CRITE RTI Wright's Unidealiz ed "Last Picture." Hitherto Unpublished c— Traditions Gathered by George ton. ington got the most | of his supplies at | the latter town. He came thereto vote, | and until a few years ago the little | office in which he did business there | still stood. It was at Alexandria that Washington met General Braddock, and with him start- ed out on that disastrous campaign. His last rev.ew of troops were made | from the steps of an Alexandria hotel about a year before his death, From the traditions of Alexandria, and from many other sources, Frank G. Carpenter has tried to make up in his mind's eye a picture of George Washington as he really was. He was exceedingly tall, and when young quite slender. He had enormous hands and feet. His boots were No. 13, and his ordinary walking shoes No. 12. No one can look at the silk stockings which hang up in Mount Vernon and not realize that it took a big leg to fill them. He was a man of muscle. During his service in the army he weighed 200 pounds, and was so strong that he could lift his tent with one hand, although it usually required the strength of two men to place it on the camp wagon, writes Mr. Carpenter. I mean, of course, when it was folded up and wrapped aronnd the poles. Washington could hold a musket with one hand and fire it. He was a good tidious in dress, He wore plain clothes and always kept himself well shaven, acting as his own barber. During the latter part of his life he wore false teeth. His teeth fit well and pushed out his Jower lip. man. He had a quick temper, but as a rule he kept it under control. Some- Carpenter the story as they stood on in Alexandria and looked down at the *‘It was on that spot,” said the offi- cer, “Washington was knocked down by Lieutenant Payne. Payne was a candidate for the Legislature against Fairfax of Alexandria. i Payne here he made a remark that Payne considered an insult, and Payne knocked him down. The story went like lightning through the town that Colonel Washington was killed, and some of the troops who were stationed at Alexandria rushed in and would have made short work of Payne had Washington not prevented them. He pointed to his black eye and told them that this was a personal matter, and that he knew how to handle it. Every. one thought that this meant a duel. “The next day Payne got a note from Washington asking him to come to the hotel. He expected a duel, but went. Washington, however, was in an amicable mood. He felt that he had been in the wrong, and said: ‘Mr. shot and a good swordsman. The piec- MARY WASHINGTON, rai e picture of the mother of 'Wash- Kili. ington as a young girl.) make think that Washington was Sranetts. His face is dark and som- ed. He had a broad chest, his last days he had Teh ers Sold i Payne, I was wrong yesterday, but if t you have had sufficient satisfaction, let us be friends." There was a de- “canter of wine and two glasses on the table, which Washington had ordered . to smooth over the quarrel. The two ' drank together and became such strong friends after that that Payne was one of the pallbearers at Washington's funeral.” {| Everyone drank in the days of Wash. ton, and the father of his conntry always had wines upon his table. I ‘ have nowhere seen it stated that he ‘ ever drank to excess, George Washington was simple in : his tastes, and during his youth he was an enormous eater, but was not particular ss to what he had. He wanted plain food and plenty of it During his later years he ate very lit tle. His breakfast at Mount Vernon was of corn cakes, honey and tea, with possibly an egg, and after that he ate no more until dinner. He kept, how- ever, a good table, and usually had friends with him. ho As the years wenton Washington'¥ lands increased in value, and when he died he was one of the richest men of He owned lands and stock in the safe of the old courthouse at Fairfax, Va., gives a detailed state- ment of every article he possessed down to the calves and sheep. His personal estate was then put down at $582,000, and this iacluded a vast amount of tobacco, large numbers of cattle, sheep and horses, nearly all of which he willed to his wife, The account books which are kept at Washington in the State Depart- ment show that Washington was very careful about keeping a record of his expenditures. He put down every- thing, and among other items you see his losses at cards and at the horse races are frequent, The curious thing about his accounts is that there was almost always a