457 
MARCH 6 THE RURAL -NEW-YORKER. 
Dariotts. 
THE RILEY CONTROVERSY. 
Wash i noton, D. (!., Feh. 19, 1880. 
To tub Editor op tii« Kdkai, Nbw-Yorkbb; 
Sir:— r desire, In the briefest manner possible, 
to Illuminate the rog with which Prof. Riley, in his 
communication to you. or the 2nd instant, weeks 
to euvelop certain matters connected with his 
resignation and subsequent attempt to he rein¬ 
stated. 
I am characterized as an “Indifferent steno¬ 
grapher,’• the evident desire being to cast discredit 
upon the conversations as reported. I have re¬ 
ferred my notes of the mh of April to Mr. O’Brien, 
a stenographer, and his letter together with a cor¬ 
roborative letter from Mr. Bailey as to the date, Is 
Inclosed. Further proof of tho correctness of the 
report will be fouud In an Inclosed letter from Col. 
Finney which, by permission, I send. 
The Professor says he has a vivid recollection 
of this conversation. “ It was Thursday,' 1 and he 
was " to leave the city on .Saturday.” as I re¬ 
member, It was on Tuesday and tho aJmunac sub¬ 
stantiates that belief. As I was directed by the 
Commission or to request the presence of Prof. 
Itlley In hla olllce on tho day tho newspaper men 
called, l cannot lot Prof. R.’s statement go uncnal- 
lengod. I was told by a clerk in his Division that 
he had been absent since 12 o’clock and so reported. 
Prof. Riley returned to the Department between 
3 r.M and 4 j\m. on tho day In question. The Prof, 
refers to Mr. Howard us knowing that ho was 
present. Mr. Howard's letter explains iliac. 
I desire to say, further, that the quotations from 
the conversations of Prof. RUey, used by tho com¬ 
missioner in his communication, are true; that the 
said conversations were taken down at the time 
In short-hand; that the notes have been truly and 
faithfully transcribed and that they represent 
exactly what occurred. Prof. Riley has by his own 
acts and accord brought, upon himself the stigma 
at present resting upon him, and 1 am sorry that 
in his endeavors to free himself from It, he has 
seen tit to characterize my work as “ outrageous¬ 
ly false ” and thus compel me to enter into the 
controversy. o. D. La Dow. 
Being called upon by Mr. I,a Dow to substantiate 
the correctness of his transcript of certain steno¬ 
graphic notes contained within book No. is and 
appearing between two letters addressed respec¬ 
tively to Messrs. S. A. Mochen and Gen. Pope, 1 
hereby certiry to the correctness of said transcript 
Respectfully, 
15 . V. O’Brien.. 
Dkpa.kt.mknt or AuiucmTnaK.l 
Wasuinoton, D. v., Feb. is, is»o. / 
I hereby certify that upon un examination of 
the records of this Department I find on pages liil 
and 152 or the Domestic Letter Book (1879) copies 
of letters to 8 . A. McMechen and MaJ.-Gen. Jno. 
Pope, respectively, the former bearing date April 
29th and the latter May 1st, both emanating from 
the Commissioner's olllce and presumably written 
from dictation. Jno. L. Bailey, 
Clerk in charge of Fllo Room. 
U. 8 . Department or Aokioitmt'bk, l 
Wasuinoton, D. C., Feb r>, 1880 . / 
Hon. Wm. O. Lb Doc, Commissioner of Agricul¬ 
ture: Blr—Your favor of this date covering " Vol. 
XXXIv, No. r>," of the Rural, Nkw- 1 'orkkr, lias 
been duly received. 
I remember being at my desk In your office when 
the conversations between Professor Riley and 
yourself therein reported occurred. 
While I cannot recall the exact language of 
these conversations, my distinct remembrance Is 
that LhoLr general tenor has been truthfully con¬ 
veyed In the newspaper account; my conviction 
of the accuracy of tho report being strengthened 
by the clear Impression left on my mind that there 
was a manifest desire upon the part of Prof, Riley 
to retain the position of Entomologist of tho De¬ 
partment despite the equally manifest purpose on 
your part not to reinstate him. Very respectfully. 
