Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-11-18
President Grants Farm.

correspondent of Erery Saturday. writing
from St Louis, gives the following description
OF the farm of President Grant near that city:
plea SAINT drive of an hour and half from
ST. Louis brings one TO the estate of President
Grant. He must, however, be a sly and stealthy
visitor who on his way there escapes the princely
hospitality of the Presidents neighbor, Mr.. W.
ii. Benton, aretired merchant. At his country
seat, Mr.. Benton keeps the state of a feudal
baron, tempered and refined of course by the
influences of the nineteenth century; from the
peaceful battlements of his airy verandah he
spies the unwary traveller. pounces down upon
him, and leads him away captive to-dimIer.
Our party was too large, and contained too many
of Mr.. BentOn's old friends, to pass unscathed
The nOblest captives of the cheerfulleSt, cut
throat, mediaaya times never enioyed more lux
urious durance, or any thing like such cookery
While the dinner was preparing, and we were sit
ting on the shady yerandah, looking with hat
shut eyes out upon the sunny fields and the
" wild-hunt' OF the heat going ON above
them, famed as 70 our individual flushed faces
10y the breeze, spiced at least in our Immediate
circle with bouquets Falernian, our host sent
forth his men to chase up the presidential but
ialOts. In the course of time we saw in the dis
tant borders of tine woods what seemed pair
OF russell walking beams, cantering up and down
just in the edge of the shadows from the under
brush. For a half hour these two queer shapes
tettored in and out Of sight, sometimes APP
preaching us, and sometimes fleeing from us
with men running aud shouting behind them.
The chase had to be given up. The bdffaloes
would not be driven out of the shade preferrinp
20 come up OF their own accord at SHUTDOWN
We saw enough of them, however, TO learn til II
they were the smallest and stupideSt beasts that
ever had so much newspaper talk ABOUT them.
Gen. Grant has given or lent them to MIR. Ben
ton, forget which. AT any rate, they browse
about in the shade of MIR. Benton's pastures.
Dinner over, our host accompanied Us to the
Presldedts farIn. A short ride brought us to a
sort Of rickety lane, leading on tile main road
down to what is called "1he Old Dent Home
stead.' 1t stands on the slope OF low hill,
surrounded by locust and cedar trees. Be
low, at the foot of the lane, are the barn, cat
tle-yaTd and pastures. Mr.. VIM. Elr0d, who
married cousin of the General, has charge OF
the estate. He has farm of his own in Ohio
which he left only at the urgent request of the
President. Mr.. Elrod is a plain, honest looking
man, whose delight in the fine stock he had to
show us was manifest in subdued, strong way
In lhe barn we formed the acquaintance of a
most ferociOus bull, which, i'm modified Zeno-
phonian phrase, once lacked little OF having
tossed Mr.. ETod out of the cattle-yard into
the other world. A fine HOstein bull occupied
stall i'll another part OF the barn.
Other specimens OF this peculiar breed were
grazing in a neighboring field. These cattle all
have white bodies, while the legs, head, and
shoulders are generally jet black, like those or
the bull. Some of them, however, in the field.
had the same sharply defined white body with
sorrel legs, head and shoulders. The barn was
well filled with blooded horses and colts, among
which were "Bashaw Maid,' very fine dark
mare; the ethan Allen" chestnut mare:
Beauty" which is kept for the Presidents
uhughCCT; anu - Dung f1alnDletonlan,' superb
chestnut stud. As we left the barn, a COMPANY
of sheep, all OF choice breeds. were hudtled to-
gether in the lane, and a score or more of mich
COWS had been driven up into the reighboring
pen. 1t was announced at the great fair lust
held IN St. Louis, that the stock OF ~. ). Grant
Of Washington, ID. Co." has taken four pre-
mums.
The sold homestead is the place where many
OF the Dents, who have 10 vexed the Presidents
enemies, first saw light. There is a log house,
which was built by Grant himself, in 1855. when
he left the. army. 1t stands about q half mile
away from the Homestead" on a bit of land
= ven to Mrs. Grant by her father. The Dent
homestead and the adjoining farm have been
bought by the General, from the different heirs
since his great successes. He paid sixty-tive
dollars an acre; he has refused two hundred and
fifty dollars an acre for two hundred and iftv
acres. What is known as the Grant estate consists
Of two tracts the old homestead and ado ming
lands, including the log house for which he cut
and hewed the logs, comprising between six and
seven hundred acres; and the tract near Caron-
delet, the lower suburb of st. Louis, comprising
between one and two hundred acres. At the
season of our visit, repairs were going on abou;
the old homestead. IL il supposed to be tn,
Presidents intention to retire to his farm when
relieved of the cares of state and the exact time
Of his retirement is varously estimated bv his
friends, Messrs. Greeley, Schurz, Morton and
Della