Evening Star Newspaper, July 13, 1895, Page 7

THE EVENING STAR, SATURLAY, JULY 13, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. ALEXANDER. SHEPHERD. The Ex-Governor Talks at Length to a ‘Star INTERVIEWED ON THE WING. His Own Account of His Mining Ventures in Mexico. RECOLLECTIONS OF WASHINGTON, Stories af the Exciting Days of ‘the Capital's Renascence. HIS VIEWS ON CURRENT POLITICS. ON THE PULLMAN TACITUS, July 12, 1895. Until I looked into a pair of resolute and earnest blue eyes, whose glance met mine with an expression of welcome in far off Tennessee this afternoon, I had not seen Alexander R. Shepherd,for eight years. ‘Then he stood upon a platform beneath the starry canopy of heaven, with head thrown proudly back and features flushed with pleasure, and looked out upon a sea of upturned faces. Not far from where he stood was an arch, gaily bedecked with flags and banners, beneath which he had passed but a few minutes be- fore, escorted by the thousands who had sugged out to do him honor long withheld. ‘The broad avenue it spanned had been packed by a -city’s populace, and now all had crowded to his feet to hear the simple words of thanks he had to say. A stratiger, pushed and jostled and bewil- dered, reached my elbow and asked me in a wondering sort of a way who the man was. In a moment of inspiration I replied: “Your grandchildren will know the capital of their nation as his monument. That men is Alexander R. Shepherd.” I little thought then that I would one day be the humble emissary who would kill southern leagues, and greet the hero of that memorable night when he again came to- ward Washington, proud to assure him that the esteem and affection in which he was held had increased as the square of the days he had been absent, and still less eculd I have believed that I would see the same strong, sturdy frame; the massive, characterful and impressive face; the same moving, animated mass of self-reliance that I remembered so well, a little creased here and there, and gray on the edges perhaps, but—Aleck Shepherd. There is no disrespect in the use of that familiar old-time name. Its repetition iow is suggestive. Once the loyal ones who stuck to that cheerful abbreviation were few, indeed. “Boss’’ was the sharp com- monplace of the multitude. But it is Aleck now on the tongues and in the hearts of all, and so let it be, for it signifies Im- mensity of purpose, steadfast determina- ticn, and the ability to dare and to do, and to succeed. Alexander R. Shepherd’s Career. Few lives contain a record of greater achievement than that of Alex. R. Shep- herd. To Washingtonians, of course, his mame is honcred, for the marvelous work he did for the city—work that was accom- plished in three brief years-but which transformed Washington from an ill-condi- tioned city of cobble stone and mud to one of the most beautiful capitals of the world. Mr. Shepherd had, before, in the prime of his manhood, he undertook this great work for his native city, achieved a success in private business that placed him among the foremost citizens of Washington. When he was called to the task of saving and regenerating the capital city he gave to it all his wonderful energy, and at its end retired to private life again to endeavor to save his fortune from the wreckethat threatened it from the three years of ne- glect it had suffered while he wAs giv’ his services to the public. He was com- led almost to begin life anew, and ban- hed himself to the wilds of northern Mexico, far from lines of communication, where he has performed another work, in evercoming nature’s obstacles, which in {teelf would be counted as a great life achievement. Alex. R. Shepherd was born fn Washington. He began the active struggle of life when @ young boy, his mcther having been early widowed and thrown upon her own re- sources. He steadily surmounted »very ob- stacle, and as a young man became master of a lucrative private business His strong loyaity to the Union at the outbreak of the war was proved by his volunteering at the firat call for troops, and entering the ser- vice of the government with the ald Na- tional Rifles. In that very year (1861) his remarkable administrative talent received public recognition by his election as presi. dent of the city council. When, ten years later, the capital was threatened not by foes of the government, but by the many who ridiculed its pretensions and demand- ed a removal of the seat of government to gome more worthy place, Alex: R. Shep- herd again came to its defense. chair- man of the Citizens’ Reform As%ociation he began the work of municipal revolution which resulted in estabifshing, in 1871, the territorial form of government. First as vice president of the board of public works, then as governor of the District, the story of the life of Alex. R. Shepherd for three years is practically the history of t= city during an eventful period, when more was accomplished for the city than during ail the rest of its century of existence. -Wash- ington was saved, but the work was not accomplished without strife or friction. Few men ever stood such a storm of abuse as that endured by Gov. Shepherd. But that is past. Already have the words of Senator Simon Cameron, uttered then in the Senate, been more than realized. The Senator said, speaking of the men who had regenerated Washington: “Thirty years hence some of these men, and among them the much-abused Goy. Shepherd, will be ai- most canonized in this city. He is yet a young man, and will probably live to over- come all this, and I have no doubt in after years he will be pointed at as the master spirit who had courage, intelligence snd vigor enough to combine the intellect cf this town in favor of its prosperity.” Characteristics of Bristol. It was at Bristol, Tenn., 430 miles from Washington, that I met him. For two hours and more I waited there for the train bearing Mr. Shepherd to come in from the south, and I sauntered around and looked over the town. It is.in two states, Virginia and Tennessee, and the Virginia portion is “wet” and the other “dry.” Consequently all the bar’ rooms and saloons front upon the east side of the street forming the boundary, and Virginia invites Tennessee thirsts to cross the dust line with steady persistence. They accept it with alacrity, too, whenever the oppor- tunity offers. Another characteristic of which Bristol is proud fs the fact that time changes there, and when it is 12 o'clock on one side