43S 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MARCH 4 
“claim agents,” or the honest lawyers who 
have been sent to Europe to investigate the 
reports, and who have exposed their dishonest 
nature. 
The last exposure of this kind is that made 
by Mr. James Usher, of this city, who was 
employed by “the Carpenter Fund Associa¬ 
tion ” to go to England and find out about the 
estate left by William Carpenter, bachelor, 
who died in London in 1700, at the age of 97, 
and whose wealth now amounts to £40,000.- 
000—say, £200,000,000. The case, it was said, 
had been up before the Lord Chancellor seve¬ 
ral times, but he had declined to baud it over 
to the claimants on the ground that they were 
not the true heirs. Mr. Usher found in a 
dingy office iu Loudon a “ claim agent,” who 
had for years been furnishing the American 
claimants with very promising information 
for “ a consideration' 1 ; but he also found that 
uo contest had ever beeu made before the 
Lord Chancellor; that there never bad been 
any such estate in charge of the Court of 
Chaueery or the Bank of Euglaud, and that 
no such man as that particular William Car¬ 
penter ever lived. The whole elaborate scheme, 
of which mere mention is made here, bad been 
concocted to swindle gullible Carpenters iu 
this country. Among the ‘ * estates ” t at have 
beeu most successfully worked in this way 
within the last few years are the following: 
Anneke Jans, £317,000,000; Baker, *350,000,- 
000; Sir Hugh Mosher, *200,000,000; Chadwick, 
$37,000,000; Edwards, $90,000,000: Ingraham, 
$500,000,000; three Hyde “estates,” aggregat¬ 
ing $377,000,000 ; Jennings, *400.000,000; 
Hedges. >350,000,000; Hera, $200,000,000; 
Leak, $100,000,000; Merritt, $15,000,000; Shep¬ 
herd, $175,000,000 ; Troter. $200,000,000; 
Townley-Chase, $1,800,000,000; Lawrence- 
Townley, $500,000,000: Van Horn, $4,000,000; 
Webber, $50,000,000: Weiss, $20,000,000. Hot 
a dollar has ever been received from any of 
these, while thousands of dollars have been 
squandered iu “investigation.” The most 
plausible stories have beeu invented, chiefly 
by fraudulent “ claim agents,” to keep up ex¬ 
pectations among the “ heirs” year after year 
for the sake of getting occasional contribu¬ 
tions on preteuse of making investigations. 
Last December our Minister at the Hague re¬ 
ported that there are uo unsettled estates in 
Holland belonging to the heirs of a long list of 
persons whose names had been sent to him, 
and our Consuls in London have several 
times spoken emphatically on the useless 
nature of inquiries about such “estates” in 
the United Kingdom. In nearly every case 
the rich ancestor was a myth: if he ever exist¬ 
ed his property in 99 cases out of 100 was pro¬ 
perly disposed of soon after his death, and in 
all possible cases recovery now would be 
barred a dozen times over by statutes of limi¬ 
tation. 
The above has special reference to the in¬ 
quiries of Z C. T., Stuart, la , who asks, “Can 
the ’Eye Opener' tell me anything about the 
‘ Carpenter Syndicate f ” 
±or UVomcn. 
CONDUCTED BY MISS RAY CLARK. 
A WASHINGTON LETTER. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
As the trains approach Washington, the 
Capitol comes into full view', and from its ele¬ 
vated position it has the appearance of being 
isolated and surrounded by uncultivated laud, 
in which cows might browse at will in the 
Spring time, or in which a thrifty Irishman 
might plant his pig-pen for an airy quarter. 
But when once at the Capitol, the view is of 
an altogether different character—in the im¬ 
mediate neighborhood are parks, most charm¬ 
ing, and as far away as the eye can reach, ra¬ 
diates the beautiful city, the streets stretch¬ 
ing out like the petals of a daisy from its 
golden center, although the streets of Wash¬ 
ington are not white, nor the Capitol yellow! 
But the streets are the widest and smoothest in 
America, a very paradise for bicyclists and 
tricyclisls Mrs. Belva Lockwood, a Wash¬ 
ington lawyer, rides a tricycle, aud one may 
see her driving it in all sorts of weather—a 
steed that costs her nothing to keep, which 
never has to he harnessed, nor tied, aud is al¬ 
ways ready, i met the lady one day in the 
Executive mansion, where she had an appoint¬ 
ment with the President, and with her rosy 
face, surmounted with snow-white hair, and 
her sparkling great clack eyes, I remarked 
that the practice of the law (aDd she has a 
large practice) did not disagree with her 
health, apparently; to which she replied that 
she believed she owed her fine health to her 
tricycle and to the superb and cunstant exer¬ 
cise it demanded of her. The tricycle is 
very much used by women in England, and 
it will probably, in course of time, be used 
to some extent by women in this country, 
although American women are rather averse 
to rude exercise in the open air, preferring to 
ride in an easy carriage. 
