Miss Grundy In Washington

V, ASniKGTON, l'eb. 15. My respeeted mamma say's, "It s very 5e woBhould iieur of'dinners a la Rasse everywbere but at tho Russian wn ! ' ïlx-ro was a dinncr party give.i by the Uussian Miuieter and Mme. de Oataoazy reöenfrly wbich has made my mamma a great deal, so ahe wisbea me to write yon about that and other thingg. In tbe first place the inntations were worded io Frencli, aud in tlic nght hand corner at íhe bottom of the eard woro ih letters li S V P and ín thü oppotte corner wns writtea ' Ati carly iin.-wcr is rcnosted." Tbia addmon was made of course fur the bouefit of Americans, hut mamma Baya sue thinks it verjr strange that weshould be supposed capablu of translatiog the body oí the nvitatioo, and shoulj be puzzled by thoso oft-used iaitiala. It is the ouetom at the Catacazj dinners to have a band ol rausic plajiog in another room, wlnle the guests ure dioing, Th is isagrcat addiiiou to the pleasure of all A píogronimotiftbeeDÍiré performance is placed at each píate, accotnpanied by a bilí of fare detsiling tlie cdiblos. The dinoers are very handsome, but deoidedly umque, many of the most cuiious diehs, sucli as one seca Dowhere elsu making their ap.puarance. For exainple,' OH iba ooeaíion particularizo!], there was' a payrmicl ot crawühea ! These fishes uc;u faetened over a wire frame, and ibe eflcct produced was quite peculiar M. de Caacazy doos Dot approve of the fashiOB of lÍDgering tJree or four hours ovcr a dionei and weariog everv one out, but fie has goue to tho otber extreme by limiting his cook to an Lour aod a half, aud requiriiig ihat all the coursea shalJ be sarved within that timo If "bolting" were possible ia fashionable society, this would suggest it. ïhe dia úers at the White Houso have beca remarfrably hondeóme this season. The new Steward, Mr. Millar, a portly persoaage of aldermanic proportions, seems to be the right man in the right place. It is cunous to know hcw vury litíla trouble these diuners are to theirgivers. A list of the guests is mado out from the list of Ihose wiom etiquette demands should be uvited at least oncu dariog the season. The uames are givon to the olerk who has charge of the Bvitations, mul hesees that tbose selected aro vuea. öüouiü uny üeehue, others must boinvitcd iu their places. Tho state dioiug tablo seats thirty-six, and vacant chairsare iuudmis.-iblu. When all the acceptauces are rcceived, the dividin; of the auests ato couples and the nssiguUg of pUcea at table is done inainly by the clerk beforc mcotioneil. It would be well f this matter were entirely cverlooked by Mra. Graut, fur mistakes 8onietimo8 occur fór want of at te at on frora soma one linowiug all thoöc invitod. It tb a gieat art, as every diuuer-jriTcr knows, to put the right persons togetber. Mis. (4r:uit, however, attends to very little herself. She nevor writes a note. When lier liusbaed w.is Genera], he wrote íill lior notes and answered those she reccivcd. Noï? tbat he s President one of tho Mili'ury Secretaries attends to hor correspondence. With reorard tn tbia aud her wofully short meninry, mamma had something to say not long ago. Mrs. Graut liad somo frienda in the city to whom she wishcd to give a lunch party. She concltidud to do so ouly two or three hours before the timo appointed. When. shegavo her orders to hér housekceper about the lunch, sha ilso gave her to bo writton down the namesofscveral ladies wiiom sho wished iuvited. Leaving this list with the IiouesUceper she begau hor toilet, and, by tho time it was liuUhcd, bad cntirely forgotteu to have the invitations prepared aud sent. Nor did ehe remember that she had not üine fo uutil the time ot which she expocteJ her triends, aud, not seeiüg thcin, it ocourred to her tliey wero still uninvited. Fortunately, most of them wcre near neighbora, so it was still possible to eend