The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-22

the President. While Jefferson was still in the cabinet Freneau went be-
 fore the mayor of Philadelphia and
 took an oath that the Secretary Of
 State was not responsible. either d.
 rectly or indirectly, for the contempti-
 ble articles that had been published concerning the President, but later ip
 life confessed that he made this af- hdavit to protect his employer and patron that Jefferson either wrote or dictated many of them and furnished
 file of his paper with the articles marked which Jefferson had written.
 careful comparison of these articles with other productions of Jefferson's
 pen shows the unmistakable similarity in literary style and forms of expres- sion. but these disclosures did not seem to have affected public opinion con- cerning the morals or the manners of MT. Jefferson The "Federalist" made
 the most of them. and the Republicans defended Jefferson with energy and loyalty.
 George washington's Wealth. In these days. when millions are counted as nothing and millions are found in almost every city 1t seems
 strange, that the property of George Washington, the richest man in the United States at the time of his death,
 inventoried only $4S9.1 He owned
 51,523 acres of land in Virginia. Ken-
 lucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohlo
 and New York, with city lots in New
 York, Philadelphia. Washington Alex
 andria,f Winchester and Berkley>
 Springs.
 Lord Fairfax, who owned 6,OOe,0O0
 acres of land stretching back into Ohio, | Kpnfnnku TpnnaSSpA
 Washington large tracts of wild land
 as compensation for his services as
 surveyor. Washington inherited even
 more from his brother, and his wife.
 she that was Martha Dandridge and
 afterward the Widow Custis, was a
 rich woman for her time. The judg
 ment of Washington about town sites,
 however was not good. In 1765 he laid
 out the town of Berkley Springs, which
 was christened in honor of the Gov
 ernor of Virginia, and was intended and
 expected to be a great metropolis.
 Washington was so confident of its
 future prominence as city that he
 bought large number of lots in ad- dition to those which he received as compensation for his services. and was greatly disappointed because the town did not develop.
 Wanted Capital in the West. Washington expected and desired the capital of the United States to be To-
 cated farther west than it's present site and although he took no conspicuous part in the contest, which was bitter and prolonged. he nevertheless at tempted to manipulate matters so as to accomplish his design. In the adver- tisements of land which he offered for sale in West Virginia, where he had
 5000 acres, he stated that 1t was of great value on account of contiguity
 to the seat of government, which it is
 more than probable will be fixed at the mouth of the great Kanawha River. |" These lands were Washington's share
 of 100000 acres donated by the State of Virginia to the officers and soldiers wEs l served in the Indian war
 Washington also had 5000 acres in
 Green County, Kentucky. He visited | that region at an early date, and set
 tied some of his poor relations there. | It is an interesting fact that Wash | ingtcS< owned the first natural gas well \< this country. On his land near the Kanawha the gas issued from the 1 cracks in the rock at the bottom. and | forced its way through the water of
 what was known as Burning Spring Creek. 1t was a common amusement | for Washington and his fellow sur l veyors to light the gas which came | through and would burn on the sur | face of the water.