Part 17
Besides the pot of tea the table groaned under a huge weight of dainties too numerous to mention. Terrapins, quails, oysters, salmon, honey sweet as that of the bees of Hybla, chickens broiled in the same style as they are always cooked in Mrs. Southworth’s novels, confectionery, and cream such as exudes from the Sacred Cow. But this table was not to be approached except by those anointed for the purpose. In the room were sprinkled around tables of all sorts and sizes, from the dining cover, capable of supplying six to eight persons, to the modest light stand, which had been hastily abstracted from a chamber. The guests could seat themselves in any manner they chose, provided they kept away from the fountain of supply. At one of the little tables might have been seen a youthful pair in the highest attitude of human enjoyment; there was just room enough for themselves, and no more. It can safely be said that the bachelor Secretary did more in the match-making line that night than all the manoeuvring mammas at the capital in the whole season. Some of the tables accommodated four persons; others more or less. In the meantime waiters performed their duty with the regularity of American watches.
But if there is one person more than another at the capital that deserves a national reputation it is the cook belonging to the naval establishment of the United States. The sex of the person cannot be ascertained, but this is of no mortal consequence so long as men and women are henceforth to stand on the same platform. Women have served on the jury in Wyoming, which proves that the reputation of a person has nothing to do with the sex. Secretary Robeson’s cook eclipses the President’s Italian “Melah,” and Professor Blot is requested to keep away from Washington if he has any regard for his well earned laurels. Two festive hours were spent at Secretary Robeson’s tea-table. Conversation rolled as easily as a clean, smooth-bottomed war vessel with a flowing sail and a rolling sea. When the guests found themselves unable to hold any more tea they reluctantly wended their way back to the neglected parlors, where a band of music had been stationed to compose their sensibilities. It must not be omitted that the wine and punch freely mingled with the tea, but this must be looked upon as a modern improvement attached to a harmless old fashion. Dancing and the german completed the grand social success of the season, and history will baptize it “A naval tea-party.”
OLIVIA.
DELEGATES FROM THE SOUTHLAND.
PLEADING THEIR CAUSE BEFORE PRESIDENT AND LEGISLATORS.
WASHINGTON, _March 24, 1870_.
Before the late war a man’s life was unsafe south of Mason and Dixon’s line, if he professed to believe in the abolition of slavery. The same malignant spirit exists to-day. It is not safe to be a Republican in many parts of the sunny South. In the sparsely settled districts men are shot and whipped for the offence of forming what are termed “Grant clubs.” Murder succeeds murder, and the offenders never feel the hand of justice. Officers of the United States Government are assassinated in cold blood; but it is the helpless freedman that is made to feel most the sharp edge of the situation. Before the war, when this part of humanity had a money value, it was different. The overseer on the plantation which belonged to the husband of Fanny Kemble Butler said he generally managed “to work ’em up once in seven years.” What has the freedman gained by the boon of liberty if he is still to be hunted and killed like the wild beasts in the jungle? What hinders the Government from wiping out the Ku Klux Klan of the South? Late Confederate soldiers have laid aside the gray uniform, and now wear the mask of the inquisition, and their work is performed with the horrible secrecy of that medieval conclave. General Grant has sent the Quakers to look after the Indians. Why will not Congress enact a law to send General Phil Sheridan and Colonel Baker on a mission after the Ku Klux to protect millions who are as helpless as so many orphan children?
When President Lincoln issued the proclamation of emancipation 5,000 slaves were held in bondage by the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians; or, in other words, three-fourths of a tribe of people held the other fourth as slaves. When the chattels of the Republic became free these bond people expected their freedom also; but this was denied them by their Indian masters because it was claimed that these masters owed no allegiance to the United States. A subsequent treaty was formed, freeing the parties, containing two conditions: First, that the freedman should have forty acres of land as their share and right in the Territory, or in case they should leave the Territory they were to receive $110 each, and the Government was to reserve this amount of the Indian fund and pay it to those who chose to emigrate. The freedmen desire to remain in the Territory, but the Indians will not allow them to occupy the land; will not permit them to have a right or privilege which an Indian is bound to respect. These patient men and women, native Americans, born to the same heritage as the President of the United States, are slaughtered in cold blood. Oh! there is no language strong enough to paint the hideousness of the Indian character. Was an Indian ever tame? These poor, forgotten outcasts of a distant Territory have sent a man to lay their sad case before Congress.