tor thom. When the ladicá arrivcd .she frankly explaincd matters, and her a verst o □ to writing and her (hort meiuory wcre so ell understood, no otfense was tiikcu. Aud, while epeaking of White House matters, mamma suys Í njay as well teil y ou LomothÍDg more of what sha has said about tho way tho l'rii.ce was treatud. You have heard iducIi of Mrs. Grundy's saying on tho subject, but you !i:. ■■ in)t heard all yet. Yuu know that a special poin was mado by the Prusideut uot to make any oliiuiil parade about, the rml yiíiior. The etatü diuuer that weck was the usual ene, aud Arthur was ouly an iuciJuntal gucst. The othcr gucsts, with the exception of tlioíe immediiitcly aitunding the Pripca, weru tho same who wou'd have been iuvited at that time bnder othpr ciicumhtanees. Jjeiiilcs, thu Pictitleat would uot go out to di e v: :i tho y.:ung man anywTiero. liXliia bfiiog true," criis mamma, "wbj did ho go to the laü f" "As tho guest oí the Brilish Ltgatiou," says soma one. "Besides Grant ahvays does go to balls," says somo one o!so. "It hus not been ciistümary Iicretofore," says mamma, "for J'ri-s'dmits to accopt iiivitations to ontertainments." Thcroupon ensucs a discussion and an incident of live years ago is related. And this, Lo it kuowo, was firot told by a high official wbo fenew Kherfcof he fipako Immediately aftor the fall of Kiclimond Mrs. Lmcoln made up a party to visit the captured city. Some of the Cabinet offieiuls of those days and some dislinguished ladies were invited. On the boat Mrs Grant said, in conversation with Mrs. Linoolu, that sho expectüd her busband toboihencxt President, and tJiatsliejntcndod todo away with the obfervance of the usual eliquetteo whioh did nol permit the President and his wife tu visit or accept nvitations. Mrs Lincoln at onco stopped the expression of these vews, by iuf..rming the Güdcrhl'. w,fo u a most crushing mannor, that she (Mrs. L.) pectod her husband to bo re-eíected for a third term bo Jlrs öraut'8 intentions in the premises uiattered little. So it oeems tbis settiiig preccdunt aside is no hastily forined resululion. od in the bottom head, and from 20 to 30 poands are removed, and the space filiad up with galt. Whon the retailcr opens the'liarrel ho always takes out the top head, and here all looks right, but wlicn ho gets to the bottom ho finda a half bushel more of salt than he expeoted. Pork and beef are also thus stolen and henee our Government supplics are oiten short, and men suffer severely in consequence. 1 Lavo referred to but a few of the different branches of robbery perpetrated araong what are called honorable men, for a complete statement would fill a volume. One further instance rnay l)e cited, and this is the fraud in essential oils. It is nest to mpossible for any country druggist to buy a pure article of oil leiflon. oii bergiimot, oil orgianum, or any similar oils. The reason of this is that spirits of turpentiuo nnxes so naturally with these art:cles that. its deteotion is almost impossible. In theso oils our wholesale druggists make enormous profits. Carrying out this idea, a bold drugisl conti'ived not only to clieat country customers, but nlso to fleeoe the trade at large. To do this, he employed a machinist to imitate the metalic seals which the manufacturera put upou the cans. These caus he would unsolder and then steal abcut one-tenth of the oil, and fill it up with spirits of turpén1. 1 11 f. nriH t.rinvi nnril b flio n,niiiin(iiif , . , .. 1 i ....i, líw viiv.il uijf me u' 'uuiuricii stai. Thesc caris would then go into the hands of a drug broker, and yould be sold to the trudo as pure fiom the distüler's hands. This operator 1 know well. He is ïiothiDg but a thief, and yot in society lic is a "gentleman." He has a fine house and lives in style, but rettribution may y et reach hun, and though slow, it may be sure.