deficiency at the end of the year which he could not account for, This made no dif- ference, however, with his starting the new yoar with a fresh account, for one item at this time is es follows: ‘‘By cash, either lost, stolen or neg- lected to charge, 144 pounds, 8eshil- lings and 11 pence.” In other words, Through his letters now owned by the Government you see here and there correspondence which shows that he was very hard up at times. In 1785 he wrote that he could get no wheat on credit, and that he had no cash to pay for it. Three years later he urges a man to pay the 81000 which | he owes him, and says he has put off the sheriff three times already, and | that he needs this money to pay his | taxes. He was not afraid to dan his | debtors, and he is said to have been | one of the shrewdest dealers the planters of his time, From the above it will be seen that | Washington had by no means an easy | life. He bad many troubles outside of those connected with his estate, | among | i He had as many enemies as our lead- | ing politicians have to-day and he was | accused of all kinds of crimes and | misdemeanors. The Philadelphia | Aurora charged him with baving com- | mitted murder during his campaign with Braddock. | Griswold, in his Re- | publican court, states that an attempt | was made to poison Washington when | he was President. When his birthday was firat cele- MARTHA WASHINCTON’S OVEN, It Probably Has Baked Many a Biscull For G, W, C. L. Brainard, an Oak Park drag gist, says the Chicago Inter-Ocesn, | while searching among some famaly | heirlooms recently, found an oven! which had once belonged to Martha Washington, In the same trunk was a letter which gave a history of the relic. The oven has the appearance of a kettle, It is a round iron pot, about six inches deep and thirteen ————————— A A MULE FORT. Desperate Fight with Indians Behind the Bodies of Dead Ones. Before the railroad connected San Frapcisco with Chicago, all freight was earried across the plains in large wagons, each capable of holding six or seven thousand pounds, and drawn by several yokes of oxen, The wagou box, as large as the sitting room of an ordinary house, was covered with two heavy sliects to protect the frefeht from the rain, A train consis! ek of twenty-five each ju canvas Wagons, OVEN WHICH ONCE BELONGED TO MARTHA WASHINGTON, inches in diameter. The sides of the | kettle are black. Martha Washington gave the oven to a Mrs. Mary Den- | ning, in 1778, in exchange for some knitting, Mrs. Denning kept it until her death, in 1827, when it came into the possession of her daughter, Mrs. | Elizabeth Renshaw, During the war of 1812 Mrs, Denning, who was living in Brandywine Manor, Penun., buried the oven in her yard, with 8300 in it. oven for some coal oil and tobacco to | ville, Penn. til Mrs. Wright kept it un- her death, in 1878, when it was L. Brainard, a grandson of the storekseper, visited the old homestead and found the oven. A George Washington Fish Story. When the Revolutionary War closed Washington had plenty of land, but little money. He had axhausted his private fortune during the war, and he had to borrow enough to take him to New York to be inangurated as Presi. the master, known in the Innguage of the plains as the “bull The teamster was call “bull-whacker,” and the whole was a “bulloutfit.” The wagon master was an autocrat, gifted not with courage, but with that fac. for judicious action A story wigon prompt, Lake Trail” call tion Lew Bimpson was wagon master of two large trains which left Fort Lara mile Fort and trav One morin- by Woods, wiagen master, and young the rear train to head one, While riding plateau they suddenly dis covered fi f Indians chargi shows how suddenly the sometimes came for prompt ace for Leavenworth, miles apart accompanied LHe ass started Cody, from overtake thu on a big down the occasion, jump dead, shot and then Be mule flesh the irmed with 1 and re the Indians. They and white galloped only two ghot it those of jerked hind thi Wo companions ¢ bodies into a triangle breastwork of ifles vyolvers, received shooting arrows fell dead at 1 and the lndinns had swooned down yelling. hire he out of range, as they thelr band. Circling round and round the barri cade, thelr One Woods In the left shoulder and Then in shiot Arrows, several lodged in the dead mules retired a council. The besiesed reloaded thelr rifles and re volvers: Simpson pulled out the arrow from Woods's shoulder anid of they and held and put a large wound. 