The San Francisco call., 1909-02-06

discuss the latest gossip. well as
matters OF Importance. as they con-
tentedIy slipped their toddy before the
An inn was opened in every town
by order Of the general court and was
placed under the jurisdiction of the
minister and tithingman, who were
invested with authority TO enforce the
laws prohibiting the inordinate sale
of liquors.
The old ordinaries Were often primi-
tive affairs, sometimes consisting of
but two rooms and a leanto, and many
a weary traveller found difficulty in
securing sleeping accommodations. The
price of a dinner was sixpence Thy
order of the general COURT, regardless
of the quality or quantity of the food
served 1t can thus be seen that the
business Of inn keeping was not par
tcularly profitable one, and II IS not
surprising TO learn that in many towns
difficulty was experienced in inducing
some one 10 open an inn:
Signs Were ordered placed on con-
spicuous parts of the old ordinaries.
and many of them were most quaint
and interesting. At the Wolfe tavern
in Newburyport one of these old signs
Wolfe, surrounded by q wreath of
scrollwork. IL was carved by one
Captain William Davenport, and was
partially destroyed in the great ire
that swept through Newburyport in
lS11- 1t was later replaced by another
sign, painted by Moses Cole, which
In Georgetown may still be seen a
very old sign, bearing a portrait of
General Wolfe. The house on which
il originally hung was built in 1910,
pearance has been changed somewhat
from the days when it was an inn.
There is an interesting incident in
worth narrating. Shortly after the
battle of Lexington company of
Yankee soldiers were on their way
FTr.s Toes ~Sr.1N ~F
Passing through Georgetown they
came TO the old inn, over the front
entrance of which the portrait of Gen
eral Wolfe swung in the breeze. The
intense that when they saw the pic
ture OF the English general they halted
and lifting their old fiintlocks to their
shoulders riddled the sign with bullets.
Several passed clear through it, while
q few remained imbedded In the wood
and are plainly discernible today.
At the Bunch of Grapes tavern, that
formerly stood on State street. Bos-
ton. was a queer old sign made of
baked clay and brought from Eng
land. A portion of il NAV be seen
two punches of the grapes are stored
in steel vault in the Masonic temple
Boston. for the Masons took every pre-
caution to preserve this relic of the
old inn. where the first meetings of
the society in New England were held.
Here the first president OF the United
1t was afterward removed to Congress
street. and here was visited by Cen
eral Stark after his victory at Ben
nington. General Rufus Putnam and
Manasseh Cutter, the moving spirits
of the Ohio company, also called their
first meeting here. The old inn has
been torn down a good many years
now. and a great granite building has
been erected on its site.
In Concord. Mass, still stands the
old Wright tavern, favorite rendez-
vous as far back as the days of the
revolution. Here some of the English
officers stopped for few hours on
April 49,. 1I75, and il was in the tap
room of this tavern that Ma jor John
Pitcairn observed. as he stirred his
In this way we will stir the blood
of the Yankees before night Here
the morning OF the battle. as they
awaited tidings of the advance of the
enemy