Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-21

YORKTOWN, VA, December co.-(spe-
ciaI.-The old custom house, the first
port Of entry the United States OF
America ever possessed, is venerable
building, remarkably we'll preserved for
IFS age. and seems able to Withstand the
assaults of Father Time for quite
number of years yet. The style OF ar
chitecture employed in it's construction
is that naculiar to the English idea of the
sixteeentl and seventeenth centuries. IL
is severely plain, but very substantial;
with an antiuuated hip roof. ne glazea
brick are one OF the pecullarlteS o. tite
Structure each alternate brick OF every
layer being OF. this type, which gives the
house all odd appearance 10 twentieth
century eyes. The roof, which now pro
tects thu building, was put on last Way
l776, just prior to the outbreak OF the
Rayoiutionary war. These shingles were
of drawn cypress. and underneath the
Laps were just as sound as on the Gay
ing points OF the construction OF this roof
vas the use OF wrought nails IN aItach
ing the shingles to the sheathlng- Iowa
in low part OF the lot on " w th t oiS
smugglers' Jail, where many quonualh
offender Of the revenue laws was lncalcG-
rated and punished, both for that when
they had done as well alS1 as tnat IN. al
thorities 1t Washington are making quite
a search for historical data concerning
the establishment Of the port me COZ,
lector here has been appealed to; and an
ti3n records of the office prior to 1870 have
been cull,ed out and forwarded 70 the
government. The present records DO not
date any further back than 1860. and 1t IS
generally believed they suffered d'astruc,
ton during the civil strife. These oid
records play ed-or, rather, would have
played-quite an important part. C. could ,la
they have been found Tor reference II, tll ,5
French spoliation claims. and many an
in,portant case was lost simply because
the manifest and its conslgnors on the
ill-fated American vessels could not pc
shin here was considered quite presi-
Dental plum paying $500 per year salary.
but of late the remunera ton mas oeen
cut to $780, and the office IS not as n,uch
sought after AS was said in the soegln-
ming, the early establishment OF the port
is Somewhat shrouded in mystery, but
the fact of its being the hrst customs
office the country ever possesseaa IS sup sup
ton. The great bulk of business which
was handled during the early years OF It's
existence was the toba COCO trade, the
money crop of the country. There is
probably no other man in existence as
we'll qualified to clear away the debris
of doubt from the shadows of the early
existence of the old port of Yorktown as
the distinguished president of the old
William and Mary College-Hon. Lyon G.
Tyler
Tomorrow, the 2lst, is the shortest day
of the year. The abbreviation OF the
suns journey is no more keenly felt any
where than by the rural element OF Wiz,
ginia's population. IAN hour by sun"
finds the hands Of the family clock far
past the eighth hour mark. and IAN hour
to SUM- follows close upon the end OF the
afternoon repast, and finds one who has
any outdoor duties to perform danger
ously near the realm of Morpheus. Trav-
elling on lonesome country road at
night and in the dead OF winter. is no
fun. With the elements at war above
you. and an apparently bettomless road
beneath you. your only relief Is In the
sagacityt and mimi leness OF your horse.