectly adaptable boats ever used in the arctics. That they are also the most ex- pensive, costing a thousand dollars apiece, cuts no figure. How well they serve us, and what we succeed in accomplishing with them, we hope to tell the readers of The Star in letters from the far north dur- ing the coming summer. WALTER WELLMAN, pee Sees Native Advantages, From Puck. The telegraph linemen have it much ea- sier in Africa than they do in civilized por- tions of the globe. HORSForD's: ACID PHOSPHATE For the Tired Bra: from over-exertion. Try it. AS TOLD BY SERVANTS Gossip About the Home Life of Some Noted Presidents. GRANT'S BODY SERVANT Characteristics of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan. THE WHITE HOUSE STABLES Written for The Evening Star. MONG THE MOST interesting men about Washington are those who have worked for Presi- dents. I don’t mean the men who have helped to run admin- istrations, nor to make Presidenis. I refer to the servants of the Presidents of the past, who have lived with thei in the White House,and who have known them as oniy a servant can know his master. I know a number of such men. Some of them are clerks ‘n the departments; others run little business establishments of their own, One who was a steward during two administrations has a restaurant, and another,peraaps the most interesting of all, drives bridal couples and tourists about Washington in his public cab. This last man began his life in con- nection with the White House as President Pierce's groom. During the latter part of that administration he was the coachman of President Pierce, and he remained at the head of the White House stables during the days of Buchanan, Lincoln and Jobn- son. Gossip About President Pierce. I chatted with him one day about Presi- dent Pierce, and asked him what kind of a man he was. He replied: “President Pierce was the best-looking President I have ever seen. He was a kind master and so common like that he would talk to me just as freely as to the diplomats who came in their royal liveries. I always took care of his saddle horse, and I got him ready for him every day. He had a beautiful horse, but she was blind as a stone wall, though no one knew it. His livery was navy blue, with silver buttons, and I hada fine suit while he was President. He would often come into the stable and pat the herses and say, ‘Now, Thomas, please put on the saddle and let me have a ride.’ He would then sometimes walk out toward the treasury while his horse was being got ready. He liked to ride fast, and he would gallop through the streets at night. He was entirely different from President Buch- anan, who never rode on horseback and never came to the stables.” “Did Buchanan have good horses?” I asked. “Yes, but the best of them were ridden Harriet Lane. He had one of the finest ‘harnievses that ever came io Washington. It had buckles heavily plated with silver, and there were fifty-six silver B's in dif- ferent places upon it. It cost $800 and it was made by a firm in Philadelphia and sent to him as a present. He wouldn't take it as a gift, and asked what it cost. He was told and he sent over a check for the money.” A Drink With Andrew Johnson. During another drive I asked this man to tell me something about Andrew John- son and whether it was true that Presi- dent Johnson was drunk while he was in ‘< White House. He replied: “I never say ident Johnson under the influence of Mquor, and though I drove his horses ard met him every day I never even smelt it upon his breath. I know, however, that he used to drink a little and that he kept good whisky. One evening I had taken him to adinner and had to wait out in the cold for several hours for him. When he got back to the White House I was rearly frozen, and the President must have noticed it, for he said, ‘Thomas, come up into my room for a moment, I want to show you something.’ I did so, and when we got there he asked me if I didn’t want a glass of wine to warm me up. I told him I didn’t care for wine, but if he had some good whisky I would be glad to take a drink. As I said this he smiled and he brought me out some of the best whisky I have ever tasted. President John- son was not a stingy man. He paid all the expenses of the White House stables, and made me keep account of every cent’s worth of feed the horses ate. He kept eight horses, and his best team was a pair of blacks, which he bought at a government sale of horses at the close of the war.” One of Lincoln's Coachmen. One of Lincoln’s coachmen ts working in the War Department. He has been there for years, and his appointment was secured for him by Tad Lincoln. He had to leave the White House because Mrs. Lincoln dis- charged him. He had gone away for a few moments one day when an order came from Mrs. Lincoln for the carriage. She was told that the coachman was out, when she grew very angry. She sent