The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-08
QuArNr 6Lp A-LExANpREA.
atS ER0rmouS CoDbiostonos. Dsd Ruuses and
Mystery o. the "'FsmaIe stranger"

WASHINGTON Dec. the DigyeBr coDple
stones in this country arc those with which
the streets Of Alexandria. Va. have been
paved ever since George Washington got
tired Of getting mired in theiEv red mud.
Some OF these stones are 20 big ~youCOuldnt
put more than two OF them ina Dushel basket,
and all Of them are Of Dimensions which
make the ordinary cobblestone look Ike
n homeopathic pill.
"Hessians, they call these whoppings stones
in Alexandria, because they wero laid by
the Hessian prisoners under W~ashington's
direction. Blocks md blocks Of this paw
ing still remain.
In fact. IL IL only within a few years that
any Of 1t was replaced. Even now there
are only three or four streets from which
the ~Hessians" have been banished.
Az a natural consequence. driving in
Alexandria il not a popular diversion
An occasional vehicSe may be seen awning
cautiously along; but no amount OF eau
ton can a v its occupants from bouncing
about like corn in a pepper.
The horses shrewd!y traverse the ruts
which have been worn in the streets by more
than a hundred years Of gathering wheels
But even these worn ruts are as rough
az IL they came from n stone age wnich
had had the smallpox.
The visitor to Alexandria says bhthely:
"Oh, what a pity to take up these pict-
uresque old stonesl"
But the visitor comes to town by the
trolley and leaves the same ay Inc Alex
andrians who nave to stay there ana VINO
don't care to choose always between gong
asoOt or being bouncing Bosses. think they
ave enough picturesque antiquities WIN
out hanging on to the -Hessians.'
They certainly have a delightful Old
town. 1t Is half way between washington
and Mount Vernon and was the HOMEGROWN
Of the first President.
In one Of the old houses which still stand
he conferred with Gen. Braddock long be-
fore the Revolution. He came to balls in
Alexandria, was a member Of its fire COM
pany and presented to it the finest fire
engine he could get-importod 1t (by OK
team from Philadelphia in t774.
He was first master Of its Masonic lodge,
and the chair he occupied at lodge meetings
is still used bv succeeding masters. He
had a pew in Christ Church, which pew
remains as it was in his day. though all the
others have been altered.
Across the aisle from the Washington
pew is the one where Robert f. Lee used
to sit. Not far from the church is the queer
old academy where Lee q TO school,.
Near it are two houses in which he lived asa
boy.
There are interesting old houses az every
turn. Here is the one where DIR. Dick,
physician to Washington, lived, and where
he was often visited by his disting uished
friend. Here is the house where Lafayette
was entertained
Light Horse Harry spent part of his boy
hood in Alexandria. 1t was his mother,
then Lucy Grymes, to whom the youthful
and susceptible Washington referred in his
early letters as the ~Lowland Beauty"
The very names of the streets smack Of
Colonial days. King street is the main
th~oroughfare. Crossing IL are Prince,
Princess, Duke, Pitt, Cameron. So. Asaph,
Fairfax and so on. One street had its name
changed to Washington, another to CO.
lumbiA, but these concessions to the new
order Of things make the Oldern names only
the more striking.
1t was in Alexandria, too, that the
Marshall louise too when the war broke
out. And il was in its stairway that Els
worth was shot IA he came down from the
roof where the Confederate flag had lured
him to his tragic end.
The Marshall House no lon er stands. II
was burned several years ago, only one OF
its walls being left standing. That wall is
now Incorporated in a very commonplace
store building.
But next to the -Hessians.- which no.
body can ignore, and the associations with
Washington, which are all pervading, the
most fascinating thing in Alexandria is the
Female Stranger. She has to have capi-
tails, for that is her only name least in
Alexandria.
OF courses he had another name in the
world outside, but Alexandria never found
it out; and to this day the people talk Of the
Female Stranger as they would talk Of Mary
Smith or Sarah Brown. Alexandria has had
many rOmances, but that of the Female
Stranger ID different
In September, 1915, a gentleman, accom-
ranied by a lady who was evidently very
i'll, arrived in Alexandria and stopE ed at
the famous old Claggett's Tavern, which
still stands under the name OF the City
Hotel-a fine old building, now going 10
ruin. in whose BALLROOM Washington man. a
time danced at the biFthnight balls in honor
Of the King.
The had very little to say to
anybody. The lady saw no one except the
physician who attended her, the servant
who waited on her and a little girl who for
some reason was allowed to come into the
room and who, living to n great age, was
always an object of interest because she
had been smiled on by the mysterious Female
Stranger.
The poor lady dice October II and was
buried in 81. Psul's churchyard. Her hus-
band purchased the lot and had an elabo-
rate monument erected. II il a table slab
supported by six carved posts. All that il
knowno Of either of them can be read on that
slab to-day. 1t is:
To the Memory Of a
FEMALE STRANGER.
Whose mortal sufferings terminates
On the nth day Of October, 1915.
Aged 81 years and 3 months.
This stone rs placed here by her disconsOlate
Husband. in whose arms
she sighed out her
Latest breath. and who, under God,
Did his utmost even TO sOothe the cold dull
ear Of death.
How lOv'd, how valu'd once avails thee not,
To whom related or by whom beGOt.
A heap Of dust alone remains Of thee,
It's all thou art and all the proud shall be.
ITO Him gave all the Prophets witness that
through His name whosoever believeth in
Him shall receive remission Of sins. Act
10 chap, 80 verse.
BIG BILL TAFT AT YALE.
Carried or q Score OF College HOnOrs-A
79S Pound Freshman.
Taft was already a big fellow when, in
A. en- - aOTa Aa lanAa1 oS No-r U.u.-