The New York Herald Newspaper, January 27, 1873, Page 5

—— THE OLDEST MAN IN AMERICA | One Hundred and Fifteen Years of Existence. HISTORY OF GEORGE LE BARBE. A Century’s Experience of ‘Tobacco and Whiskey. One Who Was Too Old for the War of 1812 A Youth Who Shook Hands with Washington. SIMPLICITY OF THE OLDEN TIMES. DELAWARE WATBR GaP, Pa., Jan. 18, 1873, Taking a sleigh and driving thirteen miles west ‘ef here yesterday into a wild, unfruitful region of sountry, I found im a weather-beaten farmhouse off she roadside the oldest man in America, George Le Barre, who was born at Mount Bethel, Northamp- ton county, in this State, in the Fall of 1758, and is consequently approaching his one hondred and @fteenth year. I had for a companion, on the visit to this remarkable centenarian, Mr. Edward L. Brodhead, a gentleman belonging to one of the oldest families in the State, and an authority in genealogical lore, We stopped at Sam Bush's tavern at the cross roads to inquire the precise focation of Le Barre’s residence, Sam asked, as we were about to leave, “Got suthin spiritool for the old man?” “Why, no,” we answered; “he wouldn’t drink.” “Better fetch hima drop,” continued Sam; “he takes his nip of whiskey, and when he chucks in two or three stiff horns he taike like a bird, You’ve got to open his heart and set his tongue a-goin’ in this way or he won't tell you anything worth a cent.” ’ A PARTING INJUNCTION. “Put a little water in thet for him,” added Sam as we departed with a ginger beer bottle filled witirthe alcoholic sesame; ‘it's above proof and may bother him summit, Not much water, mind; jest enough to prevent him from coughing,” Sam’s injunctions were properly followed, and ‘the result was such as we were led to anticipate. Though everybody knew of George Le Barre it was only @ favored few that appeared to enjoy his per- sonal acquaintance. His residence, in +A VERY STERILE SECTION of the county and away from the highways and centres of population, kept him apart from his neighbors; and, then, George from his youth hadja fancy for solitary settlements and an aversion to apy other company than his dog and gun. His habits in early life were insensibly modelled on those of the Indians, of whom he knew considera- bly more than of bis own race, He was cradled in their midst, and when the great ‘Indian walk” took place in 1763 and most of the white settlers “north of the mountains’’—as the region of country fs called above the Delaware Water Gap—were butchered and their houses destroyed, George, his family and their home were exempted from the general doom. George, though a mere child at the time, remembers that terrible “walk” of the In- ‘dians and remembers, too, how his father’s roof ae shelter to several of the unfortunate settlers, YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF MR. LE BARKE, a lively lass of seventy-six, with an eye as bright and sharp as an otter’s, opened the door for us, “and, having stirred up the fire in the old-fashioned gearth, started with a brisk step to tell her vener- able parent that two visitors desired to see him, ‘The room where we waited managed to embrace the accommodations of kiteien, reception room, store room, sleeping apartment and museum of relics, consisting of old flints, leather leggings, In- dian arrows, shot-pouches, hunting-knives and ail the odds and ends that entered into the equip- ments of a frontiersaman of the oldentime. The house appeared to have,been originally constructed of logs, but by means @ clapboard facing to the exterior anfa liberal application of whitewash to the inside it wore a tolerably comfortable look, Soon George entered with a feeble step and walked slowly, without any aid, to a willow-boitomed chair near the fire, He took but very SLIGHT NOTICE OF HIS VISITORS until his danghter, whose astonishing vivacity at seventy-six made us marvel quite as much as did the far-reaching memory of her father, introduced us. He told Mr. Brodhead that he did not know him, but he was well acquainted with his grand- father and his great grandiather. He was slow to talk at first, saying that he had a touch of rheuma- tism, but he hoped to shake it off when the warm weather set in. He had never been sick but twice im his life, and then, as he observed, it was entirely due to his own indiscretion in sleeping on damp ground out in the woods at night. VICTORY OVER TIME. As he sat opposite to us in the chair he presented unmistakable marks of extreme old age without the usual accompaniment of paralyzed or impaired senses. His eyesight is a8 good as that of the aver- age of men of sixty. His hearing is slightly ae- fective and made it necessary for us to address him in @ voice somewhat louder tuan the ordinary con- Versational tone. MINUTE MEMORY. His memory of events bed to his one hundredth year is singularly clear, though the turther back he Feachcs the more luminous his recollection be- comes. He isnot quite sure whether his iriend Depui, who was shotin the whiskey insurrection of 1791, died on the spot or was removed and lin- gered till the next day; put he is positive that he saw Washington wear but one spur the day he rode ‘up to the Oaks tavern in Easton in the Spring of 1177, “He is tive abeut the length of a rockfish he caught with a line made out of horse hair in the wa o0f1790, Along with @ companion named ‘an Campen he went fishing down the Delaware, having previously stripped the tail of @ horse to make the lines, and expecting a good day’s sport they carried with them 4 two and a half bushel » The first nibble was @ rocktish, measuring two feet ten inches, and to this day he cannot re- cali, without laughing, the funny appearance of that fish, with bis sticking of the bag, ‘Think of a man recalling such trifling details of bi Iife after a lapse of over eighty years! OURIOUS CALCULATION. Two such lives as Le Barre’s added together ‘would unite the landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims with the establishment of the Crédit Mobilier and the efflorescence of Hoax Aims, Tureesuch would take us back within a generation of the discovery of America by Columbus; five would link us with ‘the Norman Conquest of England, and seventeen would ante-date tue birth of Christ and the subja- gution of the Gauls by Julius Casar. APPEARANCE OF THE CENTENARIAN. Sitting in the chair, this very old tussier of Time's appeared no more than jour jeet high, though measuring full my leet in his prime, he was bent almost double. His blue eyes, though not without some lustre, had a weak and watery expression. His teeth were vouly a, gone, and his flaky silver ’ hair remained o' at the back of his head. ‘There was color in his cheeks, but his neck had much of the dried, yellow and sbhrivelied appear- ance of @mummy.” His legs looked litule larger than the legs of the chairon which he sat, yet three years ago, in his 112th year, he managed ‘to make them carry lim @ distance of eight miles. Two years ago he might have been seen working fm the woods cutting railroad ties. and