Show JAMES K FOLKS ONCE oi CIS THE LEADING LADY bof OP UNITED STATES NOW A ff FEEBLE ceble WOMAN nashville sept 13 thirty nine years ago the of last june president james knolk K polk peace peacefully tully breathed breached his bis last at Ms his home in this city the house bouse remains to this day exactly as it was then no change has been made in the grounds with the exception df of the erection of a stately tomb a few yards from the side entrance to the ancient mai mansion ision after a deal of senatorial oratory the bill to give president poles widow a pension became a law since that time mrs polk has lived comfortably on this pension still during my stay in nashville I 1 noticed that the homestead was advertised for sale to pay ya cily taxes amounting to president kawwas a statesman and a awyer of alf abi ability ty but be probably left the queerest will that was over ever probated or rather was dver left to be probated by an intelligent man everything was given to his bis wife and at her death to be turned over to the most de deserving servin member of the family bearing the name of polk the decision to be made by the state legislature the nearest relative until 1 recently was state treasurer polk of tennessee to whom every one sup slip posed the estate would go it will be remembered that a few years ago be became a defaulter to a large amount and fled the country dying last year in mexico this act cut him and his family off and just how the matter will be settled is now a mystery there are no other deserving members of the family bearing the polk name and at mrs folks death toe courts will have to decide the matter it ii is not believed that the document will stand a legal test the polk residence is in the very center of the city on a square of high ground it is nearly years old and when erected it was the finest house in the south it is constructed of brick two and a halt hall stories high with many square old fashioned rooms and great halls balls extending north and south through the house there are front and side entrances with immense extending exten dim from the ground to the roof giving toe the house the appearance of a public building the house bouse is fur pretty much as it was ivas during ITes president ident folks life the walls are filled with old family portraits and prints aud maps some of the furni ture used in the white house can be seen here heie and there in the front hall there is a large circular table made entirely of mexican onyx the top is a beautiful example of mosaic work different colored stones beina so inlaid as to give a represent aLlon of an eagle with outspread and the national motto on oh a scroll it ic was presented to the president by americans in mexico after tile the mexican war toe library on the second floor used by mr polk as a a private sanctum remains to day just as it was left by its former owner not najt a book paper or picture has ceab ona can ter table i saw the hat whip gloves and spurs of the ex president lying exactly as he placed them after taking his last horseback nor hidu shortly before his bis death in another apart apartment mant up stairs mrs polk has preserved all of the claery she yore wore while in washington there are dozens of magnificent dresses and costumes jact as they were P paced aced when her husband died shortly after mr air folks death mrs polk had great bands painted around the immense pillars on the two sides of the house so placed as to resemble bands of crape wound round and round them from the ground to the roof they remained on the pillars as long as the paint lasted new the house in thle the side yard as s the tonio tomu it is a half dome supported by cir circular ealar pillars in the center is a square mari ble shaft t bearing the aites ot the birth and adt VI of james jamea knox baux polk and a resume of the principal events of his administration in f out ont of the house there is a brick pavement laid over sixty years ago to this day not a single brick brickbat has baW ever loosened ioos ened or worn out the accompanying portrait of mrs polk views her as she appears today to day it was taken a year ago the portrait of president Pies ident polk is made from a photo of the portrait painted by healy I 1 G H |