davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1912-11-17
|EE= No. WITH THE RAMBLEBR!&ff1l1
~ III aM IhhLlHnkr kr9muILznmy&Ham Z34@e66EEHf

iect. lie believes in gentle bees. but also
believes that there never was an able
bodied honey bee In good health that
would not fight II provoked
Years ago the department took M the
work of breeding Cauca sian bees. which
are considered the gentlest race OF bees
known. They are also better workers
than the Italian bees. but Mr.. Phillips
says: Their worst characteristic is that
they gather great quantities OF propois
and build burr and brace combs very
freely" which are accounted deucedly
Objectionable ha bits in bee.
The old-time American bee was the
black bee. This bee. or as he was some
times called. the German be, was the
first imported bee. and he was brought
to this country early in the history OF
the colonies. The black bee was black
devil. He had no desire for human com
panionship and resented any interference
with his own business The Agricultural
Department has found that "as rule
this race is not desirable. that no atten-
ton has been paid to breeding 10 for i'm
provement in this country, and il is
usually found in the hands Of careless
bee keepers. Naturally. 1t would he
found In the hands OF very careless bee
keepers
Cyprian bees were imported and efforts
have been made to cross the good points
of the Cyprian and the Caucasian. The
results have not been brilliant. The
Cyprian bee is one of the busiest of bees.
Honey making is passion with him.
but he has one of the most uncontroll-
able dispositions that ever travelled on
wings. The hornet and the yellowja jacket
are amable imbeciles compared with the
Cyprian honey bee. When the department
brought over few and turned them loose
in the grounds ii was believed for some
time that the department would have to
move. These bees had so little respect
for authority that they would have light
ed on the honorab BILE Secretary of Agricul-
ture with no more concern than on a
thousand dollar clerk. A Bulgarian bayo-
net charge is tame compared with a
Cyprian bee She seems to have been
robbed of her honey often that she sus-
poets everybody.
Experiments have been made also
with Carnolan and Banat bees. but foi'
honey producing points and good man
ners the chronological bureau votes in
favor of the Caucasian bee. One can
find many varieties of the bee in the
apiary at 18th street and the little lane,
but If you 90 down there and meet a
Cyprian, come back quick. You probably
will.
Evening star., 1912-11-17
TF4E SOUTH END OF WAsEHNGsTONs CIVIL WAR DEFENSES

9th Virginia Cavalry, Col Fitzhugh Lee.
and returned home when the war was
over He owns the old Ballenger home
and it's earthworks, and he lives there
today.
The big house. with wide middle hall
and high-ceied rooms. is full of antique
furniture and the walls are covered with
pictures of ancestors, Confederate lead
ers and Confederate flags. crossed and
draped Robert Washington Ballengers s
son, Frank Lee Ballenger, lives at the
old home and owns the adjoining farm,
Wilton Hali-a rare, picturesque old place.
The story toldo.in the neighborhood is
that George Washington and his wife.
visiting in Philadelphia. heard a boy sing
ing in theater His surname was Frobel.
The couple, charmed with the boy took
him with them back to Mount Vernon,
where he grew to mans estate. Wash
ington bought for him certain lands in
Fairfax county. and Frobel built his home
there, calling 1t Wilton Hall. Frobel mar
ried Miss Scott, and had two sons,
Bushrod and David They both served In
the Confederate army, and Bushrod was
Killed in battle, and, If The Star man did
not get his notes tangled, David was also
killed. Frobel had two daughters. Anne
and Elizabeth. The former died at Will
ton Hall about ten years ago, aged nine
tytWo years. She was the chronicler of
the neighborhood. and was always full of
stories concerning the Washingtons, the
FairfaXes. the Masons and other notables
of the vicinity After her death Wilton
Hall came into possession of Frank Lee
Ballenger.
One might sit for hours with these folk
and listen to their stories of civil war
days and anecdotes of officers and men
in the nearby Notifications. The events
of '61-'63 seem TO these hospitable people
as the happenings of yesterday. One of
the interesting things they tell of is the
explosion of the powder magazine in Fort
Lyon.
In getting out of the neighborhood it is
only necessary to take the road which
runs through Fort Lyon and into the
Telegraph road. which, in turn, runs into
the Little River turnpike. and thus back
to Alexandria.
Evening star., 1912-11-17
Bees That Are Gentle.