about the game time back he made a journey to Stroudsburg to witness the execution of the murderer of Mr. Brodbead, an uncie to companion, The people atthe jail refused to gratify the old gentieman’s curiosity, “But don’t you think they might? Ins daughter inuocently asked me, “seei ie Was 80 old, Indeed," she continued, “they might at least have let father see it, and I think it was real an- kund after le went so far, and at his age!" Is DESTRUCTIVE HABITS, He could not recall the time when he began to smoke and chew tobacco, but {t was certainly over a hundred years ago. He has continued te habit ever since, ‘lam id_he smokes too much,” remarked his fillal offspring, nd Tam trying to break bim off it.” He has also taken stimulants regularly, in the shape ode native whiskey ; bat he Jailed to remember that ever got drunk but twice, the tirst occasion being the day he went to Easton to see General George Washington, and the second when he leit his ola homestead at Mount Bethel, six miles irom here, and started ‘West with his futher in the year 1808.’ George was then fifty and his father hty-five. To show the extraordinary stamina of this family, the father, Daving 10st his Orps Yue, took _p sevond when hundred years old, drea and tive. GEORGE'S rari ane 7 vanced age, at aD almost ‘try from: jee about the year 1730, He was & Haguevot and a man of great physical strength and prowess. George rays he remembers his father selling, of how he saw art passing in gilded coach TAKES A DRINK. After we had been talking tn an indifferent kind of a way for some little time the old man took a drink trom the contents of the fi r beer bottle, mack of his le over to him it the smallest scruple of con- science that we were hastening his existence to a beverage we remained wit! premature end, ; * “And you shook hands with General Washing- ton ?" Tasked of the old man after his disposition to become communicative evinced itself, “yen, AngosL Orlow an 7 NEE Habs es,” he answerer eyes with the retollection. “General Wi ton fowght them (the British) at Trenton, He fowght them three days and he made 500 Heasians prison- ers, Yes, yes.” (Here he paused to fefresh bis memory.) “Good many Hessians was brought to Easton, and when they was liberated they settled north of the mountains, Some of them (their chil- dren he meant) is here still." ae it about that, time you'saw Washington ?” yea, “I wh Bepheetsgenss on (he about nineteen “1 was a young man, I suppose e' or twenty. ae went down frem Mount Bethel with Sam Vancampen and G Shoemaker. We stopped at the Oaks Tavern. ‘There was only about DA tt aay ae eager time. eral Was! came uj same tavern and shook hands with all the boys. He shook hands with me. first, because I was the frst ‘0 go up. and tell him I’d hold his horse, bat he told me never mind, that the « servant on @ black horse as black a8 himseli would do that. And so he did. And while be was a holdin’ on tothe General's herse the boys got about him and made fun out ofhim, General Washington went into the Oaks and had somethin’ to cat and drink, He wore & ‘aller preeches and.long boots and only one spat, | he wagafine man, He toek off his coat, and ‘Vancampen took it into the kitchen todry. His boots was all. wet from the snow, and his pistols ‘was wet too.” “How 18 it'you dia not join the American army?” “My father was a Tory aud they called me tory, and one fellow in * ge drew @ pistol to shoot me, and I got mad aad I swore I would not fight With them, but 1 never fought again’ ’em.”” HE SEES LAFAYRITE. “Dia you ever meet General Lafayette?” “Yes; Ol yes. He was agreat man, He brought over the Frenchmen. He fowgne well.” “Where did you meet him ‘Two or three years alter I saw General Wash- ton he was pointed out to me at Dill’s “tiie below the Water ape He had a grand sword and every- body was looking at him. He got his horse shod sharps There was ice on the ground and he walked Jame as if he got a fall. He spoke French and Eng- lish and you couldn't tell which from the other, O! he was a fine man, yes, Iremember well General Sullivan’s march irom Easton %o Wilkesbarre. He took his army across the Blue Ridge, through Wind Gap, and near the Susquebanna he had a battle with the Inguns. I got a horse pistol from one of his men in exchange for a bottle of applejack.” THE WHISKEY REBELLION. “What do you remember of the whiskey rebel- lon #?) ~~ “Very well, whiskey, and and the men Every man used to make his own the government wanted to tax it, wouldn’t pay it and they fowght the overpment, There were two men killed at troudsburg. They came up from Philadelphia to seize some stills above the mountains, and they got shot.” “Did you take a hand in?” “Yes, yes. We beat ’em, and didn’t pay a d—n cent to ’em.” “What was the real cause of that rumpus {’? “Up this way we had to roduce horses, and. when we had to carry it te Philadel- phia we lost money, because one horse could only carry seven or eight bushels of wheat, but you could make thirty bushels into whiskey and carr, it easy; and then as it was the only drink we had, and as we made it ourselves, we didn’t see what’ right we had to be taxed.” TOO OLD FOR SBRYICE IN 1812, “Where were you in 18121? “] was right here in this county.” “Did you take no part in the war t”” “No, I was too old, They made a call for men be- tween the ages of twenty-one and ferty-tive, and I was over fifty.” “Did you ever ride on o railroad 7” “Never, nor don’t want to.’” “Did you ever visit New York 7” “Never. I was agoin’ there once when I had some mouey, but I suppose 1’ll never have a chance of goin’ now.” PEOPLE HE NEVER HEARD OF. “Did Nig ever hear of the Tammany Ring, of Jim Le aed ate Tweed, the Crédit Mobilier and Oakes 8 “No, no; Who was they, what did they do?” “Well, they were young men who had a way of coming at tile blind side of other people and feath- ering their own nests. “Yes, yes; Isee. Lheerd tell of ch men. They beat ed Marshall. y thought Ned bad enough, but I'm. fold he wasn’t 2 patch on these lads in New York,’’ < “Whé was Ned Marshall?” “It was Ned walked the Injuns out of their lands. You see,in the old times when Penn’s people wanted land they made a friendly call on the In- juns, and the Injuns gave them as much as @ man might walk over while his pipe kept dh Ate wards, when they were gaat 8 With the Injuns, they got as much land as a man might walk across without giving up. Penn’s people got Ned Marshall to walk for them, and he kept on walkin’ till he walked in neara hundred miles of land with- out stoppin’, When the Injuns found themselves cheated this whet they took a walk of their own apd slaughtered nearly every man, Woman and child north of the mountains. I suppose this Bill Ames you mention is a bigger walker than Ned Marshall?” “Me is. His name is not Bill, but Oakes, He walked around a number of Congressmen and Senators, and actually walked off with the Pacitig Railroad.” “You don’t tell me?’ cried the old man with astonishment. ‘Walked off with @ railroad! Tonly wish Ned Marshall was alive. He always bragged about his hundred-mile walk, but he never did nothin’ like walkin’ off with a ratiroad, That is putty steep.?" “Oh, it's @ common thing with us nowadays. We have men in New York who think nothing of walking off witha railroad, and we have men in Washington who are constantly walking off with a million acres of the public land. A native of your own State—Simon Cameron—can beat Ned Mar- shall ali to pieces. It you live long enough you may see ‘im walk of with the Pennsylvania Legisia- ture. “Dear me,” the bewildered and simple-minded centenariun exclaimed, “how the times have changed! And who is Cameron?” “On, you must know him, Mr. Le Barre, He is a distinguished ornament of this State in Congress, He began life later than you did, but by unfailing mdustry has managed to place himself beyond the reach ol verty.”