The Georgetown news., 1855-08-02

noted for the faithfulness, as to the quality
and quantity, with which they were put
up, that it is said any barrel of -four that
bore the brand Of George Washington,
Mount Vernon, was exempted from the Gus
tomary inspection in the West India ports.
He was an early riser, often before day
break i'll the winter, when the nights were
long. On such occasions he lit his own fire,
and wrote or read by candlelight He break
tasted at seven in summer, at eight in win
ter. Two small cups of tea and three or
four cakes of Indian meal (called hoe-cakes(
formed his frugal repast. Immediately af-
ter breakfast, he mounted his horse and visi-
ted those parts of the estate where anv
work was going on, seeing to everything
with his own eyes, and often aiding with his
own hands.
Dinner was served at o'clock. He ate
heartily, but was no epicure, nor critical a.
bout his food. His beverage was small
beer or cider, and two glasses of old Made
ria. He took tea, of which he was very
fond, early in evening, and retired for the
night about O'Clock.
If confined to the house by bad weather,
he took that occasion to arrange his papers.
post up his accounts, or write letters-pass-
ing part of his time in reading, and occasion
ally reading aloud to the family.
He treated his negroes with Kindness, at
tended to their comforts, was particularly
careful Of them in sickness, but never toler-
ated idleness, and eXactcd faithful prefor-
nance of all their allotted tasks. lie had
a quick eye at calculating each mans capa-
bilities. An entry in his dairy gives Gu
rious instance of this. -Four of his negroes,
employed as carpenters, were hewing and
shaping timber. 1t appeared to him, in no
tlcing the amount Of work accomplished be-
tween two succeeding mornings, that they
loitered at their labor. Sitting down qui-
etly, he timed their operations how long it
took them to get their crOsscnt saw and
other implements ready-hOw long to clear
away the branches from the trunk ofa fall
en- tree-how long to hew and saw it-what
time was expended in considering and con-
sulting, and, after all, how much they could
execute in the course Of day, working en-
tirely at their ease.
At another time, we find him working for
part of two days with Peter, his smith, to
make plOw on a new invention of his own.
This, after two or three failures, he accom-
plished. Then, with less than his usual iudg-
ment, he put his two chariot horses to the
plOw, and ran a great risk of spelling them,
in giving his new invention a trial over
ground very thickly swarded.
Anon, during thunder storm a fright
ened negro alarms the house, with word that
the mill is giving away, upon which there is
a general turnout Of all the forces, with
Washington at their head, wheeling and
shoveling gravel, during a peIting rain, to
check the rushing water.
Washington delighted in the chase In
the hunting season, when he rode out early
in the morning to visit distant parts of the
estate, where work was going on, he often
took some Of the dogs with him for the
chance Of starting a fox, which he often did,
though he was not always successful in kill
ing him. He was bold rider, an admira-
ble horseman, though he never claimed the
merit of being an accomplised fox-hunter.