Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1909-08-04

There is probably no feature of the
coming observance of the tercentenary
or the discovery of Lake Champlain
which appeals more strongly to his
toric interest than does the restoration
OF old Fort Ticonderoga. Into the warp
and wool of American history the
name I1conderoga has been indelibly
worked through years of bitter war
fare. and the feet that this historic old
fortification, fast falling to decay, is to
be saved to succeeding generations
through the Intervention of a woman,
coupled with the fact that the work
OF restoration has now progressed so
lar that was possible to entertain on
Tuesday. July 6, the president of the
United States in the very building in
which on May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen
made mis- famous demand for the sur
render of the fertilization, In the
name of the great Jehovah and the
continental congress-" gives to the
celebration a place in the hearts of
the people of the United States which
may not be disputed.
1t is at the direction of Mrs. S. H. P.
Pell of New York that Fort Ticon.
deroga is being restored. Mrs. Pell,
who Is the daughter of Col. Robert
Thompson of New York, is the wife of
Stephen III. p. Pell, a prominent New
YORK banker. Both her husband and
father are interested in seeing her
project carried through to a success.
Iul conclusion and are aiding 1t in
every way possible. Members of
the New York Lake Champlain tercen-
tenary commission are also deeply in
terested in Mrs. Pelrs plan to restore
the old fort, and have accorded her
representatives every possible consid-
Grafton with regard to the arrange
ment of the celebration exercises as
regards Ticonderoga. Alfred G. Bos-
som of New York city, who is the
architect in charge of the work for
Mrs. Pell, estimates that the work of
completely restoring the fort will oc-
cupy period of ten years and the
estimated cost has been placed Mt
SoOO,OOO. After a conference with the
members of the New York Lake Cham
plain tercentenary commission it was
decided that 1t would be best to con.
centrate the work Of restoration upon
mat building known as the west bar
racks" and this has been done.
TO insure absolute accuracy in the
restoration of the fort. Mr.. Bosom
spent considerable period of time I'm
personal examination of old records
and prints in the possession of the
French and English governments. and
no" mas representatives in those conn
ules carefully going over each minor
uetall OF construction. Thus far. how
ever, the architect and his workers
nave found the fort itself as Thorough.
ly reliable guide to- its reconstrnc.
tion as could be wished, for when the
debris is cleared away from the line
OF wall the old.fashioned door
hangers, locks and knobs are found
where they dropped TO the ground az
the place gradually fell to decay. MANY
OF these old articles are used as mod.
els for the construction of new and
strong replicas at the hands of skilled
artisans. Probably one of the most
interesting finds was roll of home
spun cloth in n fairly good state of
preservation despite it's long inter
ment.
Beneath the old Pell mansion. which
is situated on the lake shore lust
below the site of the fort. and which
IS also being restored to its former
grandeur an interesting old bulls.eye
watch was found soon after the work
was started last November. On the
site of The fort enough pieces of pot
terry have been found tn naka a ,ov,
plete service. and duplicates of these
are being made at great cost. for the
interesting old pattern is very hard TO
reproduce. The most Of these pieces
were found directly below the old
messroom. One pottery punch bowl
which has been found in fine state
OF preservation bears upon the bot
tom the inscription: Success to Gen.
Amherst" and has been identified as
punch bowl given him by friends in
New York before his campaign in the
Lake ChamDlain country. Any guam