Evening Star Newspaper, June 18, 1933, Page 73

remonstrances of his commander, remained with a party of Mormons, after the company had left, accompanied them to Salt Lake and, with others, gulled and stripped by the Saints and taken on a new and short route to Cali- fornia to perish. * * * “July 9 Fort Laramie was reached and Capt, Goldsborough, with an escort of four men, visited Fort Hull, on Snake River, Col. Andrew Porter then being in command. They rejoined the company on the headwaters of Mary's River (Humboldt), and following that stream down to the bend, struck over a desert track to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, crossing at the Lawson Pass, and down the western slope to near the Sacramento Valley, it being then about the middle of September. Capt. Bruff sent the company on from there and remained to take notes; being at an elevation of about 3,500 feet, he stayed too long and was caught in an un- precedented snowstorm and was buried in it at a depth of six or eight feet. Early in the Spring of 1850, having passed a terrible Win- ter, when the snow was sufficiently gone the march was resumed, and after six days and nights, going through great parties of wolves, panthers, hostile Indians, bears, etc., and sleep- ing on beds which would be whitened by frost in the morning, Lossin's ranch, in the northern part of Sacramento Valley, was reached. “In the Summer of '50 Capt. Bruff went out with an adventurous party and traveled a dis- trict through Nevada where a white man had never heen before; had conflicts with hostile Indians and returned to the settlement jaded and ragged. He next visited Sacramento and San Francisco and finally sailed in a steamer up the coast to Trinidad and proceeded thence overland to Gold Bluffs. In the latter part of June, 51, he left for home, proceeding down the coast to Aspinwall, and after three days spent there proceeded across the isthmus by mule and barge to Chicago. He then went to Jamaica, thence to New York, and finally re- turned to Washington. Capt. Bruff, who is a member of the Oldest Inhabitants’ Society, is more active and vigorous than many men 20 years his junior and delights to talk of his travels.” Capt. Bruff was born October 2, 1805, in one of the “Six Buildings,” located on Pennsylvania avenue between Twenty-first and Twenty-sec- ond streets northwest. In early life he sailed before the mast, was a cadet at the West Point Military Academy, a clerk and draughtsman in the Federal service and was a designer of con- siderable ability. For many years prior to his death he was an officer of the Association of Oldest Inhabitants and is represented in that organization today by a grandson, George B. Jackson, who has inherited the artistic temper- ament of his sire. In 1811 Pease's Summer garden was on the south side of Pennsylvania avenue between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, and from this point—said to have been “71.0 degrees west, one mile and three-eighths from the Capitol'—the eclipse of September 17 of that year was observed. ECENTLY the writer was loaned by W. Hen- nessy Smith a group picture of the em- ployes of the Capital taken about 1884, when that Sunday paper was published at 1420 Pennsylvania avenue in the block referred to. Mr. Smith was then foreman of the Capital, and is still identified with the “art preserva- tion” by serving as secretary-treasurer of the Association of Veteran Union Printers. Mr. Smith identified those in the picture as being, beside himself: T. Leonard Wade, the book- keeper; George R. Clarke, then a clerk, now residing at the John Dickson Home; Dr. Frank T. Howe, the editor, and who for a number of years afterward rendered faithful service as dramatic critic of The Star. Miss Kate E. Thomas, a Georgetown lady was & writer on the paper, and she also, it is said, later went with The Star. In the same building was published the THE SUNDAY —— STAR, WASHINGTON, P €, Pennsylvania avenue, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, north side. Old hotel building, which formerly occupied this site. Army & Navy Register and the United States Government Advertiser, and the Boston Herald had its Washington office there, and the picture shows John E. Jenks, owner and editor of the Army & Navy Register and the United States Government Advertiser, and James E. Harper, a printer. Edmund Hudson was at that time Washington correspondent to the Boston Herald and seems also to have had much to do with the Army & Navy Register and the Government Advertiser. The Sunday Capital was conducted from 1871 to 1880 by Donn Piatt and George Alfred Townsend, when it was sold to a Mr. Buell, and it ceased publication in 1889. Henry B. F. Macfarland, who later be- came a Commissioner of the District of Colum- bia, was then on the staff of the Capital and had a brilliant newspaper career. In 1882, there were 27 Washington papers represented in the congressional press gallery, they being: The Capital, Army & Navy Reg- ister, the Chronicle, the Commercial, the Court Record, the Critic, the Gazette, the Gazette of the Patent Office, the Herald and National In- telligencer, the Law Reporter, the Mechanic’'s Advocate, the National Era, the National Re- publican, the