of the street it is 1 on the other. It is the height of a Bristol dude's ambition, there- fore, to wear two watches, his habit being to wear eastern time in the right and cen- tral time in the left pocket. The possible alliance of two scions of leading families here was ruthlessly smashed up by this complicated time arrangement not long ago. ginia side of Bristol and the swain in Tennessee. He made an engagement to take her mother and her aunt and her two cousins from Knoxville and, of course, herself to a party down the country. He was to call with a double team at 7 o'clock. In the mad exhilaration of the moment and the excitement of changing his 4 o'clock for his $8 o'clock clothes he got his watches mixed and put the central time in his right pocket instead of his left. He thought time dragged, but it was a cloudy evening, and he waited patiently. He pull- ed out what he thought was his central time watch and started by it at a quarter to 7. When he reached the Virginia home of his heart's delight the parlor clock, kept religiously according to eastern rules, mark- ed four minutes to 8 The whole party had gotten mad and gone off in their own team with their colored man, and the match wag broken off. Now the young man wearS only a single watch that he sets diplomatically so that it is a half hour fast when he is in Tennessee and a half hour slow when he steps over to Virginia to slake his grief. I waited in the-depot previous to the arrival of the train, and I noticed Station Agent Wright saved him- self from possible trouble by keeping the hands of the clock there at twelve minutes of 7 all the time. Meeting the Governor. When the governor's train rolled in I found him where I'm grinding now, in the smoking compartment of the Tacitus, the rear Pullman. He greeted me cordially, and I congratulated him on his sturdy appearance and the little change that had taken place in his appearance. . “I have aged a good deal—I show it in my face,” returned the governor. “I was sixty years old on the 30th of January last, you know, so aD getting along. I haven't been feeling as #ell lately, as usual, either. I’ve suffered a good deal from vertigo, but I'm better aow, and I’m going to take a sea trip, which I expect to do me lots of good. I guess the long confinement at Batopilas and the unrelaxed attention to my business there has something to do The young woman lived on the Vir- with my feeling out of sorts. You can realize what that confinement was_when I tell you for seven years I have slept only ‘one night outside of the hacienda. I think Tll_go to China and Japan next summer, if I'm not called back to Mexico.” I asked him how his affairs were pro- gressirg there. “I am in hopes that in another year or twq we will begin paying regular divi- dends,” he replied. The characteristic, far- away look, with eyes east upward, so fa- miliar to his old friends, filtted over his face. “The mines of our company are not like other mines,” he said. “They will not be worked out and become useless. They will he steady and equable producers for the next hundred years or more. It has been my object to make them so.” He gre’ reminiscent. : ; His Wonderfal Work. “I went to Mexico first in 1879, and Eought the San Miguel mine for a million dollars. I didn't know anything about mining then, but an expert I employed ex- amined the property and said there was $300,000 worth of silver in the pillars sup- porting the mine, and 5,000 tons of ore in sight that would run $52 to the ton. I came back north and reported to the com- pany that $150,000 would he enough for working capital. I went back and went to work.” The governor paused ‘and looked out the window. “Those pillars produced just $30,000," he said, significantly, “and after six or eight months’ work with the mill the ore paid just $11 a ton. There was half a million lcss already. I had confidence in the min- eral value of that arroya, however. The old miners, who had worked the deposit before, had gone ahead on the theory that the silver lay in fissures ne&r the surface, and did not go deep in the earth. I didn’t believe it.” Again he paused in that characteristic Way he has, and then remarked: “t have gone down in that mountain to a depth of 1,700 feet, I am now 650 feet down below the bed of the river, and the deeper I have gone the richer I have found the sil- ver deposit to be.” “No one can conceive the obstacles that have been overcome down there,” he con- tinued. “TI found a wilderness, maialy com- pesed of a steep mountain side and a river. The arroya or cleft in which it flows is trom a quarter of a mile to 250 feet wide. “Our hacienda is there now, with im- trense ore mills, a refining plant, for we re- fine our own silver, and where we once paid $13 a cord for wood to make steam with, I have secured water, and it runs everything. The wood we were once compelled to use was cut in the mountains, and could only be brought to us on mule back.’” Millions ‘Taken Out of the Ground. He paused again. “I have spent $9,000,000 down theregand, with the exception of half a million work- irg capital, outside of the original cost of the property I have taken every cent of it out of the ground.” He seemed pleased at this, and the mas- sive under jaw shot forward in the old habit that men knew so well in Washing- ton twice ten years ago. I looked at him and thought it was good to be in th2 presence and to feel the mag- netism of a man like Shepherd. It is a spur to ambition, no matter in which di- rection it may lie or lead. You realize that you are in conjunction with the individual- ization of endeavor and enterprise, You re- member great works you have seen; the Toltec tunnel, as it runs out over the Royal Gorge; the Loop bet: een Georgetown, Col., and Silver Plume; the shaft in the ‘Alice, and a dozen other wonder-inspiring revela- tions of what genius allied to perseverance and enterprise can do, and you feel that the man by your side was equal to all those things, and more. So it etherealizes those obstacles you may have regarded as solid and unylelding, and you are buoyant and feel equal to attempting even greater things. There is immens® satisfaction in the episode. You are delighted to find that the supposed barriers to your purpose be- come so puny in contrast with those that were opposed to his. The natural conceit in you, which makes you secretly sure you can accomplish enything any other man can, aids in the sensation you experience, and