for a livery, and when this man came back he was told that a new coachman had been employed. He was a great friend of Tad’s, however, and Tad got his father to write him a card asking the Secretary of War to give him a Position, and he got it. One of the most affecting stories I have ever heard was that of My. Pendle, who has been in the White House for more than a generation, and is now, at the age of seventy, still there. I was writing up reminiscences of the us- sassination of President Lincoln as he de- scribed how the news was received at the White. House, and how little Tad ran in and told him that they had killed papa. Pendle was appointed by Lincoln, and though he is now seventy he still holds his position. He Was Close to Grant. Speaking of the War Department, Marri- son, Grant’s body servant, was on the roll of its employes for a long time after Gen. Grant's death, and I think he has a place under the government today. He got his place through a letter which Gen. Grant had written for him before he died, and he is a most efficient man. I knew him first when he was with Grant at Mount Mc- Gregor, and I saw him there at the time of Gen. Grant’s death. He told me one day when Grant first realized the fact that had to die.. “It was at the office of Dr. Douglas in New York,” said he. “You kiow Dr. Douglas was a specialist who treated Grant’s throat. The time was once when he had called at Dr. Douglas’ office. Gen. Grant had just had an examination of his throat. He feared cancer, and he asked Dr. Douglas if he could assure him that there was no danger in this respect. The doctor told him that he could not be positive, but that he hoped to be able to cure him. It was then that Gen. Grant realized that he had to die. He said, ‘If you think that way, doctor, there is no hope for me.’ As we drove away he told me not to tell Panything to his family about it, but he failed from that time. No one will ever know the terrible pain that Gen. Grant had. He often walked the floor all night, but he never told his family. When they asked in the morning how he had rested he would say, ‘pretty well,’ and he tried to be cheerful. I never knew him to fose his temper. He worked right along to finish his book, and he was happy when it was done. He was the kindest man that I ever kre and every one about him loved him.” Grant's Stenecrapher. Something the same was told me by Grant's stenographer and private secretary during Grant's latter 4; This man's name was Mr. N. E. Dawson, one of the ablest shorthand writers in the United States, and a man who has probably had more -friendships with the great men of the country than any other. He served un- der Grant at Vicksburg, and acted as his secretary for some years before he died. He has during the past summer been connected with the world’s fair offices at Chicago. He spoke to me in the highest terms of Gen. Grant’s kindness during his last days. He told me that Gen. Grant was very cautious in writing not to injure the feelings of any- one, and that he often imagined things might hurt which would have been pertectly harmless had they been printed. He says that Grant's voice grew weaker and weak- er in his dictations he neared his death, and at the last he had to take his seat very close to him and the general whispered the words in his ears while he took them down in shorthand. After a time his voice failed altogether, and he wrote the last part of his book on slips of yellow manilla paper and handed them over to Mr. Dawson to arrange them. Mr. Dawson says that Gen. Grant was wonderfully relieved when the book was finished. He had no idea, how- ever, that it would be such a great financial success, and he hoped only that it would Gen. Grant Dictating During His Last Hours. give a competency to his family. One ct the remarkable things that Mr. Dawson told me during an interview which I had with him some years ago was as to a mine in Mexico, of which Gen. Grant was offered the presidency. In Dawson’s presence the owners of this mine told Grant that they would make him a present of $1,000,000 if he would accept the presidency of the com- pany operating it. This was when Grant Was in Mexico, and he refused this offer. Few of our Presidents or ex-Presidents have ever been offered a like sum. Garfield's Steward. ‘There are a number of men about Wash- ington who have been connected with the gastronomy of the White House, and there is an old lady here who has furnished the ice cream and pastry which ‘have helped ruin the stomachs of a half dozen Presi- dents. Arthur's chief cook has a restau- rant and catering establishment here, and the steward who presided over the White House kitchens during the days of Hayes and Garfield has, during the past summer, had a boarding house down on the Potomac. I talked with this man about the tastes of the Presidents he had served shortly after he