A band of loyal Georgians are in Washington, praying that the power of the Government may be exerted for their protection. They have seen the President, who did not hesitate to give them some kind, strong words; but it remains to be shown whether Congress will hearken to them. The delegation is composed mostly of colored men, with Governor Rufus B. Bullock at their head. A meeting was called at Lincoln Hall, by the citizens of the District, to show their sympathy for the cause which these Southern men represent. Mayor Bowen presided; John W. Forney made the welcoming address; while Senator Thayer and Representative Maynard spoke some good, strong, manly words, which must have brought the blush to Congress if Congress had been present to hear it. The great feature of the evening were the speeches made by the Southern men. Governor Bullock said little. Governor Scott of South Carolina, though unaccustomed to public speaking, made his short sentences into arrows, and fired them at the audience with the precision of a William Tell. Governor Scott has been a soldier. The exigencies of war stranded him on Southern soil. He has taken root there, where he has grown into a goodly tree, and not a single Ku Klux has yet dared to lay the axe at the root of it.
It will always remain a secret “who struck Billy Patterson” and why the noble governor of Georgia should be surnamed Bullock, for in personal appearance he bears not the slightest resemblance to that fiery, untamed animal. It is true, he has a handsome shock of hair on his head, but he is as destitute of horns as the administration is of knavery, and a better looking white man is seldom to be found.
Most noticeable on the platform was Simeon Beard, chairman of the Georgia delegation, a man whose superb oratory and strange personal appearance are most difficult to describe. Take away the prejudice of the race which, alas! descends to us in the same way as the color of our eyes or the length of our hair--a prejudice which education, prayer, or any other softening, refining influence of civilization never can remove--rend this veil asunder, and we should see a man that we could honor as President.
Simeon Beard has the lithe, erect form, and the smooth, raven locks of the Indian. Both African and white blood course in his veins; his complexion is that pale, rich brown--the same color with which nature loves to tinge the leaves in mid-autumn. But the spirit of some animal long kept at bay looks out of his deepset eyes, and his words burn as if they had been forged in a redhot furnace. He made the audience feel the print of the nails in far-away Georgia. Only a little longer will Frederick Douglass stand the acknowledged mouthpiece of the mixed races and the darker stratum which underlies it.
Simeon Beard was followed by a Texan, Mr. Ruby, another member of the proscribed family. How shall we describe this swarthy man, who appeared to be made up of sharp, glittering points, and who seems to bear the same relation to the human family that a dagger does to other weapons? He had the indescribable sway of the body of the children of the sunny climes. When his youthful face appeared it did not seem possible that he had the essential requisites to address such an audience, but surprise gave way to admiration and applause. He spoke in behalf of Georgia, asking nothing for Texas. “Why is it,” asked the speaker, “that the same atrocious state of affairs does not exist in middle and western Texas as in Georgia to-day?” Lowering his voice until it hissed, “I’ll tell you; when a Union man was killed a rebel was made to bite the dust. Only one man was shot in my neighborhood. He was a poor colored preacher who had started a school. Some men disguised went in broad daylight and shot him in the schoolroom. Mind ye, he was a poor man with no friends; but every man engaged in that day’s work was hunted down. We killed them as we would so many reptiles (raising his voice until it sounded like a musical instrument); that is the way we stamped out treason in our part of the world.”
A colored man of polished education followed this fierce and war-like Texan. His words were admirably chosen. The glowing appeals flowing from the lips of Messrs. Beard and Ruby seemed like the virgin ore torn from the rocks where it had been imbedded for ages. The smooth, handsome sentences of Professor Langston fell from his tongue like coin from the mint, each word having an appreciable value. Professor Langston is at present at the head of the law department in the Howard University. He was born in Maryland, of slave parentage, but was emancipated at a very early age, and received a thorough classical education through the indulgence of his paternal ancestor. After leaving college he studied law, and he now occupies one of the most honorable positions in the country. Like all of his race at the capital, he takes the deepest interest in the welfare of the freedmen farther South. The delegation earnestly asks that the Bingham-Farnsworth amendment, which is tacked on to the last law of reconstruction, may be crushed in the Senate, as its passage would hand the loyal element to the tender keeping of the late masters of Andersonville and Salisbury.
OLIVIA.
THE TREASURY TRIO.
WYMAN, TUTTLE AND SPINNER GUARD THE TREASURY DEPOSITS--JEWELS IN STORAGE.
WASHINGTON, _December 28, 1870_.
