Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-20
OF COUNTRY
Anniversary of Birth of Wash
ington Saturday.
OF SPECIAL INTEREST HERE
City Bears Name of First President
of United States.
PARADE IN ALEXANDRIA, VA
Celebrations with the Manly De.
corum Fitting the Citizens of the
Great American Republic"

The birthday anniversary Of George
Washington. soldier, liberator, patriot
statesman and the first President of the
United States, is an occasion of particu-
lar interest in this city. which was named
in honor of the man. There are many
things here and hereabouts to remind the
nation of Gen. Washington. The tall
shaft south of the White House, which
has been described as 1.-The index finger
Of memory pointing to the sky" the ia
nous statue Of Washington on the east
front of the Capitol, and. a few miles
down the historic Potomac, Mount Yer
non, the Washington homestead in all of
its quaint originality, are some of the
reminders. y
For the 1OSth time Washingtons birth
day will be celebrated next Saturday
During the more than a century since he
passed away his name has been on every
lip in every country and cline and has
furnished the theme for thousands of ora
lions and any number of lessons bios
soming with patriotism and the beauties
and equities of human liberty.
Patriotic Societies to Meet.
Some Of the patriotic societies Of the
District will hold George Washington ex-
ercises, but as heretofore the main cele-
bration in this vicinity will be in Alex
andria, the town with which the patriot
was 30 closely associated when the city of
washington was only a struggling viii
lage, with cow paths where now there
are wide concerted avenues and streets,
and scattered cottages where now great
buildings rear their heads heavenward.
Many Washingtonians will visit Alexan-
dria Saturday to witness the imposing pa
rade.
The executive and District departments
will be closed. and allpersons who are
possessed of a copy of Old Glory will haul
Its tri-colored folds to the topmost reach
Of their fagstahs.
Celebrate With Manly Decorum.
The many birthdays that have passed
since Washington's birthday, the Pitts
burg Dispatch says, have, one after an
other. been celebrated in much the same
manner. with the manly decorum fitting
the citizens of the great American re-
public but before this time-whiIe he
lived-there were sixty-seven birthdays
days that he really lived and breathed
and moved. and each Of these had some
event OF particular interest to distinguish
it or stood for some turning point in his
career. The information which can be
had OF these days-whfch were certainly
regarded as more than ordinary days by
the father of our country-is of great in
terest at this time.
The first birthday was no doubt ceie-
brated In much the same manner that all
Of US observe our first birthdays-with
supreme Inconsistencies of the impor-
lance of the event on the part of the
household over the advent of the new
baby, and in the foreground Augustine
Washington strutting around. puffed up
with pride over the birth of the fine new
boy. Washington has been very chary Of
his mention of his birthdays. and. with
one possible exception the only record he
leaves Is In the family Bible, in which
he wrote George Washington, some to
Augustine Washington and Mary. his
wife. was borne We II day Of February.
baptized ye of April following" This
was according to the old calendar. and
the date was so observed during the early
part Of his life, being later changed to
the date We know to conform with the
Gregorian calendar.
Gifts Of Soldiers.
The boy was born in a very humble
farmhouse at a place called Popes Creek
in Westmoreland. and OF his early BIRTH
days it can only be surmised that they
wefe holidays to the boy. and that his
parents, being fond, and knowing the
chiid's tastes, gave him gifts Of soldiers
and toy muskets, as record has it that he
was a soldier from the cradle, and mimic
battles were his favorite play. Or II gifts
were not in favor In the Washington
household, perhaps the day was simply
made a holiday for the boy. with more
time for play, and freedom from lessons,
as perhaps treat in the way of a birth
day feast.
How Washington. the youth. spent his
birthdays is also a surmise, but being q
very gallant beau, and from the age Of
fifteen being greatly devoted to the fairer
sex, he probably paid little attention to
writing acrostics, after the fashion of the
times. to some Rowland beauty" 1857.
his twenty-second birthday, however. saw
him doing his first public service, being
adtutant general of the Virginia militia.
Victim Of Feminine Charms.
The elimination of these youthful love
affairs came in 1859. when he met the
witching and wealthy widow Martha Gus
tis and fell a victim to her charms. They
were married in January. and from the
brides home proceeded Immediately to
beautiful Mount Vernon. The celebration
Of the twenty-seventh birthday. then,
came In g. very joyous time, and Of the
thousands Of blissfully happy and uncon-
sciously conspicuous brides and grooms
who make their pilgrimages to Mount
Vernon none have ever been happier than
were these two on their honeymoon. This
honeymoon birthday. with the dark-eyed
little lady hanging on his arm and re-
ceiving the colonial DANES and gentlemen
who came to pay their respects. doubtless
stood out very clear as happy memory
when other birthdays came and were
spent among the hungry and suffering of
the army camp.
During the revolution nobody from the
chief to the common soldier, had time to
think of birthdays. From 177J to 1854
the I'D OF February was observed In a
manner monotonously similar. inasmuch
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