Wm. W. Finney. 
Department ok Aoriculturk, | 
Division ok Entomolooy, - 
Washi noton, D. C., Feb. 19. 1880 .) 
Mr o. 1). La Dow : Dear Sir -At your request 1 
would state that Prof. RUoy was mistaken In sup¬ 
posing that 1 am able to testify to his presence in 
his onice bet ween the hours of two and four on 
tho afternoon of May 1st, 1ST9, and that his recent 
published staleuient to that effect was made with¬ 
out my knowledge. Prof. Klloy may have been 
there or may not; I have no recollection whatever 
on that point. Yours truly, L. O. Howard. 
[We presume tho above will dost) the contro¬ 
versy. Certain it is wo do not feel in duty bound 
to extend It without any Umlt.- Kns.]. 
-■ - - 
SOME NEW JERSEY ORCHIDS. 
New Jersey Is, par excellence, the Orchid State. 
The choicest of the North American species are 
found hero, the rloll peat soil and moist woods 
Hoemlng to suit them admirably. One of the pret¬ 
tiest, though most retiring and Inconspicuous, is 
the Goodyera pubeseens. It is essentially a 
foliage Orchid, Its tiny greenish-white ilowers, 
being in no way remarkable. Its gluuoous-green 
leaves are strongly reticulated with white, In the 
style of Flttonla argyroneura, wUloh It somewhat 
resembles in habit, The Goodyera or RatMennako 
Plantain, to give It the eointnuu name, dellghls 
In the shadiest recesses of thick woods, and is not 
very frequently met with. It docs so well In a cool 
greenhouse that 1 am surprised It Is uot booh more 
among temperate foliage plants, but It Is uot very 
well known. Another charming New Jersey Or¬ 
chid Is Oalopogau pulcheltus, or Gross Pink. Its 
delicate purpllsh-pluk Powers are produced Oh 
long stems, and arc not only beautiful, as Its bot¬ 
anical name Implies, but also very fragrant. It 
flowers In June and July, and Is found In cold, 
peaty hogs all the way across from Maine to Min¬ 
nesota, southward through Nebraska to Arkansas, 
but avoiding Kansas, and thence In a south-east¬ 
ern direction t,o Florida. It. la very nuu hi Western 
New York, and In many other places within the 
limits named. I have never seen this plant In culti¬ 
vation, hut It should do well In a temperate green¬ 
house. 
Pogonla ophlogloasoldes, or 8uuke Mouth, 1 b gen¬ 
erally found In the neighborhood of the Calopogon, 
and its lively pltik blossoms form a complete con¬ 
trast to the green or the surrounding swamp, ror 
this plant grows among sphagnum and sedges, so 
that those who do their collecting In patent-leather 
shoes generally must be contented to admire It. 
from a distance. Orchids are slnguliirly circum¬ 
scribed in their geographical limits, but our pres¬ 
ent species, where it exists at all, Is usually found 
In abundance. Sometimes a bog Is perfect ly ablaze 
with Its rose tinted blossoms. 1 have frequently 
seen this beautiful sight in New Jersey. The Po¬ 
gonla Is found from Canada west to Wisconsin, 
and southward to Florida. It (lowers In June. 
Emily L. Taplin. 
w. v. A. 
(Continued from past' M2.) 
Olive came in last with a bounce and a giggle. 
She wore an old-fashioned barege dress that was 
severely plain In lta makeup, and had plain linen 
bands at. the neck ,and wrists. She also wore a 
wig or dull, dark red color, and parted exactly In 
the middle, combed back very plainly and smoothly 
and ending In a half dozen cork-screw curls that 
reached half way to her waist. She had padded 
a little lioro and a little there until her whole ap¬ 
pearance was changed and she now appeared 
quite stoop-shouldered. 
All four wore goggles of smoked glass tliat, gave 
them quite an owlish appearance. 