WALK down 10Th street, rough paved
" with granite blocks. but bordered
by fine oaks. green a few days ago, but
now garnet and russell and you will
come directly after passing the east end
Of the old red brick building of the De-
partment of Agriculture to a lane that is
black mud or deep black dust as though
many loads of coal have passed over it
in leaky wagons. At the point where
the lane enters 18th street is a sign re-
ferring to the lane and which bears this
warning: mo thoroughfare-for depart
ment traffic only"
In the southwest angle of the lane and
10Th street is garden inclosed by a
fence about seven feet high of close wire
Evening star., 1912-11-17

war the road was reopened. and the bed
lowered to diminish the grade.
On the plateau between the cameron
hills and the Gravel and Telegraph roads.
the space that is SO upturned and scar
red by these surviving war works, are two
historic farms. One is Mount Eagle. the
revolutionary home of the Rev. Bryan
Fairfax. son of William Fairfax of Be-
voir, and stanch boyhood friend or
George Washington The other is Mount
Plea asant. an early colonial home OIL
French count whose name as preserved
in the traditions of the neighborhood was
Carusi-rather an Italian name, but the
old timers in that part of the country
insist that he was a French count. To
the westward across little branch flow
ing through Happy valley is Wilton Hall.
the home of protege of Gen. and Mrs.
Washington about which there are many
romantic stories, and little to the south
of this is another Fairfax home the farm
of John Fairfax, now owned by w. f.
Downey of Washington. All these old
houses are still standing.
In travelling to this land your way will
lay through Alexandria to the southern
limits of the town. The street you will
pass through is lined by many houses
that were once comfortable, but are now
otherwise, and by many warped and
crooked and tumbling-down shanties
dwelt in by poor colored folk, As the
street becomes country road you will
pass acres of greenhouses a-bloom with
chrysanthemums and roses. around which
blossom fields of white and pink cosmos
and dahlias of many hues and colors.
Your way will lead down a sloping road
black and miry in winter and ankle deep
with dust in summer, to Hunting creek.
A low and narrow causeway has been
built out into the reedy shadows OF the
north margin of the creek and at this
season the brown dry reeds are cracking
and rasping in the cool winds that blow
through the valley. The causeway leads
to a narrow bridge. no doubt strong
enough for the traffic it is called on to
bear but it is a bridge of tawdry ap-
pearance. 1t Is guarded by a low rail
of iron piping and in places panels have
been knocked out and repaired with wire.
The bridge seems strangely low and ciose
Evening star., 1912-11-17

constantly better organized, is gradually
beating down prices year by year. the
Mont de Piete In turn. Is lending less
and less. To save it's face, therefore, and
to make a good showing, the state insti
tuition is doing all it can to lend large
amounts on gold, silver, pearls, stocks
and bonds.
AS Paris is rapidly becoming one of the
most expensive cities in the world and
as Ii has been said that PariSians in
consequence are spending more than their
incomes-the financial oligarchy which Is
getting richer excepted-there is a gradual
and constant liquidation of small private
capital, and part of this liquidation -
done through the state pawnshops. AS
the idea of establishing municipal pawn
shops in America is not new, and as the
subject is now being studied by the Lon
don county council. with the view OF
establishing municipal pawnshop
there, the working of the French monop-
oily is worth careful consideration.
Copyright, 1912, by Curtis Brown9
Evening star., 1912-11-17
Always Some Excuse.

WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN, on hfs
w last visit TO Philadelphia, said 10
reporter:
"Oh. yes, they have no difficulty In ex-
planning away the high cost or hvin8.
No difficulty. No difficulty whatever
Il know a woman who went to fruie
store to buy some apples the other day.
The price OF the apples shocked her.
why are these so highF sne conn
They're high. ma'am, said the sa les
man with gallant smile. because
they're so scarce
..sF3,It, said the woman, L read in yes
terday's paper that there was such a
bumper crop that the apples were rotting
on the trees.
."rhe salesman rubbed his hands. He
smiled more gallantly than ever.
That's just IL. madam he said.
That's why they're scarce. OF course. 1t
doesn't pay, you see, to pick en-
Evening star., 1912-11-17

strength of the animals. the distance TO
be travelled, the weather. condition OF
the streets. steepness of grades. etc
What would be fair load for large.
well kept team would be an overload for
small, half-starved and overworked
ones. such as are often seen on our
streets. In a general way we consider a
ton of 2,240 pounds, exclusive of wagon,
per animal sufficient load"
1t has led to untold and unreliable mule
misery that the fields of brick clay We're
developed in South Washington and in
Virginia instead of north of the city
where the haul would have been down
hill instead of up. The development of
the motor truck is the thing that spells
emancipation for the slave mule and the
slave horse.
Evening star., 1912-11-17