so, I say, it is good for the soul of an aspiring man to enjoy the companionship of another when the other 1s Aleck Shep- erd. His Characteristics in Conversation. I have interviewed many men, and found them ready and voluble, careful and pre- cise, and sometimes, I'm sorry to say, petu- lant and sententious to a point of crabbed- ness, but my professional faith, and not any personal enthusiasm,*of which, how- ever, I admit-possessing an abundant quo- ta, prompts me to regi Mr. Shepherd as the most interesting man in an interview- able sense I have ever had the good for- tune to meet. The same directness of pur- pose that characterizes his actions marks his conversation. Dull detail and wearying statistics find no place in his information. He is a man of broad strokes and round numbers, and the interviewer who would draw a pad and pencil on him would raise his suspicions enough, I fear, to dam the fluency, of his entertaining language. So I sat and listened to Mr. Shepherd: Some- times he sat and listened to me, for he asked me about scores of people, old friends—and old enemies, toc—and display- ed an animated interest in everything per- taining to Washington. There was no beat- ing around the bush with him today any more than there was twenty, thirty or for- ty years ago. I have had his colleagues tell me that he was as full of determination and go-ahead-a-tiveness, despite obstacles and barriers, when he was twenty as he was when he was forty, and engaged in the face of unparalleled bitterness, hatred and opposition of all sorts in transforming Washington, as some one once said, from @ pig pen into a palace, and that he was as ready to express his candid opinion in a free and open manner in youth as in mid4} dle age. He is the same way yet. I held him on Batopilas because I knew how in- teresting his work there would be to the tens of thousands of his townsmen who have watched his career in the land of his self-imposed exile and prayed that it might be crowned with the success he has at last achieved. Forty Miles of Tunnels. “Eight years ago I bought all the other mines at Batopilas,” he said shortly, “and consolidated them in one company. The San Miguel mine when I bought it first belonged to the men who owned Wells, Fargo & Company’s express. The last man they had there in charge was named Robinson. He was there seventeen years, and in that time had ren a tunnel in the mountain six or seven hundred feet. I have put in since 1880 enough tunnels to reach from Wasirington to Baltimore—over forty miles of ‘em. I am now cutting a big tunnel that will eventualiy pierce vein in all the mines. It is already gh two of the largest and most re- munerative veins. This work will sim- piify the getting out of the mineral amaz- insly. I teld you we now used water as the power to run our works. I buile an aqueduct as big as the one that supplies Washington and two miles long up on the mountain side. I built 200 immease but- tresses to support it and even then I was sometimes afr that it might not prove strong enough. Last spring, though, we had the biggest freshet ever known in that country, and the aqueduct carried it off like oll. I have just finished a bridge over the river from one side of the Arroya to the other. It is the finest bridge in Mex- ieo, except perhaps one or two railroad bridges, and cost about $60,000.” “If Iam spared a fey years longer,” he said, “I will succeed in the object I placed before me when I went to Mexico, and have the finest mizing property in the world. There is no chancé for a doubt about that.” He spoke of his early experiences at the San Miguel when he first went there. It was evident that his predecessors had not inspired avery great amount of respect on the part of the natives. Shortly after his operations began there a young man who was taking treasure to one of the mines was killed by four Mexicans. How He Made Mexicans Honest. He wounded one of his assailants, who was carried off by his companions. After long and expensive search three of .the murderers were caught, tried, convicted and sentenced. “I tried to have the sentence carried out, but those Mexicans have a let of Victor Hugoish ideas about capital punishment and declined or failed to shoot them,” said the governor. “I was compelled to employ a guard to watch them in jail. After a year of this dilly-dallying President Diaz appointed Gen. Carlos Fuero governor of Chihuahua. I laid the matter before him and he ordered the prisoners taken to that city. Some of their friends sued out a et writ, something like our habeas cor- pus, upon which to secure their release. Fuero was at the theater when an ofl. cer came to serve the paper. With him was a Mexican gentleman, who was famil- jar with the facts in the murder case,which he quickly communicated to the general. The latter calmly told the official who had the writ to come next\morning at 8 o'clock to the jail and get th’ men. Fuero had the murderers shot at 6:30 in the morning, and when the man came with the writ he was given their bodies. That taught the rough class of Mexi a pretty salutary lesson. They got another some years later. One night I was awakened and told that a lot of tramp Mexican3 had broken into one of the mines and-carried off arms and portable property and imprisoned the su- perintendent. . A conductor—we call the men who take our treasure to Chihuahua and other markets cénductors—had just come in with a party of resolute fellows, so I mounted them @nd with others sent them after the thieves.” The governor smiled grimly here. “TI suggested that they need not trouble themselves taking any prisoners. They didn’t. They killed seven of the thieves. There has never been any trouble since. “I employ 1,500 men in the mines,” he continued. “No, they don’t regard me with superstition on account of what I have ac- complished. They app2ar to think I am a man of determined character who means what he sayg and will have no foolishness, and they know that I won't submit to any imposition. We can and do send our treasure to market without any fear of molestation. I maintain eight or ten stations on the road between ee gee and Chihuahua, where the conductors rest. We send treasure in bullion bars and sulphides that are precipi- tated from the silver. These run in value from $14,000 to $25,000 a ton. The largest amount of treasure we ever sent out at one time was $300,000. Proud of His Boys. “The Mexican workmen are tractable and of good