From time to time fabulous stories have been afloat in Washington concerning the secret of the United States Treasury vaults. It has been whispered by certain snowy-locked clerks who have been noted for years for strictest veracity that hidden away in the dust and darkness of a certain vault might be found jewels that would vie with or possibly eclipse those found in the diamond cave by Sinbad the Sailor. Hidden away in the wooden boxes, it has been said that pearls as large as pigeon’s eggs have nestled, their waxen beauty undisturbed by human eyes, whilst diamonds, both great and small, have winked and blinked without awakening a shaft of feminine envy. In this same vault it has been known that parcel after parcel has reposed, whilst hands that placed them there have crumbled into dust, and the mystery connected with them has been lost to this generation forever.
In this connection it must be mentioned that this particular vault is the ninth in the Treasury calendar, and it bears a resemblance to a bottomless pit, because heretofore anything under the head of “special deposits” placed therein has never been heard of again.
Amongst other bits of dainty information, it may be chronicled that the famous Field medal was placed here for safe keeping. Once while Andy Johnson was President an order came from “headquarters” to send the medal to the White House for inspection. The medal left the building, but was returned, unknown to some of the lawful custodians of the place.
It has been the habit from time immemorial to never disturb the ashes of the sepulchre; hence the Field medal rested, but no great harm ensued. It is true, Andy’s reputation for a brief time was under a passing cloud, and the hardest worked man in the country was accused of not reading the newspapers; and here the mischief ends, because the same plates were used to make a new medal, whilst the first one is worth its weight of precious metal, and only a small amount of human labor is lost.
But in order to have a thorough understanding of this mysterious conglomeration of metal, mortar and stone, a description of the men who know the secret of the locks should be forthcoming. Nine locks are concealed in the solid door, and each more desperate and secret than the other. Three men only in the country understand this wonderful combination, but as it is an established fact that no one ever dies or resigns in the Treasury, there need be no fear of a national calamity. United States Treasurer Spinner, Assistant Treasurer Tuttle, and Cashier Wyman are the men designated for the awful duty. As it would stretch this article to a most unreasonable length to do anything like justice to the lives and duties of these faithful public men, it is only necessary to say that General Spinner is the most honest, bluff, inflexible servant that the people ever employed; that he gives out the same kind of metallic ring as one of his own gold coins when properly tested. Assistant Treasurer Tuttle bears the same relation to the Treasury Department that one of Hoe’s cylinder presses does to a newspaper office, and that he is a rare combination of faithfulness, strictest integrity, business talent, and hard work, is a fact never disputed in Washington. Cashier Wyman is the third man of the trio whose business it is to hold the awful keys, and he guards the Treasury vaults just as Cerebus is said to stand sentinel over a remote region, though instead of three heads only one is visible. Whilst Treasurer Spinner and his able assistant know the secret of the locks, it is Cashier Wyman who daily performs the necessary duties connected with them, and he who goes through the awful door must pass his body, dead or alive. During the recent interesting investigations it gave every indication of life.
Treasurer Spinner says: “There is nothing in my Department that I’m not willing the people should know all about, unless it is something under seal turned over to me for safe keeping by the War Department. Some things are here subject to an order from the Secretary of War. I don’t know myself what is in the vault. I think the Secretary had better send some one, and, with others of this office, a thorough understanding can be had, and the authorities will know what is best to do in the matter.”
One gloomy afternoon the work of investigation began. The first object that saw the light of day was a box as elfish as the one dragged from the sea by the fishermen, but instead of being made of copper and fastened with the seal of the great Solomon, it was bound with red tape and bore the waxen seal of some deceased Secretary of the Treasury. When opened it emitted an odor of dead roses. The first article lifted from the box was a heavy square bottle which contained the attar of roses. A considerable quantity of the precious fluid had made its escape, but quite enough remained to perfume the city, if this shall be considered necessary after the carnival has passed away. There was no paper to indicate to whom this attar of roses belonged, but tradition says that some East Indian prince sent it to Martin Van Buren; that it had once been deposited at the Patent Office, and afterwards sent to the Treasury, in the year 1848. The next bottle lifted from the paper wrappings contained pearls. These were remarkably fine on account of shape, size, and purity of color. Two of the pearls were the largest the writer has ever seen. They were oblong in shape, and these two must have given color to the fancy “pearls as large as pigeon eggs.” As there was no way of counting these jewels, it was judged there might have been one hundred and fifty altogether. The next article was a small vial containing diamonds. None of these were large, but they were very clear, and perfect in shape. It seemed as if they must have once been a part of some royal necklace which had been stolen. As is usually the case in calamities of this kind, the detectives only recover the smaller stones. There might have been a thimbleful of diamonds. Thieves evidently had been at work with the treasure, for in the next article brought forth the golden lining of a snuff-box was missing. Next came a gold ornament which had once held together a pearl necklace. The silken string and tassel attached to it showed its East Indian origin. This, it appears, was the article left to show that some President or officer of the Government had been presented with a pearl necklace. It had been placed on exhibition somewhere, and thieves made way with it; but in order to secure what was recovered beyond all chance of future escape, the string and gold fastening were laid in this box.
