The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-02-22
IF GEORGE WASHINGTON HAD
CONSENTED TO BE KING
CONTINUED From Page one.)

brothers. The title would pass to |
Vernon Washington of Centerview.
Va, son of that Geo. Washington
who threw up the post of cashier
in the office of collector of GUS
toms of San Francisco, and hur-
ried east to Join the confederate
army in 1851.
OF course, Geo. Washington
might have divorced his Martha,
and, like Napoleon, married a
woman who would have given him
an heir. and Thornton Augustin
would still be a might-have-been
king. And in turn, T. Augustin
says that II he had been king, he
would have gotten married, and
passed the traditions Of his line
along.
But as the near facts of history
leave things, no Carlist, no Bona
partist, no pretender ever faced
greater disparity 'twixt possibility
and reality than this might,have
been Thornton III.
cit might have BEEN" and
Thornton Augustin, in homespun,
humble, poor, unknown, can well
afford a sigh as he utters the
words.
He should be Thornton Angus
tus Rex, Imperator. But every
towheaded youngster in Cass coun-
ty confidently calls him "Tony."
"Tony" Washington, good
hearted, honest as the day, care
full, cheerful-so they call him in
Missouri, Cass county-takes life
easy, and the business of the little
drug store rests easy upon his
hand and mind. So the people of
the countryside speak carelessly
of the man they might call en-
lperor.
Garden City is typical Of the
small Missouri town. 1t has 600
people, a main st." real de-
Ipartment store where they ring a
big gong that can be heard all
over town every time a sale is
made. It's on the map, all right,
though slightly obscured by black
mud at the present time.
Imet "Tony" in Sombart's drug
store, and asked him what he
would do II he were king.
eff I were king?"
Tony Washington stumbled a
little over the idea. He shifted a
well chewed wad of tobacco and
increased and recrossed his legs.
what would l do? Well, 1 don't
just know"
He may dream of coach and
eight, of postillion, or guards and
men of honor, of an ivory throne,
of warships and parliaments, and
a jewel-studded crown. But a
bluenosed boy comes in with a
Say, Tony, ma wants a dimes
worth Of arnica," and he wakes
up.
In his dreams he may see his
ancestral home-Mt. Vernon-he
has never seen it in reality-with
its servants, its dukes and lords,
its foreign ambassadors, it's her.
aids from foreign kings. But the
vision fades.
"Say, Tony"-it's a big, raw
boned Missourian in cowhide
boots who brushes away the cob
webs-''I want you to paint that
barn I've Just built" Or maybe
he wants help with his haying or
harvesting. Maybe it's a young
swain who wants King Tony to
play his fiddle at the hoe-down or
the Virginia reel at the Index
school house. A king without a
throne, without position, or pow
Ter, or partisan, this is Tony, Rex.
He told me how he happened to
land in Missouri. His father,
Daniel B. Washington, was one of
those hot-blooded southerners who
hurried to Missouri with their
slaves in the early sos, in an eff
fort to hold it for the south. When
the war was over. Daniel was
ruined.
And, somehow, We never got it
back" says Thornton, as he sits
easily by the big stove at the phar-
macy, and rocks back and forth. 81
guess we weren't used to doing
any work ourselves. We never had
to. I guess we got out of the
knack of it."
Supporting himself and his two
unmarried sisters, Elizabeth and
Marion, by such odd jobs as come
his way, Thornton Augustin
Washington, who might have been
the nations greatest citizen, is
Missouri's humblest.
Have the Washingtons cut
down any cherry trees since
Georges timer" / asked the old
m,tn. He chuckled.
IAN uncle Of mine did," he said,
land his father started to scold
him. Uncle reminded his father of
what Georges father had said
about a thousand cherry trees and
one lie. But this only made the
old man the madden.
"You young scamp he said,
l"I'd rather have you tell q thous-
and lies than cut down that cherry
tree"
Tony isn't very proud of his sta
ton, but he is proud of his name.
II guess there's q lot of rich peo-
pie who would give lot of money
to trace their ancestors as I can
trace mine," he said. Nobody
can take that away from me. And
IL the nation should ever want to
change the system Of government
and make Washington king