El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-30

picturesque and it is related that on
I the evening Of his arrival in W ashlng-
; ton he entered the capitol, andf seating
himself fin the chair of the speaker OF
the bOuse of representa- tivesJ put the
[ question. shall this harbOr OF Yankee
. democracy be burnedE' The mock reso-
luton was carried UNANIMOUSLY. and
7 thereuDOn the furniture ana Whatever
other combustfbles CHANGED I to be 1t
hand were gathered in heaps, the torch
being applied. The temporary wooden
structure at that time competing the
senate and house wings BURIED readily,
and everything inflammabde went up
in smoke including the library Of CON
gress, then housed on the second floor
The attack on the Mansion.
Delighted with this exploit. the ad-
miral and Gen. Ross LED their men up
the avenue TO the presidents house.
the home of an old woman named Suter,
living close by they proceeded, at about
III %. m to break into the mansion the
doors of which were found locked John
Siousa a porter. seems to, have been
the last person to leave the place When
he had carried DOllE's pet parrot to the
house of Col TaylOe, two blocks away,
he returned locked up, and took the
keys to Philadelphia
The invaders found no "sumptuOus
meal smoking on the table, as has Of
ten been reported. As a matter OF 1act
no regular meals had been. served on
that day. of alarm. When. during the
afternoon Mr. Madison got home he
distributed what food and wine there
was in larder and cellar among the
tired and hungry soldiers. Thus the
house was empty. OF provisions when
the British came.
Having broken open the doors, they
rsnsacked the place from top to bot
tom. and then, obtaining fire from
a beer shop opposite the treasury, col
lected the furniture together in heaps
and set it alight.
Meanwhile. the American commo-
dOre. Tingey, had set fire to the navy
yard and the vessels in the neighbor-
hood. and before midnight three con-
flagratiOns made the whole country al
most as light as day while from the
distant hills of Virginia. beyond the
Potomac, the flying president and mem
bers Of his cabinet caught glimpses OF
the ruin their Incompetence had caused
The Flight to Virginia.
In the meantime. Mrs Madison, Joined
by her husband. had accompanied him
to the banks OF the Potomac. where he
and his party took a small boat several
trips being required to carry them
across. She took another route crossed
the river. and slept at the house OF a
Mr.. Love, on the Virginia side Next
morning she went on TO meet the presi-
dent at an appointed place, is miles
from Washington, only to find him not
there, and to add to her distress, ad-
mittance to the only tavern was re-
fused by certain women from the cap
ital city. who overwhelmed her with
bitter reprOacneS. saying that her nus
band had brought war on the country.
Nevertheless. q great storm coming up,
DOllyss party forced their way in, and
later on Mr.. Madison arrived
All this while the British were al
most in panic themselves. They were
afraid OF being surprised by a superior
force. and 1'irrs- - set away
This state - md was much intensi-
fled by NsEghtfuI hurricane which
struck the city at ] p. m. on the day
after the capitol and white house were
burned. It rained as II the bottom OF
the 81 had fallen out, and the wind
blew DOWN many buildings which the
Br dsh had spared. The invading sol
dierv were nearly drowned. and so
OF them lost their lives, walls falling
upon them. British officer wrote
Our column was as completely dis
persed as If It had experienced total
defeat"
StOm Stops Destruction.
The storm saved the war department
and pOstOffice which the enemy had
meant to burn. They left the city %
hours after they had entered it, When
Mrs. Madison returned she found the
long bridge burned and was ferried
across the river in her carriage on a
raft. Her home being in ruins, she was
received by her sister. Mrs. Cults. Later
on the president rented Col. TaylOe's
mansion. known as the OctagOn house
(Which still stands), on the corner OF