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Show STARTED IN VIRGINIA Ci.im... bnya, i-liiae llir wln.li.w nnil niaha lawul llro. Uir... i-iiiliiri-n. all anna nil aroiual; Tla l)i day Ihul anve birth lu our cnunlry'a tih-aa'd Thi-n Irl II w-lih plaaaur ba -rown.it lifiir wlf". tiring your win, anil In aplla or hard lliri-a On Una lnv at lanat wa ll h mirry. C"iiia. nil .-v. ry aluaa till It p..ur ur th ijrlin. If nnl Willi muilHra-lhen alirny - (ii.i Hotia. fB &a!-?f 1 1 1'' fori'RiilnR vtrao fa from ona of the lH"' 'llr""lu' "'"K" In honor of ripnrso 7. Si"' Waahlnutnn. Tlo'fo ennaa worn aiin I J cvin durliiK lhe llfi'llina of tho tlrat i '1j l,r,'"'l,'nt- p""l' WaalilnrtnB aa alone amniiK Ann-rliana In having, hla birth dny PKiilurly and publicly reh-hraii-d during hla llfi'llmo. The honor of having originated the publlr ob erviinre of Kehruary 1:2 la one of which the town of Ali'Aiitulrln, Va., la Ji uloualy proud. Alexandria w-na WaHhliiKton'a county town. lie attended church there; he voted and paid taxea there; hla phyalrlnn lived there; ho burnetii of lla trndee-. men, contributed to Ita charltlea. wna head of Ita Maaonlc lotlae, organized Ita fire brigade. VViiahliiKlon and Alexandria either contradict the theory that a prophet la not appreciated at home or they are an exception tn prove the rule IUkIiI after the cloae of the mfoliitlon Alexandria began to celebrnie the blrlhday of her hero. I'erhapa the old town had acquired tbe habit, for the blrthiilghl ba'lla In honor of King (inorge had been the climax of aoclal fiinctlona under lhe old regime At any rale never waa allegiance mure ardently tranaferrcd and the new blrthnlght balla became even more elaborate than the old. Alexandria having aet the faahlon, other placea took up the cuatora. In I'M the Trench ofllcera who bad aerved under Waahlngtnn celebrated cele-brated February 22 In I'arla; that la to aay, It waa not then February 22. but, according to tbe reckoning of that day, February 11. While be waa prealdent the birthday waa alwaya al-waya celebrated at the city which waa the capital capi-tal for the time being. At night there were gala performancea at the tbeatera and a ball wblcb tbe prealdvtit and hla wife aitended. It la recorded that one of these bulla In Philadelphia Phila-delphia waa enlivened by the fact that many of the young ladtea wore twined iaion ( i heir Curia taiidaaua embroidered with tbe wjrda, "Long live 5152 5iS2Sl''R52525lSi5ibe5i5e5i5e5i5iiiltc the Prekhlriit!" On thiae occaalona lhe preal-dent preal-dent ami Mra. Wuahlnglon were cnndiicled tn a aofn iilnied under a canopy. Tbe prealilent did not rlny there much, but moved about among the other gueala wllh the dignified courtesy which alwnya ninikid him In anilely. On hla blrlhiluy In I7H7 he anil Mra. Wnahlngton Wnahlng-ton wero In I'lilluilelphla The ahlpa In the harbor har-bor were dreaed wllh flugi and the houaea were decornted. Kvery liulf hnnr the church bella rnng. liovernmeiil nllli-liiU mid foreign dlplnmnta called to coiKriililiite lilm The ball at night wna In the umphllheaier, apcilally floored and decornted deco-rnted There were about fno gueata and according, accord-ing, tn an eye wltneaa "every countenance bn-apoke bn-apoke pleaauro and approbation; even Democruta forgot for a moment I heir enmity." l he next year, IT'.'K. Wiiahliiglon attended the relebrntloii given by hla frier,, . and nelghhora at Alexandria and aome arrounta declare that It Wna the laat lime he did ao. lie waa at Mount Vernon In l?!i! on hla blnlntny, It being the orca-alou orca-alou of one of the great cut featlvltlea In the hla lory of the mnnaloii, the marriage of Nelly Cue-tla. Cue-tla. The ceremony waa performed at early candlelight In the htinnucl room and waa attended attend-ed by the gentlefolk from all the country around In aplle of the wedding, however, Waahlngton aeema to have allpped away for, a look In on the dolnga at