had left the White House, and his stories were interesting. He told me that Garfield came into the White House with dyspepsia, and that he could eat nothing but the plainest of food. One of his favorite dishes was baked potatoes, and he would have these broken open as soon as they came on the table. He would press the mealy mass out of the skins with his hands and pour cream over it, and he thought that potatoes and cream were more digestible than potatoes and butter. He told me that Garfield always had baked potatoes for breakfast and that he ate beef- steak for breakfast and dinner. President Hayes’ Sweet Tooth. I asked this man about the tastes of President Hayes. He told me that Hayes always had candy on his table and that Mrs. Hayes doted on angel and fruit cake. President Hayes would not eat pork, but he liked good steak and mutton chops for breakfast and his breakfast was always a big one. Said the steward to-me: “When President Hayes was in the White House we had our meals something like this. Breakfast was ready at 8 o'clock and we began with fruit, and followed this up with oatmeal or grits. We always had cake, and President Hayes especially liked cakes made of corn meal. The whole family drank coffee, and we used Mocha and Java mixed. At 1 o’clock we had lunch, and at this we had a salad, cold meats, bread and butter, with coffee and tea. The big meal was at 6 o'clock, and it was served in courses. We usually began with oysters, and then had a fillet or roast, with vegetables. We had after this, game and dessert, and we never omitted the after dinner coffee. We never had wine on the table, and Garfield Gid_not drink wine with his meals.” “Flow about President Arthur? You were with him for a while?” “President Arthur always had wine, and he spent a great deal in this way. He ate light breakfasts, but his dinners were al-| ways late, and we had to wash the dishes {n the early morning. He kept a good table, but he was a hard man to work for. Presidents’ Watch Dogs. One of the biggest men who has ever been employed about the White House was the late Sergt. Densmore, who acted so long as the watch dog of presidents. He stood at the door of the White House and kept off the cranks. He was over six feet 'n rize. His arm was as big around as an or3inary man’s leg, but his bright biue eye could tell | a crank at a glance. While he was in office he told me many stories bout his ex- periences with crazy people who wanted to get at the President. He would not let me use the matter at that ‘ime, as he said be did not think it right for an emplove to talk about his employers. Now he is dead and the men for whom he worked have passed away, and I see no harm in me tioning one or two of them. One case which he spoke of was that of a man who thought he was a prophet. lie told him that “his name was mentioned in the book of revelations, and that he made and un- made Presidents. He said he cont jed_des- tiny, and that Washington, Jetferson, Jack- son and Lincoln were made by him. He wanted to get at President Hayes, and when he was opposed he made many threats against the President and had to be carried off to jail. Nearly every day Densmore had to send some one to the asy: lum or the police station, and be often had men to claim that they were the l’resident themselves and try to take possession of the White House. Only a short time ago a man called with a new religion to present to President Harrison, and in 18%) a man in woman's clothes was discovered mov about among our fashionable crowds hi He was taken to the station hevse and seven pocketbooks were found concealed about the woman's garme which he wore. Densmore took to a large extent the place of detectives at the Whi ouse During Cleveland's ‘ast administration rearly all of his receptions were attended by policemen in citizen’s clothes, and he had the same place now held by Sergt. Decker. FRANK G. CARPENTER. TO ADVERTISERS, ‘Advertisers are urgently re quested to hand in advertisements the day prior to publication, in order that insertion may be as- sured. Want advertisements will be received up to noon of the day of publication, precedence being given to those first received. NOW SIXTY — YEARS OLD Coming Anniversary of the Congressional Temperance Society. Brief Sketch of the Organization— Some Noted Names on Its List of Membership. This is the oldest temperance organiza- tion in America. It may not be a matter of general knowledge that for more than half a century there has been in active operation at the nation’s capital a temper- ance society instituted by members of Con- gress, manned by them, and composed of Senators and Representatives. So common living at a distance from the seat of gov- ernment would never dream of the existence of such an organization. Legislative cen- ters are supposed to be centers of corrup- tion; men prominent in the national