My little son was very desirous of seeing a 
“ real, live President,” so after we had made 
a tour of the “show” rooms of the White 
House—never so beautifully aud exquisitely 
furnished as uow—we tarried a while until the 
Chief Magistrate was pleased to receive infor¬ 
mally the visitors who wished to “pay their 
respects.’’ They were of all sorts and sizes, 
from the plain country woman in her homely 
shawl to the regal dame in Cur and velvet from 
her neck to her feet. He took each one by the 
band, patted all the little people on the head, 
said one or two words to the old men and 
women, and the moment the last hand had 
been pressed, he turned at once nod sat down 
at his desk to business. The President has 
grown considerably older within two years, 
but looks well and robust. I asked my laddie 
his opinion of Mr. Arthur, aud be replied, “ I 
thiuk he is very nice." One of the prominent 
visitors to the President that day was General 
Butler. His hair has whitened since I last 
saw him, but he moves with the energy of a 
steam engine. A man of wonderful force, a 
face of marked ugliness, and manners very 
pleasing, are significant of the good and bad 
that constitute the “ makeup” of this remark¬ 
able man. We visited the Senate various 
times, but always found it dull in comparison 
with the old times when Sumner, and Morton, 
and Roscoe Oonkling, and palsied Parson 
Brownlow, and burly Malt Carpeuter were 
prominent figures. Senator Edmunds is pre¬ 
sident of the Senate, and by all odds its ablest 
man. Senator Morrill, of Vermont, looks 
strikingly as did Charles Sumner ; Senator 
Plumb, of Kansas, is a busy fellow, a self- 
made man, rich, smart, ambitious, with an 
eye on the Presidency; Senator Logan, who is 
working for the highest office in the “ gift of 
the people,” is as swarthy, black-haired, as 
heavily-moustached, and as striking looking as 
ever. His wife has snow white hair, dressed 
high on her head; no “frizzes”; a very breezy, 
social, wide awake woman, born for a politici¬ 
an’s wife, aud wins friends everywhere. Near¬ 
ly all the handsome women in Washington are 
white haired, not old, but crowned with whab 
the Bible calls the glory of old men; and 
knowing bow much more interesting they are 
with white hair than they ever were with 
brown, they dress it beautifully, and take 
pride in it Vinnie Ream (Mrs. Hoxie) still 
has her studio, but she does little just now in 
the way of sculpture bat model her bale’s 
hauds and feet, and the baby is very pretty. 
Washington society is more literary and ar¬ 
tistic than that of any city of which I know. 
Societies abound, usually called “clubs,” 
which nold weekly meetings, at which papers 
are read, discussions held, with music to fill 
up the pauses, aud sometimes one hears a 
song from a voice altogether phenomenal— 
better than is often beard on the operatic 
stage, but the number of these clubs is legion. 
A great rnauy extremely intelligent and ac¬ 
complished women are employed In the vari¬ 
ous governmental departments, and they add 
very sensibly to the charm of Washington 
society. Their deftuess in their work is in 
some ways almost incredible. For instance, 
in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 
where the sheets of paper on which the bank 
notes are printed, are counted by women, 
some of them count fifteen thousand per 
hour, or two hundred aud fifty per miuuto. 
If any one will try' to see how many leaves of 
a book he can count in a minute without any 
mistake, he may the better be able to estimate 
the rapidity with which these women count. 
I never regard a visit to Washington com¬ 
plete without “paying my respects” to the 
Agricultural Department, and particularly to 
Mr. VVrn. Saunders and Mr, Dodge, the sta¬ 
tistician. Both are iu excellent health, full 
of ideas aud enterprise, and as suggestive of 
of practical things as was ever Benjamin 
Franklin. Mr. Saunders was on the eve of 
starting to Florida, which State is greatly in¬ 
debted to him in many ways. In its oranges, 
pineapples and gua va, he has the greatest in¬ 
terest, aiding and abetting their cultivation 
as much as possible, and the possible with him 
means much. In a large out door bed lie 
showed me a quantity of Japan persimmons, 
whirl) had lately arrived. He says they are 
entirely hurdv, have a fine leaf, a flower re¬ 
sembling the magnolia, and a bright, beauti¬ 
ful fruit. A barberry bush iu the grounds 
was aflame with scarlet berries. 1 thought I 
had never seen the barberry before, and won¬ 
dered why everybody did not have it. 
