Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-06-07
Of Historic Interest.


 The BlatrnSburgrrs are somewhat ashamed of the little countcnancc they cx- tended to the Cnxeyitcs and avoid the sub jVct. They eagerly point out the historic places about the town, especially the road along W hich the British advanced on Aug. 24. l>li. thr alleged battlefield where our militia did better than usual. as they did not run ill the British had fired twice, and the old dUpliny ground whpro Il few good men were killed and dozens mortalIy scared My grcatunClo was q sprinter in the BladrnshurE races. " as the Federal iStS called tho affair. and I have often heard him tell how they throw their mus krts in tho creek as they ran over the bridge. and how ho (ho was the champion runner of his county) passed runaway team which was doing it's wildcSt, and how the said team was go aStonishcd at him that ii stopped in sheer mortifica, ion and was captured by tho British. Tho comedy If the ducling ground has never been written. Ono of the last fights there N;lS bet ,VCcn two C0ngyrosS;ncn who were so nervous that they fir,'d seven shots at each other without getting a scratch. The s,r'ondS stopped the duel on tho ground of danger to themselves and the next day Hon. Cost Johnson of Maryland moved in the h"u~, 10 exempt thr tract from the land i:tWs on the ground that it contained a mineral deposit.
 Every old BladcnshurEvr mentions with ltrid" tn" fact that the place was onco tho ht ad of navigation on tho Potomac. At high tide there was gnnd 3O feet of water in h.. eastern branch and occau going yes sc!S lnn,lcd with flour and tobacco at the BladrIl~lIIrg Whar>c~. The country was rIpidly cleared "f timber. and as the first settlers did nol understand what that meant. and no proper pr,cautions were taken. thI luuSc, rrd soil washed into the stream, and ii is now rather a nuisance l than a convenience in times of flood. Tho harkwatrr covers the lower part of town, and only tlr negroes can stand the result ing m@l2ra, HyattsVillr, n mile or so iarI her nuI< h. i~ high and hCalthful, hand some alike i'll location and buildings and one of the prrttirSt suburbs of Washing ton. passed my first night out in River dale and in building of moro historic in- trr,'>t probably. and certainly moro varied interest. than any other In the vicinity of | Washington. It iS tho once famous Calvert mansion, now a lodging house, and queer, uncanny old structure if is. would as soon live in stone quarry or dismantlcd Greek temple,
 | Henry Clay's Room.
 | twas built l27 years ago, they say, and, U. C.,l l 1 should have thought it likely. In style | if shows like rude imitation of tho old time western state capitol with vast porch cS frontrd by Doric pillars, halls wide | enough for company drill and rooms so | very large that one fcols as if sleeping in a l warehOuSC and it would seem that no ! amount of fire could warm them in win 1 ter. The whole building has grown vel low with age, the lower part of the pillars | shades of in dull rcd and green, patches of fine moss adOrn the lower walls, and i lo0St' tiling, cracks and mold combine to produce a depressing air of gloom and decay. Yet in this house, If the unani- nous local testimony is to ho accepted, tho 1 Union was saved, for the room in which lodged was occupied by Henry Clay dur ing the summers of IS20-l, in it the sec l Und Missouri compromise was drawn up, | and in an arbor which then stood out in front the heads of factions agreed to it one l Sunday morning over their after breakfast cigars. It will be remembered that the ! original Missouri compromise was devised l by senator Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, but the Free Soil members boltcd when the state constitution was presented, and then Henry Clay, Senator Holmes of Maine and two or three others devised n new com
 promise, and this one was perfected in thit building. In this room, I say, the Union was saved, for the compromise undOubted
 ly did that, as it gave the needed time fol
 national sentiment to grow, and by tho
 end of the next 40 years the sections ad
 herring to the Union contained three time,
 as many people and eight times as mucl
 wealth as the others. Had the struggle
 begun even ten years before it did WI
 should now have been two nations if no ! more. No doubt of that.
 The average visitor to Washington learni
 about as much of rural Maryland as
 western visitor to New York city does O
 the Adirondacks or Cattaraugus county
 As one goes straight northward the rise fl
 so rapid that in two days easy walking