Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1892-02-25

f=VVjflE ~ time. But there
y \WNEVFH was another kind
~ N ASOf Washington in
- ~ h Q Presidents
tZ house at Philadel-
of his administration, exciting and difl-
cult % 1t was, he was Obliged TO pay
clese attention to his estate, and to
regulate countless details Of its manage
ment. He carried il in his mind day by
day, considering carefully, not merely
every farm and every slave, but every
field, building, fence, hedge and forest.
He regulated the rotation Of the crops,
and fixed the time Of blowing. He
thought OF all and governed all as If he
had been at home.
The chief reason Of this was that he
was served by slaves, nearly 500 in num-
Der, of whom he wrote that he knew
scarcely one on his estate fit to be
trusted.
He was obliged to run a mill, as well
Tor his neighbOrs' use as his own, writes
James Parton ia the Youth Companion,
and he had On the shore of the Potomac
a fishing station that required careful
attention A little neglect Of his fisher
mon in the spring, when the fish were
ascending the river, might deprive him
OF n hundred barrels OF fish, on which
he depended for varying the food OF the
six hundred persons directly dependent
upon him for the supply OF all their
wants and the qualification of all their
desires, food, clothes, shelter, medicine,
instruction, discipline and recreation.
Much that they wore, and nearly all
that they ate, was raised upon the es-
tate, but several articles of prime ne
cessity had to be procured in London.
Occasionally during his Presidency
his knowledge Of European politics and
Of the probability Of war enabled him to
provide in time for the clothing of his
numerous and helpless family. We have
n whole volume, and a large volume,
too, of his letters to his manager, in
which we see him buying thousands Of
yards OF material for summer clothes
months before it could be wanted; and
nearly every garment worn upon the
estate had 10 be cut and made by his
own negroes.
He frequently says that no one could
manage negroes unless he had had much
experience with them, and he gives his
manager good deal Of instruction how
TO tell whether negro was shamming
sick.
There was certain Betty Davis.
whom he frequently suspected of sham
ming. He reminds his manager that
nobody can be very sick without having
fever, and that nobody can have
fever long without reducing his strength
and lesh.
Some Of his people, he said, would lie
idle for month without losing an ounce
OF flesh, and drawing their allowance of
provisions as if nothing were the mat
ter. Several Of these he mentioned by
name, Doll at the Ferry" -Ditcher
Charles, MulattO VIII" and Garter
Ben"
AT the same time he cautioned his
manager to take the best possible care
of the negroes when they were really
unfit for work
What made this all the more aggra-
waiting was that he was himself the most
orderly, punctual, exact and faithful of
men. There was nothing that gave him
such pleasure, rs he himself remarked,
as to see his farms in good order and
everything trim, handsome and thriving
about them" To this he added:
Nothing hurts me more than TO find
them otherwise, and the tools and i'm
plements lying wherever they were last
used, exposed to injuries from rain and
sun"
He would gladly have had his whole
estate in as perfect order as an estate in
England, and we may say that he spent
the chief energies o. his life in a cease
the correct standard. Considering all
these things, he was a wonderfully con-
siderate and patient master. He knew
what was to be expected from ignorant
negroes, and governed himself accord
ingly; making fair allowance for their
weakness, but firmly holding them to
their duty, as well for their sakes as his
own.
The care and thought which he be-
ar#a
critical period Of his administration.
while Congress was in session, and
questions involving peace or war were
pending, were most extraordinary. He
insisted upon having n detailed report
every week from his manager and from
each Of his overseers, which he thor
Oughly weighed and punctually an
swered.
Some Of his letters TO his manager fill
as many as twelve pages Of an octave
volume. He gives the most minute di-
rections concerning fences, sheds, and
small repairs. as well as to more i'm
pOrtant concerns. In one letter he says:
Several OF the large stone Jugs, which
were sent to the different farms with
spirits in them at harvest. have never yet
been returned. Call upon the several
overseers TO give them in Immediately,
or they will have TO pay for them"
1hese letters present 10 us the picture
of wise and orderly man striving pa
tiently TO get order, beauty and prosper
ity from the most discordant and intract-
able elements-slacka and dlssOlute over
seers. thoughtless apd pleasure-loving
negroes, thieving neighbOrs, bad systems
of agriculture, a low tone Of morals, and
the absence for long periods OF the mas
ter's eye.
He did the best that was possible for
himself and for his servants. but he
hated the system, and lamented all his
days that he could not escape from il,
nor let his slaves escape without doing