New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-16
OLD FORT NONSENSE.
A BIT OF MILITARY CRITICISM EMBODIED
IN ITS NAME

II STANDS GUARD IN MoRRIsTowN OVER WASH
INGroNs HEADQUARTERS - INTERESTING
THINGS TO BE SEEN IN THE LATTER
you'd better 20 and see Old Fort Nonsense
nrs,." he said.
put | want TO see washington's Head
NO comrsde. you don't need to see the quarters
ill you've seen til fort. The quarters are down the
street behind We. tina; you Just come up
But Fort Nonsense"
That's away up youder, behind the town. I'll
tell Won how Il was
We were standing in the public square o, Nor
r.stown. y. J.. the foot OF the monument
upon the top of which stands bronze volunteer
q. 81 at parade rest. looking forever southwark.
! did not know my friends name. but Ike myself.
he wore a cannon metal button on the lapel OF his
coat He had air OF 20 about him; certainly as
much 20
81. was tnjs wav." he continued THE old Con-
,i,enta;s they came back through the Jerseys
a-kjtirc with the British and Hessians close De-
hind EN- Washington he sent men ahead 10
fortify along the roads wherever they eon'u ma
good pints Especially ae wanted en- 10 look OUT
for this place here for he mean, 10 MAKE Ao''iS
town his headquarters
.,rhe,.s what I came mere 10 see" remarked.
81 care a great deal more for them than 10 TOT
the fort ! never before heard tina there was one
Won lust hold on and III tell You FORE get
hi a fort was on the safer would be- You KNOW
where nobody could get AZ H. So they went away
IN there on the hill above the town. and they aug
and they hauled timber for dear NE we'll WASH
,ne;on ne got here and rode up the MIL ana theJ
showed him what they d done. Kind o proud Ike
OR there was good deal OF it. and all ne SAID was
.,-orsenss" so that was took FOR the name OF the
.,r, 20 this DAY You see. they hadn't gun thatd
throw more n hall a mile. ana ihey put 'ne''
fort moren mile from any earthly use me
british could march past I'm ano hrouho eH''
..our the road TO Phadephy, and didn't nave any
- =, climb over them there fortihcat ioDs
..1idn.. Washington ever make It his headquar-
ters"" ] asked.
~. No He wasn't any Kind Of fool He just
came and went down across the railway uach'
= .. the station. and UP tiong not moren three
Minutes walk. and you'll come 10 H. bs green
-, al around It, First house 1t Is too Tor
chem DAYS The ISOLATION keeps the nag a-hsins
al the while and they've mounted lo' OF ou
Guns in front and you can't miss H. but you
to,,.r 90 and see old Fort Nonsense first. Isn't
,ris hot | was down In Noth Carllh! III w.
was wounded twice. too. But what you want -
,,o, obout is the Revolution. My grandfather ne
MS a Continental. So was everybody atounu "eie'
yo,, can't End a in all Jersey tna' was ue-
seended from Tory.
vas looking up at the bronze so'o'e'' I''' '"e'
b,,t his next words were:
..comrade I've got to gi; 49,,
7 ,vrned nv head quickly. but he was retres''ns
% he back gate OF the town NO" 'ha' A"e"
who're 10 60 * not many minutes oe'o'e
,,una myself climbing steep street tha' seeneu
~ k,nd Of back gate OF the town on one sue
I'M - .bo courthouse and jail and on the other
as row Of dwellings. opposite sldedoor OF
- cour,house stood a youngish-iookng gentle
man Of whom | asked;
..ls this he road 70 Fort Nonsense?
NONSENSE" he replied with the utmost po"'e
,a.. "certa;nly comrade I'll take you up there
and show you. - -,
vorny az he seemed he too was veteran OF
%, oe ful Of patriotism the old soldier not the
one on top Of the monument he was run ~
.or,,a,on also core .rin +, tn. doing or the 'ol'
,artals and their a6 er'es in New-JeTseY' ana
learned great deaf But. after all, the Top OF that
I'M is Nothing bur memory. for when We reached
u the fort was gor So is Washing 'oh army ."
.he wears 1883 or less the pat'iol io''es
were encamped. especially the winter d" ao"e
this Ugh ridge for a mile and Il half There Is
large memorial stone now to marx the prec'ee
s,o, where the redoubt was made with It's out
works facing the road by which Washington
men cot there but neither this point nor any o'i
along the heights called for much torlHNi"s NJ
British commander In his senses "ou'u nav SCI"
his men I'D such steep slopes as these, with shArp
noo.a-o on tho crest moving them down. il
would have been worse than Breeds Hill Never
,heless the entire ridge ought 10 be made pnDhc
park. .
wall
then I went along the road once traVeileu ~ nue'
hy washington himself between the fort and MS
Headquarters The street winds somewhat a''e
crossing the railway. but little beyond the pefu
7 met a bow You can meet BOYS almost anywhere
around here but this one looked as II ne mao JUST
struck twelve. and I asked him:
can Won direct me 10 Washington's Headquar-
ters?"
Yes. SIR he said That's It. Where the flag
IS Lots O. cannons out in the front yard
Revolutionary cannon asked
Yes sir: so they Some OF them was aug
IN NV grandfather he's got a muskt that was
there then but he's going TO Keep IT, It's sot
flint lock-
did not quite understand my young friend out
did so at later hour. for then discovered tha'
aAr,hody e,cept his grandfather had presented his
rnusket to the Washington Association that OWNS
and takes care OF the Headquarters
OLD GUNS AND NEW.
The cannon are there ali mounted and on guaru'
Mos, Of them bear upon the town Itself. or on the
80, ELI from that direction. II is 10 be noted.
bowsvsr that having old guncarrages thah
old guns the association wisely OBTAINED i'o" inc
State couple OF span new brass p.eceS ""u
mounted them upon venerable wneels OF 90 ihese
things are posted on the shaver lawn az
and ,bev present a refreshing combination OF youth
and ags Arranged IN solemn battery, near the
bouss az. .sveral unnistakable Revolutionary can
non They are Of different sizes, but they are III
Of iron: and my boy historian was mistaken az
historians are often are for none OF these were aug
up They got all that rust upon them IN the open
air and each carries with II htte Dill " rusty
history. -
The house Is old-fashioned. having remained pre-
cjsev where II now is since before the passage OF
the Stamp Act II is large, roomy, wei-euiit ana
comfortable 1t would make capital headquar'-
ers for any reasonable man to-day NO uouo' " W.
90 In Washingtons day. and the association Keeps
It I'D and keeps IT open in the most hosptapie man
ner In good summer weather. only the lower nan
Of the old style half door" portal Is smut ANY
visitor can open this for himself ana Walk rsh' l'
without having a cent, which is great relief one
,,...oa 20 fael nafrinfic fnr nothing