Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-17

taken on. Late, but still in time to
catch the boat was an old barefooted. dilapi-
dated and dirty specimen of the poor white
farmers of st. Marys. He was acting as driver
and conductor for yoke Of nice-looking
steers, who were trotting down the sandy road
with q huge hogshead of tobacco in the cart
The load was speedily dumped by a couple of
muscular men, but they were not cautious. for
in their exuberance they came within a few
nails OF destroying what was left of the wharf
A calf and a lusty three-year-old steer were
successfully rushed up the gang plank after
much tail-twisting and wearisome endeavor
Quitea number of brightly-clad colored children
played around the store house. and one young
ster who wasn't clad in anything worth men,
tioning dabbled in the water and fooled with
large assortment Of crabs which he had just
captured.
Rosecroft is the name of the place where the
revenue collector lived In the days of the first
Lord Baltimore and although the collectors
family must have suffered considerably from
the attacks Of mosquitoes their home was beau
tifully located. A modern farmhouse occu-
pies the site Of the abode of him who sat at the
receipt Of custom; it is pretty place and could
be made much more SO.
AT ST. MARY's CITY
q dozen of us went ashore to view the remains
1t was a hurried trip and was undertaken with
felonious intent. Mr. Wheeler, who was the
leader in all expeditions of a piratical nature.
suggested that we 90 up to the old church
yard and secure each q piece Of the mulberry
tree under which Lord Cecil Calvert sat in a
high-backed old oak chair at a mahogany
table when he signed treaty with the Indians
of Southern Maryland. His lordship made al
most as good bargain as William Penn did
with the unsuspecting redskins further north.
We found the church and the churchyard but
there was no tree. Where was it? Diligent
search resulted in the discovery of one of the
original Ethiopian settlers. He informed
us that the mulberry tree was 'dun
took up to de chu'ch 80 some of dem toorists
cu'dn't chop it up" but he escorted us to the
spot where it used to be and was up to less than
year ago. The place is marked by a stone.
The only other center of interest in the vicinity
was the st. Johns academy for young ladies'
Several Of the fair pupils saw fit to smile at us
from distance (something they wouldn't have
had they come closer and several members of
our crowd were in the act Of returning the
compliment with leers of various sizes and de-
scriptions when Capt. Geoghegan, who evil
IDENTIFY imagined we could be better employed,
pulled the string which starts the whistle.
Then we scaled high fence and dropped down
into the road, which, it may be Casually men
toned, was jarringly and unexpectedly de-
pressed st. Mary's City is 255 years old and
is small for its age.
Barely visible from the steamer, because it
was away out Of our course. was the island
which Capt. Howgate bought not very long
before his somewhat hasty departure from
Washington. He named it Tippitywitchitv
Island and used to have great times thereon
Now Scotch gentleman Mr.. Stevens-and
his family occupy it and are happy all the year
round.
A USELESS WHARF.
Near the landing at st. Mary's City was
wharf which had and which probably still has
a most forlorn and deserted appearance 1t is
the tide-water terminus of the Southern Mary
land and Point Lookout railroad company.
From this place a regular line of steamers were
to run direct to France. Building the wharf
caught good many Of the farmers who had a
little money to spare, but it will strike some
people as a rather odd thing to build a wharf
at a prospective railroad terminus when not a
single tie had been laid down on any part of
the route. More than one mans life went out
stormily and disastrously because Of stock in
terests in that ''air'' line.
This is Bacons wharf," said First Officer
Simmonds in answer to my inquiry as we drew
up to a ricketty old structure on our way out
to the bay. How are the mighty fallen? In
the early days this place was Portobelle,
and at its waterfront bluff-bowed European
merchantmen took on board cargoes of tobacco
and other native products Here is the old
trolling road" down which were rolled the
thousands Of tobacco hogsheads which were
annually exported