? “{ see,” said the centenarian meditatively. “1 suppose he lives in a two story house, with a slate roof now; but Cameron—Cameron. I can’t recol- lect him. vid he ever chop wood for a livin'’?’” “1 think not, Mr. Le Barre, but he has certainly done a good deal of log-rolling.”” HK GOES FORK & SMOKE. Here the old man reached up to the mantelpiece for his pipe, and being furnished with some Lone Jack tobacco, he assumed # happicr expression of face than he had worn before. Inthe meantime iis interesting daughter furnished us with many points of the family history, and among other things told us that her father’s diet for years consisted of soups, mush and mulk, hominy “‘ana sich things,” that ne always went to bed early and was up be- fore daybreak. Sometimes he went coon hunting in the woods as early as three in the morning. He always worked very hard, aud was a man Oo! great strength and endurance. He was a splendid shot, and made THE INDIANS ENVY HIM. With the Indians Georg ent a good dea! of his time. He was a iavorite among them. When he went to Ohio in 1808, the new tribes of Indians he met there were always friendly toward him. “I met one chap,” said he, “that taiked very sweet, eee all my whiskey and drauk limself to jeath. GEORGF'S FAMILY. He says Cincinnati then consisted of a few houses down by the river. He failed to agree with his father, who Was a man of Wayward impulses and constantly getting into trouble. Geor, had four- teen children, eight of whom are living—tue eldest being 4 young buck just turned ninety. “He Nas the asthma,” observed the daughter, “and I don’t think he'll live to be an old man.” George said “I built one house for my son David and another for my son Hugh. I jived with both of them for awhile, but. I couid never agree with their wives, so lieft them. My sou Hugh thought the house I built for him not good enough, so he has put up one himself—a grand house, with a slate roof.” The old man ooks upon @ two story dwelling with a slate rool 48 something akin to a Pay’ children now," he uttered in a plaintive manner, ‘are nearly all far away. One is iu this State and another in that, and 1 suppose some of them | may never see again,” ALWAYS A DEMOCRAT. He has always beem a democrat and voted for every Presidential candidate since Washington, except at the last election, Horace Greeley was too mach for him and he reiraiued from attending the polls. THE RULING PASSION. In the Summer of 1869 he felled trees and pecied with his own hands three wagon loads of bark, which one of his. grandchildren lad of sixty years—hauled to market, He has lived to see lis great-great-great-grandchildren. AN INTRRESTING CALCULATION as Deen made by 4 local stutistician that he fs re- sponsible for increasing the population of the United States to the number of 1%,270, The local statisticlan § tO work in this way:—“if,”? ho pare, “we e the family of Mr, George Le harre (spelling it corruptly La Bar) as role for the rest we find that he has ten children 0 Wave raised families, and his grandchildren number bout eighty. Now, here is @ tenfold increace after we throw away cight children as nop-producing. lic , and lived tothe age of ove bun- | hag | a, sop who ie about the same umber’ of grandchildren, Mr. Bar hav had fourteen chilires in all, bet if we throw away three-sevenths for deaths and casualties we will have tour-sevenths or eight of be fourteen leit as ie 7 berg a oae B such, LUE We Will make eight prod stock, and the result will show an army of taet0. continues: again, George's eight produel continues :—"* 8 e clog dren increased by a ratio of aig and we have sixty-four gr: idren; then throwing a three-sevenths we have four-seventis or thirty- seven lett, which, ti again by. pony ue and m\ Increased our dcbiidren, Dedusting re we have 1,360 great grandchil- MIXTURE OF BACES, "s father, with French blood tn his veins, 3 Geo bimsel! an ter of & Hollander, #o that the time is about as variously Within the last cou George’ married @ German married the daug by this as need be, ;but saya he has only turned go up the scale o1 Been Seete ana thet noi so ee a go to school, He has never given up KEEPING HIS OWN HOUSE and his own table, and is too independent a char- acter tobe dependent even on his ow children, He married but once, and then happily, and, thongh tempted to marry again, he said he ‘feared he might get a devil, and deciined to venture, Such is the story of old e. Le Barre, ue yet live to see the celebration of the Centen- nial of Independence, and who is most likely the oldest man living at this day in America. who “An Orphan of the 014 Dominion,” published by J. B. Lippmcott, is. @ book which it is not easy to describe, It is not a novel, and yet it isnot unlike & very poornovel. Jt is nota book of travel and adventure, and yet it skims the surface of the whole earth. ‘It contains no valuable information or ideas, and so far is it from being framed upon any fixed plan that what at first seemed to be in- tended asa picture of the ‘cultivated, refined and hospitable” society of the South closes with letters from @ missionary young lady m China telling over again Lieutenant Maury’s theories about the sea, “The work,” says the preface, ‘laysno, pecullar claima to literary exceilence and asks not for criti- cism,””? We suppose the author would regret if the book found purchasers, for 1t will never find readers. “Memoirs of a Maryland Volunteer,” by John R. Kenly, and published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., is a persotialiarrative of the war with Mexicd, which ought to find readers. General Kenly’s narrative of his earlier military services 1s very well written, and it is the story of the Mexican war as well a8 of his own part in that struggle. The acquisitions which grew outof the contest are in the reality the foundation of most of the events connected with our history eyer since; and this fact, taken in connection with the neces- sity of settlg the Mexican problem, which will soon force itself upon us, makes the book valuable and timely. M, Viardot’s work on “Scnipture’ has been translated and added to Scribner, Armstrong & Co.'s “Tilustrated Library of Wonders.” With the exception of the chapter on American sculpture, which is “by another hand,” and bas no proper place in the book, it is a most. satisfactory work, and will go far to supply to the intelligent reader the much-needed general information the frequent allusions to the great works of the great sculpters: make so necessary. ‘ “Reason vs. The Sword,.