Mr. Browning burst, luto a loud hearty laugh, 
and Blanche, In as heavy a voice as she could as¬ 
sume, said: 
“ Mr. Browning, our landlord, I believe? Allow 
me, sir, to Introduce myself as Miss Frederica 
Skidmore. This Is my eldest slater, Miss Malvina. 
This MIhs Melissa, and this MIbs Arabella. Wo 
are happy to meet you, sir, and Uopo we shall 
agree about the rent, etc. 
Mr. Browning rose with great dignity and 111- 
conoealed mirth, and said: 
•* Certainly, certainly, ladles; allow mo to wel¬ 
come you to “ Tim Retreat." Approaching Rose or 
Miss Malvina, rather, who had sunk into a largo 
easy chair In a languid, feeble way he said: “I 
lour you have found your journey quite fatigu¬ 
ing." 
“Yes," answered Miss Malvina In a faint, 
tremulous voice, “It was quite trying to my 
nerves, and I feel very much exhausted." 
“Miss Melissa, l hope you have not suffered 
from the heat and dust. Did you not. And them 
quite annoying?” he said addressing Margaret. 
“Yes, I suppose they are very annoying," she 
replied In a high, sharp voice. “Wohave very 
few beetles In our 8tale, and bugs one must toler¬ 
ate from Hheer necessity." 
Here they all burst Into a hearty fit of laughter, 
and, turning to A rubella, Mr. Browning said: 
“ 1 had no Idea “ The Retreat" was going to 
shelter such a charming young lady, or I should 
have preferred to remain and play host.” 
“O, sir, lam afraid you flatter me; 1 atn so 
young and foolish you would be disappointed m 
me, I am sure." All this was said In a lisping, 
affected manner with most absurd poises and 
gestures Intended to promote tho idea of her 
glrllshnoss, and she giggled after each sentence, 
thus making a most comical character. 
The girls all screamed with laughter, while 
Uncle Torn actually held his tat sides. 
“ Well, girls, i must go. I want to catch the 
six o’clock train, sec Lansing and request hla 
folks to call on the Misses Skidmore. Good bye! 
Have a good time; and, Miss Arabella, have a 
care how you trifle with tho hearts of the young 
men I” 
With this, Mr. Browning took leave of the girls, 
and In a few minutes afterwards was walking 
briskly through the streets of the village, when 
ho saw Harold Lansing and hla wife approaching 
in a phaeton. Seeing Mr. Browning, they stopped 
and greeted him cordially: 
“ Why, Browning, what are doing down hero? 
I thought you were off for F.urope I" said Mr. 
Lansing after the usual exchange of polite greet¬ 
ings. 
•' We are going In a few days. I ran down this 
afternoon to escort some ladles who arc going to 
occupy my house for a couple of months, uot 
exactly oh tenants, you know, they are four old 
maids who are relatives of ndne. Any courtesies 
you and Mrs. l.nnslng may extend to them will be 
a favor conferred on me." 
“ We will try to call on them within a few days." 
said Mrs. Lansing. 
“Thank you I” said Mr. Browning. “You will 
llnd them rat her eccentric—something out of tho 
ordinary lino. For Instance, they all have weak 
eyes, and at present are wearing goggles.” 
“O! you lnivo excited my curiosity !" said Mrs. 
Lansing. “I dote on eccentric people, and you 
may Do sure I will go over and see them. Good¬ 
bye ! Bon voyage to yourself and Mrs. Browning!’’ 
“Thanks! Good-bye 1 ’ 
A few days after this, old Rachel carried Mrs. 
Lansing’s card up stairs to where the Misses Skid¬ 
more were making their toilets. 
“ Tell tho lady we will bo down In a few mo- 
menuv’ said Blanche. “ Now, girls, the first time 
Is always the hardest; but wo must be dignified 
and not forget our parts. Tn the language of some 
unrecognized classic, we must, ‘face tho music’1” 
“GraciousI The first one who plays wrong 
will he walled up alive ! Just bear that. In mind!” 
said Olive. Then, suddenly changing her manner, 
She said, “Sister Freddie, you go ilrst, I'm so 
bashful!” 