1 arged. But a and they » and a » Indians tried out of their fire to Was smo short but un Indiuns he bared fobacco on the hen ans again oh off, leaving a dead 1 w } “it 1136 sil Cane wig on aud white that them: to surprise the and abandoned the plat 1? again charged, 3 again “stood then . half a milk around the 2 QWwWay breast man, y starve the bes god out. sn the advance train pass { the three » overtake it, being ignora ier train was approaching anxious men were nt that iry At ten o'clock the men heard the sharp reports of the hig bull and in a few minutes the head came slowly over the ridge and ole ontfit made its appear wagon Ra the wi Sesing the train, the Indians made The teamsters forward but when the mule fort the red The teamsters three to assist, reached fort, the praised the The Size of Salmon. How long salmon live ix difficult to brated, in 1783, there was a great deal of eriticiam on the part of his enemies, and the Aurora, one of the opposition newspapers of Philadelphia, pub- lished long poems dencribing him as the worst of men. The House of Representatives was asked to adjourn for half an hour on February 22, 1796, to pay its respects to President Washington on the occasion of his birthday. This prectice had been in vogue since Washington was first in. augnrated. The House, however, re- fused to adjourn, on the ground that it was the duty of Congress to attend to legislative business and not tc pay foolish compliments, When ere delivered his farewell address he was reviled by the opposite party, Notwithstanding all this, the charae- ter of Washington shines brighter to- day than ever before. With his little weaknesses, which historians have done their best to hide, he is, taking him altogether, perhaps the greatest in IE a eBid him wera but drops of moisture on the mirror of his fame, which time has long since washed away. dent, The result was he was quite | careful of his expenses, and wouldnot | tolerate extravagance. An instanceof this kind occurred one day when he found the first shad of the season on his table. The President wag very fond of fish, and when the shad was brought into the dining room his nos- trils dilated as the savory odor struck them, and he asked: “What fish is that?” “A shad,” replied the steward, ex- citedly; “a very fine shad. [I knew your excellenoy was extravagantly foud of this fish, and was so fortunate as to procure this one in the market. It was the only one, sir, and the first of the season.” ; “But the price, man? The price? The price?” demanded Washington, sternly. *“Three — three — three dollars,” stammered the steward. " “Take it away! Take it away!’ said Washington, ‘It shall never be said that my table sets such an ex- ample of luxury and extravagance!” d #0 the $3 flsh was taken from the room, to be devoured by the ser- vants, i i Ww, hing / di a0) ain are so closely fished that very few are MHkely to attain any great age or In Norway, where there is not such close fishing, salison are canght welghing over fifiy pounds, proving they must have made many annual trips to the sea. It has been proved by long-continued, careful markings that the grilse and salmon never mistake their own river, or that this «hows remarkable instinet in this fish, as many rivers are long and #0 many feeders, Though the ove, millions of ova and fry are de stroyed; it is estimated that not one in Their natural and gormandizing enemies the the little bird called the water ouzel, and the merganser, or fish duck, all of which consume dally mil. lions of ova and fry. It ix, therefore, necessary to destroy these murderers of the salmon by every possible means in order to keep the rivers well stock: od with salmon for sport and for fish. ery interests. Unless these voracious pests are religiously destroyed a very large percentage of the annual cost of artificial propogation of salmon is entirely wasted. The Crocodile’s Eggs. The crocodile lays a large number of eggs, which are remarkably small for so large a reptile, being Just a shade larger than those of the do. mestic duck. Its nest is a huge mound of long grass, leaves, reeds, flags and a kind of broad-leafed grass, bullt to the height of four or five feel, with a circumference of from thirty to for feet, and always near water. The Bll: BLIZZARD. Greatest Storm Baltimore Has Ever Had. PARALYZED. BUSINESS Traffic on All the Kteam Railroads Sus. pended Futile Efforts to Keep the Tracks Clear of the Drifting Snow Bas Iness Almost Suspended—Navigation Completely Ceased. on