St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-01
STORIES OF MOUNT VERNON.

Special to the Globe
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31.-It is q good
thing to have honest men for ancestors.
but it is not always good thing to have
great men among ones forefathers.
There are times when ones ancestral
greatness becomes thing to be dreaded.
. The fame of Gen. George Washington
was the means of almost running the last
owner Of Mount Vernon. The estate
descended TO Col. Washington. of Vir-
ginia, who was. eaten out of house and
home 10y admirers OF his great kinsman.
Moant Vernon is open to all corners
now. and whoever has % cents to buy
admission may tread on the floors Wash
ington trod, gaze on the first presidents
clothes and long silk stockings, wisp
of his hair. and goodness only knows
how many other relies Of colonial days.
But in former times it was not so. Every
person of note who came to Washington
i'll other days wished, of course, TO see
Mount Vernon. So with little trouble
he procured letter of introduction to
Col. Washington, and drove down to
the famous old mansion. No Vir-
ginian lets the stranger within his
gates go hungry, SO every chance
conner was housed and fed as one can
only be in Virginia. Mount Vernon
was fairly OVerrun with guests. They
ate Col. WaShington's chickens, carried
away door knobs and shrubbery as
souvenirs Of their visit, and went their
way we'll pleased. Col. Washington
could not refuse them admission to the
famous old house. and he could not,
being a Virginian, refrain from enter
tanning them right royalty, till at last
the matter became serious, and he was
literally being eaten out of house and
home.
Then spectators tried to buy the
place, but Col. Washington refused to
sell. Things went OH from bad to
worse till the society known as the
Mount Vernon Ladies' association was
formed to buy and preserve the home
of Washington. Even then Col. Wash
ington could not bear to part with his
home. SO he sold it to the commonwealth
OF Virginia, to which it now technically
belongs, though in reality owned and
controlled by this band of patriotic
women.
The pains taken to keep the place as
it was in Washington's time, and resist
the TavageS of natural decay, are won-
derful. The outside of the house is
carefully painted, and every crevice
stopped with putty. Leaning walls are
securely Draced, faulty shingles re-
newed, and the utmost care taken
of every part of the place.
Everywhere that the original ma
terialS can be made TO last,
careful repairs are made, but when
timber has rotted too much to still be
&c N
place is said to look precisely as it did
i'll Washington's day. One of the most
interesting bits of work done there re-
Gently is the restoration of the spinning
house. Spinning wheels of various
patterns and an Interesting loom have
been placed there. The credit for the
work belongs to Mrs. Rebeeea Flan-
drau, of St. Paul. vice regent for Min
neSOta.
There is something romantic in the
steamers which pass Mount Vernon
with bells tolling, but there is nothing
either romantic or beautiful about the
electric railway which takes one there
now, and the aristocratic citizens OF
Alexandra have objected very strongly
to the Whirring and singing of the wires
through their streets. The electric road.
| however, dlSclOSeS one thing or interest
not usually seen by the tourists who
come to be photographed on the lawn a
Mount Vernon, and that is the road
Washington had built into his estate. 1t
. is fenced with the great gnarled roots Of
tees, laid close together just as the
Stumps have been pulled from the
ground. Whitened by the storms Of
century, they lie along the road like
skeletons. pallidly gray.
The people in charge at Mount Yer
non are sorely yexed by persons who
have Washington relics to sell. For
my part, think Washington must have
owned enough hats to furnish good
sized hotel, Judging by the number of
things distributed throughout the coun-
try which belonged to him. The author
tiles are wary. however, and you can't
sell them single relic unless you have
documentary evidence to prove its
authenticity. RUTH kIMBAIL.