The morning times., 1895-07-07

ecuotS Oh tue Ourtn are StllI reyerberatlnC
IN the summer air, it is but natural that all
reminding US OF the Revolutionary heroes
should be OF unusual interest To most Of
US the men of Bunker Hill and Valley Forge
are but a name, and it is only when we see
their daily hauntS that we realize that they
were made of the same stuff as the men OF
our time. We can not believe that they
went the daily round Of petty duties tbatfau
to our lot, yet 1t is as likely as not that
Washington got in pet il the slaves forgot
TO feed the pigs, and that his wife grew red
in the face II some darkey purIoined the
raspberry jam, just like our husbands and
wives Of the present.
FAMOUS CARLYSLE HOUSE.
Perhaps the most Interesting Of the Revo-
lutionary relics is an old mansion over IN
Alexandria, Va, which ought to be regarded
as one Of the most historical houses in
America The place stands in a square on
Fairfax street and comprises an antique
hotel, known as the "Braddock House. ~
While the real point of interest, the old
Carlysle house, is not TO be seen from the
sidewalk at all
The hotel covers the portion OF two sides
of square, standing ona corner, but within
its grounds is the smaller buildings. both
being connected by a high porch
At the foot of the square is 4 large garden
overgrown with high weeds \ few hum
dred yards Off flows the Potomac river and
the houses perch Just on the side of the
hill. From the street, nothing OF the
CarlySle house can be seen. but on passing
down the river a full view is obtained.
standing in rear corridor OF the hotel
one looks out at mansion that was the
ffu= r.F - 1.
times. The bricks are sJiIl sound, but
the front is dun with the rains aud suns
OF fleetlng years; the stately pOTch OF white
pillars is shut in by the towering mass of
the hotel and the walk in front is high in
air, the ground having been cut away TO
level the new buildings foundation.
The stone steps on which the Olden gal
lants whispered airy nothings IN the moon
light, now catch only the Cedseless sound
OF the ticking wires in the telegraph office
below, and the yard where WashingtO ton and
Lafayette smoked their cigars. or, in
earlier days, when Lieut.. Washington con-
feTred with BraddOck, is but the site of
business offices and stores
WAS ONCE a FORT.
The CarIysle house is built upon a vast
stone fort, of whose birth history has no
record. But i5 is supposed to have been
erected by the earliest settlers as a de-
fense against the Indians, aud some place
the date of its beginning as early as 1910,
years before Washington was born or
anyone dreamed that.a new Republic would
spring into life in the recently discovered
world. The stones are heavy gray ones
and within the dark receSses are narrow
damp cells, which tradition says Were used
as slave-pens and as stables for che cattle
when the settlers feared an attack by the
Indians.
SO old is this part that the iron frame
of the doorway, which in some plac ccs is
four inches thick, has in other rotted off
until scarce an inch is left. When in 1882
John s. Canysle, collector of the port of
Alexandria and contractor for the work
on Christ Church, made his house, he sim
ply turned the old fort into a cellar and
above it erected q mansion which is a
CommOdious house even at the present
day.
The first place entered is a large hall,
into which n broad stairway curves down
from the rear. The wood of the steps
and newel-post is of solid mahogany,
and the value thus represented is said
to be several hundred dollars. On the
right are several empty rooms, which
must have been used as paTlOrs; on the
second story are any number of bed
chambers, while on the left of the hall
and opposite 10 the parlors Is a room
which has seen most of the great men
who made American history. 1t is the
ballroom, a rather small apartment in
contrast with the magnificent propor-
tions of our modern palaces on the Hud-
son or Fifth avenue, but sufficient for
the needs of the time.
WASHINGTON MET MRS CUSTIS
The walls are tinted blue and the
room is OF panelings of oak. Above the
door and the mantel are elaborate carv-
ings, and large frame for pictures, built
in the wall like those seen down at Mount
Vernon, still remains intact. Here it was
that Washington, then an ambitious young
man, received his commission in the Brit
isb army from the hands of the English
general, Braddock, and from this point
they set out on the expedition to Fort
Duquesne, an enterprise from which Brad
dock never returned, for his body was
buried near the place of defeat.
Washington, being fTontiersman, knew
the methods of warfare employed by the
Indians and warned BraddOck that it was
useless to fight sayages by the military
tactics OF European nations. But, like
most EnglishmeD, Braddock thought ,he
knew all that was necessary, but found
too late that Washinston's advice was
the only proper one. IN this house, it is
said, the conversation relative to the
expedition against the Indians took place.
And it was here also that the council of
five governors took place. The men present
were Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia,
Governor De Laucey, of New York, Gov
ernor Morris, of Pennsylvania, Governor
Sharpe, of Massachusetts, and Governor
Shirley.
Tradition has it that it was at the
Carlysle house that Washington met his
fate in the person Of the charming Widow
Custis, afterwards known as Lady Wash
ingtou. There is also pretty story told