Alexandria; for there la an account ol that ceW-brullon In an old copy of the Alexandria Oainite In which hla pretence la mentioned. Thi great event of Unit particular day waa a aort ol ham attack on the town by three companlea ol local Infantry. They were embarked on the armed ai boonera Neptune. Trial and Mercury and aucceeded In making two landlnga, but after " heavy and cnniluuoua alrcet fighting" were flnall compelled to aiirrender The general hail arrived aoon after the affall began and when tho evoluihma were cloand hi "prerented hla highest renpecta to all the partloi engiiged In them." Apparently being due for thi . wedding eight mllea dlntant, he did not remalt for any of the dlnnera which followed and ai which ao extreme a number of toaata were drunl that one treiublea at the thought of how thi youthful eoldlera arqul'ted theniaelvea at lb bal In the evening. That waa the laat of hla blrthdaya whlcl Waahlngton hlmaelf lived to celebrate, but bli hume town fiilthfully continued the" euatom (1. W. H. Cuatla. the gruudaon of Mra. Waahlng ton, apoke at the public dinner In 1K49 and aul( It waa the alxtleth celebration of, February a; which ho bad atlundod tn Alexandria. The ao count of that dinner, by the way any,' Lbat "tbi 30C3"3Ca:3C3C3C.TE3C3UCItJC3l.3L3Ui.Ji.Jt JtJLJ 'riiinpiiious provision wna enjoyed with much Mlurlly. tempered, however, wllh moderation" ' II, 'Miles lhe blithnlght bulla there waa another feature of lhe early celehmlloua In Alcxiimlrin which wna peculiar to that town. Washington liud founiled nn orphan asylum there and when on hla birthday there would be a meeting, with ,an oruior. lu one of the churchea, the orphuna 'were ronsplciioualy present and came In for a apeclal piece of oral Ion. The account of the meeting In into anya 1 lint afler the oration a col lection was taken up for the ben, -III of the asylum asy-lum ( The Alexandria colchrntlone were often ad dressed by (I. W. IV I'ustls. In 111 lllehnrd II ("Leo wna lhe ornlor. Home Idea of newspaper tnelhods of that duy may he had from the fact ('lhat althoneh lhe celehruilon that time wna mentioned men-tioned In lhe tlu'eitn of February 23, It waa not until February 25 tint a real account appeared . During the civil war the celebration of the 'hlrlh, lay ceiised Alexandria waa ardently aouih rn In lis sympathlea and waa, moreover, loo pinch In the t rue k ol war to bike notice of even Jla uwn put anulierkiiry. It wna not until 1H70 Ithat It In ,. hi a feehlu revival of the old festival, i .That time there wna merely a presentation of a i latuml of colors to lb" cudeta of Ht. Jnlni'a acad- cmy by the young holies of Mount Vernon Inatl-i Inatl-i 'lute. i i In lh7: the rudeia pnrnded and there waa a I Jilrlhnlght hall once morn. In 1N7U a reul celebra-t celebra-t .tinn wna uirunged, to which "thousandn of atrang-i atrang-i 'i-ra" mine und upon which occasion "the houaea I (tl,ut were mourning ut Lee'a dealh" Hubert K. I ij.ee "all displayed lhe Aiuerlran flag" Many r -houaea displayed plcturea of le and Washington 'l,e by ahle- Hut I hero waa no blrthnlght ball, . And on lhe pluiform of the apeaker'a aland there I ' waa a va, an! chair placed In honor the memory I fit 0. W. I. Cuatla. "the old man eloquent." I ' Blnce 1 STO the relebrnllona have been rather I Irregular In the lowu which originated them. But t f lale yeura a aoilely hue been formed which I arrungee and lurries out an elaborate programme every alternate year. Whvreaa the orphuna uaed I ito be a center of birthday attention, the Interest la divided now between the firemen and the aol-! aol-! dlera. i Laat year there were detachmeula of federal troopa and of l ulled Hlulea aallora lu addition to - f the Dlutrlct inllltla Waahlngton baa a perma I nent claim lo pose aa Alexandria "favorite eon" I and Ibuee biennial uffulra are the blggeat things of their sort In the cuuntry. February 22 la till I AUiiaudrlnu'a glorious Fuurtb |