disposition. They live outside of the hacienda. The Americans, clerks, superintendents and others, live in the ha- cienda, My three boys are there with me— Alexander, the eldest, named after me; then comes Grant, who is nineteen, and then the youngest, John Conness, - who is eighteen. He is one of the sturdi- est fellows you ever saw. He has been a great foot ball player. Like the others, he is over six feet tall, taller than J, and is a magnificent specimen of physical development. Young as ke is, he is superintendent of one of the mines, and has three hundred men under his con- trol, and they mind him just as a child would. its father. Going to Batopilas has been a great thing for my boys, and I think it has been for me, too. If I had remained in Washington I am afrald I could not have stood the pace. I knew everybody, and everybody knew me, and my asgoclations were such chat my life ‘would have been something lke burning the candle at both ends.” “My son-in-law, Walter M. Brodie, who is engineer of the company, has been with me for the last fourteen years, and ts un- excelled in his profession, My other son- in-law, E. A. Quintard of Tennessee, has been with me nearly as long, most of the time in charge of the reduction works, and is now in charge of the San Miguel. He is one of the brightest and most efficient men connected with the business. My nephew, Dr. Francis D. Merchant, a Wash- ington boy, learned first the beneficiation of metals, then went north and studied three years and took his degree in medicine. He returned, and after acting as surgeon of the hacienda for two years he took charge of one of our principal mines, as I was much in need of a trusty man. A Hospital. “I built a hospital down at the hacienda. You see there is a law requiring mine owners to take care of any of the men employed in the mines who may get hurt or fall sick, so we have from twenty to thirty patients all the time. Not long ago we had six men knocked out at one blast, owing to carelessness. Three died and three recovered. The men suffer very much from pneumonia, the changes from the in- terior of the mines to the outer air being very severe, especially in winter. The men are too imprudent. I have known a man to come out of @ mine in the morn- ing and be dead before night from con- gestion of the lungs. ‘There is a free dis- pensary connected with our hospital, too, where no charge is:made for medicine. Over 4,000 prescriptions were compounded thers last year. The hospital is in charge of Dr. R. §. Wagner, formerly surgeon of the Children’s Hospital in Washington, a most admirable gentleman and efficient physician. The governor here began to ask many questions about his‘old friends in Wash- ington, as well as the characteristics of the new men who have come to the front since his time, and it was gratifying for me to be able to inform him with a fair de- gree of thoroughness upon the facts he ex- pressed an interest in. Naturally, there Was a political turn to the conversation, and the silver question was introduced. I asked him if the depréciation of silver af- fected bis substantial interests in the mines of Batopilas, and he replied that the depreciation in the value of the metal was not felt in Mexico, because a silver dollar would buy as much as it always had, on ac- count of the financial policy of the Mexi- can government. The Silver Question. “From my reading of the newspapers,” he remarked, “I had concelved the idea that the silver question was being consid- ered solely by the politicians. In my jour- ney north I have found that such is not the case. I have conversed with a number of gentlemen, professional men, students and representatives of the class who do not usually take any active inter- est in political issues, and I tind that they are seriously thinking over the financial future of the United States. It augurs well for that future that this widespread intenest, so deep, so genuine and so hon- est, is being felt by the masses. I cannot be called a free coinage man, but I believe that it would be a prudent thing for the United States to adopt bimetallism on its own account at a fair ratio between the metals, say twenty or even twenty-four to one. At Sewanee, Tenn., I was talking with one of the mest conservative men I have ever met, and I was surprised at the vast interest he was taking in this ques- tion of money. Some Significant Figures. “He showed me some figures which struck me as being remarkably significant, and I believe that it would be a good thing for you to follow what I say and get the figures. He took the treasury statement of May 1, 1895, showing the amounts of gold, of silver certificates, of United States notes and national ‘tank notes in circula- tion on that date, There were $89,954,140 in gold in the treasury, and against this were $323,000,000—in_ round numbers we will talk—of silver certificates, nearly $122,- 000,000 of treasury notes, $267,000,000 of United States notes, and $37,0,000 of cur- rency certificates. He showed that the total obligations which the government had outstanding were $798,495,685, against which we had that $89,954,140 in gold as a redemption fund, or about 11 cents on the dollar. Then he took the national bank statement for April 6, 1895, and showed that their circulation was $204,760,225, and th&t the individual deposits were $1,G07,- $43,288.28, which was offset by the pos- session by the banks of $120,895,575.38 in gold, or less than 7 cents on the dollar to redeem their obligaticns with on a gold basis. Our Present Policy. “Those are pretty prodigious figures,’ said the governor, “when you ccme to look them over. They are worth studying. It was all very well to talk about sound money being based on confidence, and all that sort of stuff. It may please the poll- tician and satisfy the fellows who follow their immediate leadership, but the think- ing man will want to know what is going to happen in the future, when the payment of those debts is demanded. So far as the treasury balance is concerned, why, that is borrowed money,anyhow. I tell you it is a pretty sickening thing to an American who loves his ccuntry to see the attitude in which our financial managers are placed. They are at the mercy of a few foreign and still fewer American bankers. All that stands between the treasury and depletion is the promise of these foreigners and one or t New Yorkers that they will keep their hands off the gold reserve for an