One of Grant’s best horses was named Butcher’s Boy, into the possession of which he came in an odd way. General Grant was riding through the city one day and attempted to pass a butcher’s wagon, which was jogging along in front of him. The boy driving the horse whipped up and the General whipped up, and the two had a lively race. Grant was in a light rig and the boy had no idea in the world that he was racing the President of the United States. His horse was so good, however, that he kept ahead for a long distance, and President Grant admired him so much that, when the wagon stopped at a butcher’s shop, he made note of the place. Some days after this, he sent one of his friends to look at the horse and purchase it if possible. The result was that the butcher’s horse took his place in the White House stables. During his administration, new stables of the White House were built. The family dinner hour was five o’clock, and the master of the establishment required punctuality from all of his household. The table was invariably set to accommodate half a dozen extra guests, and there were few days in the strenuous eight years when the family dined alone. With old-fashioned wifely care, Mrs. Grant saw to it that the dishes the President especially liked were included in the menus. His favourite dessert, rice pudding, gained international fame as concocted under the direction of the incomparable steward. General Grant’s presidency simply transferred the national interest from the house on Minnesota Row, given him by an admiring public, to the White House. His election and inauguration also brought to publication many interesting stories of his boyhood, youth, and military career through which his pride in his sturdy all-American ancestry, the events and exploits which made him so rich in nicknames, and the youthful achievements of pluck and persistence that cast their prophecy of his calibre as man while he was yet in his teens all became household history. Familiar, also, was thus made the life at West Point, the thrilling experiences of the Mexican War, and the drab, disheartening struggles of the civilian life at “Hardscrabble,” and the clerkship in the family tannery. Old and young alike exulted again and again over the turn of fortune that threw this born soldier back into the leadership of men; and the tale of every victory and the record of every honour called forth a responsive throb of sympathy and affection, expressed emphatically in the ballots at his election. But the least known among the treasured stories of Grant’s modest young manhood are those that relate to his meeting and his courtship of his first and only sweetheart, Julia Dent. The romance of Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Dent began with their first meeting--it ended with life.