The next article was a tin box. There was no way to ascertain whether the box was originally intended for pills or matches. There was every reason to believe that the original “Pandora’s box” had been found. But on opening it there was discovered a sealed paper containing gems--thirteen small diamonds of the finest water and four large pearls. A small piece of paper in a box had written upon it this interesting bit of information: “These jewels had originally been presented to Martin Van Buren, but had been stolen from a case in the Patent Office on the night of November 8th, 1848.” These unfortunate gems convey the most useful lesson: If Mistress Van Buren had worn her jewels, instead of placing them where thieves break in and steal, she would have set an illustrious example, and the country would have been no poorer than it is to-day.
The second box opened contained counterfeit coins and dies. These had been deposited by M. C. Young, esq., and they had been received from agents employed to detect counterfeiters. These bore the date of May 10, 1847. These counterfeit gold and silver coins could not deceive an infant of this generation. The first package opened contained Confederate bills, bonds, and small currency. The second package were the spoils won by the United States in a law-suit. This bundle of papers was found to consist of bonds received from Messrs. Redin and Fendall, per Henry May, amount $97,276.33, being the same received by them from Corcoran & Riggs on decree in case of the United States versus Gardiner. Bond to the State of Tennessee. Date of the oldest coupon due, July 1, 1857. The treasurer gave Mr. May a receipt therefor, and is directed by the Secretary of the Treasury to hold these bonds until he shall decide as to entries, etc. Dated April 9, 1855.
The third package was marked $24,963. Upon examination the mark and the contents did not exactly coincide.
The fourth package contained bonds, loan of 1848, returned October 10, 1857, marked $300.
The next in order came a box containing notes of the survey of the boundary between the United States and Mexico, under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, from the junction of the Gila and the Colorado to the Pacific coast, deposited by Brevet Captain Hardcastle, United States Navy Topographical Engineers, June 11, 1852.
Fifth package, marked $3,059.64-100. On the outside wrapper was written: “Received of A. Smith, cashier of the Bank of the Metropolis by order of the Secretary of the Treasury the within uncurrent funds, which had been held by said bank on special deposit, consisting of uncurrent bank notes.”
Package No. 6 contained counterfeit State bank notes and legal tenders sent as specimens by M. J. E. D. Cousins, chief of police of St. Louis, Mo.
Package No. 7 contained Confederate bonds held subject to the order of the Secretary of War. Total amount, $12,050.
Package No. 8 contained the sad relics left by a defaulting Treasury clerk in his desk. The man’s name was E. French, and he was assistant disbursing clerk in the Treasury extension. After he had absconded his keys, papers, and money was safely lodged in the vault. The money consisted of $50 in gold and $2.10 in silver.
OLIVIA.
VICTORIA C. WOODHULL.
HER MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS ON THE SUBJECT OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1871_.
At precisely the hour appointed Mrs. Woodhull was in her seat in the committee room, awaiting the appearance of the representatives of the legislative body that had declared itself ready to hear anything or everything she had to say pertaining to why she should not be allowed all the “privileges and immunities belonging to citizenship.” To Mrs. Woodhull alone, it is said, belongs the discovery of detecting that, under the rulings of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution, women are entitled to the ballot. The members of the Judiciary Committee are rather slow in getting to their seats. At half past 10 Mr. Bingham might have been seen in his chair, his hands pinned closely to the back of it, and his expressive face aglow with manly patience. On the opposite side of the table sat Judge Loughridge, of Iowa, leaning listlessly on his hand, his keen, good-natured eyes alive with expectation. Judge Loughridge is fully committed to the movement, but as he is a single man, he is liable to be responsible for any amount of mischief. Mr. Cook, of Illinois, and Mr. Eldridge, of Wisconsin, only were in their places. As time would not wait for laggard members, and the precious morning was slipping away, Mrs. Woodhull was reminded by Mr. Bingham that she could proceed. At this time the room was sparsely filled, and nearly all present were women, friends to the movement, and the majority were people from different States.