| Show I SIDELIGHTS ON HEO WISRINGTONI rroTT Gossip About Him Gathered frorn Alexandria Moun Vornon and the Archives of the Stat Dopartrnont few Vlaiihhtgton really IohodIII llnlrUiii it Cite I last licit and llli leclli V etn FalseA better rom Bill Bentintlion Ile won luork1 Bown lit Inndrl ud llov Liquor Fornsed u Part of 1114 Vainpalgo ExpetisoIA George Wahinat 1111 WryHis treat 1 ralth Anti 1 Ilow lie hId I ItSomettilnK About Wasalling Iou as a FArtneroult of Ilia ilartildays vi later was No npPy1111 Trouble ole Washington D C Teb 21 18981 av e been for ome time gathering bits of queer gnh and tmdltlon about George Washington A large number nf his papers lire on file In the state Uc Iarllmnt Papers Droning that he was behind his nccounta with the Koern merit are on file In the treasury de Ioarlmnt and the national muum line one of the largest coller lion of Wnshlngtonla In existence Al iandrii Is I full of unpublished trudlllona of George Washington I pent a couple or 0ij s there nome time ago and though I found no one living who half er Been Washington I gut a fairly good Idea of him from the s tortes con ernlng him which have been handed down from father to Pon Mount Vcr lon la I pnly nine miles from AlexandiU Washington got the most of his sup plies at lexanllla He com there toot to-ot and until u few year ago the lift I olllce In which he did business there still stood It was at Alexandria that Washington met Gone al Braddock Brad-dock and with him started out on that disastrous campaign Ilia last review I of trop Was made from the steps at n Alexandria hotel about a lear before 1 I fore bis death and when I last lslled alI I the town I mas offered a mahogany bell I which had stood In this hotel nnl on I uhkh It was said Washington had slept man a time I now GEORGE WASHINGTON REALLY LOOKbO Irom the tradition of Alexandria I and rom many other sources I have tried to make up In m > mind eye a picture of George Washington us he leally was He was exceedlngls tall and when young quite slender He had enormous hands and feet Ills boots were No 13 alI ills ordinary walking shoes N 1 2 No one can look at the silk stockings which hang up In Mount Vernon and not reallve that It touk a big leg to fill them He was u man of muscle During his service In the army he weighed o pounds ando m and-o m strong that he could lift his tent with one hand although It usually required re-quired the strength of two men to place It on the camp wagon I mean or course miren It Nam folded up and wrapped around the polp Washing ton could hold a musket with one hand and fire it lie a a good shot and a god swordsman The pictures 01 the father or our country make you think that Washington mas n brunette Ills face Is I dark and Bmber The truth is he had a skin like an Irish baby and his hair was almost led lie hal a blood chct hut toot a full one Ills voice Nam not otllig and lurIng lur-Ing Ills last days he had a hacking cough I eyes wOe cold gray anti It Is said that he Seldom smiled nl though there Is no reason to lee that he had considerable humor about him His now was prominent lie was particular n to tits aPpearance and raatlllon tn dress III ore plainclothes plain-clothes and always kept himself well shaven acting ns lite own harher liT WORM FALSE TEETH During the latter part or Ills life he Isom false teeth male by a dentist named Greenwood Ills teeth did not nomc trnwol fit well and pushed ont hlo lower lip He had n lot of trouble with his teeth and I havp before me n copy of a letter which his dentist wrote to him a year before he died The dentist tells WashIngton Wash-Ington that the old < of teeth which he sent him run Philadelphia was very black and that It must have been discolored by his soaking them In port wine or by his drinking too much port nine 1 warns Washllgton that wines containing arid ale bad for the teeth and advloe him to take out his teeth after dinner anti lint them In clean water and should any late Ip enter In them by the acid to ml them with wax and Heal them tight with apiece a-piece ot rlht Iron such n a nai He closes his letter as follows I your teeth glow bUck take ome chalk unit a pine or cedar stick It will rub off If you want your teeth more yellow soak them In broth or put liquor hut not In tea or acid To preserve pre-serve teeth they must be very often hanged and cleaned for whatever attack at-tack them must be repelled as Often or It will gain ground and destrot the work1 Irvin sets I repaired is I done on n IIITnt plan than when entirely non for the teeth are screwed n-on the bnrro Instead of having the barre Cast red ho t on them hlch Is I the ten I lie llevc they dissolve so SOOT near to thii barr signel 1 your very humble nnnt John GIol Dated New York Dc 28 198 l KNOCKRD WASHINGTON DOWN Washington was In eminently fair man He had a quick temper but asa as-a rule he kept It under control Sometimes Some-times however It got the best of him Tills wan the come one In Alexandria One of the county officers toll me the story as we stood on the second floor of the market house In Alexandria and looked down at the open court within It I which Is I now filled with hundreds ot booths where the farmers bring their product1 for ale on market dar I was on that spot xnld the officer Washington was knocked down by leut lOuP Pane was a candidate for the legislature against Fairfax of Alexandria Washington supported Fairfax and when he met Payne here he made a remark that lIne