Near the Agricultural Buildings is the “In¬ 
dustrial Annex,” in which are displayed vari¬ 
ous products of different States, much of 
which bad figured at the Atlanta Exhibition— 
woods, minerals, grains, cotton, and most 
wonderful and beautiful minerals—and can 
anything be more exquisitely beautiful than 
some copperas? If so, it is the small specimen 
of American malachite in the mineral collec¬ 
tion in the Mint iu Philadelphia, which Is nofc 
at all like Russian malachite which is some- I expected to go to the millinner’s an’ buy 
times mounted for jewelry, and is very pretty a bunnet, but one of the girls sez, “Get a 
when used as slabs for table-tops, or for man- frame an’ cover it with thet velvet thet you 
tels, like the Mexican onyx. In this “Indus- hev.” “Law,” sez 1, “tliet’s onlv scraps.” 
trial Annex” one sees how wide awake is the < Shesed she could make it do, an so she did: 
it turned out a most beautiful bunnet. an’ it 
cost so little I was surprised. Then I bed an 
old bombazine dress tliet I concluded would 
do aroun’ the house uv au afternoon. Cla- 
rinda Ann sed it was better economy to get me 
a good calico to workiu,au’ fixup the bomba¬ 
zine for church wear. “You’ll hev to rip it, 
then wash and press it. have it cut an’fitted 
an’ it’ll make a nice dress.” Thet fetched me, 
an’ it hes turned out to be such a fine gowu 
that I feel proud every time I put it ou. 
Then I’ve the new calico an’ sum linen col¬ 
lars aud big work aprons, an’ 1 can tell you 
thet I feel pretty proud, especially as I alus 
take pains to hev’ my hair combed becomin’. 
I used to think no one cu’d be more savin’ 
than we on the farm hed alas been; but when 
I see how C. A, an'the girls worked up the lit¬ 
tle pieces an’ made over their clothin’, au 
what pains they tuk to keep it nice an’ yet to 
wear it common, I sez, sez I, “We never 
knew what economy wus.” 
Then again on the farm we had mostly set 
arouu’ the kitchen stove ou Winter eveniu's, 
an’mended or knit while father an’the boys 
bed et apples, popped corn, or cracked nuts. 
Here they bed on their slippers, were in their 
parlor, hed books an’papers to read, an’played 
games or hed music, an’ visited just fur 
all the world es though they hed com¬ 
pany, an’ sumhow it seemed real cheer¬ 
in’ even to me, who is not exactly one of 
them. There was no puttin’ ou of airs, 
but all were real easy an’ natural, an’ 
sumhow I could but feel liow happy is 
this homo, an' I see it wus the little 
things thet made it seem so much like a 
fair}’ picture to me. Those little atten¬ 
tions, or rather expresssions of luv an’ 
care thet so many are careless about 
practicing at home. Not thet they think 
more of, or we care less fur, oue anoth¬ 
er, but tbet the one shows it in their 
every day livin' au’ really are more 
gentle iu their ways an’ talk because of 
bein’ careful to be more polite. Now 
this being polite is just the difference 
between bein’ a gentlemau or bein’ a 
As boorish one, an’ I advise every one “to 
try’ to be polite the hul time . 
j At the table the same little nice ways 
are practiced: there is no hurry, nor 
clamor, but each one is helped quietly 
an’ to es much es if they wus helpin’ 
themselves, an' I just like it. I just luv 
the way CJarinda Ann has begun an 
holds out. too, with her family. I see the 
mother hes got to be a “leetle ahuv the situ- 
ashuu” every time. If she is equal to a little 
more than fulfilling her task well; if she is 
capable of training her household then she 
need hov no fear of her children doin' poorly. 
But if she is fretful an’ inclined to shift work, 
or complains uvher hard lot, do you wonder 
that her iuflooence is weakly like. I’ve alus 
known thet mothers hed nine ways to 
look while they were at their work, but I 
never knew before thet they could look those 
nine ways so beautifully, an - I tell you it hes 
set me to thinkin'. I kiu look back an’ see 
what great mistakes I’ve made duriu’ my life 
by speakiu’ up short an’ sharp like; then agin, 
I’ve lost my iuflooence fur good by bein’ neg¬ 
ligent. I fear these things will tell agin ns all 
sum uv these days, But l did not mean to be¬ 
gin’ sermoniziu’ an’ I’ll just stop short off. 