Tho girls all Uttered; then Blanche looked stern 
and, ordering them to follow her wit bout any more 
nonsense, they marched solemnly, single file to 
the handsome little reception room. 
Mrs. Lansing gave a sudden start, when she saw 
tho four odd looking ladles enter the room; but, 
rising, she said, In her blandest tones, “The 
Misses Skidmore, I believe." 
•• Yea. madam ; and wo are happy to meet you, 
having heard our relative, Mr. Browning, speak 
of you," said Iflanrhe. “ l am Miss Frederica. 
This Is our eldest sister, Miss Malvina; this is Me¬ 
lissa, and this is Arabella.” 
“ A very pleasant, day 1" faintly suggested Mias 
Malvina. 
“Yes, very pleasant;’’ said Mrs. Lansing. 
“ Is there much society lu the neighborhood?” 
Hlmpered and giggled Arabella. “ You see iny 
sisters are so much older than I that I rind It very 
dull hei e " 
“ How silly you are, Arabella!" said Frederica, 
sternly. 
•• Now, sister, don’t crush my young and joyous 
Bpirtt!’’ retorted Arabella, with a most ridiculous 
attempt at a childish pout. 
Mrs. Lansing was very much amused—so much 
so that she could not repress a smllo as she re¬ 
plied : " The society Is not large, but It Is very 
pleasant. I expect to have my house quite filled 
with young people next week; and, as you are 
our nearest neighbors. 1 hope we can make It, more 
pleasant tor you." 
“O, how sweet!" exclaimed Arabella, with 
clasped hands. “Bister, do you hear that?” turn¬ 
ing to Melissa with a stiff, quick movement, that 
was Intended to bo very pretty and childish. 
“ What I” said Melissa, lu her sharp voice, “ my 
ears lap. hey? You are getting very rude. Ara¬ 
bella i" 
“ O, dear!” sighed Arabella. Then suddenly 
putting her mouth to Melissa’s ear. she shouted, 
“I didn’t say that, l asked you If you heard 
what Mrs. Lansing sakl. She is going to have her 
house full of young people next week." 
“01 I misunderstood you," said Melissa. 
Mrs. Lansing took a chair at her side, and said 
In a loud voice and quite close to her ear, “You 
have quite an affliction; It 1 b very sad." 
“ Yes, she Is very affectionate, and that la not 
bad,” said Melissa. 
Here Blanche yelled Into her other ear what 
Mrs. Lansing had said; and .dm. turning to Mrs. 
Lansing, talked to a great lengl h about how long 
she had been deaf, the cause oi Hand i her tedious 
subjects. At ipogth Melissa paused, out of breath, 
and, turning to Malvina, Mrs. Lansing said: 
“ You look quite delicate, Miss Skidmore. I trust, 
the pure country utr will prove beneficial to you." 
“Thankyou I I am sure" quavered Malvina, 
hut l don't think there Is much hope for me. My 
physician thinks my lungs are affected ; ray heart 
troubles mu at. times, and I am Just recovering 
from a severe attack of neuralgia. 1 am very deli¬ 
cate—very delicate indeed,” 
“ O, you must not bo so hopeless! It Ih always 
best to look on the brightest side." replied Mrs. 
Lansing. “ .should you stand In need of a physi¬ 
cian during your stay here, let me recommend my 
special favorite, Dr. Wall." 
“ Have you no fomale physician here 7 ” Inquired 
Blanche. I should prefer her u there is. Women 
who are educated to the profession understand It 
better than the men. I wonder that more of them 
do not enter the professions. They have better 
heads than the men, and could carry out their 
Ideas a great deal better than the so-called “ lords 
of creation.” 
“There Is no female physician In the village; 
but I believe there are several in M-" said 
Mrs. Lansing. 
“ o, sister Freddie Is so strong-minded! sim¬ 
pered Arabella. 
“Pity you were not a little more so!" snapped 
Frederica. 
