The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-09-06
Some Stored Spots Around Old
Fredericksburg.
LEGENDS OF OTHER DAYS
A Town That Has Been Baptiz'
ed in Fire and Blood.
MARKS OF eRlM-WsAeso WAR
More Men Have Fallen WITHIN haotus
of 90 Miles From This Town Than
Ever Fell Upon an Area of
EQUAL Size.

a place of much more than passing in
tereSt before ii Was baptized in fire
and blood in the great hattie which
bears its name. In this very house,
YES, in the very room in which these
lines are written, Mary Washington.
the mother of the great warrior and
statesman. once lived. just back OF
this historic e<iifice, she sleeps the last
long sleep. This fact alone would
Justify the opening statement. Then.
too. within a short gliSta0ct-oniy two
or three h9ockS-iS the magnificent
mansion. KENMORE the home of Bel
tie Washington. James Monroe once
lived here also, and his ancient home
and law Offices opposite, are places
OF interest ~ paSSerS.hy just across
the Rapgaahan0ock. upon a bold emf
nence. 9erTacski 10 the rivers edge, Is
situated THE grand old estate of chat
hazn Here il was that Washington.
and. singalarly enough, about a CEN
xary later. Lee, each met his future
wite-ssle former a Mrs. Gusts, the lat
ter q Miss Castns, and granddaughter
OF Mrs. Washington, I believe.
This venerable building, with Its
extensive grounds, arpon whicA grow
the linden and other trees OF many
N1IlE>3atcs 0&4NE. 4&EE ><A<sszS ~ aakSA~~
festivities which have made the Alr-
ginian proveraial-azd justly -. / can
at1est-for his open2hanS2ed hoSpitali-
ties. There are several of these pala-
tial residences In the Old Dominion
down the Rappahannock, the James.
and where-the ancestral homes
OF which Thomas Nelson Page has
told us-fhe relics of the old.
the imperial South. Some of
them are well preserved, but
"Chatham' seems TO me neg
lected. There is a spirit of melan-
choly and desolation haunting its
avenues and stately halls. and it is
proud only in grandeur that is gone.
These ancient structures should, by
all means, be preserved. Their historic
associations should render them all
but sacred in the eyes of the State and
of the nation.
The names of some of the streets,
also, would indicate that the city s
foundation was laid in Colonial days;
as, for instance, Princess Anne"
ssAmelia. ? George prince Edward, =
ssLouis,s' and Hanover
Added to these suggestions of roy
atty the more convincing evidences, as
seen in theivy-grown walls along the
avenues, bespeak the city's age.
But You should not gather from this
that it is decrepid On the other hand
it is vigorous in its years. The houses
are wonderfully we'll preserved, and
the lawns are maryelously pretty. This
is especially remarkable when one
considers that in the terrific lombard
ment which the place endured in the
late war there was not a single house
&tn4 sAes.a4aad 14n+n1aahaH Many xva1,e
battered TO the ground; but such
as were not hopelessfy demol-
ished, have been repaired, and
with the - exception of patches
here and there on their walls,
of differently-colored bricks and NOR
tar, or of some tree upon the lawn cut
off midway, the town gives little hint
of the tempest of fire that once ragged
remorselessly over it.
The city is well situated. 1t is at the
head of navigation, some hundred
miles from the Chesapeake Bay. Steam
eIs ply regularly between here and
Baltimore A trunk line runs imme-
diately through the place, and mar
row-gauge connects with the Chesa-
peake and Ohio and the Southern. The
Seaboard Air Lines superb ATLANTA
Special passes here, and let it be re-
marked right now that no more wor-
thy railroad operates trains in the
country than the Seaboard. 1t runs
its trains according to it's schedule,
and it's officers and employees, from the
chief down, are invariably the most
obliging j have ever known. 1t is the
'speople's line" and in its bold, single
handed fight against monopolies it
deserves the peoples support, especial
ly when it's service is inferior to none.
travellers between the South and Wash
ington and the North will find the va
rious routes this excellent road offers
of great attraction, whether they go
bv the steamers with which it con-
meets ait Norfolk, or through these
world-renowned battle-fields of Vir-
.ginia.
just above the city are the falls.
they furnish fine water-power, only a
small per cent. of which is utilized.
Several large flour mills are here, but
there is power ready to be turned from
fine large canal Immediately upon
many another wheel, and still it runs
uselessly away. 1t appears that this
would be an admirable place for man
ufacturer.
Several amusing stories are told
about the Washingtons. 1t is said that
one day Mrs. Washington was making
soap. She was having poor luck IN
getting it to 'sturn," when some one
suggested that the trouble was that
She had used THE ashes of the famous
cherry tree, and that there was no I've
in them.
There is story current here that at
a certain point just below the city
George Washington, when boy, threw
silver dollar across the Rappahan-
mock The English Ambassador was
once visiting here, and upon hearing of
the feat, seemed disposed to doubt it,
"Wby, that was nothing" replied an
old resident; ''he did more than that;
nc once threw sovereign over the At
1antic."
But the thing that renders Freder-
icksburg conspicuous to me, at least,
is Its mighty battlefield The observer
upon Harye's Heights" the Confeder-
ate position back of the city, realizes
what a great battle means. Upon
these hills all the way down t0 HamiI-