weeds. vines and then trees sprang up.
and in this way may be explained the
preservation of these works Another
reason is that the farms have not yet
been cut up into small holdings or sub
divided into building lots. And still an
other reason is that the land is largely
held by children or other descendants OF
the wartime proprietors and TO them
these forts seem as herlOoms. They look
on these relics with different feeling
than does the average newcomer, who
usually wants to make over the place
and whose idea of Improvement Is Often
the leveling of civil war earthworks
Over the fields between these forts sur
wives much of the connecting infantry
redoubt AS rule these long, straight
bitches are grown up in cedar. pine anu
oak and the long lines of trees stretch-
ing far across clear and level fields pre-
sent at first the impression of belns
windbrakes 1t is interesting to walk
along these shady redoubts and then
draw up before the deep ditch and steep
high face of a fort all thickly grown
and darkly shadowed by large trees. II
is a silent country. 1t is not SO lar
from the city, but city folk do not o1ten
pass that way To the east of the group
of works run the Accotink turnpike anu
the Gravel road. and to the west lne
Telegraph road, and farther TO the ives. i
the road called the "old FalrfaA roau'
all of civil war highways.
x *
Standing on the ramparts OF Fort Lyon
at points where the plentiful growth OF
timber does not obstruct the view one
gains a wide prospect up Hunting creek
as far as Holmes run and down to the
Potomac river commanding the Tele-
graph road, the Gravel road, the bridges
across Hunting creek. the Little River
turnpike or Old Winchester road and the
lines of railway west of Alexandria.
Civil war maps seem to show that road
led through Fort Lyon and today one
passes through it, stumbling down the
side Of the ridge through a deep cut.
leaving ramparts on either hand, and
high above the roadway. 1t is likely that
before the erection of the fort a road
passed there, was closed by the con-
struction of the fort, and that after the
Evening star., 1912-11-17

Johnson" and the civil war maps OF that
neighborhood mark the Fairfax place as
the home of Quaker Johnson His son.
also Henry Johnson, inherited the place
and lived there after the war 1t Is now
the property of Robert Garrett. Across
his fields runs tree-grOwn intrenchment,
extending southeast from Fort Lyon.
To the northwest is a large colonlai
house surrounded by prosperous-looklnS
fields and a garden gay with late-Diooin-
ing roses and thousands of dahlias. That
is, Mount Pleasant, the home OF the
French count who moved there early IN
the eighteenth century. Early In tne
nineteenth century it became the home OF
a man named Perkins, who was MEM
Der of the firm of Smith & Perkins, con-
Quoting foundry and machine shop IN
Alexandria, and which firm in the carry
days of railroading carried on the WORK
of building locomotives. Before the clVii
war the place was bought by Peyton Bal
lenger who was born in Fairfax county,
whose father fought at Bladensburg OF
at least was present at Bladensburg. ana
whose grandfather fought in the Conti-
mental army Mount Pleasant was IN
possession of Peyton Balenger when the
civil war came on, and Fort Lyon ana
Fort Weed, with long lines of infantry
redoubts. were built on his farm. Ine re-
mains of these works have never been
leveled The Ballenger home was taken
possession of by Federal officers as quar-
ters.
Peyton Ballenger, the owner of this
land, was married to Jane Rowe OF
Charles county, Md She died in 1876,
and Ballenger died in 1896. There were
three sons on this farm-Frank 5 Bal
lenger. Clinton Peyton Ballenger and
Robert Washington Ballenger. Frank ;.
and Clinton P. Ballenger went out in the
Old Dominion Rifles of Alexandria, one of
the companies of the Alexandria Bat
TALON. which was merged into the 18th
Virginia Infantry under Col. Herbert
whose home across Cameron run may be
seen from the Ballenger house. Frank
Ballenger was killed in action at the Sec
ond Manassas, and Clinton Ballenger was
killed in action at Williamsburg. Robert
Washington Ballenger went out in the
Evening star., 1912-11-17

being discovered and prosecuted by the
authorities. Cases have been discovered,
too, where agencies undertook the ship
ment of valuables to England 10 pawn
them there
To get satisfaction in Paris, therefore,
one should take only gold or silver TO the
pawnshops; but as the poorest OF the
poor, for whom these places We're de-
yised do not happen to have gold and sill
yer ornaments at hand, they are in a
sorry way Not having gold to pawn,
the poor last year raised loans on, Bliss
mattresses, 515 feather beds, 100 pillows
and s2S sets of bed clothes-and pre-
sumably slept on the floor.
The Mont de Piete, in order to make a
better. financial showing, is more and
more catering to the middle classes and
the rich. The law of 1891 authorized
the Mont-de-Piete to lend money on GER
tain stocks and bonds. especially gov
ernment, municipal and railway issues.
Operations, however, are limited to 5Oo
Evening star., 1912-11-17

