The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-05-01

Cambridge, that Washington is said to
have laughed loud and heartily, if never
before or since. 1t was when Old Put
came to headquarters, bringing in a fe-
male prisoner, bigger and fatter than
he was and riding behind him on the
crupper. And he called him Old Put,
too, Ill familiar converse and letters,
Notwithstanding Jared Sparks to the
contrary.
He was dignified, but he could pre-.
serve his dignity and at the same time
enjoy a joke at his W expense. Colo
mel Lee was once dining at Mount Ver-
non, and in the course of conversation
his host asked him if he knew where he
could purchase a pair of good carriage
horses. "Why, yes, general" answered
Lee. II have a fine pair, but you can't
get Them"
"Why notp'' demanded the astonished
Washington.
Because you never pay more than
half price for anything, and I want full
price for them"
Mrs. Washington was so tickled at
the banter that she fell to laughing and
was Joined by her favorite parrot,
perohed near by.
"Ah, Lee," said the general, not at all
rufled, ''you are a funny fellow. See,
even that bird is laughing at you"
That there was a suspicion of truth
in Lees implied accusation Of closeness
at a bargain is borne out by the we'll
known fact that Washington was one
Of the keenest Of men at a horse trade.
1t is also told Of him that, having set.
tied for a job of plastering at his home,
he afterward found that he had over
paid the laborer by Is s%hillings. Mean
while, though, the man had died and
his widow had married again, but the
general collected the overplus Of her
second husband.
One had to be careful in marrying
widows those days. If a widow wished
to clear herself of all her deceased hus-
bands obligations, the second time she
must be married with nothing OH but
her shift. 1t is supposed that this un.
fortunate woman wore something be-
sides at her second nuptials.
Still, Washington was generous,
though scr%upulously just. We recall his
thoughtful remittance of 81, 600 to
Nine. Lafayette, when beggared and
her husband in prison, and his loyalty
to his old friends the Fairfaxes, after
they had left this country.
His agent, during his own absence
from Mount Vernon, was instructed to
be generous and hospitable, but not Law
ish. He was to bestow at least e10O in
charity, but was we'll rated for setting
out the generals best wine before peo-
pie who could not appreciate it. There
was one instance, however, of enforced
hospitality that ranked in his bosom.
1t was when a British war vessel came
up the Potomac, and his manager, in
order to ave the buildings from destruc-
tion, went on board the vessel and fur
nished the commander with fresh pro-
visions. The indignant Washington
wrote that he would rather the enemy
had burned his buildings to the ground.
Again, Il day finding a poacher
cunning in one of his creeks, he forced
his horse into the water, seized the fell
low and dragged him out of his boat
Notwithstanding he had a gun in his
hands, which he pointed menacingly at
him) and gave him a good "hiding" on
the spot.
His watchful care over his slaves and
his intimate knowledge. of them are
shown in q letter to his manager in
1898:
"Sarah Flatfoot (you call her Light
FOOT has been accustomed to receive Il
pair of shoes, stockings. a country cloth
petticoat and ar oznabrig shift, all
ready made, annually, and it il not
meant to discontinue them"
Yet he had no computations at ship
ping an unruly negro to the West Indies
and in a cold blooded manner instruct
ing the master of the vessel in which he
was sent to swap him off for lone hid
of best molasses, one ditto bes6 rum,
one Dbl of lymes, if good and cheap, one
pot Of tamarinds, containing about 10
pounds, two small ditto Of mixed sweet
meats, and the residue, much or little,
in good old spirits!"
As to his sense of humor there are
many instances showing that he possess
ed it to the full. "In for a penny, in
for a pound" is al old adage, she
wrote to a friend in 1855, who asked
him to sit for his portrait. 'I am so
hackneyed to the touches of the paint
ers' pencils that l am now altogether at
their beck, and sit, like patience on a
monument whilst they are delineat-
ing the lines of my face. 1t is a proof,
among many others, Of what habit and
custom can accomplish. At first, I was
as impatient at the request and as FESTIVE