considered consid-ered an Insult and Payne knocked him down Tho story went like lightning through the town that Col Washington Washing-ton was killed and some of his troops who were stationed at Alexandria rlihed In and would have made shot vvoik of Payne had Washington not prevented them He pointed to bin black eye and told them that this was a personal mat unit that he knev how to handle I Every one thought that this meant a duel The next day Payne got n note from Washington sipking him to come to the hotel He expected a duel but went VBhlliB ton boweei was In nn amlcalilw mood He felt that he had been In tilt wronir and Paid Jlr Payne I van wronff yesterday but If > on have hall sufficient satisfaction let us bj friends There use a decanter or rrend anti 1 gInc on th table hlrhnnWaEnJnirlon hud mlered to mooht tiver the quarrel Tile tO drank together and Collins such strong rrlIII after that that Iayn wan one or tile palbaer at Wash wn runeral Illgtn A WASHINGTON AS A DI11NKINO I IAN Every one drank In the days ot Washington and the father o hlo count Iho hod Wines upon his ounly I hw nowhere Seen I stated that he Iter drank tn exc although I he unllll consumed fle glasses ot hiadeirn wino nt Ieorl During Ilia youth h was a very fair plllrlan Inl among the Itm or hlo election ex Is rise ulien he wa I candidate or I lmmmmmmLo I I the houe or burgesses ot Vlrllnld wore n hogshead and I barrel or mhlskY thlrtje I gallon of nine and forty three gallons of beer OeoiKe Washington wa simple Inhl taste und during his youth he Was an enormous eater tnt wan not particular an to what he had Ho uanted plain food und plenty of It Do ink his later years he ute very little His breakfast At Mount Vernon wan of < crn takes honey and tea ivlth pond 8 lhlY an egg po-nd after that he I II no lore until dinner He kept bow ever a guml table and usually had lends with him Ills table manners mem not of the best 1 have 1 book Written by Jlaclay which gives hla I perlences when ho was In the United tales Senate at the time Washington ai President Maclay dined with nohlngtoll a number or times alit scattered through his diary rare lilts of gosall > about Wahlnton At two or the dinners lie describes WaPhIng Ion ao amusing hlmelr between the courses Iy Playing the devils tattoo upon the table lh Ills fork At another an-other tll he says The resident kept a rOIl In hii hand I when the cloth was taken away I thought It was for the purpose of picking nuts He ate n nuts but played with the fork striking on the edge of the table with It A onoitan WASHINGTON Visit HTOIIV Wlshlngton at title time had some trouble In keeping up his establish unra r mont When the tvlutonnl nr closed he had plenty of land but little mousy Hehad exhausted his private fortune during the war anti ho had 10 bonovv enough to tako him to New York to ba Inagurntul as President The result was he was eiulle careful nl tits expenses and would not tolerate extravagance An instance of tills kind iccurred one day when he found the first shad of the season on his table The President was very fond ot fish and when the shad ties brought Into the dining loom his nostrils dilated as the savory odor struck them and he nsked nskedWhat fish Is 1 that T I A shad replied the steward excited ex-cited I y 6a very line shad I knew Jour excellency wn xtmvganty fund or this fish und I was so foitunate as to procure this one In the market It was the only one sir and the first ot the solution Hut the price man The price The price demanded Washington stern U I 1 hree three three dollars stammered stam-mered the steward Take It awajl Take It awayVI said Washington I shall never be said that my table sets such an example of luxury and extravagance And s tho 1 fish was taken from the loom to he devoured b > the servant ser-vant IlICHKST MAN OF HIS TIME As the sears went on Washingtons land Increased III value and when lie died he was one or the richest men 01 his time He owned lands and tock and negloo and his estates amounted to thousands of acres He had house In Alexandria and properts In Washington Wash-ington He had valuable land near the present site of Plttshurg He was throughout his life a money maker and I was told at Alexandria that when he was a boy he got I 3 a das and upward up-ward for his surveslng He put his surplus money Into landq and an all ertlsement In a Baltimore paper of 1773 states that he had 20000 acres of land for sale on the Ohio river Ills will which U I now kept about twenty mile from WIIhlngt in the safe or the old court house at Fairfax Va elves a detailed statement of every ai lIre he possessed down to the calves and sheep His personal I estate was then put down at SJ320IIO and this Included In-cluded a vast amount of tobacco large numbers of caUlcf sheep and horHe nearly all of which he willed to his wife This will Is I now kept In a wood on box the top of which Is I covered with glass I wn torn In two sometime some-time ago by some careless slRhtsi arid Inre that no on sin hen allowed to handle It The account hooks uhkh me kept Inire In Ihe state Io pntment show that Washington was very careful about keeping n record or his expenditures He put down everything every-thing and arming other Items you see here and there the amount which he Int at cards In April 1772 he lost 100 In till way at the house of Rev Boucher moll a Ito further on there Is an Item minting Paid for toddy for elf Walker and others at a little jamboree bore near the