The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1897-06-26

tear away the curtain of contented 81
lence which time has hung there and
to gaze with modern eyes half blinded
by the dust Of unceasing whirl at the
bright, stately days of patch and pow
der, says a correspondent of the New
York Tribune. Nearly every house has
its bit of history, it's comedy Of dances
and assemblies, or its darker tragedy
of misfortune, death and even murder.
Among the places crowded with his
torical myths and shadows the old
Carlyle house stands pre-eminent, for
1t has played its part in all the war
fare Of the country and has had no less
a share in the heyday Of Alexandria's
glory. Built of stone and Holland
bricks by the early settlers, supposed
ly in 1910, it was used during the
French and Indian war as a fort; and
in the old Kitchen that is now falling
into decay there is a well that has
supplied the place with water through
all the varied phases of it's long exist
ence. 1t was In the house that rose
above the fort, which, by the way,
made a most convenient foundation,
net to mention stables and dungeons,
that Braddock, in consultation with
the governors Of five colonies, planned
his Inflated campaign; here young
George Washington received his first
commission; the war Of 1912 saw 1t
In use as a powder magazine and
prison, while in the civil war it was
used sc hospital Around the colo
NAL period, however, when Alexan-
dria's glory was brightest, most of the
interest centers; for, though the old
house Ia now comparatively unknown
and obscure, being hidden by the sur
rounding wings of the Braddock
house, in those days its pillared porti-
90 looked down upon long terraces,
bordered with slender Lombardy pop
lars. The wide hall is fianked on eth
er side by quaint little rooms, the most
famous of which is the "blue parlor,"
unchanged since the days of Wash
lngton, where the white cornice is
carved In queer little roses and thistles
to remind them, perhaps, of the old
English days Of Merry Carlyle" 1t
was to this room that little sallie Fair
tax tripped down the mahogany stairs
to dance at her first ball with Gen.
Washington and In the tiny antecham-
Der In front Gen. Braddock slept. Up
stairs the rooms are small and the
modern housewife would look in dis
may at the Cupboards, for they are
scarcely more than two feet square.
The windows which front the river or
lginally opened upon a balcony that
Overhung a most enticing garden, but
the balcony has gone and the old gar
den, with Its circular path Of brick,
It's great box-trees and wistaria vines,
10 fast becoming a dream of the past.
On the third floor the rooms are small
Or and so still that but for the spotless
whitewash they might easily be peo-
pied with ghosts At one end Of the
passage that runs between the rooms |
there is a door leading into corridor
Of the old hotel and down its length |
Of blackness 1t is said that the wailing i
Of q baby, long since dead, often |
breaks through the stiffness OF the |
night. So much for the ghosts, who,
unfortunately, do not walk in broad |
daylight, but the old vaults, far down
be- Y, are surely spooky enough, even
where the sunlight pours it's warm
food through the doorless archway.
In one Of the partitions above the
vaults stands an old cupboard, made
by the Indians, with traces of beading
thickly covering the doors The beads,
lowever have all disappeared. Down
he stone stairs again, to the left, there
8 supposed to be an underground way
hat led to the river, which in those
lays was nearer by several hundred
eet than it is now, but the vault has
ong been walled in, and it's secrets
ire still unsolved The Braddock
house, which surrounds this relic Of
! bygone stateliness, is Of a much lat
II date, but a quaint, rambling enough
I'D place it is. The front was original
y built for bank, and the rest of the
rouse was added afterward. 1t. too,
las seen many changes and much de-
and its wings seems fairly
Q shake with holy horror at the buzz
ng of the telegraph wires that have
heir home in its staid and proper
walls. Straight down the street from
he BraddOck house is the old Clagett
aVern (they were all taverns In those
lays), whose lower floor has been de-
generated into something that is more