Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1890-03-10
TOLD AT MOUNT VERNON.


ing and fairness tie our fellows.
TOLD AT MOUNT VERNON.
Humorous Stories Related by the superin-
tendent, Col. Hollingsford.
Persons familiar with Mount Yer
non during the time of Col. Holdings
ford miss the stories of the humorous
superintendent in revisiting its differ
ent localities, and feel that pilgrims
" no have not these associations lose a
great deal. Indeed the stories, told at
each narration with the relish of a
fresh anecdote, haunt the spot like
whispering ghosts.
Who that approaches the house and
pauses at Washington's favorite rest
ing places can forget the reverential
pride with which the worthy colonel
repeated the fact, recorded to the glory
of the nation, that through the long
civil war Mount Vernon was the one
neutral spot where Unionist and Sc
cessionist met as brothers, and where
all sectional strifes were forgotten9
Upon reaching the tomb, as if to
apologize for its simplicity, the
colonel would tenderly say, "And you
remember Washington said in his
will, And the tomb shall be of
brick
Then pointing to the eagle within
the tomb. he would tell you with a
great thrill that the only desecration
of the spot committed during the war;
though the soldiers of both armies met
daily before it, was that relic hun
ter climbed over the gate and carried
away one claw of the eagle"
Not in malice, " he would add, ''for
he boosted of it on his return to Vir-
ginia He took it simply as a relic
hunter"
TiIvn tire cUl0neI-s m1rUnTuI numor
would bubble over the seriousness of
the scene, and he would say with an
an unforgettable twinkle, Il say dis
tinctly, a relic hunter! | was asked
the other day who Alec Hunter was!"
From this place he would point out
the ice house which gave rise to Mark
Twaln's famous story Of the lady weep
ing there in passionate sensibility.
mistakng it for the tomb; and the
spot where Washington threw the sill
yer dollar across the Potomac clear to
the other side, linking with it the
story Of Mr., Evarts who, when asked
if he believed it. replied quickly,
''Why, yes! A dollar went a great
deal farther in those days''
Wandering on, he would point out
the storied shrubs and trees, the mag
nolia planted the year that Washing
ton died, which, only ninety years old
now, is coeval with the century: the
trees planted by the emperor of Bra
gil, Dom Pedro, and by the Prince of
Wales
They died and were planted again;
died; planted again; died. Royalty
cannot flourish on this soil; but look
here, he would say, the temperance
ladies planted this and it lives and
fourishes, and every day we give it a
little drop. They wish me to say, how
ever, that the bottle of Washington's
which Gen. saw taken out of
the wall probably contained-vine-
CARL"
There were all sorts of things taken
out of the wall, after the falling of the
ceiling III the banqueting room, in
1883 or 4, slippers, snow shoes, belts,
skeleton of a mouse in bottle, etc.,
all Of which were displayed as curios.
The 'hatchet story" Col. Hollings-
ford maintained, belonged to an earlier
day than Mount Vernon, and the
scene of it he laid forty miles farther
down the river on the farm where
Washington was born, and where the
veritable Ratchet was plowed up from
the soil.
His version of it was very different
from the traditional cherry tree story.
Washington, so he said, had a little
colored servant who was the partner
of all his childish pranks, and when
the father solemnly asked about his
favorite tree, George boldly replied,
Ike did it, with my little hatchet."
Perhaps no story was dearer to his
loyal heart than that of the superb
mantel in the banqueting room, carved
IN ltal y of the finest Carrara marble.
On It's long voyage from the Mediter-
ranean shore it met with many perils,
and was captured by pirates who then
roamed the high seas in search of
plumber.
The old adage says, There is honor
even among thieves" and it is not
probable there beats a human heart
that has not some good in it, if rightly
touched. So when these wild pirates
saw the honored name of ''Washing-
ton" upon the box, reverence and love
overpowered greed, and they shipped
it at once to Washington's address,.
Some years ago visitor, in a fit of
vandalism, Clipped off sleeps head
from the carved pastoral scene, and
the patriotic tear would glisten in the
coloneIs eye when he would point to
the restored place and say, after
twelve years he sent it back. His con-
science would not let him keep it. He
could not be less honorable than the
pirates :"
And SO farewell to 1.-The modest lit
tie mansion on the banks of the Po-
tomac," made classic by Evarts' i'm
mortal speech, and farewell, good Col. |
God rest thee sweetly, |
where Washington abides! = Mary
LANSING in YOTIth'S COmna0i0n