in- definite period. That is a fine state of af- fairs, isn’t it? Cause of the Conditions. “The present conditions,” he continued, “have been brought about by the treasury mistakes of the last three administrations. The republicans have been just as much to blame as the democrats. There was Dan Manning, a newspaper man, for instance, brought down to manage the financial end of the governmen:, of which he knew abso- lutely nothing, The great mistake has been in treating silver as a mercantile com- modity, piling it up in the treasury !n the shape of bullion and issuing certiticates against it. If the silver had been coined and put into circulation there would have been none of this trouble. It would have been taken up by the country. It would have.gone into general circulation, and there would have been nothing to redeem. The repeal of the Sherman bill outright was another error. According to my way of thinking that was the time when Con- gress should have declared that in 1895, say, or in 1898, the United States would adopt a dual unit of value, composed of gold and silver dollars, at a ratio to be de- termined upon hereafter, and within the prescribed time, unless bimetallism was in the meantime adopted by international con- sent. Of course, one may discuss the pros and cons of the silver question as long as breath holds out, but it is a mistake to call the present free silver agitation a craze similar to that which overwhelmed the greenbackers. There’is no similarity, I re- peat, between the greenback craze and the so-called silver craze that. now envelopes the country. These Coin’s publications, for instance, have reached editions, I see, of 800,000 copies. That shows how people are giving thelr attention to the subject; and so, I say, it augurs well for the future set- tlement of this highly important financial question that the best intellects in America are today considering the cilver question. I don’t mean that they are champions of the free and unlimited coinage of silver, or that they believe in silver as a money metal at all, but what I wish to convey is the fact that the people are thinking over the entire financial problem, and out of this vast amount of consideration the solution of the question is bound to come. His Views on the Present. “Another thing that struck me in the south on my way up here,” said the gov- ernor, ‘‘was the prosperous appearance of the section. Fences seemed to be in good condition, farms seemed to be taken care of, and in better shape generally. There was less of that appearance of neglect that once characterized it. Yes, the south is going ahead, but it will be a steady growth. Do you know,” he said suddenly, “that I don’t believe that all this alleged boom in business that we hear so much about has ‘4s much foundation in the renewed confi- dence of commercial classes in the stable conditions of affairs as that it is due to the necessities following the period of great depression. The natural wear and tear has depleted the stock on hand in the world and manufactories and in- dustries have taken on new activity, mere- ly, I believe, in order to make up for the epletion that has occurred, and to set stock-on hand to mcet -further demands that may be made. I do not wish to be regarded as a pessimist, but that is my honest opinion, and I believe that you will find that it will be a correct one. A Diplomatic Cigar Maker. After supper in the dining car, where we sat with Mrs. Shepherd, Mrs, Quintard, the daughter of ‘the governor, and Miss Benjamin, we returned to the smoking room and continued to talk. é “Have a cigar?’ said the governor. “I wish I had one of my Mexican cigars to give you. They are the finest cigars in the world. When i went down there first I got an old Mexican in Mazatlan to make my cigars for me. The tobacco grown in that neighborhood is equal, if not superior, to that raised in Vera Cruz or Havana. The manufacturer did not know then whether I was an Englishman or an American, so he took hold of both horns of the dilemma, and lifted himself diplo- matically out of what he thought might be a compromising position by calling the brand of cigars ‘Victoria Washington.’ When I was up in the north several years ago I gave some of those cigars to some friends in New York, and now thousands are ordered from the Mexican.” The conversation turned on the political probabilities of the next twelve months, and he beldeved that the commercial con- dition of the country in the first six of those months would have a great deal to do with shaping the outcome of the next presidential election. He did not make any benes about stating his opinion of the various pieces of political timber. He thought William C. Whitney was about the strongest man at present in the demo- cratle party, and sald Gorman was a shrewd man. It was evident from his con- versation that he had followed the drift of recent political affairs, and that, like other men of wisdom and prudence, cid not care to venture within the bounds of anything like prophecy. - His Plan for Washington. We turned our talk to Washington, and I asked him if the plan of improvement which he inaugurated and carried to com- pleticn was the result of a sudden inspira- tion or of carefully matured thought and judgment. He threw his shoulders back— one of his familiar gestures. “You know, I was born and raised in Washington,” he said, “and when I was a boy it used to make me boiling mad to hear people talk about Washington being a mud hole. When I went into the city counell ix 1860, along with Crosby Noyes and other strong believers in the introduc- tion of a new order’of things in Washing- ten, we tried to have spmething done towards changing the conditions, but the old element, so narrow and conservative— bigotry is frequently called that—pre- vented us from doing anything we wanted to do. Washington was sthen a typical southern city, slow as a snail, and utterly without any ‘elements of progress sufficient to make it get a move on. Why, every now and then the city would employ about twelve or fifteen hundred laborers and send them around town digging the grass out of the cobblestone gutters with case knives. That is a fact. There is no Joking about that. Well, I still hoped on, and after the war people who thought my Way grew larger in numbers, and at last I went into the movement against Sayles J. Buwen that resulted in the election of Matthew G. Emery as mayor. I thought this would lead to a