INSTITUTION Founded to
! Relieve the Distress OF the
Needy Now Makes a Com
Portable Profit Out OF Its
Ioans-Government Freezes
Out Private Money Lenders
and Then Ekes Out Compare
lively Small Amounts, and
Nothing at All to Those Who
Have Only a Little to Pledge
National Pawnshop That
Has More Than $Io,ooo,ooo
Out on Loan-Almost I,ooo,-
900 Separate Articles Pledged
in Paris Alone in One Year.
Evening star., 1912-11-17


mating on this point of governmental
undervaluation:
Last year 99,261 articles. on Which
only S329.7 had been loaned, sold at
public auction for $i903I6. or at gross
profit of $50, ,634 When il is realized that
this public auction is altogether a farce.
and that the state sells these pawned
articles at very much less than second
hand shop prices and still makes a proht.
ii is little wonder the man who tries to
raise money at the Mont de Piete gets
SO little.
Here is what happens:
The secondhand shop merchants-the
same who purchase the, pawn tickets
frequent the Mont de Piete auction sales
in force. They are popularity known as
the Black Band. and, according TO the
manager of the Mont de Piete, cooperate
to keep down auction prices. II the pub
lie enters and tries to buy anything at
these sales these men shove up prices
until the public leaves in disgust When
it is gone the members of the oano
buy the articles for sale at almost any
price they choose to- give.
AS this Blank Band. which Is becoming
Evening star., 1912-11-17
PAWNsHOP.
which

francs each. This year bill has been
introduced in the chamber of deputies
which will allow these loans to be in
creased to 5000 francs each, thus turning
the state pawnshop into veritable bank
ing institution Furthermore. the rich.
before leaving Paris for the summer,
put their silver in pawn for safekeeping,
because IL is cheaper than hiring a safe
deposit vault thus swelling the business
of this state institution. At the same
time the Mont-de-Piete Is doing less and
less business with the very poor.
In 1901 or eleven years ago. the num-
ber of packages of clothes and wearing
apparel pawned amounted to 100000, in
1909 the figures dropped to 100000. on
just 100000 less. This is because the
state institution is reluctant to lend
money on clothes which deteriorate when
Evening star., 1912-11-17
PARIS, November s. 1872

4 r, y one finds
pieces of rag or
buttons in the gov
ernment toba c c o,
when the st a I G
matches either re-
fuse To light or else
explode, bur II ] n &
one : eyes, or when
the state railway
kills "A dozen per-
sons at a time there
is an outcry. But
Evening star., 1912-11-17

o-e hears nothing at all about another
state enterprise that appears to be taxing
on the evil qualities of "A monopoly and
losing steadily the virtues that originally
seemed 10 characterize it. Maybe the
reason nothing much is written about II
is because. il doesn't look well 10 have
first-hand information about the Mont
de-Piete as the national pawn-hop is
called.
In theory this institution is an embodi
ment Of benevolence-a state-organized
poor mans bank, from which the needy
may borrow money at a reasonable in
;erpst In practice. however. there are
few institutions more ursympathetic. cal
lltIS and unfair than the French Mont-de-
pete. The state neglccts TO do what pr.-
va.a pawnSaops in other countries do
Caiiv. and then makes il criminal Of
fenS, for private concerns 10 serve the
public and loan money 10 the needy
There Is no compe tition, no apneal from
is arbitrary dictates and little or no
help for those who need II most
Evening star., 1912-11-17

ROSSING the hand
some modern Ana
costa bridge one
may see here and
there, when the tide
is low, old and rot
ting piles sticking
up from the bed
Of ooze. These car
ry ones mind back
10 the older bridges
that spanned the
river from the foot
Evening star., 1912-11-17
Two Fine Bronzes.