@ Treatise; in which it is shown that man has no right to take human life; and that war is violative of the laws of nature and of revelation, and destructive of the right of self-government,” is the cumbrons title of a heavy book by John W. Washburn, which is “publisned for the proprietors” by G. P. Putnam & Sons, New York, and W.G. Hubbard, Columbus, Ohio, The book is an absurdity and its logic, generally pu- erile, is always impracticable, “Half Hours with Irish Authors,” published by J, A. McGQee, contains selections from the writings of Griffin, Lover, Garleton ahd Lever, showing some of the most remarkable phases of Irish char- acter, One of the beneficial results of these ‘Half Hours” ought to be to stimulate a desire among American readers for a more intimate acquaint- ance with the works of the Irish novelists, “The Rector of Roxburgh,” a8 its name imports,” is a story Of the life and trials of an Episcopal min- ister in a New England town. It is not by any means a@ great book, and, where it deals with matters purely social, it is far from being trench. ant; but it is pleasantly told, and will intereat many readers of the class for which it is intended, The author is William Hickling, and E. P. Dutton & Co. are the publishers, In the current number of Appleton's “Popular Science Monthly” is a paper on “The Law of Storms,” by Professor Thompson B. Maury, of the Signal Ofice, Washington, which merits general attention. We have already spoken of Professor Maury as among our most capable scientists. The development of the law of storms is his specialty, and he pursues the study of this branch of meteo- rology with a devotion equalled only by its intelli- gence, In this paper he develops to some extent, though indirectly, the theories upon which the Signal Service acts, and helps to further its useful- ness by showing the grounds upon which its warn- ings rest. AFTER OFFICE IN JERSEY. nae Governor Parker's Appoitntments—The Race tor the Chancellorship—Essex County Judgeships. Governor Purker, of New Jersey, is fully realizing just now one of the charming and agrecable de- lights of his success in politice—the selection of one gentleman, out of perhaps a dozen, to fill one position, Each applicant and his friends are agreed that he is the very man for the position—that, if appointed, he would be the right man in the right place. It is obvious, however, when there are @ dozen applicants for one ap- pointment eieven out of the batch must be disap- pointed, and their friends with them, The anxiety Just now in Jersey official circies is the Chancellor- ship. It is now occupied by A, O, Zabriskie, who goes ontsoon. To fill the shoes that he will pat off there are quite a number of legal geutiemen anxious. It seems to be conceded, however, that the choice, which will probably be announced during this week, lies between Chiei Justice Mercer Beasley, presiding officer of the Supreme Court, and le petit Génerdi of Newark, Theodore Runyon. ‘The latter has many friends and is endorsed by leading men in both parties as eminently fitted for the position, Others, no less influential, urge the fact against himm—one, too, that is generally ad- mitted—that while General Runyon is a clever aud successful advocate he lacks that depth of legai learning and judicial experience which is essential in one whose liigh and responsible ,duty it 1s to ‘weigh Well and decide knotty points of law. In these respects, It is urged by his friends, Judge Beasley is undoubtedly the better fitied for the position, as his experience on the bench in the sState’s highest judicial capa- city would seem to indicate. But it is urged against the Ghief Justice that, as he has over four years ofa term yet to serve, his friends have lo right to expect his appointment as Chancellor. Be that as it may, in leading oficial quarters of New Jersey it 18 believed most probable that Justice Beasley will be the next Chancellor, aud that his seat 08 the bench will be fiiied by Judge Bedle, of Hudson county, who would Mpeg make & wort acceptable Chief Justice. This woula give the Gov. ernor, in point of fact, three appointments instead 01 one, as Would be the case should # mere lawyer be chosen jor the Chanceliorship. Another point which does not assist General Runyon’s chances is the Jact that the Vice Chancellor, Amzi Doad, ap- pointed about a year ago, is from Newark. The Governor will uiso have the Spppinstng, Soirsme Conrt Justice, In the place of Judge . , OF county. It seems to ded matter th: ofa yavicd e a set- Judge Depue, although a tepub- licam, wili be reappointed. This would xive entire Satisfaction to the community in which Judge Depue has for years dispensed justice, biudly, but eveny. In eX county, too, there is some anxiety as to the appointment of a presidmg age of the Court of Common Pleas of that county, ‘the present In- cumbent, C. L. ©. Gitiord, wae merely chosen to fll sn unexpired term until the Legis- latare showld meet. In his case the Legislature is the appointing power, the Governor being merely an afirmatory authority, In the other cases tie positions are re’ d, the Governor having the appointing power and the Legisiature in joint 8c8- sion the power to confirm Or reject. The Governor is a democrat aud the Legisiature overwhelmingly republican; #0 the executive ,and legislative au- thorities will have to work nicely to suit each other—to dovetuil, as it were, e impression revaila that should Judge Depue be reappointed he Legisiature will retarn the compliment by ap- pointing Judge Gittord, Who is a democrat, Ali the appoiutments Wil) be wade UUs Week, WASHINGTON SOGIRIY. analy cn A Lady’s Reflections on Life at the Capital. —_—_———— TEARING OFF THE MASK OF HUMBUG epee A Severe Review of the Men and Women of Society. ‘What the Best People are Made Of—Adventur- ers of Both Sexee—Officers “Whose Offence is Rank’—Diplomatic Darlings—The Bidiculousness of Receptions. Wasnincton, Jan. 25, 1873. Said a New York lady to a member of the HERALD corps of observation afew nights ago, ‘You cor- respondents who ‘do’ society—I believe that ts the Professional term—hnave much to answer for to the public. You fill the inner pages of your newspa- pers, where women always look for news, with Pictures of social like at Washington that, if not wholly fanciful, are so highly colored as to be quite ag deceptive, so bringing disappointment on many who come here in ignorance of what society life really is, but with expectations highly wrought through the influence of your weekly /eutlletons. Assuming that a spectal degree of interest attaches to the sayings and doings and the wearings of cer- tain people, because, in some sort or another, they ‘belong to the government,’ you busy yourselves, day by day, in ‘writing up’ romantic accounts of social transactions that, at their very best, are but weak imitations or variations of society life among the upper classes of New York, Philadelphia and Boston, though these latter have no thought of letting their transactions get into the papers if they can help it, Why, even at Balti. more, within forty miles of us, there is a society that scarcely furnishes an item a year to the re- Porters} yet it is at least the equal of the ag- glomerate affair you have here, in rank or culture or social interest! Go turther and take St. Louis and its upper rank, or, easier done, draw out Mrs. Sherman and hear her confess, as THE SUM OF HER THREE YEARS’ EXPERIENCE of Washington, that she would gladly take the General back to their old home if his army duties permitted or the President would eonsent to part with his trusty friend and lieutenant. New Or- leans I forbear to mention in covtrast, for her first circles, being foreign in extraction and tone, are native-born to the best traits and habits of social existence, ‘Chicago!’ Well, I ad- mit that Chicago is worse than Washington, her ‘best’? people being as’ eager: for printed puffery, and not balf as deserving of it! As for niyself, Icame here @ few weeks ago, in tul- Alment of a long borne intention to spend one sca- son With an old and dear friend; but I am going to pack my Saratogas and get back to New York just as soon as I can do it without too rudely shaking up a iifelong friendship, As for my friend, if she could ge too 1 am sure she would be glad to do it; but here she has her, home and ‘social duties,’ which are so only in name, that she caunot con- sent to neglect, If 1, like you, had to write about society at Washington, and dared to tell the truth, as I understood the truth, I'should say that on the surface social LIFE WAS INTOLERABLY DULL and anything but social in the best and true sense, and that below the surface It was elther lamentably corrupt or most shockingly self-slandered. 1 don’t pretend to decide which. Jam only a chance ob- server and listener, butif | mistake not what I see, and only the half of what I hear be true, then I say both. To me it seems as if the social life of the capital were but 9 continuation of its political life, the scene being shifted from the public, to the pri- vate quarters of the city and the family circles pressed into service as helpers. Of course, at the political centre of a great and busy nation, and especially @ nation that follows legislation and ice-holding a8 a calling so extensively as our own, we may expect to find adventurers, of both sexes and all » With enough of outward respectability to get among honest peuple, Such are some of the young women, and eyen the old and middle-aged, and the no-aged women, that we see daily in the Senate reception room, or in the corridor leading oat of it into the Sevuate chamber; also mey among the swarm of men that cluster about the door of the House, kept back by the clasped hands of the two door- Keepers. Idonotreier to these, however, but to people who answer all the EXUKKNAL REQUIREMENTS OF SOCIAL BESPECT- ABILITY and about whom none but people equally respect- apie presume to (alk, aud tuen only in contidence, with much half statement aud disclajming of responsibility ior ‘the facts,’ the rest being Ssug- estion aud inference. You cannot expect me to jescend to names and particulars, of course, and 1 seriously doubt if you can need pty nformation concerning what society here says about itself up and down stairs, when it has ite wrappers and slippers on and ‘no vonitanen in the house, I came here prepared to believe aud to worship, but no sooner do ] set up a society idol and begin to pay homage to its special attributes than some- body, ‘in confidence,’ overturns it, and, assum- edly, upon the best motives. ‘True, I accept the motive usually with much allowance; but there is generally a remainder of circumstantial evidence suiliclent to awaken much doubt as to whether ‘things’ are any more ‘what they seem’ here than elsewhere, if as much. The number of PERSONS FIGURING IN THE SOCIETY COLUMNS of the Washington papers who have each a ‘pri- vate history’ apart from their public recoru ts un- comfortably large, and it is an added discomfort to reflect apon the number of gratuitous historians, or, more properly speaking, ‘bic phers.’ Wi! dull matter-o/-lact mortal as I am, I conid from pres- ent resources—and my ‘facts’ involuntarily grow with growth in society—undertake to supply Mr. Daly and the successive managers and authors of the school with plots enough for society plays till Fiith Avenue Theatres shall ‘Phoonix’ no more and the high-dressed beauties of the moder stage become great-grandmothers or mummies, ‘The action of the dramas would be a little old, un- douvtedly, arising, as ever, from the play of human passions upon human follies, but with an infinite variety of incident, the best substitute for novelty compiete.”” A BREATHING SPELL. Turned back @ little in her recital by a brief re- mark of the deeply interested correspondent, this social critic, at once “lively” and “severe,” con- tinued :—"‘] said that the external aspect of society here was intolerably dull, andIrepeatit. Look, for instance, at that much vaunted specialty, the weekly ‘reception’ business! What is there in in itof pleasure or profit for anybody, unless it be the hackmen and stable keepers, and the need of benevolence in that direction isa matter of personal opinion. Last Monday, for instance, with my hostess and another lady, aud a chance but very sensible and agreeable geutieman taken — to p—‘atronize’ the party, | was driven east- ward, towards and beyond the Capitol, to attend the Linnne gear of Mrs. Judge Bradley and Mrs. Judge Fi and thence, deacending in the oficial wcale of rank, to several army and navy houses, as well as to others living in the eastern part of the city, Whose ee ed of filling their streets with carriages and their houses with people is to inter- cept the tide of visitation as it roils trom the homes of the Ju to the Navy Yard. Moestof the people 1 met, as I went frém house tu house, 1 had but lately parted with, and I expected to meet them | sll again during almost every day and evening of the week, to say nothing of the week afterwards. As conversation of some kind seemed to be the only reiuge for everybody short of A STUPID SILENCE AND. AN OWI-LIKE BLINKING at the Coe ag everybody dashed into it with everybo 4 they met, and finding nothing to say after the first iew efforts, dashed out of it and the { house together as quickly as they id, Of course the ladies who received were, at the bottom, no better off than those wno called; but the necessity of saying something to ever, made brevity ana repetition venial sins with them, and gave them the means of escape from outwara embar- tassment. Then, at the end of ali there was the counting and recounting of carriages and callers— and after that the next mornipg’s papers—to