better condition “of affairs, but it pretty soon became apparent that the only hope for Washington's future Would be found in a change of the form of government in the District. This was brought about, and you know the result.” I told him that the population of Wash- ington and of the country now appreciated and applauded his work. He sald it was very gratifying to feel that he was at last understood, and that the work he had planned and carried on in the face of such opposition and bitterness was now universally approved, not only by Wash- ingtonians themselves, but by every man who had pride in the capital of his nation. His Costly Sacrifices. “When I went into the work of improving Washington city,” he said, “I was at the head cf a prosperous and growing busi- ress, that was paying me anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 a year. When I went out of office it was barely paying expenses. I had been unable to give it my personal at- tention, and those who managed it, al- though they did everything they could, were not equal to the task. Then the panic of 1873 came and caused me still further losses. At last I made up my mind that I would forsake politics and exile myself from the city I knew and loved so well. I had satisfied myself that one needed to be a trimmer to be successful in the new school of politics that was being put up on the site of the old. It seemed to me that it needed a man who could make a fortune of $2,000,000 on a salary of-$6,000 a year to be a successful politician, and I was disgusted with the whole business. There never was a man who was made the tar- get for so much political musketry as my- self. I was investigated, time and time again, but still I have the happy knowl- edge that there was never anything dis- cevered, or even pretended to be discover- ed, by the exereise of the most devilish ingenuity of partisan malice, which ever affected my honesty or the integrity of my purpose. Striking Grant Through Shepherd. “I knew why the shafts were leveled at me. It was not Aleck Shepherd they were after, it was Grant. They thought they could wound him by slaughtering me. Donn Platt told me a story once about old Sena- tor Thurman. He said thet while Thur- man was conducting an investigation into my affairs, that he, Piatt, asked him what he really thought of me. Thurman said, ‘Shepherd is not only a mighty good smart fellow, but he is a straight one, too.” Donn said he asked Thurman why he did not get up publicly and say so, then, and that Thurman replied, ‘Oh, well, nn, we are shooting at the republican party.’ The whole fight on me was a fight on Grant, and the enemies of that illustrious man in his own party had as much, if not more, to do with it than the democrats, who were trying to make political capital out of it.” Here he spoke of Gen. Grant in glowing terms and he told me a story that illus- trated Grant's character. Grant's Consistency. “One day during the second investigation of my affairs,” said he, “I was coming down with my lawyer and friend, Bill Mat- tingly, from the hearing, when we met Grant. He stopped and asked where we were going. I answered we were merely taking a walk. ‘Can I go along,’ he said, and I told him, with a laugh, that I reck- oned we could stand it if he could. Well, we walked a long time—way out to the Aqueduct bridge, At that time a Dill for the expansion of the currency was up in Congress. It had the House, and Morton had charge of it, and was pushing it in ‘the Senate. Grant brought it up ss a subject, and talked about it for half an hour. He looked at it from every cide and approved it from all. When I got home, after we separated, I got word that Sena- tor Morton wanted to see me. I went down to see him. He was in bed. He told me he was very anxious that the currency ex- pansion bill, which had passed the Senate that day, should be signed by the President and had sent for me to enlist my aid. I knew nothing of the bill, as my head was full of my investigation, and I don’t re- member now even what it definitely pro- vided for, but remembering the President’s talk a little while before, I told Morton that he need have no uneasiness about Grant's approval, and repeated what Grant had sald to Mattingly and me. I thought nothing more about it, and three days af- terward I was on the floor of the Senate passing out when Babcock came in. ‘Wait a minute,” he said, ‘and hear this: He sent the documents he carried to the Vice Presi- dent, and then the clerk read a message from Grant vetoing that expansion bill. Babcock went out with me, and I expressed my surprise, and told him of what the President had said three days before, won- dering how he could have changed his mind. Babcock smiled and said he could explain that. Then he told me that when Grant had the bill before him Hamilton Fish called his attention to some message or other document Grant had formerly written, in which he took grounds opposed to those in the expansion bill, and that Grant, in spite of his own absolute belief in the merits of the measure, vetoed it, in order that his record might be consistent. “Morton naturally felt after that that I had misrepresented things to him about that conversation with Grant, and we never had anything raore to do with each other afterward. Lhave often thought that on this account he inspired the bitterness Jere Wilson afterward showed in pursult of me. Morton was a wonderful man. think he was the strongest and ablest man the republican party has ever had.” Conkling and Garfield. The name of Morton seemed to conjure up reminiscenses of his great contempor- aries. “Roscoe Conkling was another grand man. I remember well the last time I saw him. Let's see. He died in March, 1888, after being caught in that blizzard in New York. Well, just before that, in February, I was coming over from New York to Washington and Corkling wes on the train, He saw me when I came in the car and called me, making room for me to sit be- side him. He was like a high-strung wo- man in his temp2rament and sensitive to @ superlative degree. He said that he had always felt when he-had the difference with President Garfield that I sympathized with his side of the case. I told him that I did heartily. Then in a manner, I will not say pitiful, but pathetic, Roscoe Conk- ling told me all the facts that led to his disagreement with Garfield end his resigna- tion from. the Senate. He was wrong in resigning,” said the governor, with