The Washington herald., 1911-02-19

IN the town to literally mend matters
as they thought. Each page OF the will
had its two severed sections sewed to-
gether with needle and thread and not
very fine thread at that nor by a very
| small needle. or course. the inevitable
result followed. As though It had not
been bad enough to riddle the precious
sheets with needle holes, no sooner were
the stitches in place than with the
handling Of the will the bindings began
to cut their way through the paper. Great
gaping wounds appeared in almost every
page and many Of the sheets became lit
orally in tatters
When this state Of affairs became noIsad
abroad in the circle OF prominent men
who take cognizance Of such matters pub
lie officials and others were stirred to
action. The initiative was taken by
Lawrence Washington and other descend
ants of the general and by government
officials who make it their business to
keep an eye on all notable relics. whether
Uncle Sam owns the mementoes or not.
Some Of the officials had for years longei
that the will might be transferred to the
national government and deposited for
safe keeping in some safe place, much
after the preservation at the State De-
partment in Washington of the DecIura-
ton of Independence and the Coustitu-
ton of the United States.
However. such disposition Of the docu-
ment was obviously out Of the question
for the Virginia authorities would not
relinquish possession OF 1t. Nevertheless,
these officials, when they were brought to
realize that something must be done or
the relic would be lost to posterity Of
fered to restore" the will Just from
love Of the cause and without any ex-
pense whatsoever to Fairfax county Or
the State of Virginia. At first it was
suggested that the Department Of State,
which accomplished such wonders with
the Declaration OF independence and
other rare documents. should undertake
the work and the officials expressed their
willingness.
Then, Unexpectedly an obstacle inter-
posed. The county officials at Fairfax
would not allow the will 10 be removed
to Washington. d. c.. for fear something
would happen to 1t. which was rather
amusing in view Of what had already
happened to 1t in rural Virginia. Never
theless, this refusal effectually blocked
the plan, for the Department Of State was
not in position to donate the services
Of its experts and equipment unless the
document was brought to its workshops
1t looked as though this hitch would seal
the fate Of the relic. but finally the
tuition which could allow itself somewhat
more latitude Of procedure rose to the
emergency and agreed to send its most
skilful manuscript surgeon" to Fairfax
and do the work there. This was a good
deal for Uncle Sam to do, for. In order
that the doctor of documents" could ad-
minister treatment to the will 1t was
necessary to ship to Fairfax a consider
able equipment, Including a heavy press.
1t was purely a labor of love and all the
government ever got out Of 1t was per-
mission to make for deposit IN the
Library Of Congress a set of photos which
are the only ones, aside from those which
illustrate this article, which have ever
been permitted to be made of Washing
toms written instructions as to the dis
position of his property.
The half-dozen men and women at the
State Department and the Library OF
Congress who restore manuscripts for
Uncle Sam-and one OF whose most not
able achievements has been the recent
regeneration of the Washington will
occupy a unique place among the spe-
cialists Of one kind or another on the gov