Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-09-29
WASHINGTON RELICS.
s,r,e of the Things Which Attract tae
Hunters of CuriOSities.

w.sH1NGroN, Sept. 26.-The relic
,..,,-ars stlll come and go, but they do less
isnage than they did some years ago,
.-,an' nothing was secure from their raw
The female relic hunter is particu-
PM INJURIOUS, for she win cut pieces Of
svprvthing that she can cut, 1t matters
III what. The average relic hunter pur-
snas no system and has no special kind OF
-olics that she prefers. Everything is
me for her bag. The White House has
suffered Tor years from relic hunters.
rba lace curtains in the East Room
Lava had large pieces cut OUT Oh
them. as have also tne curtains anu the
cirniti1re coverings in the Blue, Green
n,d Rcd rooms. In the past four or five
rnsrs however, visitors were not allowed
., fhesa rooms unless in charge OF one Of
.I. nshars. who often has as much as he
.a,, do TO prevent the relic hunters from
Ioirc, damage to the furniture, its cover
,ngand the curtains. There is an old lace
cnItain now hung in the East Room
gnjcn has been patched dozen times IN
consequence Of these raYagers.
%one of the other public buildings have
,,,trsred so much as has the White House;
,Ten5h there have been frequent raids in
osTol way made on the marble statues
o. the cspltol. Winnie Ream's Carnival
al lost her left ear in less than a month
offar the STATUE was placed on exhibition
IN tba canitol. Soon afterward one Of the
tops on her left foot was missing. Green
ougb's statue Of Washington has lost its
toes several times. The woman who Is
nnaof tine group representing discovery"
on the southern part OF the eastern porIlco
If the capitol has lost three fingers,
tbongb new fingers have been cemented
On 90 that the loss is not noticeable.
Wasbington's pew at Christ church,
Alexandria, Va, as indeed other
rortions of thai church, has
sutIered exte ,.f,Iy from the raids of
relic hunters, though there is careful
watch Kept on all visitO there now. One
of tbe stone eagles and the head OF another
one on the tomb OF Washington, at Mount
Vernon, were stolen some years ago. This
los, is the text of the discourse Of the
guide to all visitors to the tomb. 1t gives
Rim an opportunity OF warning all that
fhev Will be punished severely il caught
iniuring the property in any way. To
o6lige the professional relic hunters, who
feel that they must get a small piece of
nearly everything they see, quantity of
relics. pieces OF imported bricks, barks OF
trees. roots, or ferns are placed near the
tomb. with notice that all who desire can
have piece.
AT THE CLUBS.
When Gen. Daniel f. Sickles shot
Philip Barton Key in front of the club
house on Fifteen and One-halt street, one
Of the balls from mis- pistol entered tree
near by. This club house was afterward
tbe residence Of Secretary Seward, and
was made again famous as the scene OF
the attempted assassination of Seward
The relic hunters began taking chips Of
the tree until all - bark within reach
was taken off. The they went to work
on the tree, and in less than five years
the tree was cut entirely away at its
trunk, so that 1t died and fell.
AROUND THE MONUMENT.
Mr.. Mclaughlin. the supervising me
chanIc at the Washington Monument
says that he has given away at least five
tons Of chips of marble from pieces o.
marble used in the monument. and thai
the demand for relics is even greater thar
ever There are now lying about the
base Of the monument about three tons o.
small chips of the marble and granite. o
course they are free to ali who desire
them. M Mclaughlin says he thinks
inside a year every chip will be taker
away.
wASHINGToN's STATUES.
The statue OF John Marshall, Of Vir
ginia who was ChiefJustice of the United
States Supreme Court from 1901 to 1886
and which was dedicated last summer, ii
OF q dark-cOlOred bronze. 1t is located
Immediately in front OF the west entrance
Of the capitol, and has many admirers, al
has much Of the other work Of Story. Il
has the special admiration of colored Wis
itoTs TO the capitol. Oar" said an ebony
Nirginian in the hearing of the writer
few days ago, sis de fust statue dat hal
seed here to do honor to cul'd man.
Though it was not intended to do honor tC
"eulPd" man, it has grown darker and
darker and looks that way more than any
OF the bronze statues here. Washington
prides itself in having more equestrian
statues than any other city in the world
Besides this it has a number of pedesta
statues. But none of them are intended
to Indicate or to record the fact that this
country ever had a cOlored inbabitant
except that Of "The EmancipatOr," which
is IN Lincoln Park, and which represents
sill - ~