Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-10-11

One first enters and generally spends most
time IN the room devoted rather to curi0si-
tIes than to invontions-the room whose in
tense gaudiness almost takes away one s
breath, with its huge round pillars of bright
blue, with black bases aud scarlet line
around the tops, and its even greater variety
of cOl1Is in the frescoed ceiling | think
this must re She most extravagant room in
America in the matter Of color, and have
7 never seen a specimen Of the scenc-paintcr's
power on the stage Of any theatre which
would match Its eccentric absurdity.
The old standard features OF this apart
ment, familiar to every sch0ol-boy through
innumorable pictures, are the hand-prcss at
which Benjaman Franklin worked more
than a hundred and fifty years ago in Lon
don, with its brass plate recording how the
doctor identified it himself in his days Of
fame and prosperity, and invited the men
who were striking of impressions with Ia
b1rious iteration to drink with him; the ori-
ginal Declaration of Independence, Its mem
orah.e words all plainly legible in the cop
plrIiatc hand Of some cngrOssing clerk, Its
precious signatures nearly all ehaced by too
much handling and tracing for iac-similes.
but nov framed and glazed to prevent fur
tlrr dcsecgati0n and decay and the clllec-
tIon Of relic, Of the Washington family.
OF these latter, which nearly fll two
showcases, the most interesting 10 me Is the
camp chest with which the Father Of his
Country made his desperate camplignings,
with It's battered tin-platos, its four modest
two-tiEod forks, its old little griiir0n, Its
close economy Of spacc-the whole not be
ing much larger than q blndb0x, and not
one quarter the size Of the mCs@-cdests
thought necessary By subaltein oil 'ers in
our late war. Then there is Washingt0n's
sword, the cane which hc received as q lega-
cy from Franklin, a variety of furniture
more Or less quaint from Mt. Vernon. and the
service Ot china, very rare m those DAYS.
which lafayette gave u Martha asIins
ton at about the time when hope began 10
CLEAN through the clouds of the Revolution.
In the same case are two suits OF clothes
worn by Washington, with wai-.c0at and
knec-brccches, in one a SUIT oi elk, in the
other, Uniform. of buff leather. l. is one
Of the traditions Of the Patent Office tina;
certain unlearned tourist, deficient alike in
reverence and in knowledge Of the costumes
Of the last century. exclaimed, after long
scrutiny Of the PECULIAR fashion Of these
glrments-'' Ny gracious, what an awful
Close besides these relics, which seem to
bring the personality and presence Of Wash
ington so near to Us, are three articles bear
ing the name Of Lincoln, which have come
from widely distant points Of life, and
through verv different channels, into the
Patent Office. One he sent there himself,
many wears ago, when a moody student or
brioacss lawyer IN Illinois, with little
thought perhaps Of ever following It 10
Washington. 1t Is a model Of an inYentiJn
by Abrat am Lincoln, for the purpose Of en-
abling steamboats, to float over the shoals
and snags Of the Western rivers, and con-
sists simply Of a sort Of bcllows-lIke appar-
atus which. being pumped full OF air, would
give the vessel additional buOyancy when At
was required. The idea Is quaint and in
genious, but presume not practical, as It
has never come inso use the model Is home
" and Of extreme simplicity, looking as If
whitfield in a hurry with a jack-knile out OF
a cigar-box and 4 couple Of shingles, and with
not stroke of surperfuous work or filagrce
ornament about it. In this respect 1t pres
ents a noteablc contrast to many Of the
models in the mOdel-r0om, upon which the
inventors have wasted great deal Of clabor-
alton and polish, as if to express the attec-
tion they bore their inventions. saw this
handiwork OF Abraham Lincoln's two years
ago in the model-room, with hundreds Of
/ other useless inventions in navigation, and
wrote rather minute account of It which
was copied into half the papers in the eoun-
| try. Since then it has been removed from
/ the mass to a more prominent position IN
/ the central museum; and close by 1t, carry
lnr the Imagination at one bound from boy
/ hood. when the restless mind busted itself
with odd inventions, to prime Of life and the
/ climax of honors 50 suddenly broken IN up
on by the assassin : hand, is the hat which
/ Mr.. Lincoln wore to Fori's Theatre on that
benefit night of Laura Keene, never to wear
it away II is an ordinary silk hat enough.
Of the fashion Of the day, with band OF
mourning, and only suggestive Of the wearer
BY the large diameter, which would not ht
two men IN a hundred.
The third os the Lincoln relics IS some
thing which Lincoln never saw-a PAIR OF
gloycs-chioGy remarkable because Mr.. LIN
coin never wore them. They are large,
stout and very nicely made driying-gloves /;
and it appears from documents accompany
inc them that glover in New York, having
obtained the measure Of Mr.. LIncoln's hand,
made them expressly as q present for HIM,
and sent them with letter praying fever
entity that every blessing. and especially that
of long life, might be Bestowed upon the
President. The parcel reached Washington
after the fatal shot was fired and the Secre-
tary of the Interior, into whose hands 1t
fell. directed that gloves and letter should
be placed here in the open archives OF the