National View, the Post, the Pil- grim Press, the Republic, the Scientific Record, the Sentinel, The Star, the Temperance Anvil, the Tomahawk, the United States Gazette. the Vidette, the Volks Tribune and the Washington Journal. In looking over the names of the repre- sentatives of the press at the Capitol in 1882, & number of familiar ones were found, includ- ing a few who are still living. Perry S. Heath, who recently retired as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, was then representing the Ohio State Journal, the Indianapolis Times and the United Press Association; H. V. Boynton repre- sented the Cincinnati Gazette, Frank G. Car- penter, the Cleveland Leader; John M. Carson, Philadelphia Ledger; O. K. Harris, the Eve- ning Critic; John B. McCarthy, Hartford Times and San Francisco Chronicle; W. C. McBride, Cincinnati Enquirer; H. B. F. Macfarland, Bos- ton Herald, Cincinnati Commercial and Phila- delphia Record; J. J. Noah, New York Truth and Denver Republican; U. H. Painter, Phila- delphia Inquirer; Ben Perley Poore, Bos- ton Journal; Herbert A. Preston, New York Herald; P. A. Richardson, Baltimore Sun, and W. B. Shaw, Philadelphia News and Boston Evening Transcript. The Star at that time was represented by its owners, Crosby S. Noyes, George W. Adams and S. H. Kauffmann, and W. C. McBride. John Boyle, the veteran correspondent of the Wall Street Journal, who was recently elected a vice president of the Association of Oldest Inhabitants, was then representing the United Press Association and the Norfolk (Va.) Landmark. But it was some years before this that he began his newspaper career, for in the city directory of 1877 he is listed as a corre- spondent and from other sources we find that during this yeer he represented in the press gallery the Charlotte (N. C.) Observer. He was then living with his father, Cornelius Boyle, a physician, at 212 Four-and-a-half street, now John Marshall place, but two years later moved to 1454 Corcoran street. R. CORNELIUS BOYLE, son of John Boyle, for whom the newspaper correspondent was named, started life as a clerk in the drug store of Dr. Wallace Kirkwood, then at the north- west corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Twelfth street. At this time Samuel J. Kirkwood, a brother to Wallace, was also a clerk in the apothecary shop (as drug stores were called in the early days), but rather anticipated the ad- vice of Horace Greeley and went West, in 1835, and settled in Mansfleld, Richmond County, Ohio, and, although he had three years’ ex- perience in the drug business, yet he gave this up for the law and was admitted to the bar in 1843. The result was that after filling several State offices he moved to Coralville, Johnson County, Towa, becomirg Governor of that State in 1860, and serving until 1864. On January 13, 1866, he took his place in the United States Senate as the successor to James Harlan, and served until March 3, 1867. In 1876, he again became Governor of Iowa, and returned to the Senate in 1877, continuing there until 1881, when he resigned to become Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President Gar- fleld. Dr. Wallace Kirkwood bought the old hotel which once stood on the site of the Raleigh Hotel—known at an early date as the Foun- tain Inn, as Fuller's Hotel and the Irving House—and renamed it the Kirkwood House. ‘This he sold in the Spring of 1842, and also disposed of the drug store, and gave up the practice of medicine, because the strain of riding horseback through the nearby country was telling upon his health. Fe then bought a farm about five or six miles out in Maryland, north of the Catholic University, known as Heurich’s Brewery Farm, and died there Sep- tember 23, 1853, and was buried in Congres- sional Cemetery. Mr. E. D. Godfrey, a well-known Grand Army man, now in his early nineties, married a “ANYTHING IS GOOD TO EAT?” IGHT here is a card indicating that I am a member of the Ancient Epicurean Order of Battling Reptile Revelers. It certifies that the bearer has enjoyed a feast of diamond-back rattlesnakes, is a rattling good mergber of the order, and as such is entitled to be hailed, coiled, re- coiled and rattled everywhere as an R. R. R. The seal is a square section removed from the scaly back of the most hated and feared snake that ever wriggled through the matted grass jungles of the Everglades, with the possible ex- ception of the water moccasin. The diamond- shaped markings are beautifully tinged with composite colors against a dark background. This Everglades reptile is a gay dude compared with the man-killing snakes of the North and West. Old Mr. Rattler has been using for ages a decorative scheme which has just come into favor with the artists who planned the color effects for the Century of Progress Expo- sition. It's sinful to get glory under false pretenses. To win a membership card with tion of skin glued on to it, one is supposed te pariake of a liberal heiping of ho. 1 e with a tasty sauce and a ndr- order of, possibly, steamed poison ivy with vinegar. If we're going to perform deeds of daring in connection with the daily snack, why not go the limit? Let's be rough and tough about this eating thing. What we're leading up to is that I have not really earned the medal I am wearing. The boys put me through one evening when the rattlesnakes were not biting. When I proved to them that I had partaken of all the other food items which are abhorred by dainty weak- lings, they said they were convinced that I was, at heart, a rattlesnake eater. HE introduction of the diamond-back rattler into the bill of fare is not going to cheapen plate luncheon or help any housewife to balance the budget. Down at Arcadia, Fla., within easy reach -of the- Everglades, the reptile ¢annery pays %0 cents a pound for rattlesnakes on the . " 3 hoof. No market for dead ones. The Seminole Indians know how to capture the 6-fc °rs and “bring 'em back alive.” Good, sound snakes are said to average $2.50 each, delivered at Arcadia. Ten thousand real estate men in Florida will be hunting for rattlesnakes this Summer. At any high-class restaurant or club cater- ing to gourmands, gourmets and investigators who still have money, a serving of diamond- back rattlesnakes fetches $2, or enough to feed a small family for a week, provided the family has lost all desire to partake of the old-fash- ioned kinds of nourishing foods. The ciscovery of this latest rare delicacy just about touches the high (or low) spot”in gustatory triumphs. But why not the Crotalus Adamanteus if he is as good as they say he is? Consider the following edibles approved by caterers: Muskrat.—Back in the walrus mustache and musk perfumery period of Indiana history we used to trap muskrats for their pelts, but as for eating them! They are now a four-star feature at a dinner for epicures. Tomatoes—When my father was a boy they were called “love apples” and were supposed to be poisonous because the hogs wouldn't eat them. Now the dietitians and health tipsters say that tomato juice is a gift from the angels. One day “Cap” Higgleman of our town turned down tomatoes at Mrs. Custer’s boarding house, saying that he wouldn't “eat nothin' that a hog won't eat.” Whereupon Mrs. Custer har- pooned him as follows: “I ain’t lettin’ no hog tell me what I can eat and what I can’t eat.” “Crawdabs” and Mussels.—Both to be found by the bushel in the fresh-water streams and ponds when you and I were young, but good only for bait. Then to find them garnished and glorified in Paris! Frogs.—We did finally get around to skin- ning the legs and draping them on toast, but grandpa nated them as pop-eyed reptiles. He could have collected $100 worth any day if the prices had been then what they are now at the swell eating places. L L Guinea Hens.—Beautiful creatures making an infernal racket. The eggs were classed as culls and the fowls themselves were just as good to eat as any turkey buzzard. Served under glass in the city, “breast of young guinea hen” is as high-priced as jewelry. Grand chow, but the guinea hen is still used in the country merely as an alarm clock. Snails—Simply wonderful when wrapped in bread crumbs and shot with a little garlic. The old-fashioned housewife shudcers at mention of snails as food. When I told Aunt Laura about eating the little ones in Rome and pick- ing out the goddies with a tooth pick, she said it took all kinds of people to make a world. HESE delicacies listed above, and several others, including the groundhog, gray ground squirrel, opossum and “chidlings,” have been procurable right here at home, but any one procuring them was supposed to have a depraved and unnatural appetite. Take chitterlings, commonly called “chid- lin’s,” introduced to us by Opie Read, with the assistance of a genuine colored “mammy.” Those who like tripe will probably like “chid- lin’s,” tripe’s first cousin. “Chidlin’s” are not to be sneered at, when they are accompanied by corn pone and lye hominy, but some folks are so fussy that they don’t want to get any information on the subject. Go traveling if you wish to become ac- quainted with strange foods. Any one with an open mind and a copper-lined stomach will decide that almost anything is good to eat. In Florida and Cuba the conch is now in favor. It is a large mollusk residing in the fluted shell such as you saw on the old-fashioned whatnot. If you held the shell to your ear, you could hear the distant roar of ocean breakers. One of the current lies in Florida is that Ponce de Leon, instead of searching for the Fountain of Youth, should have quaffed the juice of the conch, eaten the breast.of a flamingo and chewed the bark of the flame tree. At, any rate, he would have saved a lot of mileage, Flying fish and tyrtle sfeaks, Jare ou the card sl daughter of Wallace Kirkwood, and at the writer’s request related the following: “In 1863 I was brought up the river on a boal to Washington and carried into Stanton Hosw pital on a stretcher, a wounded paroled prise oner of war; did not recover from wound im thigh so as to be able to go to the front again, In 1864 I obtained a detail for clerical duty in the War Department. In 1865 was dis« charged from the Army, but remained as a clerk in the War Department. Obtained board in the family of a widow, Mrs. Mary Jane Kirkwood. In 1866 married one of her daugh- ters. Remained with the family until 1867, Her family then consisted of four daughters. I was one of the family for two years.” But to return to