coun- cils are made to appear as patterns of everything save virtue, yet from the foun- dation of our government this great cause has had some of its most loyal supporters in our legislative halls, and as early as 1774, in the first continental congress, this bold action was taken: “Resolved, That it be recommended to the all manence of our free imstitutions: of the leterious ; and means of counteracting fects is the influence of Hie Ea i é ' countenance by example influence the use of ardent traffic in it throughout the Under this constitution the forward actively for nine annual meetings and adding ous names to its rolls; but the advance in sen mon imterpretation of the spirit,” and a notable instance of efficacy of the old pledge in the Thomas Marshall of Kentucky, of the a new constitution | i I if society, adopted and a new organization eff under the title, “‘The Congressional Total Abstinence Society. On this basis the association carried on many years. In 1st, under the inaplzation many years. In 187 rt of such men as Vice President Wilson and Senator Buckingham of C society became specially alive to the great purpose of its eet syne has enjoyed increasing usefulness and prosperity since that time. On its roll from the beginning appear such names, famous in history, es We Giimer of sinia 3 R. Giddings . Gilmer Y irgit joshua of Ohio, Rufus Choate of Massachusetts, John Blair of Tennessee, Henry A. Wise of Virginia, Millard Fillmore of New York, Thomas F. Marshall of Kentucky, W. W. Elisworth of Connecticut, Felix Grundy of Tennessee, Franklin Pierce of New Hamp- shire, William C. Rives of Vi ‘Thomas Ewing of Ohio, Presidents of the United States, signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, justices of the Supreme cabinet officers, Senators, Representatives and heads of departments. Among later subscribers and active workers in the or- ganization may be mentioned Thomas W. Ferry, Henry Wilson, Schuyler Colfax, William Windom, Lot M. Morrill, John A. Logan, William B. Washburn, James Mon- roe, Hiram Price, James A. Garfield, F. T. Freylinghuysen, Henry W. Blair, Alfred H. Colquitt, Henry L. Day John D. wes, Long, Elijah A. Morse, J. D. Taylor, Nel- son Dingley, and scores of others well known in public life. The annual meeting of the society is held on the Lord’s day nearest the 22d of Feb- ruary, and one of the largest halls in the city is required to accommodate the people who attend these annual gatherings. Present Officers. The present officers of the Congressional Temperance Society are N. Dingley, M. C., | president; Senators Colquitt ahd Wilson, and Congressmen Blair, Pickler, Morse, Johnson and ex-M. C. J. D. Taylor, vice presidents, and Rev. F. D. Power, secre- tary. The usefulness of this organization at the capital cannot be questioned. The or- | ganization has a constantly changing mem- | bership on account of the fluctuations in political life. Its present enrollment is forty; sometimes it has reached over 100, | at other times it has fallen as low as a | dozen, but it has lived and has borne aloft | the white banner of total abstinence, and given its witness fearlessly, watched ail measures before the national legislature bearing upon temperance and other moral reforms; combated in every possible wey | the most colossal infernity of modern times, | and will continue, we trust, to stand for (these great principles that are most en- lightened, philanthropic, statesmanlike, | Christian and vital, and without which the | Fepublic must perish. Its Sixtieth A: versary. ‘The next public meeting of this “ancient | and honorable” organization will be its six- | tieth anniversary. The Sons of Temper- | ance were organized in 1842,the Good Temp- | lars came into being in 1851, the Templars | of Honor and Temperance in 1845, and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union tn 1 so it will appear that the congres- sional society antedates them all. The 20th of March being the ninetieth anniversary of the apostle of prohibition, Hon. Neal Dow of Maine, it was determined at a re- cent meeting of oy Ne gen ays nd nce Society to hold its anniversary Sunday evening, March 18, instead of Feb- |ruary 25, the regular time, and to make it a Neal Dow meeting. The service will be held in the Metropolitan M. E. Charch, 4 1-2 and C streets, and there will be ad- dresses by ogee ys wom gn Reign Morse and others, and a report of e = ress of the work of temperance during the | year by the secretary. ———— ual. | Jenkins—“That was @ very peculiar pro- | gressive euchre party at Fulldeck’s, wasn't it? | Mrs. Jenkins.—“I didn’t notice anything Jenkins.— everybody knew | how to play! . | remarkable about it.”” Yo? Why, The Charge. | From Trath. Leeds—“Gilmore went in a side door the other day to get a drink, and was arrested.” Mansfield—“What was the charge?” Leeds—“Impersonating an officer.”