testily sto @ ‘great success,’ I never so forcibly and bit- terly, in @ octal view, felt the truth of the preacher's homily, ‘7! is nothing new uoder the san,’ ‘There certainly was not ‘under the gaslight’ that day, and other days like it. Hap- pily for those who cannot get away from Washing. ton and fits tedious rect jons, as 1 can, the end is already to dimly see! Mrs. Carlisie, unquestionably the cleverest society lady in the whole circle, has introduced rousic and.dancing at ber weekly ‘aiternoons,’ and the rest are falling into this ‘Bine Grass’ notion. Judge Bradley's family followed the new fashion last Monday, and theirs was tne one exception to the funereal solemnity of the whole round of receptions. But peovie who dance cannot be dancing around at a dozen or twenty houses through an afternoon without injustice to their evening engagements, and those who do not dance will in the end cease to go to dancing receptions altogether, and there will be none other kind leit by that time. Then, bs ine there is @ scarcity of young men in the erpoons. You see what it comes to when rea } NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1873.—TRIPLE SHEET. soned ont. There wit) be dinner parties and dancing parties and music parties, and—rare en- joyment when -well managed—card parties in Rotiety; Dut no zecensicns, as now; and, as the aiternoon ts inconvenient for everybody, it will be dropped from society's calendar, 1 except THE KRCEMTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT and the ladies of his family. Unable to mingle freely in soeiety like other people, the ‘reception,’ ‘and simple, affords to tuem a rational means o1 keeping up their acquaintance and communica- tion with the outer world of rank and fashion, and being founded in reason in their case, the practice may be expected to endure, But for everybody else the soouer the cusiom dies out the better, in my opinion, and in the opinion, too, of some whose pte pogo ia of the most conspicuous character, As if to hasten the coming day | see by the papers that a considerable number of people have gone into the reception business this season whose par- ticipation can only pe Teraried by the better ¥ ean is berieages ot ry manners, and ti jatter will the soonkr, therefore. leave the field. I ‘Wish them a pleasant pie t journey into other and better social effort. Induced, after a brief interruption, to resume the subject of her criticism, our fearless image-breaker Pesees from the manners to the men and women of ‘ashington society :—“'l hear,” she said, ‘a great deal in laudation class here. the composition of the social above the social class elsewhere, I do not consent to it at all, In the first place you have but one circle, and into that everybody wiio comes atall Cory! right, and there is ELECTIVE PROCESS RECOGNIZED, either in factor theory, In pay other city | goeuge to sustain » social structure there are d ferent ana distinctive circles, and, so far choice lies with you, you choose your own and leave others to themselves, Some of them may be neither below nor above your own, but they are exclusive in their own sense and from natural causes. Conse- quently you are at home and atease in such a social organization ; but such is not the cuse here, where you are obliged to consort with people who are dis- agreeable to you, if you are not disagreeable to them... You deride our aristocracy of trade, law, b ota and divinity, thinly sprinkled with iitera- re, art and hereditary culture, and flout before us your princes of politics, diplomacy and the ‘united Laide I hepsi ay your gear = the npecial y society’ you name, but deny their haifinele value, Never in our political his- tory was there such dominance ot medlocrity—the mediocrity of reputation, at least—in Cabinet and Senate house, and the Kot bd of giants in the places of giants seem wolully intermitied. 1 do not den that Sumper and Thurman, and Carpenter an Anthony, and Sherman and Conkling, and Freling- huysen and Casserly, and Patterson and the two Morrills represent, at least, the average intellect and morals of the country; but they are Jess than ® dozen in seventy-lour, and you can almost, from bare memory of names, off- set them, one bi one, and leave. fifty others to take their places between the two extremes, It is not safe yet, with the Crédit Mobilier committees only half way through, to set up any contrast between extremes in the Lower House, for, New Yorker as 1 am, I should be very likely to start om with a hitherto respected mem- ber from my own neighbprhood, and-until Judge Poland's committee make their report I don't know at which end to put him, As you say, the SOCIETY MANNERS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS of your diplomatic darlings are very fine, but to me they are altogether too suggestive of ‘the shop’ to be acceptable, and 1 undertake to intro- duce you to better representative men of nearly every country represented here if you ever come to see me in New York. I make several individual Ce howevex, which, as the Belisle say, it would be invidious to mention. Your military heroes I cannot worship, though their uniforms are becoming, and serve wonderfully well to light up @ room fuilef company. If I may venture on a pun I would say that their ‘offence is rank;’ they ure all generals here, though one seeks for them in vain upon the muster rolls of fame. As captains of majors one could view them with mterest as possible heroes of the future, with a history yet to e made and written in the Jace of the world hike that of Captain Grant or Lieutenant Sherman or that Homeric brave Quartermaster, Hancock. But such are not your parior generals, who seem to be plodding, iamily men, without ambition apart from @ comfortable life .at Washington on ‘special duty’ and @ good position in society, Then there are other . generals, who only wear uniforms when they go abroad to sell patent rights in breecti-loading guns or to run consul- ates or commercial agencies. only their rank, to which they cannot always show title;yand when they are not being ‘General’-ed at receptions and dinner parties they are to be found in the lobbies and cloak rooms of the Capitol. As for your naval heroes, they and theira are so talkative about intricate questions of rank, sea ay, shore pay, commutation allowances, retired ists, advanced grades, overslaughings, regulars and volunteers and line and stuif that one has never the temerity to speak of broadsides and boardings and lee scuppers, or Peyry, or Farragut, or Nelson, or Lord Exmouth unless one meets Here they use young Cushing, of the Albemarie, or talks with quiet, reflective Porter—deep in questions of tor- edoes and improvised conversions of Brooklyn and ersey ferryboats into floating batteries against Spanish armadas when Congress has leit us no war ships. Then, for your GRAND DAMES OF SOCIETY— your baht Ors beget in politics and the science of oyernment—the maids of honor and the ladies of he republican court circle in general, while Icontess my