st Baitimors bas experienced the worst bliz- tard in its history—at lesst within the mem- ory of liviag man, The snowstorm that began Saturday night and continged with increasiog intensity through Bunday reached the height of its flerceness Monday and raged «li day, com- pletely overwhelming elty and State, The snowfall for the twenty-four hours coding at 8 P. M, was 15.5 finches, making the total fall sluce February 5, 82.1 laches, Basiness {no Baltimore was practically at a standstill, Many stores wers closed, and lew persons were on the street who were bot compelied to be ont. These suffered greatly from the cold and the driving ssow sud a number wers overcome, No fatalities were reporiad, The theatres were siimiy amtended. Few puplis were able to get to ichool and the schools will be closed for several days, Biresti-car eompanies were unable to oper- its thelr llnes, On a few lines cars siruge led with snow drifts for a greater or less part of the day, but all were finally obliged io stop. Many business men were unable to gst down town in the morning, asda num- ber who did so were obliged to remain at botels wt night The suburban sections were entirely cut off, The railroads running out of Baltimors bad similiar experiences, Travel was prac- tically suspended, The mali service In Baltimore was at a standstill, Ooae mall was received in the morning from the North, With this excep- ton nwo malls were received or sent out, Postmaster Warfield tried to make two de- liveries Ly carriers ia the resident sections of the city, Four deliveries a day are gen- eraliy made in these sections, In the busi- ness sections the deliveries by earriers were made as often ss possible. The carriers had a bard time In making thelr rounds, In Maryland the storm is reported as the worst ever experienced, A lack of supplies is probable at the Maryland Agricultural Colisge., The heavy snowfall throughout the counties was badly drifted by heavy winds, and trafic on roads and railroads Was almost estirely impracticable, Public acd private schools were closed at Annapo- Hs, which was isolated from the outside world except by telegraph and telephoue, Business was practieslly suspended In Washington and the street cars were usable to run. The commissioners sent an urgent appeal to Congress for an appropriation of $20,000 to remove ice and snow from the Potomac. Two thousand mes will be given employment, Deinware was blockaded, railroad trains A store roof fell from the weight of the scow in Petersburg, Va., and three mon were injured, one of them probably seriously. The whole Bouth shivers, zero tempera. tures belug reported in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Kentucky, while Fiorida suf- lerod with a freezing tem peratere. Damage 10 the fruit crops is expected, Philadelphia is locked in the worst blizzard io its wealber history, Throughout Penn. syivania railroad traffic was almost entirely suspended, Thousands of persons in New York are starving snd a bread famine is threatened. The water supply of Newark, N.J., was frozen up and a lamine was caused. GRANT DELAYED AT SUEZ. Compelled to Walt for Fifty Members of Expedition Who Got Drunk. Suez, (By Cabla)~The United States transport Grant bas arrived hers. Gon, Lawton had telegraphed the United States Consular Agent, A. W. Hayda, that fifty members of the oxpedition had deserted st Port 8ald, and would be brought to Saez by train, A guard of Egyptian soldiers was mar shaled in the depot to preveat their escape, Bat only two men appeared. These sald wished to desert the expeditions, They had gone ashore and got drunk, but were willing to retura. The transport will wait for them here, MORE TROOPS FOR OTIS, Hospital-ship Relief to Carry 1,200 or More Men to Manila, Newport News, Va, (Special. )—A number of soldiers who have been ut the Josiah Simpson Hospital for some time left for New York, from which pince they will go to Manila on the hospital ship Relief, Acting Hospital Steward Blagham is In obarge of the detachment. The men from the hospital will be joined in New York by other soldiers, and it is expected that the Reifel will from 1,200 to 1500 men to join, Gen. Oth’ army. Fireman Killed; Montreal, Another Injured. Joseph Mooney, ly aad [Mooney probably fatally lajured. The iatter is a well-kuowa ranner, The property loss will not exeesd $10,000. Mother and Uhilld Periahed. Big Bapids, Mioh,, (Special, home ot a Sal) The sast of Paris,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers