Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-03-03

perts it would be necessary to remove the Will
to Washington for the interim while the work
Of restoration in progress. and the county
officials at Fairfax who had the say In the mat
ter refused iat-footed to allow the document
to leave Virginia
II looked for a time as though this might
block the whole plan, but finally the officials OF
the library of congress, who have on their stan
a manuscript surgeon almost as skillful as the
one at the state department, offered to send this
wizard to Fairfax Courthouse and have him
carry on the work there This was done and
the outcome has been satisfactory as though
the work Of rejuvenation had been conducted
In the weIequipped plant at the national capi
tai However, there were many handicaps and
not the least of these was found In the neces-
sity for transporting to Fairfax heavy press
and other paraphernalia needed for the intri-
cate piecing of the torn and ragged pages
and mounting them the cardboard mounts
one of which has been provided for each page
OF the will
Internationally the gratifying success which
has attended this attempt to restore the Wash
,npton win to the appearance 1t bore one hun
dred wears ago has been due in no small meas
ure to the aid afforded by number OF blank
sheets of paper made especially for George
washington and watermarked with his name
When the government officials first Inspected
the torn and tattered will with view to apply
ing their ingenious first aid" treatment they
AZ once realized that an inordinate amount of
niecing and patching would be necessary and
they were in a quandary where to obtain mate
rial that would match the original. for of course.
the viii was written on very distinctive paper.
and to patch it with ordinary paper OF present.
day manufacture would have resulted In only
parkially concealing the wounds made by time
and careless hands.
There was a long search for paper that
could be used with confidence that no person
examining the restored document without the
aid of magnifying glass could tell where the
original left of and patch began. Finally the
officials discovered in secondhand bookstore
in Washington a number of sheets of the writ
ing paper which General Washington had manu-
featured especially for his personal use and
this paper was used wherever new tissue had to
be grated on the original document, with the
result that the appearance of the original mas
been simulated so as to defy detection. Each
sheet of the will has been so backed or mounted
upon "crepeline" that IT viii stand any reason
able amount of handling and the ink Of the will
has been set" so that there is little danger of
further fading.
However, for all that the precious document
has been put in condition to stand another cen
tury of strenuous existence II need be. It ia
not likely that Ii viii ever again be called upon
10 suffer such neglect or abuse as in the past
The county officials who are the custodians OF
the will appear to be aroused to the necessity
of giving 1t more intelligent care than 1t en-
joyed In years gone by. To that end the pages
of the will have been bound in the form OF
book with handsome red levant cover and
special freproof. burglar-proof steel safe. made
specially for the purpose under the supervision
Of the government officials will henceforth be
the repository of this relic
The attention which this restoration OF the
will is receiving is expected to result In the Wis
its in future of considerable numbers Of tourist,
and sightseers to Fairfax Courthouse, the Wiz
ginia hamlet where the will has its home-ths
more so since this historic spot can now b,
reached by trolley from the national capital
The county seat Of the county where Washing
ton lived and died has many picturesque land
marks not the least interesting Of which is tn,
old courthouse in which Washington's will wal
probated and which presents today the sam,
appearance that it did on that historic day NOR,
than century ago. The will is not kept In th'
courthouse but In the ONCE of the clerk of tn,
court, which occupies separate building Tn,
work Of restoring the Washington will, had 1
been entrusted to any manuscript surgeon out
side the government service-and there ar
only a few such in the country-would hav
cost $500 to $500 at least and 1t is probable tina
several times the latter sum might have bee1
demanded for the service for which the go,
eminent made no charge.