the Boyle family. John Boyle, the father of Dr Cornelius, resided, as far back as 1843, on the east side of Tenth street northwest between D and E, about where is now the gas office. At an earlier date, 1826, we find him contributing toward the publish- ing of a book of poems by N. Brashears, the principal of the Eastern Academy, one of the earliest Washington free schools. A copy of this little book has been in the Boyle family from the time it was printed, 107 years ago. The verse is not altogethet satisfying, but it is interesting since it tells of & number of historic incidents which took place here many years ago. An account of the death of the celebrated Choctaw chief, Pushe ma-ta-ha, who died here December, 1824, i worth summarizing. “Died,” it says, “at his lodgings in Tennison's (a little to the west of the Willard Hotel), on ‘Thursday night, last, at about 12 o’clock, in his 60th year, Push-ma-ta-ha, one of the Choctaw delegation now at Washington on business with the Government. The best attendance and the best medical skill were employed to save him but in vain. He died of the croup, and was ill but a day. He was buried on Saturday, with military honours, which were performed by the Marine Corps, by directions of the Hon. the Secretary of the Navy, assisted by Capt. Mauro's and Capt. Dyer’s companies of volun- teers: Christian ceremonies by the Rev. Mr. Hawley. The procession was large (at least 2,000) and highly respectable. Gen. Jackson, who knew and appreciated the services of this chief, paid his last respects to his memory, as did also many members of both houses of Congress, and members of the Government, some of whom attended him, though so dis- tant, to the grave.” Push-ma-ta-ha was buried in Congressional Cemetery, and, as had been requested by him, the big guns roared over him. Another veteran newspaper man who is still active as & correspondent, is Charles A. Hamil- ton, who represents here the Troy (N. Y. Times. He is a charter member of the Na- tional Press Club, and came to this city about 1882. He conceived and organized the Old- Timer’s Club of the National Press Club, and, according to the 1932 booklet, issued by the club, we are told that: “From time to time the Old-Timers get to- gether in the Silver Room or the Auditorium and dine and make merry a la Perreard. Charlie himself personally supervises the pur- chase and preparation of all food served at these celebrations. These rollicking affairs reached the acme of success when the Olde Timers, reinforced by & host of Young-Timers, with Lee Poe Hart at their head, turned upon the veteran founder of the organization and gave him a banquet on the occasion of his 76th birthday, which practically coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of Charlie’s service as a Washington correspondent. It may be said without the suggestion of exaggeration that it was one of the most satisfactory banquets ever given in the club’s quarters.” Of course, quite likely, there are & number of former newspaper men living in Washing- ton who are much older than Messrs. Boyle and Hamilton, but these men are still “delivering the goods” every day, and their many friends trust they will be able to do so for quite awhile yet to come. Says George Ade at the Queen’s Park Hotel in Trinidad. In the markets of Panama you find the iguana, a huge lizard resembling something that peeks over the foot of the bed in the psychopathic ward at Bellevue Hospital. When it arrives at the table it tastes like young chicken. The English put larks into pot-pies and ye- gard marrow, somehow extracted from beef bones, as a super-luxury. Both of them are good, too. Blood pudding in Germany isn’'t half bad unless ym inquire into all ihe deiaiis of iae recipe. Probably you know that carp, stil} regarded as zehr gut in Germany, were broughg to this country and tenderly cared for in ponds and then turned loose in eur streams so thas people in humble circumstances could get, for almost nothing, a large fish containing vita« mins A, B, C and D and almost everything else except something good to eat. German carp, English sparrows, Belgian hares, Argentine tango dancers, British lecturers and Swiss cuckoo clocks were brought to this country to make life more roseate and experiences more varied for the resident taxpayers. Now we can't deport the German carp, as we do the Sicilian banditti, because they hide in the mud. Speaking of English sparrows, a few years ago a railroad was built through our region. The army of foreign laborers trapped and ate all of the English sparrows. The trouble is, they went after robins, martins, chickadees and snowbirds also. Anything is good to eat. My favorite sausage in Italy, as I learned eventually, used horse meat as a theme song, and what was supposed to be curry of lamb in India turned out to be curry of goat. Every goat should be curried, but not in the dining room. At Chinese dinners in Hongkong and Shanghai the shark’s fins and the birds’ nest soup were excellent, but I drew the line on preserved and petrified eggs, 15 years old. Roy Chapman An- drews discovered in the Gobl Desert dinosaur eggs 3,000,000 years old and brought them home for a museum. ¥f he had been a China— mmhe would have elten mun“