Yours, with more to cum suui day. 
ever keen witted State of Kansas. The manu¬ 
factured fowls, dressed up in straw and 
grain, all ready Devon, fitly represented that 
wonderful State and its great grain-growing 
farms. 
Since my last visit to Washington two years 
ago. I noticed nothing that had grown so 
much as the Washington Monument. It real¬ 
ly begins to look imposing, aud as if it some 
time might reach the sky, if it continues to 
grow. 1 went sight-seeing every day, like a 
stranger, in order to please the six-years-old 
laddie, and the sights that interested him 
most, were the Senate Chamber, tb3 National 
Museum, the cash-room in the Treasury, and 
the marked spot in the railway station where 
Garfield was shot. 
SCALLOP PIN CUSHION. 
To obtain just the right size of the cushion 
it is better to first cut a paper pattern, 
enlarging the shape as represented in our en¬ 
graving to suit the purpose intended. Un¬ 
bleached muslin is better for the lining than 
bleached, as it is more pliable and softer. 
Stitch the radiating compartments, and then 
fill with bran, cotton, or lambs wool. 
Scallop Pin Cushion. Fig. 78. 
The outside must, be cut a seam larger than 
the lining, sewed together and then slipped 
over the cushion after it is filled. Strips of 
contrasting colors, embroidered or painted, 
make a showy aud pretty affair, finished 
with chenille cord and tassels. 
Domestic Ccoriom^ 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
LEAFLETS 
MRS. J- E. S, 
A FARMER'S DAUGHTER'S DOMESTIC 
REVERIE.—No. 4. 
up in my mind how i n cion, an uea noptxi my 
way uv doin’ would be real satifactory. It 
turned out. however, that my ways wns sum 
different from theirn, an’ I hed to fall into their 
methods instead of they into mine. If we 
cud hev sorter compromised it would hev 
seemed real good; but no, theirn was more 
stylish— customary, they said. Now- fur sum 
folks it may be tolerable easy to change their 
hul way of livin’, but fur me 'twas downright 
hard, an’ although it. was the hardest, thing I 
hed ever undertaken to do in my hul life, 1 
took a sensible view uv it an' sed I’d learn 
how. They wus payin’ me fur doin’ their 
work an’ I'd do it as they wanted it dun. 
Now by keepin’ uiy ears an’ eyes open an’ my 
mouth shot tight as a lobster’s claw, 1’v got 
along pretty fairly, uu’ hev learned a sight 
uv little useful things. Clarinda Ann tells me 
there’s a deal in the way uv doin’ things that, 
helps to make one a good house-keeper, au' I 
find it’s the truth. A house-keeper has to hev 
lots uv calculatin’an' a ready tuiud, especially 
a mind not easily tlustrated. ’cause there’s a 
call here, a ring there an' such a lot of dis¬ 
tractin' gojn’s on In the city that we never 
dream nv in the country. One has to be ready 
fur emergencies, beggars and agents, what¬ 
ever one is doin’. I've learned more since I 
cum here than I’d hern tell uv in my hul life, 
un I’ve learm-d It practically, too. 
CHARITY SWEETHEART. 
Feb. 25.—I am glad the writer of “ Plain 
Talk” is a woman and says she was born aud 
brought up ou a farm, for her letter gives me 
courage. I am glad, too, that something tells 
her “there's good in the girl ” And yet my rev¬ 
eries arc termed “sentimental.” Then, God 
knows, every girl who thinks, and feels, and 
prays “for something better than she lias 
known,” must be under this Ivin. T learned 
‘Maud Muller” from the school readers, and I, 
did wonder how its author could know so truly, 
when I found out it. was a naan and a bachelor 
who wrote it. 
Yes, I have sunshine and flowers. The 
geraniums bloom bright ly iu my wiudow, aud 
l try sometimes to snatch a moment or two to 
copy a little red rose that has struggled from 
a bud. but I find It hard work. Two Summers 
ago I had lessons from a ladv who came up to 
the mountains; she almost cried over my poor 
little attempts at art; but I do not get any 
further, and this Winter I have taken up the 
“Study at Home” course, and find more en 
couragement. than I ever met with yet, for 
the scientific teachers send me by mail geologi 
cal specimens that are very Interesting, and 1 