"IreaUymust go,” sahl Mrs. Lansing, rising; 
“ but I hope to bavo the pleasure of meeting you 
all in my own house quite soon, l’ray, don’t be 
ceremonious, for the summer will soon be gone.'* 
Turning to Melissa, she said quite loudly, “ I want 
you and your sisters to come and seo me quite 
often and be reul neighborly.” 
“Thanks 1" said Melissa. “ We shall be glad to 
have you come often and be neighborly. You are 
very kind, Indeed." 
“ Dear, dear l” said Arabella In affected distress, 
“she hua mlHundorstood you again." 
“01 well; let (t puss," said Mrs. Lansing, and 
bidding them good-day, she was soon on her way 
home, highly amused with those “queer, old 
maids.” 
Next, week brought, the youug ladles and gentle¬ 
men that olive had told the " elan ” were going to 
visit the Lanalugs. They were a gay party. First 
were tho Lansing girls, Julia and Clara, two hand¬ 
some, stylish, bur, rather affected girls; Robert 
Lansing, their brother, a handsome blonde and a 
rising youug lawyer, a good, honest, open-hearted 
fellow, without a bit. of affectation; Lance sted- 
mau, a tall, slim gentleman, with dark hair and 
sharp, keen, black eyes, rather reticent, but a 
quick observer, very gentlemanly and possessed 
of ample means; his sister Laura, not much of a 
beauty, but very marinating and a gieat favorite 
with the gentlemen ; his* royal highness,” Hugh 
Rnders, to quote Olive s words, •• a splendid look¬ 
ing specimen of the geuus homo,” with his six feet 
of well proportioned bone and muscle, deep, durk 
blue eyes, Drown curly hair, and short, crisp, 
brown beard, and bust, the gentleman whom Olivo 
had designated as “that conceited simpleton," 
Edgar Furas. lie was only a fow Indies taller 
than Olive, with the “blackest hair and eyes," as 
some of tho glrla described Mm; dark, Bwarthy 
skin ; glittering white teeth, and a figure rather 
broad, but otherwise well-proportioned. Ho was 
decidedly handsome; full of fun, and was far from 
being a conceited simpleton, and Miss Olivo was 
rnr from thinking him so; but then, girls are con¬ 
trary, you know! 
I think the raot that these four young gentlemen 
were to visit, the Lanalugs, had more to do with 
tho “ clan ” vlsltlDg M — than cither of tho girls 
would have acknowledged, even to herself. The 
four gontiomen were great, friends “Insepara¬ 
bles” some said, and when they fell Into tho way 
of escorting the “ clan" to parties, &c., people 
thought it was “ quite odd, ’ “ bo queer,” and some 
said •• a double clan." Each gentleman showed a 
decided preference ror a particular member of the 
“ clan,” and llio girls seemed very well satisfied 
with the gentlemen’s preferences. Edgar Faras 
was Olive’s devoted slave, hut she was critical, 
merciless and changeable, and he would take 
solemn oaths never to visit her again, and to be 
very cold and unfriendly at their next meeting, 
but when that next meeting eutno and Olive would 
gieet him with outstretched hands uud tell him 
sUe hadn't seen Mm for an age and ask why ho 
hadn’t been to see her was ho 111 ? Ha would Im¬ 
mediately dissolve fils Indlgnutlou Into a hearty 
handshake and gay words of banter, and in less 
than ten minutes make an engagement to call 
upon her, and la an hour or so afterwards, as he 
walked home, he would grit his teeth and call 
himself “ a — fool.'"-— 
it was not long after this that the young people 
went In a body to call on the Misses Skidmore, 
and Edgar Furas and Rob Lansing seated on either 
side of Arabella, vied with each other In playing 
devoted to that young lady. Faras wanted to take 
her out for a drive; but no, “ Sister Freddie will 
never consent." Then Lansing wanted the priv¬ 
ilege of calling and spending an evening with her; 
but “ sister Malvina thinks I’m too young yet to 
receive gentlemen callers," 
“Yegods! "said Lansing the next chance he 
got to speak to Faras alone. “ did you hear that 
old maid say that her sister thought she was too 
young to receive gentlemen callers? I thought I 
should explode'." 