mean- ing emphasis. “He should not have done that,, but he was right in everything else.” Washington a Model City. 3 Returning to the subject of Washington I asked him if he kad given any attention to the proposed extension of the city be- yond its present limits, and he said that he had, so far as he was able at such a remote place from Washington as Bato- Pilas, and being dependent entirely upon the newspapers for his information. “There should be at least one model city in the world, and it ought to be in the best country on earth,” he said. “Washington has the plan and the opportunity to be made such a city, and I hope and believe it will be.” I told himythere was a good deal of criticism over the apparent ten- dency of the District Commissioners to deflect the extension of some of the streets and avenues from their present iines by reason of grades to be overcome or hol- lows to. be. filled up, as weil as for making access casier to prominent ouiside locali- ties, and from cconomical motives, and ask- ed him if he thought engineering or other difliculties or expense should be allowed to stand in the way of.continuing the pres- ent plan of the city without change as far as it might expand. He looked at me quickly. “You know I always said ‘Damn a grade,” he ejaculated shortly. ‘I'm remind- ed cf a good story in that connection. One morning Mr. Forsythe, the District sur- veyor, a good man, brought me a plat of what he said was the grade he had de- termined upon for the improvement of Maryland avenue northeast. He had ar- ranged it so that it suited every property holder along the road, and went up and down like a hired man walking over a hilly farm in accordance with the wishes of the interested parties, whom the good old fellow had desired to placate and satis- fy. I looked it over and said it was very pretty. Then I eaid: ‘Bring me a ruler, Forsythe." He handed me the ruier and I laid it on his plat, and with a pencil drew a straight line from the Capitol to the Boun- dary. ‘There’s your grade, Forsythe,’ I re- marked. You ought to have seen him. And that’s the grade today.” A Question of Grade. “I shall always believe,” ccntinued the governor, “that one prominent Senator fougkt, my nomination for Commission- er ard fought me otherwise on account of that same question of grade. He owned a hese up on Massachusetts avenue, end he wanted the street to be left up on a hill in order to protect his property. That house wasn’t worth more than $10,000, and he went to see Cooke and Magruder abont it. I went down to the board of publ! werks one morning and the Senator was there. He said to me that he sad been promised that his wishes would be respect- ed regarding the grade of Massachusetts avenue between 14th and 16th streets, be- cause Messrs. Cooke and Magruder, a ma- jority of the board, had agreed to it. I said I would not permit anything of the,sort to be done; that I didn’t care whether he was a Senator or common citizen; that his prop- erty interests should not be allowed to in- terfere with the perfection of the plan I had laid out, and that it would be better to pay him twice as much as his $10,000 house was worth than to make a hummock in Massachusetts avenue because he wanted to have it so. I said to Cooke that he might have my resignation at ence, but that I was determined the avenue shouldn't be sacrificed to suit a Senator's whims. He was as mad as a March hare, and I know he never forgave me. The avenue was fixed the way I wanted it, by the way. “When Grant nominated me for Commis- sioner I didn’t know my name had been sent in, until I happened to be up at the Senate and learned it had been fighting over my nomination for several hours,” he continued, Defeated for Commissioner. “Grant had told me he wanted to nomi- nate me two or three days before, but I asked him to wait awhile, as I didn’t think the time was propitious. I knew my name would be taken advaniage of by his ene- mies to make a fight on him. But he sent in my name, and I knew about it first as I told you.,While I was up there Logan came out and begged me to withdraw, saying I could have anything I wanted. I told him that. political preferment was not for me, being a citizen of Washington, and that I wouldn't withdraw. He crew almost anery and insisted. ‘I won't do it,” I said. ‘I may be shot down in my tracks, but I won't run like a dog, and when you cool down you'll say I am right and that you wouldn't do it yourself.’ As he went away he turned and said, h a half smile: ‘No, I wouldn't, Shepherd.’ “So, you see, that ‘grade question has been pretty material to me. It would be almost criminal to change the original plan of the city of Washington, no matter how far it might be extended.” An Incident of 1873. “Some mighty funny things occurred while I was governor,” he said with a smile. “One time a number of the repub- lican payers, such as the Springfield Re- publican and others, opened their batteries on me and attacked me bitterly. One day I was sitting in my office at my residence when a boy came in and said that a man wanted to see me. I told him to tell the man to come,in, but he sald there were three of them, and they preferred to have me step outside. When I went out I found Dan Connelly, who was one of the toughest citizens In Washingten at that time, a leader in the fire engine company fixhts, and fond of a ruction at any time; Charley Hurdle, who everybody remembers, and the redoubtable Reddy Welsh. I asked them what they wanted, and Connelly, who was spokesman, told me th. they had learned that a number of papers published outside of Washington were attacking me personally, and that they had found out that the’ correspondents of those papers thought that we mjght down to that place and somehow or other might get in- to a quarrei with them correspondents snd take it out of their hides* I-thanked the visitors for their kind championship of my cause, and restreining my disposition to occasion, I in eg ns “Why, Dan,’ I eaid, ‘if you and Charl and Reddy here were to hurt any of Noes correspondcnts their papers would imme- diately claim that Boss Shepherd had em- ployed a gang of ruffians to punish the People who criticised him.’ Well, they went off then, end I don’t believé I ever saw @ ae Speen ore crowd.” = was getting late when the talk tu-ned o— to — and things in dear old a mean persons and thi of a character not ‘interesting to the con eral public, but wonderfully eo to the coms ponent means of it, ‘who might have been close together at’ one time or another, The fealty that was always as a point in Alex. Shepherd's cc! ter as it was in that of his friend, mirer and champion, Ulysses 8. Grant showed strongly in the conversation thal followed. He wanted to know all about his old friends, what they were doing, how they had prospered, and he was buoyant or depressed as my reports were favorable or otherwise. He inquired keenly into the characteristics of the men who had .come to the front in Washington since he wi the central figure in its affairs. He as about one certain gentleman here, and in my reference to his standing in the com- munity I remarked that Mr, Hallet Kil- bourn seemed to be very fond of him. Quick as a flash one of the happiest traits of the governor's cl ‘ter burst forth, “Then he’s all right,” he sald heartily, ‘Hallet Kilbourn would not have anythi to do with any other kind of a fellow. This personality may be pardoned when it is explained that I use it merely to illus- trate the unwavering faith and loyalty which Aleck Shepherd reposes in his friends. And his dislikes are every bit as strong as his likes, and that is about as superlative a statement as can well be made. He had been reviewing men and events, both from the point of approval and criticism, and suddefily looked keenly at me and said: “I have often thought that one of these days I would write some reminiscences.” There was silence for a few moments.. What he was thinking about I don’t know. I was thinking about an interesting volume or two the governor could publish even if he only wrote half as» much as he told me in the few hours pre- viously. It was after 10 o'clock and the Norfolk and Western train was hurrying through the valley of Virginia when he looked up and said: “Well, old fellow, you had bet- ter go to bed. You are tired.” In a few moments more he turned in. I left him in the Pullman soundly slumbering. to * wake up in Washington. Cc. Cc. A VACANCY TO OCCUR A New Superintendent of the State, War and Navy Building, The office of superintendent of the State, War and Navy Departments building will become vacant on the 5th proximo by the compulsory retirement of the incumbent, Chief Engineer Thom Williamson, who will on that date reach the age of sixty-two years. He is the ranking officer of his corps, and has held his present assign- ment since August 1, 1887, rearly eight years ago. He entered the naval service from Virginia May 21, 1853, and reached the grade of chief engineer with the rela-" tive rank of captain August 5, 1861. He served throughout the war with credit. His last sea service terminated in January, 1887. The aprcintment of his successor as superintendent of the big white builging on 17th street is vested in the Secretaries of State, War and Navy. Any officer of the engincer corps of the army or navy is eligible for the office. Since its creation, hewever, it has been filled continuously by naval engineers. Owing to this fact, there fs an impres- sion in some quarters that the next assign- ment will go to an army engineer, but at present there are no indications of a pur- pose on the part of the authorities to make a selection from the army. So far as known, there are no candidates for the cffice from that branch of the service, Two Candidates. There are, however, two open candidates from the navy, both of them in the highest grade of the engineer department. These are Chief Engineers David Smith and G. W. Baird, and it is said that the appoint- ment lies between them. Mr, Smith has feturned to San Francisco on the Philadelphia, from a cruise to the Hawaiian Islands. He has just completed his regular tour of sea service, and is now entitled to shore duty. He entered the naval service from Massachusetts in Au- gust, 1859, and reached his present grade of chief engineer, with the relative rank of captain, in March, 1 Since November, 1893, he has served as fleet engineer of. the Pacific. station. It is said that Secretary Olney is interested in his preferment, Chief Engineer Baird is better known in this city, from his service in this vicinity, first. as assistant surerintendent of the State, War andNavy Departments building, end then on the Dolphin,which visits here so citen. He was appcinted to the navy from istrict of Columbia in September, and reached his present grade in June, Since that date he has been attached. to the Dolphin, He is now cn waiting or- ders. Secretary Herbert is said to desire his appointment xs superintendent. If itis true, as reported, that Secretaries Oiney and Herbert are pleGged ‘in the manner in- difated, it is likely that the decision of the question will be left to Secretary Lamont, who is said to have no preference in the metter. It is expected that the matter will be settled soon after the latter reyrns to the city early next week. Promotions in the Engineer Corps, The retirement of Chief Engineer Will- jamson will result in the following promo- tions in the engineer corps: George F. Kutz becomes the ranking officer; David Smith, to be chief engineer, with the rank of captain; John A. Scot, to be chief en- gineer, with the rank of ; Pass- ed Assistant Engineer A. Br Canoes, to be chief engineer, with the rank of lieutenant, ond Assistant Engineer W. C. Herbert, to be passed assistant engineer, with the rang of lieutenant, junior grade. ee Live Onk‘Land to Be Sold. Willlam J. McGee, chief of the division of railroads; George McCorkle, chief of the division of pre-emptions, both of the gen- eral land office, and Elbert M. Rucker, an assistant attorney in the Department of the Interior, have been detailed to appra certain lands in Alabama and M. no Tonger needed for naval purposes The lands are near Biloxi and 2 : ew Or- leans. They were reserved for the live cak on them, valuable for ship-building purposes. They will be disposed of under ~~ homestead law at the appraised valua- jon. = —= PISS TT ST ST OS SO SE 9O990 Awni 3 wnings, co o ra % & Fitted and bung by first-class awning mak- ers. Cholce of several styles, The lowest price ever quoted. Lawn Tent, $5 PPOPOVCRTOS OCS SEBIOD 1 feet high and 7 feet ea. Comes all complete and. can be put up in 5 to 10 min utes. This Is a quickbus- 3 e ° 3 > > > > > > eo e e 4 4 / 3 a PIFISPSOLESOSESIOOSS OSOOOOSESOSOOSOSODS: were in the habit of going down to a place on E street to get their drinks. “Now, governor,’ says Dan, ‘we boys £Copeland&Co.,409 ith St 2 jy13-e0 POPOO OREO OS: :