ORIGINALS beautiful bronze statues OF
v Washington and Lee stand in the
Evening star., 1912-11-17

According to the official figures for 1911
Just published the gross receipts We're
S22 800 2o5 and the expenditure S220SI,-
83s leaving an excess of S9o2. .s61. Orig
inaily Ii was intended that any proft
should go to the hospitals of Paris, but
the writer was informed by the man
ager OF the Mont-de-Piete that the state
pawnshop in making improvements. con-
sumes It's own profits
In Paris today there are twenty-six
Evening star., 1912-11-17
The Patient Mules.

A PAIR Of patient mules were slowly
\ drawing heavy load of brick-it
Evening star., 1912-11-17

the flat top of a bridge that
looks northward across the
half-mile- wide valley Of Hunt
ing creek, or Cameron run, and
from which the housetops OF
Alexandria and the high landmarks VI
Washington can be plainly seen. stahu
four gloomy old field forts and long,
broad lines of infantry parapets puiit
there during the early months OF the
civil war and forming the south end' on
the Virginia side, Of the Gordon Oh de-
fenses of Washington and Alexandra.
The largest and most important OF these
field forts was and is Fort Lyon. a
quarter of a mile to the southeast IS
Fort Farnsworth, nearly half mile 10
the south is Fort Weed and ABOUT tnree-
quarters of a mile southeast from fort
Lyon is Fort ORorke.
4 mile and a half southeast is fors
Willard and a mile west Dy M sou'h
Fort Lyon is a nameless OLD nelo loi,
commanding the ancient FAIRFAX ,oau
that ran by Mount Olivet chapel, now
removed to another site, and whiCh joins
the Telegraph road in Happy vahev Jus.
west of Fort Lyon. From this unnaineu
fort or this fort the name OF wnicn utes tss
NOT appear on the military map OF the
defenses of Washington. half mile OF
infantry intrenchment extended north-
westwardly. crossing the FAIRFAX roaa
Retween Forts Lyon. Farnsworth and
O'Rorke were connecting lines Of redoubt
for occupation by infantry and field bat
teries.
That is a fair open country today. AT
the places commanding fine prospects OF
the surrounding country are the old forts.
their parapets and bitches remarkably
preserved and overgrown with honey
suckle and trees 1t is this growth of
vegetation which has protected them
from the leveling influence of rain and
frost The slope of the outer face of
these forts was As degrees, and they
were sodded, grass side down, to hinder
the SHINING back of the embankment
into the ditch. When the war closed
Evening star., 1912-11-17

to the surface of the water. Passing the
bridge you come upon more causeWay
fianked by acres of dry reeds. and then
find yourself on the historic Gravel. road
so-called no doubt because when Duilt IL
was bedded with gravel which abounas
in that section. The road for quite a
distance follows the low marshy land
bordering the south side Of the creek.
longer yellow. but turned white and
gray, by cowtail weed turned black and
by briars and vines whose foliage Is now
Of uncertain red and purple. Behind
you lies Alexandria: From your posi-
side of the creek hide the town from
view, but you see brick kilns. red and
black. greenhouses that glisten in the
sunlight and cemetery whose white
monuments and dark green ceoafs are
In front of you and on the left a wood
ed ridge rises and as the road goes
higher the spires Of Alexandria agaln
come into view, and little later the
Washington Monument peep into Me
sky line Turning to the right OF the
Gravel road, you go on till woodland
trail. evidently very old but now nearly
abandoned road, turns up the ridge rms
old way has been worn down till its
banks on both sides are quite high and
the roadbed is grooved with stony ruts.
The end of the climb brings you out OF
the woods and to a wide expanse of open
land on the top of the crest. and you ind
yourself before the Bryan Fairfax nome.
on Mount Eagle. 1t is low, rambling
frame house. freshly painted white and
showing number of additions. 1t Is
carefully kept up and is surrounded by
grounds, in which old box trees are grow
ing. A brass knocker shines on the front
door.
After the Fairfax family parted with
this home it came into the possession OF
Henry johnson, Quaker. who came to
Virginia from Long Island good many
years before the war. probably about the
an influx of members
of the Society of Friends set in from New
Jersey to the Washington-Lewis lands
about Woodlawn and Accotink Henry
johnson was popularity called quaker
Evening star., 1912-11-17

Upon gold and silver most pawnshops
lend according to weight. and consequent
ly there is not much difference between
the loans made on these objects in Paris
and elsewhere But on other articles the
loan in Paris is rid1culously small, some
times being less than one-fifth OF the
amount loaned in America and England.
This has led to clandestine pawning by
private concerns which continually are