Drummond lake five pounds During the time he was candidate can-didate for the house of burgesses of Virginia when he bought the whisky above spoken of his losses nt cards anti at the horse rareq or frequent The curious thing about his accounts Ia I that there was Almost ahv8 a d flclency at the end of the year which he could not account for This made no difference however with his starting the now year with a fresh account for one Item It tills lime 1 as follows ly cash either lost stolen or neglect e < to charge 14 pounds 8 shillings and 1 pence In other words he was short that year over S700 ECONOMICAL HUT NOT STINGY Through his letters now owned by the government OU Foe here anti hero correspondence which shows that lie was very hard up at times In 17IC he wrote that he could get no heat on redlt and that he had no cash to pay for I Three Years later ho urges a man to pay the 11000 which he ones him and says he has put off the sherIff sher-Iff three times already arid that he needs this money to pay his taxes He was not afraid to dnn his debtor nnd he Is I said to have been one of the hrewdt dealers among the planters of his time He was always preaching economy to his servants but on the hole was Somewhat lenient an for Instance ho employed one man a car Iontr maltng a contract lh him for n year still Providing therein he WAS to have four days In which he might get drunk about Christmas Washing ton was economical hut lint Stingy He could not endure waste or any kind and he went about over his estate doIng do-Ing his best to stop the leaks In one of his let home he urges that the greatest economy be used In feeding the hay at the mansIon house lie writes I enjoin upon you to particularly guard against Mrs 1 Washingtons Chllrl and hr IY I In tile Problem both of whom are Impudent and self el willed and care not how extravagantly they feed or even waste for I have caught the boy several times littering hla horses with hay I see no sort of necessity for feeding the hors either grain oj hay when thes aie not used oran or-an horse that Is I at liberty and able to provide for Itself I can plainly porch por-ch that In a little time there will be nothing either for my negroes or horses to eat without buying I which will neither comport with my Interest or Inclination Ily fctuajt report I find that he still COPOlliles 10 feed horses with corn Instead or cut oats a I directed di-rected What two sndille horses are those Io hlch Stand III the mansion house I I tport t know O nond tint the onst I Mr Whlln u1 d to ride The plant r 11 who I omld11 icnorts like that nua 11 11 i hao neen a good business man Speaking of Whln ton as a farm 14 er trom an almanac of 1700 come the 11 I f tt I 11 rOIwlI 7F General Whlntnn po 10000 i t4 1 at tea or land where he tlv I em i I i 1 pi 4m 251 hone anti keeps twenlytour ploughs going nil the year when the I > ettuier will permit In 1787 he sowed I r 4 600 bushels of oats 700 ncies ot wheat alI a large quantity or com barley its und potatoes He has 1EO acres In I i I greaint turnips CoO ucrra In grass and great l 11 fields of peas and beans He visits I bin farms every day unless the Won N I ther 14 I tormY and he Is I makinG ex I tnnlvo explmpnt toward the 1m I P promcnt or agriculture In 175C he i o I 11 killed ISO hogs weighing a5o pounI I I for Join family ue rich wan made 11 1 I Into bacon HOW WASHINGTON WAS SLAN DHUKD I DmD J j riom the above it will be seen that 6 Washington hal bY no Means IIn ay i I lre I II had lah y troubles outside if those I connected iNith his estate Ile I connete t to A had an many enenliva till nur leading I t politicians have today slid he woo no used l of all kinds if erlmom and Iola In The Philadelphia Aurora I I Ihlalolphla Auor I ji charged lint with i having committed murder tinting the campaign with 11 Braddock rloull In his republl I I 4 can court states that nn attempt wo I made to poison Washing when he was Irldent still It was John Ban Iolph or loanock who during a din k nr lit Alexandria rose 8n proposed I the toast George Washington Iy he be 1 Vhn lilts hlrl May wan first colo hmt1 In 18 there was n grlt deal I 01 Itlcsm t the part of hl nemle t and the Aurom one of the opposition nevvspai cf Philadelphia publslied long poem dfffi IIIns him Hi tM q worst or mn lie mumi Tdckliara d Ile 1 I American Censor find the stepstlovr I 1 I if its country The HnUBe of n pre I sentativest O akell to adjourn for ii half sin hour on the 2nd or February 5 17M to pay Us rrppectg to President Washington on the occasion or hi I blrthdis I This pn lce had hrpn In I oglie since Washington was first In algnrotd Ilie louse howOr 1 i i roved to nlJnlrn on that It was the i I T nr C tigress to attend to leglsla 11 tI hnllra anti I not to pay foolish IIIIInt When Washington de c J livered hi rarwel address he wa re 4 I 111 by the orlle party All ort I I of llbela were Uttered enlnst him I and the Aurora said then ought to be I n Jubilee In the United States hcau the 10hllllollan administrations I ere at till end Xotl Ihtnnllng all I t ls the har I cter of Washington I shines brighter today than ever be fire With Ms llttl vo cakle 4 1 which hlstollars have done their beat to hide he Is I taking him altogether I it perhaps the greater I Amorlran our 1 49 country h a a 01 produced and the 1 false charges against hIm mere hut J dtops of nolsturs on the mlrroi of his 4 < 100 which time has long since I 11 washed away FRANK O CARPENTER I i I |