surprise at their famibarly with things so dificult for women to understand—with laws, parliament- ary customs, the successive chances and fortunes of & bill which they desire to see become a law, the composition of Congressional committees and the ‘influence’ that controls this or that person in au- thority, I am compelled to believe that, with them, knowle is not reverenced for knowledge's sake, but sought and used for purety seltish purposes— every effort tending towards the common end of bettering one’s fortune and ,acquiring additional means to gratify that love for diaplay which has in- vaded and is fast destroying ail that is enjoyable of Washington social life.”” ‘The foregoing is.a faithful and approved repro- duction of a society lady’s thoughts about Wash- ington society, the writer assuming no responsl- bility excep for the opinion that if not welcomed it will not be the first time in human history that ee pan has been rejected and denounced as false- ood, 3 ree THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE BILL, Pencarian a WASBINGTON, Jan. 18, 1873. To THE EpiTor OF THE HERALD Iask for a brief space In your columns to correct a few statements made in your issue of the 16th the press persists in calling it, spite of facts and reason, the Agricultural Coliege bill. In the first place, it was stated in an off-hand way that the bill appropriated “some thirty millions or more’? out of the public treasury. If the compiler of that, statement had taken the, trouble to examine the bill agit passed the Senate he woultl have secn that 1t was so amended as to endow only State in- ‘Stitutions, all reference to the Territories being stricken out. Now, there are thirty-seven States, and to each 18 assigwed $625,000, which would make the total sum appropriated $23,125,000—a difference Of about ten millions from the statement in the HeRawp. In the second place, it was said that the bill was carried through by the “shallow sophistry” that each State is entitled to its share of the public lands, and, therefore, to moneys accru- 10g from the sale of those lands. The bill was not based upon that at all, as those who have read the speeches on the subject must know. The advecates of the measure claimed that, as one State has a t to obtain from Congress a breakwater for its harbor, another a canal for its commerce or ar; thing which would more or less benebt the whol country, 80 every State has a right to obtain of Congress means to educate its inhabitants cheaply. Surely no one wiil that education is of less im- inst. Irefer to an article on the National, or, a8.) yp rtance to the ‘wiiole country than canals or Preakwaters. Subsidiary to this is the fact that Congress, having already given a grant sufficient to start, but inadequate to successfully carry on these colleges, it right they should now com- Plete the work they have begun. Again the hue and cry of “land grabs’ and ‘dobby jobs” is raised. Statements are nothing without facts on which to base them, and I am itive that not asingle fact can be Pa imag or is in existence to show that a lobbyist has been em- ployed for this bill or that any parties bave been urging ¢ ie matter wlio are otherwise than disin- terestedly interested, -As tor college rings or- ganized to make way with the funds, a lit ex- amination of the bill would have shown that the Secretary of the Treasury hoids all the money due the several States and to each doles ont the in- terest only at five per cent semi-annually, with the power 'o withhoid it if it is shown him that the disbursed money is used fraudulently, I do not wish to -enter into a jengthy discus- sion of this matter, but when a _ leadin journal makes such hasty statements as have vas, noticed it seems to me but fair that you should allow a correction to be made. Lam pot interested in national colleges pecuniary gor con- nected with therm in any way, but I take a deep in- ‘terest in this bili, for I believe it is something the country needs, and will be a great step in the pro- gress of education. M. “PET! HALSTED'’S WIDOW IN COURT. A suit is now on trial in the Essex county (New Jersey) Courts, in which Mrs, Martha A. Halsted, widow of the late General “Pet” Halstead, appears as plaintif, seeking to recover from the New Jersey Insurance Company certain dower rights in the property on Broad street, Newark, occupied by the company. She claims that the propemy in question Was conveyed to Oliver 8. Halst ‘ee ou the sist day of March, by Peter S. ee and his wile, The plea of the defence ts that they hold @ mortgage conveyed to them in the year 1861, which debars Mra. Uaisted trom her right to recover dower. The mortgage is duly re- corded in the books of the Su ate, but has been misjaid by the company. Mr. Daniel Dodd, who was at the time of the tate beige) of the deed sec- retary of the company, testified that the existence of the mortgage Was cssenual to the company in making ont their title to the property, because Oli- ver 5. Halsted, Jr., and his wife were not joined in one of the immediate conveyances, The case is sti ob. 5 A REMARKABLE RECORD. d A Family Abandoned to the Cold Charity of County Institations by a Heartless Man—The Son After Many Years’ Absence at Sea Returns and Finds His Father Dead and a Fortune To Be Claimed. Meeting Between an Insane Mother and Her Boy. It ia a trite saying that “truth is stranger than fiction,” and the wonder is that novelists do not give over the vrain-cudgelling work of thinking over plots and weaving imaginary figures that they may write books to entertain the less experienced readers, The world aboutus abounds with inci- dents of truly dramatic effect, which require but a little labor to weave a story founded on fact and replete with details which amply verify the axiom above quoted. - The Kings county charitable institutions, situ- ated in the town of Flatbush, can tell many a tale of human misery, fraught with romantic incidents, worthy the pen of the story writer. But it is not with romance that this brief article has to deal. On the contrary, it is with stern reality, On Thursday last a weather-beaten, bright-look- ing young man, about nineteen years old, entered the ofice of the Board of Charities, Willoughby street, Brooklyn, and, approaching one of the clerks, stated he was desirous of obtaining some information concerning a family named Weeks, who MANY YEARS AGO were placed under the charge of the Board of Superintendents of the Poor, He said that he had been given over, together with two little brothers, named William and Edward, tothe care of the keeper of the County Nursery, at Flatbush, by his father. The youth further stated that his name was Henry L. Weeks, He had been apprenticed to a stingy farmer out on Long Island, about tyirteen years ago, He worked for an agriculturist at Huntington, but the work was not suitable for him and the treatment was unkind, One morning he ran away from his Huntington master and, making his way to one of the harbors on the Sound, shipped as a boy. He had followed