The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-20
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON
sIDELIGHTs ON THE NATIONS
FIRST CHIEF

How Washington Really Looked
His Hair Was a Chestnut Red and
His Teeth Were FaIse-A Letter
From His Dentfst-How He Was
| Knocked Down I'm Alexandria.
Copyrighted, 1898. by Frank G. Carpenter.
WASHINGTON D. c., Feb. H.
I have been for some time gathering
bits Of queer gossip and tradition about
George Washington. A large number
| OF his papers are on file in the state
department. Papers showing that he
was behind in his accounts with the
! government are on file in the treasury
| department, and the National museum
has enc Of the largest collections of
Westinghouse In existence. Alexandria
is full Of unpublished traditions of
! George Washington OF spent a couple
of days there some time ago, and
though L found no one living who had
ever seen Washington, 1 got fairly
good idea of him from the stories con-
! corning him which have been handed
down from father to son. Mount Yer
non is only nine miles from Alexandria,
Washington got the most of his sup
plies at Alexandria.
He came there to vote, and until a
few years ago the little office in which
he did business there still stood. 1t was
at Alexandria that Washington met
Gen. Braddock, and with him started
out on that disastrous campaign. His
last review Of troops was made from
the steps of an Alexandria hotel about
a year before his death, and when 1
last visited the town I was offered a
mahogany bed which had stood in this
hotel and on which, it was said.
Washington had slept many a time.
How Washington Looked.
From the traditions of Alexandria,
and from many other sources, I have
tried to make up in my minds eye a
picture of George Washington as he
really was. He was exceedingly tall
and, when young, quite slender. He
had enormous hands and feet. His
boots were No. IS and his ordinary
walking shoes No. 12 No one can look
at the silk stockings which hang up in
Mount Vernon and not realize that it
took big leg to fill them He was a
man of muscle. During his service In
the army he weighed 200 pounds, and
was so strong that he could lift his
tent with one hand although it usu-
ally required the strength of two men
to place it on the camp wagon. I mean,
Of course, when it was folded up and
wrapped around the poles. Washing
ton could hold musket with one hand
and fire 1t. He was a good shot and a
good sWordsman. The pictures of the
father of our country make you think
that Washington was a brunette His
face is dark and somber. The truth
is he had skin like en- Irish baby,
and his hair was almost red He had
broad chest, but not a full one.
+ His voice was not strong, and dur
Ing his last days he had a hacking
cough. His eyes were cold gray, and
it is said that he seldom smiled, al
though there is reason to believe that
he had considerable humor about him.
His nose was prominent. He was
fast1dious in dress. He wore plain
clothes and always kept himself we'll
shaver, acting as his own barber.
He Wore False Teeth.
During the latter part of his life he
wore false teeth, made by a dentist
named Greenwood. His teeth did not
%.
He had a lot Of trouble, with his teeth,
and 1 have before me copy Of a let
ter which his dentist wrote to him a
year before he died. The dentist tells
Washington that the old set of teeth
which he sent him from Philadelphia.
was very black, and that it must have
been discolored by his soaking them in
port wine or by his drinking too much
port wine. He warned Washington
| that all wines containing acid were
I bad for the teeth and advises him to
| take out his teeth after dinner and
put them in clean water, and should
| any holes be eaten in them by the acid
J to fill them with wax and seal them
tight with a piece of red hot iron, such
a nail. He clsoses his letter as
| follows:
IF your teeth grow black, take some
! chalk and pine or cedar stick: it
will rub off. If you want your teeth
more yellow, soak them in broth or
pot liquor, but not in tea or acids. To
| preserve teeth they. must be very Of
ten changed and cleaned for whatever
attacks them must be repealed as Of
| ten, or it will gain ground and DESTROY
| the works. The two sets I repaired
| is done on a different plan than when
entirely new, for the teeth are screwed
! on the bars instead of having the
| bars cast red hot on them. which is
| the reason 1 believe they dissolve so
| soon near to the barrs.'
Signed, your very humble servant,
| John Greenwood. Dated New York.
Dec. %, 1898.
Knocked Washington Down.
Washington was an eminently fair
man. He had a quick temper, but as
a rule he kept it under control. Some
times, however, it got the best of him.
This was the case once in Alexandria.
One of the county officers told me the
story as we stood on the second floor
or the market house. in Alexandria and
looked down at the open court within
it, which is now4filied with hundreds
| Of booths where the farmers bring their
products for sale on market days. 1T
| was on that spot" said the officer.
| washington was knocked down bv
| Lieut.. Payne. Payne was a candidate
| for the legislature against Fairfax. of
! Alexandria. Washington supported
! Fairfax, and when he met Payne here
ne made a remark that Payne consider
| ed an insult, and Payne knocked him
| down. The story went like lightning
| through the town that Col. WASHINGTON
| was killed, and some of his troops who
were stationed at Alexandria rushed
| in and would have made short work of
| Payne had Washington not prevented
| them. He pointed to his black eve and
| told them that this was personal mat
ter and that he knew how to handle if
| Every one thought that this meant a