Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1899-03-30

.
ness ofthe Silent Tomb and Home.-'
Everything Carefully PTeseTved.--The
Trip an Inspiration Of Patriotism.
WASHINGTON, March %.
"Oh, carry me back to old Virginia,
The old Virginia shore"
How those dear old lines of my child
hood come back to me But yesterday
| stood on the piazza at Mount Vernon
and as in a dream gaZed across the
grand old river TO the blue hills OF MY
Maryland Then words of the old
darkey melody came back across the
years, and | could not wonder at the
hOmesickness of the true Nirglnlan,
banished from the old Virginia shore
and Mount Vernon! Famed in histo-
Try, legend, song and story, the spot on
earth most dear to all Americans, the
mecca of all who hold the stars and
stripes most dear.
Mount Vernon, the home and tomb
of Washington, is on the Virginia shore
OF the Potomac. sixteen miles south of
this city. Ii can be reached either by
excursion boats, which run frequently,
or by trolley from the car station at
| Is ~ st. and Pennsylvania avenue.
/ The round trip fare is fifty cents, and a
small admission is. charged to the
grounds. The cars run 10 the gate in
the rear Of the premises. The car line
is via the long bridge and Alexandria,
/ following the shore rs closely as posi-
BILE all the way. Many tourists stop at
Alexandria to visit Washingt0n's old
church and the Marshall House, where
Col. Ellsworth was shot by Landlord
Jackson. For the next two years every
boy baby born in the North was named |
Elmer Ellsworth, just as later they /
were saddled with the cognomen Of |
Ulysses and still at a later period, Gro |
yer. Many have done well, however, |
and are now the respected fathers OF
large families. But that is another
story.
We were talking of Alexandria,
Judging from the street, | believe il to !
be in every sense the hardest and rock
lest town between North Troy and
Weldon Junction. Hogs wallow in the
street, and dilapidated persons OF color
bask in the intermittent sunlight. If
Jackson had been obliged to reside
here long, it is no wonder he shot
somebody. Seems as il | would have
to, Some of the streets are dirt roads,
and some are paved in spots with
boulders the size of a barrel, more or
less People who know little OF Alex
andria are sometimes persuaded 10
take a hack drive around town. They
die either from conclusion OF the
spine or nosebleed. The city has
more different kinds Of mud, more mig
gers, more empty tin cans, more gen
eral dilapidation than any town of
twice its size north or south of Mason
q DiXon's line. When objectionable
sinners die in Washington it is gener-
ally understood that they go to Alex
lndria.
When the ear emerges from AleNan-
lria it skips along through and over
he red clay, two or three creeks and
soon begins to climb the hills. The
scene is interesting, through farms.
beach orchards and oak forests until
he summit of the bluff is reached and |
We are at Mount Vernon.
The first thing that strikes you as you
light at the little station is something
hat wears clothes and wants to sell
'ou souvenirs Of cheap iewelry, pic
ureS, carved articles, canes and a mass
If truck that cannot be imagined or {
described. There is also lunch room
where a gloomy patriot owns up TO
having in stock a petrilied doughnut !
md a fossil pie. They could also be
Used as relics. were il not for their ,
lie. You are again struck for a quar-
er admission through a turnstile and
'Our troubles are over; you are in the .
promised land. As you oblique around
o the left over a Hat stone walk, you
,ass the conservatories and detached
ofthe estate and approach ,
he old mansion by the rear.
II was built in 1743 by Lawrence, the ,
of Washington, and by
requent paint and repairs and the best Z
If care is yet in excellent condition.
Everything in the house and about the
premises shows the most careful at '
ention. There are a multitude of
'oomS.in the house, a few down stairs [
II fair size. but most Of them very
mall. Some of the rooms bar entrancel
" an iron gate, while through many
he noisy crowds wander at will. Of
iCers are scattered about to preserve A.,
rider and prevent depredations. Each /
Dom. dining room, sitting room. mu- i
lie room and sleeping rooms, contain y
he same articles and furniture in use I
" Washington and his family. On
very hand are priceless relics. On
he landing of the winding stairway is 4
he tall, old-fashioned clock. vet tick
nc the moments and days away. In
he music room is Nellie GUSTS harp. q
icord and the Generals flute. Every
Dom and every Granny is packed with r
treasures of the father OF his country
md relics of that greatest of American Q
lames. 1t was here that he lived and
lied. The mind can hardly grasp the {
he fact or realize the meaning of the
lace. On that bed he died. The =
Dom is exactly as he left it, and his
Id hair-covered trunk yet stands at y
he foot of the bed stop, shut your I
yes and try to think what it means