Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-12-30
BILL. NYE AT RICHMOND.

4 Few Remarks About George WashfnS-
ton and Libby Prison.
At Richmond we visited, among other
things. the old stone house which was occu-
pied as one Of the large collection Of head
quarters used by Washington. The house is
shown US by bright little boy. Kind OF a
Virginia bright, as the tobacco dealers
would call him, l presume. He is a fine
looking young fellow, with the mirth and
music of the African tingling in his veins,
together with the proud and navy blue blood
of his other parent. The mulatto and octo-
room are very popular all through old Vir-
GINA They are very bright, some Of them,
and what l like best about them is their
utter modesty in speaking of their ancestors.
The old stone house is a queer structure
and would rent for about 81 per month.
Washington did not care very much for
style in his headquarters, but he wanted
plenty Of them He never wanted to be out
Of headquarters. So he had them estab-
Iished in all the growing towns of that time.
Frequently he would secure headquarters
in town and then not visit them at all.
1t was so in this case. Washington was plain
man and simple in his habits, He was only
extravaganza in the number of his headquar-
tiers and we can forgive him for that, now
that he is gone,
In the back yard the little boy showed us
big tree planted by Washington himself.
Washington, Jefferson and Monroe planted
all the large trees in Virginia, with the ex-
ception Of three. On the trunk Of this tree
are two large iron staples or handles, now al
most buried in the trunk. The little mulatto
boy says they were probably driven in there
r. t,1;v, - -1,av,
they came to Washington's headquarters to
surrender; or perhaps in after years slaves
were tied to these big iron handles when
they were whipped. Possibly Washington
used them in place Of shawlstrap in bring
ing the tree down to Richmond to plant it.
In fancy now l can see the father of his
country, Just as he was about to become so.
He gets off the train from Washington,
and carrying in one hand a small portemon-
naie containing manicure set and powder
rag, while in the other he holds by these iron
handles the small tree which he purposes
planting in the rear Of his headquarters.
Going to the Exchange hotel he registers
and inquiries of the clerk in charge if they
have Washington's headquarters in Rich
mond.
But all this is just fancy, for George did
not, as a matter of fact, have any headquar-
tiers here in Richmond at all He bought q
site for one but never Quilt on it.
Libby prison is soon TO be removed from
Richmond to Chicago. We visited it. I do
not know what price was paid for it, but
whatever the sum 1 would rather have it
than the prison. The work of taking it down,
brick by brick, numbering each and putting
it back in the same place, taking out the
mortar, grinding it up and using it over
again, numbering each single, board and
nail hole SO as to put it back exactly as it was
before, will be a gigantic one. Moreover,
the inner wall is covered with the names OF
numberless autographs Of prisoners, written
with pencil or scratched into the hard bristles
by those who are living today or gone to their
reward. 1t will be almost impossible to re-
move the wall and preserve these names,
which really make the prison valuable as
relic. Besides, there are many names COW
cred up by repeated whitewashing since the
war, ard every day new one is discovered
by carefully peeling off the thick coat of
lime which hides the inner wall.
Since the war Libby prison has been used
as 2 repository for fertilizers It now has
breath which will advertise its arrival in
Chicago without loss of time If the people
of the north do not visit Libby prison it will
not be because they are ignorant Of its where
ebouts
1t is solemn place to visit even for little
while. The three Of us together visited the
various foors-Mr. Riley, the writer and
large, earnest odor. There are still many
marks of the old time incarceration, such os
the checker boards scattered on the floor and
the fox and geese diagram.-Ein Nye in New
York World