The sun., 1916-10-01
The story Of Mount Vernon.

"wash!ngton's home and the ma
tons shrine" is PAUL wnsrAcn's
fitting choice Of q descriptive sub
title for his book on Mount Vernon
Doubleday. Page). In which visitors
to the shrine" will find q suitable
memento. ana those who have never
visited II as good a substitute for a
first hand inspection az could be put
upon paper. The book is n history OF
the old homo from the time OF the Sc
lection Of It's site TO the present. The
topics noted in the table OF contents
indicate suficientiy wei. the nature OF
the treatment: THE First Dwelling"
Women Who Might Have Been Mis-
tresses OF Mount Vernon" Martha
Washington as a Housekeeper." THE
Bread and Butter Ball. Notable Con-
ferenccs at Mount Vernon" Changes
in the Family and in the Neigh
%borhood." Mount Vernon During
the Revolution" "Iafayette's Visit"
PLANTER Once More--Rcpairing the
Neglect OF the Years OF Absence"
"Bushro6 Washington and John Mar
shall Bring n Peddler's Pack" and a
long. bright record OF incidents consti-
tuting a vivid picture OF life in those
far of Colonial and early republican
times. as reflected In the DID and hon
ored mansion. Tho matter. not q little
of which Is familiar. is arranged with
such skill and care for proportion and
logical sequence that tho chapters
cohcrc. contrary perhaps to the read
cr's first expectation, IN pleasing FASH
ion 10 tho making OF a book which de-
80. a. Ln,.A lAA~ ..as -
20 he read,
In the last chapter Mr.. Wilatach
tells the story OF the decay and
restoration OF the old house:
There hav. been tHo grand division. IN
The l!f- of Mount Nsrron since tn. passing
~ tus man who made it and mad. Il
famous. For sixty years Z. declined .rd
lecayed. cedar and scrub pin. rosa. sd
tn. neglected n.lis. Th. unr.Eca,-a..
horeysuck!e cases.sd and then stranr!.i
everything its tentRcies touched Drive.
ana paths ,ost their grav.!l.d %sur'aro NJ
der matted w!reG-ass TIE unprnt.-,ed
paling' Of the garden fences ro.;ed. Roo.
and column succunbed TO the co-ro.ior o,
tins ana tho elements; the ~danpened
plaster fell. ana paradorica.lv che hoavy
feet ana meddi,nE fingers o: pilgrims w.r.
Fastening tho disirtegra.i,r OF the shrine
- which they came With worshipfui pa.ri-
ot!sm. once flames raised their tongues
and licked ou' one OF the buildings. mer-
cifu.ly detached. Only BY \ seeming mira
cle has the frail old mansion. whose tim
her l. tlnie-, been preserved from snnlhiia-
,ior n" nr~.
Then cam" thu patriotic women who took
up thH work III. GoverHnen. had r.pud!-
a.-i. and III" mar'.- o. a new l..s .rr.al
over IA. p.aC. For another period .. a.
'nOS' slx.y ,sass -Astorlf,pp 'n. ha., re-.
-r-st!nE :he hom. Of Washington q. -
~"stahi- shed arI he'd II ana loved ~.
We are reminded OF another Wash
Ington Shrine" the old house At
Rocky Hi. near Princeton. y. J. In
1888, when Congress was sitting IN
Nassau Hall. Washington had his
headquarters IN the old Rockingham
mansion. fvo miles away. After the
Revolution the house fell gradually
into decay. until at last II fell 70 the
estate OF a tenement inhabited by
"dagoes," tho families OF workmen in
the nearby quarrics. The story f. tola
That through all the years OF such
destructive occupancy one room, the
room which had been w%ashington's
own ONCE. was kept intact and I'M
invaded by the aliens who made o. II
"A r shrine by keeping tapers con-
SANITY burning there in honor OF the
great mar and the liberty for which he
fought. That mansion. like Mount
Vernon, has since been restored. and
Is now maintained as nearly rs posi-
hle In It's original estate a. n Wash
ington museum.
The late Frederick ". Seward. In
his recently published "reminiscences.
tells Of a F~renchman's wonder in the
civil war ut the common action OF
North and South in making neutral
ground of Mount Vernon, even when
military operations were afoot near the
capital Such spontaneous agreement
at such a time is tho best possible evil
dence OF the possession by Americans
Of certain qualities In which Europe
sometimes processes to find Il. de-
fici.nt. Mr.. Wilstach ha. tackled n
difficult lob and dom II with creditable
workmanship and a delicacy tcntting
Sha urhta,%