the clients keeping watch at his door. Nor was
he a solitary victim. General Taylor did not live to see half his duty
done, and the atmosphere of the White House, in one month, proved fatal
to Harrison.

To a disinterested spectator--especially if he chance to be of indolent
temperament--there is something very irritating in the ceaseless crowd,
and hurry, and din. From early morning till long past midnight, you
might search in vain, through any one of the principal hotels, for a
quiet nook to write or read in, unless it were found in your own
chamber, where the appliances of comfort are more than limited. All
private sitting-rooms are instantly engaged at fabulous prices, and, in
the public parlors the feminine element reigns with no divided sway. It
is difficult to appreciate even newspaper "leader," with a prattle and
titter around, wherein mingle tunes, not _quite_ so low and sweet as the
voice of Cordelia. Those energetic civilians never seem at rest or at
ease; they snatch their frequent drinks, upstanding and covered, as if
they were just a minute behindhand for some appointment, and bolt their
food, as if dinner were a necessary medicinal evil.

Soothe to say, the edibles do not deserve much better treatment: the
whole commissariat arrangements in the hotels is supremely
uncomfortable. The guests feed separately, but no dinner can be served
in the public rooms after five, P. M.. You can choose to any
extent, from a sufficiently ample, though very simple, _carte_; but your
repast arrives _en masse_, no matter into how many courses it ought
naturally to be divided, and is set down before you in uncovered dishes.
Of course, when you arrive at the last, it retains scarcely a memory of
the fire. I saw some of the _indigenes_ obviate the inconvenience, by
taking fish, flesh, and fowl on their plate at one and the same time,
consuming the impromptu "olla" with a rapid impartial voracity; but so
bold an innovation on old-world customs would hardly suit a stranger.
All liquors are rather high in price and lower in quality than one would
expect, considering the place and season; but the sum charged for
unstinted board and a tolerable bed (from two to two and a half dollars
per diem), is reasonable enough, especially during the present
depreciation of the currency.

Out-door scenes were not much more attractive. The three-months' reign
of Jupiter Pluvius, which has made this spring evilly notorious, had
just begun in e