a seafaring Ife irom that period down to - the present, and there is no quarter of the globe over which he has not sailed, Henry remembered having heard that his mother was an inmate of the Lunatic Asylum, but he did not remember her appearance, being too young when she was separated from his brothers and himself. Recently, returning from an extended voyage, Henry made his way to Bridge- port, Conn., his father’s native place, for the pur pose of seeing his CRUEL-HEARTED AND UNNATURAL PARENT, Here he learned that his father bad been for some time, and further, that he had cumulated a fortune Saree the years-which mter- vened between the period of abandonment of his unhappy wife and three children... The amount at which the estate, left under the administration of a relative, is valued 1s said to be about $25,000. Here, then, was an unexpected windfall in store for the tempest-tossed mariner, whose buifeting about on the sea of life, and the “deep blue sea’’ had been of a character s0 severe as to mature his facnities and experiences tar beyond his years. But his claim to his father’s estate must be estab- lished, and in order to effect this end he at once repaired to Brooklyn for the purpose of com- municating with the authorities in whose charge lus relatives had placéd him s0 many years before, Fortunately one of the attachés of the Charity Bureau, who was present during young Weeks? recital, remembered the circumstances connected with the consignment of the Weeks family to the care of the county, Sixteen years ago Weeks, de- ceased, and his family resided in Brooklyn, ‘MRS. WEKKS BECAME INSANX, . and was sent to the Lunatic Asylum. Her husband, who was an engineer by trade, was eut of employ- ment ut the time, and requested the Commission- ers of the Poor tw take care of lis three boys at the Nursery untit he couid earn enough money to provide for them at home. Two years rolled by and Weeks paid a visit to the unfortanate w! mental con- ife, wi dition was such as to give no ho. of her recover- ing her reason, He went away, promising to compensate the county for the cost of her board and maintenance, No attention was paid by him, as as can be ascertained, to his children, bix Ts ago sult was instituted by the county against Weeks to recover the amount due for board. oMice clerk informed Henry that his mother was still alive and an inmate of the ward devoted to the incurable at the Flatbush Asylum, but he could net tell what had become of THE TWO BROTURRS of Weeks, who, years ago, left the Nursery. What were the feelings engendered im the breast of the sailor lad upon learning that his mother still lived it is impossible to state; but his emetion was natural, and his haste to reach her dismal abode— the tomb of the living victims of dethroned rea- son—at Flatbush was eager. On the arrival of Weeks at the Lunatic Asylum be was shown into the presence of the physician in. charge, Dr. Chapin, ‘and to him told the object of his visit. The worthy custodian of the asylum, who has filled his present responsible position for many years, at once took deep interest in the recital of the young man, and accompanied him to the f-male ward, in which Mrs. Weeks has passed away +o rere many years, suffering from what is tectnically known as chronic dementta. Here wandered aimlessly up and down the hall women of almost every age, some silent ana others muttering in that unintel- ligible jargon which strikes 80 harshly upon the senses of the unaccustomed visitor AT THE MAD HOUSE. The colorless cheeks, bright, vacant, staring eyes, and quiék, nervous movements, character> istie of the occupants of such @ place, grated strangely upon the young mariner in quest of his mother, as he _ strode and down the ward, peering ,closel; into the Jace of every female of mature years, 1 the hope of recognizing her. Four times iu suc~ cession the demented mother and the quick-witted son passed each otier without the least evidence of identification on either side. Then the Doctor suddenly stopped in front of four middle-aged tients. Young Weeks for @ moment glanced trom face te lace, and then stepping forward, ex- claimed, “THAT 18 MY MOTHER!)? He embraced the form of a gray-halred, stooped woman, whose Ups he kissed, but Vainly endeav- ored to arouse the least token of reeognition on her part. The poor woman submitted passively to the filial salutation of the son, whose coming she would gladly hail with maternal joy Could Memory but assert her claim for an instant. But no; there was a great chasm between the past aud the pre- sent, Which naught this side of the grave can span, ‘The gloom was impenetrable, and’no beacon light shone in the distance to penetrate the depths in which remembrance of CHILDREN AND HOME LIB FOREVER BURIED to that peor woman. The bronzed cheeks of the young mariner were suifused with tears as he vainl; appesied to her for some evidence of recog- mith 6 poor woman said, “No. She had no chil- dren, Her bame was Mrs, Shaddock, and her hus- band was an uphoilsterer.” ‘The records at the asylum, however, established her identity as the widow ro oa Weeks. Lag Henry Jo age bei from gi ee, an promising to cal again at an early Oy went out in quest of his brothers, Witham ward Weeks. As soon 49 fortune may have sufficiently favored him to have found them he will return to Brit Conn., appeal to the Surrogate and. press his claims for Nis father’s estat FATAL FROLIOS, Sad Accident to a Surprise Party—A Lady Drowned. Yesterday morning, avout half-past one o'clock, @ party of ladies and gentlemen, having arranged a surprise party to call upon Captain Hitchcock, of the river steamer Armenia, lying at pier 50 North River, went aboard the boat, and after enjoying themselves for @ time started for home, and in leaving had to walk a gang-plank to reach the pier. All passed ashore in sates except Mrs. Lavinia Smiley, formerly the wite Bill le, who was murdered nearly twenty years Stanwix Hall, Broadway, M4 Lew Baker. e and fell overboard. 2 rN prenty REEREREtY wre in naequence, and, the alarm tly given, Sir states Winne, an attaché oP Met anseuia, boldly jumped into the water, and seizing the drowning lady, made heroic efforts. to save her. ‘They struggied for some time, but Mr, Winne being unaided by the friends on the pler—who could not reach them—at last became benumbed by the iv tense cold, and was eompelled to avandon Mix Smiley, who thereupon out of sight and was drowned. eo: The search was Kept up till halépast seven o'clock yesterday morning, when her body was found by William Delany floating on a cake of ice, and recovered by Roundsman Soule and Onicet Burke, of the Twents-eighth precinct, The re- tuains Were conveyed to the late restdence of de- ceased, No. 66 Morton street, where Coroner Young Was requested to hold an inquest. Mrs. Smiley Was about forty-Mve years of age, and native of this country. eer wee) TaX REOEIPTS, The Comptroller reports that the following amounts were collected vy the Receiver of Taxed during the past week :— 10,289 65 Jannary 2.