One morning Faras was waiting fur old George, 
a negro hostler of Lansing’s, to saddle a horse for 
Mm and while lie waited, they discussed the 
merits of the different horses lu the (■table. Pres¬ 
ently old George said, “ Dorn is mighty spry old 
ladles ober to Masaa Browning's place! Drier see 
’em riding horseback out In do meddnr and lallln 
and runuln like wild! Wouldn't think It to see 
’em Beltin' so straight and quiet like Inde kerrldge 
neber smilin' ebon. Don’t look like old rolks when 
da la down In do meddar! Kben de rite ole one 
wld sloli, wile liar and Ls bo mighty pale and sick 
lookin'—why, sub, she kin run and clime ober a 
big rail fence qulck'n I kin l" 
All at once a suspicion flashed Into Faras's mind 
but he turned to old George and said quite care¬ 
lessly, “ O, well, George, they are quite queer 
fojlra I know, but you had better not say anything 
to anybody else about It,, for Mr. I.aiming would 
not like It. Here ls a quarter for your trouble.” 
Aud mounting his horse he rode away. 
This wua before breakfast, and after breakfast 
Faras strolled off down the orchard alone; but 
once out of sight of Lhe house he walked off brisk¬ 
ly towards a piece of woods ou the other side of 
which was Mr. Brownings meadow, which Faras 
soon reached,but to his disappointment there was 
noouu In sight. Following the fence ho soon 
reached the Browning orchard through which ho 
passed to tho tall green hedge which separated the 
orchard from the handsome grounds which sur¬ 
rounded the residence. He was standlug behind 
this hedge, and mentally berating himself for 
“playing sneak," when a sound of gay laughter 
was wafted lo him by the wind, and peering 
through t he hedge ha saw, not the four Misses 
Skidmore, but “ * Tho Clan,’ by Jove!” 
“O, sisters,” said Olivo with Arabellas voice 
and gestures, " don’t break my young heart! I 
beseech you to soften your hearts toward me, 
and we will blesH you all our days—my beloved 
Edgar and l!" 
Here tho rest of the girls hurst into shrieks of 
laughter in which Olive Joined, and the gentleman 
behind the hedge hail hard work to preserve his 
gravity. As It was, Ms face flushed aud he said, 
solo n nr, •* All right, Miss Arabella 1 * All’s well 
that ends well!'" 
The girls passed out of sight and hearing, and 
Faras was soon back on the Lansing place. Tho 
joke was loo guod to keep, and Ms morning ad¬ 
venture was soon related to Euders, stedman and 
Lansing. Astonishment and merriment reigned 
supreme fora while, and then Rob I.aaslng said, 
“ By George, boys, we must checkmate them ! ” 
“ Agreed 1 *' 
“ Good! ” 
“ Let us have somo tun at their expense [ " 
“ HU tell you my role, boys,” said Faraa. “ l am 
going to engage myself to tho charming Arabella, 
and elope with her! ” 
“ Hurrah ! "shouted Lansing. “ But I say why 
can’t the rest of us follow suit ? ” 
“O, they would suspect us immediately,” said 
Euders. The best tiling wo can do is to help 
Faras.” 
In tho course of two weeks they had carried out 
their plan so well that Arabella was engaged to 
her “ beloved Edgar " and had promised to “ fly ” 
with him, for she told him It would be useless to 
Bpeak to her sisters for they were opposed to her 
receiving his ai tenuuus and scolded her severely 
for showing a preference for Ms society. 
There was great merriment amongst the “Clan" 
when ullve showed them Faraa’s ring and told 
them of her engagement. 
** o, ullve ! It will be such fun to elope with him 
and lake off your goggles and wig after ho ls safely 
* hooked* I" said Blanche. 
** Just wUat I Intend to do P* said Olive with a 
merry laugh; 1 Iron suddenly, with flushed cheeks 
and an angry stamp of the foot, “ 1 shall do noth¬ 
ing of the kind! so, there l" . 
