The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1904-02-18

L lie part Ol the history Ol the IdI-
lyle House, however. in which we are
most interested is that dealing direct
| ly with Washington as a national char
arter. Most of us are fairly familiar
with Lieut.-Col. Washington's work
with the Virglnians against the French
at Great Meadows; and we know with
what spirit he resigned his commits
| sion from Gov. Dinwiddie rather than
| take that misguided Scotchman's die
tum that provincial officers should
! rank no higher than captains when
| serving in concert with British regu-
( lars.
Maj.-Gen. Braddock, however, had
| formed a very different opinion of
| Washington, and in recognition of the
young mans services, invited him to
| become one of his staff and to serve
in his military family with the rank of
| ested.
Making his headquarters in the Car
! lyle House, Braddock set to work at
once to fully organize his forces, part
of his military command long being
recruited in Alexandria. In mid-Apfil
of 1755 Braddock had called together
| in Alexandria the governors of Mas
sachusetts, New York, Maryland,
Pennsylvania and Virginia, who were
| William Shirley, James De Lancey,
| Horatio Sharpe, Robert Hunter Morris
and Robert Dinwiddie. 1t was to the
| councils of such men that Washing.
| ton was hidden by Braddock, and it
he received his commission as colonel
on Braddock's staff. The walls, wains-
coting, woodwork, mantel, etc, of the
very room in which this occurred re-
main to-day just as they were on
| hat momentous occasion.
1t takes no particularly vivid mag
| nation to animate that place to-day
| with sense of the atmosphere of that
! time. now century and half gone
| by. and the use to which the building
| is now put--a repository for antique
furniture Of the artistic sort-only
| tends to give further touch TO the
ancient halo about the place.
This room referred to leads directly
upon the broad central hallway of the
| house, and, according to tradition, 1t
was at the foot of the still beautiful
solid mahogany staircase of this hall
way that Washington stood waiting
| the coming of fair Sallie Fairfax on
| the occasion of a ball in the house,
and, likewise according to honored
| tradition, 1t was In the room directly
opposite the one In which he received
| his commission and counselled with
the colonial rulers that he proposed
to the same fair Sallie and was re-
| jected.
But for the unusually substantial
| manner in which the house and its
| old-fort foundation were built, the
place would long ago have lost much
Of it's originality. The ravages Of
time are now beginning to tell and It
will be but question OF few years.
| il something Is not done to prevent
| the attacks of relic hunters and the
natural decay of materials, before the
building Is ruined.
To-day the Braddock House, which
| is not without Its civil war history
! for II was there that Col. Ellsworth
! OF the zouaves was shot In els
practically deserted, only the wide
sweep of its ground floor. which once
was the scene OF many ball and i'm
portant function, Is now Uttered with
mahogany relics Of every section OF
Virginia. The work OF preparing this
furniture for the market Is fast mar
ring the walls and injuring wainscot-
ing and the like, and the Carlyle
House suffers IN common with its
more recent neighbor.