The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-20


as to what he had. He wanted plain
years he ate very little. His break
fast at Mount Vernon was of corn
cakes, honey and tea, with possibly an
egg, and after that he ate no more until
dinner. He kept, however, a good ta-
BILE, and usually had friends with him.
His table manners were not of the
best. [ have a book written by Ma
clay, which gives his experience when
he was in the United States senate at
the time Washington was president.
Maclay dined with Washington a num-
Der of times. and scattered through
his diary are bits of gossip about
Washington. At two of the dinners he
describes Washington as amusing him
self between the courses by playing
the devils tattoo upon the table with
his fork. At another time he says
THE president kept a fork in his hand
when the cloth was taken away. I
thought it was for the purpose of pick
ing nuts. He ate no nuts, but played
with the fork striking on the edge of
the table with it,"
a Washington Fish Story.
Washington at this time, had some
trouble in keeping up his establishment.
When the revolutionary war closed he
had plenty of land but little money
He had exhausted his private fortune
during the war, and he had to borrow
enough to take him to New York to
be inaugurated as president. The re-
suit was he was quite careful of his
expenses, and would not tolerate eX-
travagance. An instance Of this kind
occurred one day when he found the
first shad Of the season on his table. The
president was very fond of fish, and
when the shad was brought into the
dining room his nostrils dilated as the
saVory odor struck them, and he ask
ed:
What fish is that?"
"a shad," replied the steward excit-
edly; "a very fine shad. 1 knew your
eXcellency was eXtravagantly fond of
| this fish, and was so fortunate as to
| procure this one in the market. 1t was
the only one, sir, and the first of the
! season.
but the price, man? The price? The
price?" demanded Washington stern
'"Three-three-thre dollars" stam-
mered the steward.
Take it away! Take it away!' said
Washington. 'It shall never be said
| that my table sets such an example OF
luxury and extravaganza"
| And so the SO fish was taken from
! the room, to be devoured by the serV-
| ants.
Richest Man of His Time.
AS the years went on Washington
! lands increased in value, and when he
| died he was one of the richest men OF
| his time. He owned lands and stock
and negroes, and his estates amount
ed to thousands of acres. He had
houses in Alexandria and property In
Washington. He had valuable lands
near the present site Of Pittsburg. He
was throughout his life a money max
err. and was told at Alexandria that
| when he was a boy he got 50 day
and upward for his surveying. He
put his surplus money into lands, ana
| an advertisement in a Baltimore paper
| Of l773 states that he had 10000 acres
for sale on the Ohio river. His will
I which is now kept about twenty miles
from Washington in the safe of the
| old court house at Fairfax, Va, gives
| detailed statement Of every article
he possessed down to the calves and
| sheep. His personal estate was then
| put down at 1882, 600, and this included
| a. vast amount of tobacco, large num-
| bers of cattle. sheep and horses, nearly
! all of which he willed to his wife. This
! will is now kept in a wooden box, the
top of which is covered with glass. III
was torn in two some time ago by some
! careless sightseer, and since then no
| one has been allowed to handle 1t. Inc
| account books, which are Kept mere IN
| the state department, show that Wash
| ington was very careful about keep
| Ing a record of his expenditures. He
| put down everything, and among other
| items you see here and there the
amounts which he lost at cards. In
April, TYP, he lost 500 in this way
at the house of Rev. Bouscher, and a
| little further on there is an item stat
! ing paid for toddy for self, Walker
and others, at little jamboree near
! the Drummond lake, five pounds" Dur
! ing the time he was a candidate for
| the house Of burgesses of Virginia,
when he bought the whisky above
| spoken of, his losses at cards and at
| the horse races are frequent. The
curious thing about his accounts is
! that there was almost always a de-
| ficiency at the end of the year which
he could not account for. This made
| no difference however, with his start
! ing the new year with a fresh account,
| for one item at this time is as follows:
! by cash, either lost, stolen or neg
! lected to charge, 144 pounds, shil-
lings and II pence" In other words,
| he was short that year over $500.
| Economical, but Not Stingy.
\
| Through his letters now owned by the
government you see here and there cor
respondence which shows that he was
very hard up at times. In 1876 he wrote
that he could get no wheat on credit,
and that he had no cash to pay for it.
| Three years later he urges a man to
pay the $1,000 which he owes him, and
says he has put off the sheriff three
times already, and that he needs this
| money to pay his taxes. He was not
| afraid to dun his debtors, and he Is
| said to have been one of the shrewdest
dealers among the planters of his time.
He was always preaching economy to
| his servants, but on the whole was
| somewhat lenient, as, for instance, he
employed one man, carpenter, making
| g. contract with him for a year and
| providing therein he was to have four
| days in which he might get drunk
about Christmas. Washington was
economical, but not stingy. He could
not endure waste of any kind, and he
went about over his estate doing his
| best to stop the leaks. In one of his
letters home he urges that the greatest
economy be used in feeding the hay at
the mansion house. He writes:
81 enjoin upon you to particularly
guard against Mrs. L. Washington s
Charles and her boy in the stables, both
of whom are impudent and self-willed
| and care not how extravagantly they
| T l. 4