Evening star., 1915-05-23

FEW miles west or the tFdit
A bridge, or at least the bridge
N\ which was the Chain bridge
q y many years ago. and on the
north side of the Leesburg pike stand
the preached and roof1ess stone walls
of what was Il barn. Close by is the
fragment of the stone wall of a house
which was destroyed more than fifty
years ago These ruins, well covered
with vines present the appearance of
great age, and they are as old as they
look Near the ruins is small frame
house with numerous touches of mo-
dernity about il. hut the Rambler was
told that the new weather boarding OF
that house covers Il log house. and al
the back of this house is Il log kitchen,
Its log walls being visible.
The ruins bring to mind one of the
sensational episodes of the opening
DAYS of the civil war. This place and
a large tract of land along the pike
and extending to the Potomac river
was the home of James Jackson. the
man who killed col f.. +. Ellsworth at
Alexandria ami was himself killed by
one of !sworth'S zouaves There is
a good deal of historic information
about this old place on the ieeshurs
pike which has not yet come INTO the
possession of the Rambler, but which
he hopes to obtain
A*
Travelling west from the Chain
bridge over the Leesburg pike one Will
nnd an excellent road as far as the
hamlet of Langley. That settlement is
about two and Il half or three miles
from the bridge West of Langley the
road begins to roughen. and a walk OF
about two miles over this uneven way
brings YOU TO the valley of SCOTS run
After ascending the western slope OF
this valley you come to the RUNS OF
the Jackson place. Quite number OF
Washington people pass the ruins IN
the course of a summer, nut they 40
not use the pike.
One of the interesting places on the
Virginia side of the river is Prospect
rock a bold pinnacle of native rock
which rises high above the river and
affords one of the finest and most eN-
tensive views which may he had in the
neighborhood of Washington 1t is
short walk. though a hard one, from
Prospect rock to Black pond, Glen Alice
and the remarkable rock formation of
Difficult run To reach these wohder
places Washington people usually ieave
the electric cars at station cailed
jackson" and the road from that point
to Prospect rock crosses the pike at
the Jackson place and passes between
the preached and roof1ess walls OF the
barn and the ruin of the house. 1t was
that road which the Rambler followed.
and which he had Travelled good
many times before. 1t is about mile
from the cars to the pike, and the road
leads through a stretch of woodland
once full of beauty. but this spring
black and sooty. A fire started in these
woods few months ago, with the re-
result that today there is very little
greenery beneath the trees and the
trees themselves are so badly charred
that their output of leaves is scanty.
though their tops are taking on enough
foliage to keep out the sun.
Some of the clearings in and about
this tract of woodland are green with
wheat. and others are green and white
with mayweed Before coming to the
pike you catch sight of the stone ruins
and the new-old frame house in a grove
Of old and tall locust trees. fragrant
and creamy with thousands of bios
som clusters when the Rambler passed
that way. Near the log kitchen at the
back of the frame house is bell
mounted on a post. familiar appen-
dage to old houses in Virginia and
Maryland. That bells announcement
men working in the fields a mile away.
Standing at these ruins it is very
easy for one to recall the Jackson
Ellsworth tragedy of Friday morning.
May "a. 1861. The break between the
north and south had come. Excite
ment. patriotic fervor and sectional ar
dor were intense. One Thursday night.
May 20. Federal troop movements out
Of Washington to Virginia were either
under way or on the eve of beginning
The Washington end Of Long bridge
was under guard. The Sentries of
Company A, Washington Light 1nfan-
try, were posted along Maryland ave-
nue. near the approach to the bridge,
and at the bridge end and on the struc-
ture were other companies of the Wash