Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-11-12
sWHAT rs IT2" INQUIRED COL. MUS

w sey, Mr.. Martin and Major Randolph,
three wise newspaper rovsters mot roosters),
when had read these lines to them.
IFS . prospectus" said I, setting forth q
case Of the Observation-Disclosures and cot
real estate boom poem, as one might imagine
at first blush. admitting that you may yet be
able to blush"
"Um-ura, said they, ignoring the iunueudo
and reading the lines themselves, I'VE seem 70
need something Of that sort in our business"
And forthwith the party went to Fairfax BY
railroad, and there took a hack OF the vintage OF
befo' the wah for Fairfax Court HOUSE, the
county seat
It Was the last Friday In October when after
dusty ride of three and seven-eishths miles in
the mail wagon our driver glsddened the hearts
OF the expedition BY the welcome shout from
the dashboard deck Of FAIRFAX no" and for the
PairfaK Court House. Four hundred year.
and one week before this Friday Columbus had
discovered America.
mentioned this to Col Mussey.
Yes, said he, ''the fair facts prove II" and
horse laughed.
1t was an old brown horse working on the
near side, with one ear eaten away BY the moths,
and he knew a good thing when he had heard it
enough.
few minutes after this calamity we dis
eAnph AeO tlput IN the middle OF q street.
ITS all the same where you light" said the
driver. You're in Fairfax now, and you can't
ne any inner than you are. and il you go much
further you'll have 70 go on around the world
before you strike II again"
From which we inferred that Fairfax was not
great city. As in fact il is not. Not Q man
OF Us but what had been willing 10 allow It at
least population OF 1000, but it falls short OF
that By 500 or 800
To him who in the love OF nature holdscor-
mnnion with htr visible forms Fairfax speaks
varied language or words 70 that effect for
Fairfax is truly rural" remarked Mr.. Martin,
when we had walked about the town Tor half
an hour on tour OF inspection. &C.
But never toory looral," suggested Major
Randolph; 'for verify in the length thereof
nor in the breadth thereof can we find aught
but water TO cool our parched tongues"
And il was so.
Yet, as We departed a man said the citizens
carried their "toorv loorals' in their pockets or
concealed it in black bottles behind the doors
of their barns. He also said that those who
were not scclimsted to the Fairfax brand could
not get 1t unless they would give bond not 20
drink 1t on the premises, lest they should fall
dead on the spot.
There is very little drinking in Fairfax, and
on this account the town is serenely and beau
tifully quiet, and the graveyard is about
quarter Of mile down the road
Fairfax Court House Is a century plant and
the county records date back to l752 The
court house was built in 1900 and is Of brick
with a brick floor outside OF the bar which BY
the way, is The only bar in Fairfax, and q brick
fioored porch or arcade in front, the large
square brick composing it having been brought
from England before the Mckinley bill had be-
gan to get in its deadly work on foreign in
dustries.
The star attraction Of Fairfax Court House
is the last will and testament of the late
lnmented George Washington, a well-known
rfsf acsA cit nnfN f,s.
The will is in the county clerks Office Ike pt
| Tor safety In a safe burglar could crack in ten
minutes, and it cannot be removed from this
| place short Of constitutional amendment. The
centennial commissioners tried to get it for
| their show In 1876 and now Chicago wants il
for 1888, but it is not likely Chicago will get it.
Ii is just as well too. probably, for il Chicago
ever does get hold Of il Fairfax may as well say
| goodbye TO 1t. and the next breeze from the
south will bring to our ears the clash Of re-
| sounding spades wherewith Chicago is digging
up the classic shades Of Mount Vernon to trans
fer that place to some vacant lot in that
| ravenous city to match the will and complete
the tout ensemble, as il were
1t Is considered quite an honor as those
things 60 TO be the clerk of Fairfax county and
ex-oticio custodian Of washington's viii. but
Clerk Richardson is very modest about il and
! as genial as he is modest He is none the less
cautious, however. and when 1 asked him TO
carry II out in the sunlight. SO i could get a
photograph OF 1t, he could not be induced to
/ remove the sacred instrument beyond the
threshold Of the front door.
The will Is inciosed in a small, plain walnut
box with glass front, to protect it from the
handling, which was slowly but surely wearing
1t away, and the key is lost.
When the war came the will was taken to
| Richmond for safe keeping and the secretary of
state had 1t in the capitol until the federal
! troops captured the city, when with a lot of
| state papers it went into a heap Of rubbish
! There it was accidentally discovered before
somebody had applied torch and the precious
relic was restored by Mr.. Hunt to Fairfax.
The last will and testament of George Mason
the author Of the bill of rights, is also recorded
there and II is well worth the reading as a piece
Of classic and Christian English.
Another peculiar record is the test oath pre-
scribed by the Church Of England and which
| September "a, 1851.
| An order of court dated August I9, 1852. COM
| mands the erection in Alexandria of a whipping
post, stocks and ducking stool for the punish.
ment of offenders.
| Another commands the sheriff to give a
woman twenty-five lsshes for having had an
| illegitimate child, and a minute shows that an
other woman, for the same ofense chose
| twenty-five lashes instead of imprisonment or
other punishment.
There are three white churches in the town
| one Episcopal, and one North and one South
1
are successfully conducted without bells
The court house bell also importation
from England, answers for all of them
How does that strike you? said to Col
Mussey when these ecclesiastic data were given
U.s.
st strikes me below the belled," be said. in
brazen tone. and the old bell in the tower held
its tongue, Maj Randolph's chin dropped on
his shirt front and Mr.. Martins whiskers wig
gled in the wind
When the gloom had been somewhat dispelled
we adjourned TO pleasant house, where we had
. dinner for twenty-five cents that, IL persisted
IN, would put meat foot thick on a stone
statue Pork and turrips, corn bread and sweet
potatoes, preserves and cream and honey home
made white bread. yellow butter. rich milk, beef
steak and potatoes, pickles and plenty and
good-looking woman with melodious voice TO
wait on us and watch over US. Could anybody
ask more than that for q quarter?
The war history Of Fairfax is Ineager, but one
Of the brilliant lesser events OF the great strug-
gle had lite happening there when Col. Mosby
dashed into the town one night and taking Gen.
Stoughton out Of bed toted him Of in triumph,
leaving some !, 800 Union soldiers around the
place to ask next morning Where IL he at?"
Mosby also had q small cavalry scrap down
about the station and the unreconstructed say
that there was q string Of Yankee hats all the
way 10 the court house after the scrap was over
The pike leading from Bull Kun passes
through town and this also has q few memo
ries of is6l-laughable now. but not SO con-
founded funny thirty-oEe years ago.