Evening star., 1916-02-20
CONTINUED from Third Page

personally superintended the cultiva-
ton Of his farms. His wheat was
ground into -four at his own mill and
sent to Europe. along with his crops
of tobacco. Sailing ships took on their
cargoes at the dock he built for his
own shipments. The quality of his
-four was SO good that it was exempt
from official inspection at all the ports
in the West Indies.
Twice a year he made out a list of
things he needed for his household and
his business and sent the list to
one of his agents in London. Thus he
received shipments OF clothing. furni-
ture, books and farm machinery. They
came addressed simply to George
Washington, Potomac river" He was
a shrewd and watchful buyer.
I'VE often have articles sent u.s. he
wrote an agent in England. that
could only have been used by our fore
fathers in days of yore 1t is Gus
many of the shopkeepers and trades
men in London. when they know goods
are bespoken for expectation. to palm
slight and Indifferent ones upon us,
taking care at the same time to ad-
vance ten, fifteen or perhaps twenty
per cent on them.
Still again. he told his agent, "wheth-
er it be the fault of the tailor or of
the measure sent, l cannot say, but GER
tain it is. my clothes have never fitted
me we'll"
Washington's library contained 1900
books, mostly on agricultural and mil
itary subjects. which were purchased
principally in Europe. A hundred
paintings and prints were on the walls
of his rooms and halls, and these, too.
were obtained abroad. Every bill was
scrutinized and each shipment was ex-
amined item by item.
John d. Rockefeller once said that he
would rather lose a thousand dollars
than to be cheated out of nickel The
letters of Washington show that Mr.
Rockefeller, in feeling that way, had
an illustrious example. A fashionable
man and even a luxurious man, Wash
inetoa was nevertheless plain and
practical. He kept his eye on little
things as well as on big ones He
knew what he ought to pay and what
he ought to get
In a sharp letter to a firm Of London
merchants he asked them to explain
why 115 hogsheads of his own sweet
scented tobacco" fetched but $27.37
each, while 153 hogsheads. the con-
signment of his little stepson. John
Custis, fetched 1860. His neighbors,
too, were receiving better prices than
himself. And inferior tobacco. sent
from his plantation at about the same
time, to other merchants, had been sold
for considerably more per pound. The
reply of the agents. unfortunately. has
vanished.
Nearly every ship that tied up at the
wharf of Mount Vernon brought books
on farming and letters from expert
aRriculturists. Washington understood
the rotation Of crops and the value of
the different kinds of fertilizers. His
felds were numbered and he kept a
history of their crops and managed
their cultivation according to chart.
Efficiency is not new word. 1t has
been singled out recently, however, for
n distinction it never possessed in the
past. washington believed in and prac-
ticed efficiency, but with him the econ
omy of time and the prevention of lost
motion was called by another and
simpler name. 1t was merely common
sense Being dissatisfied with the work
performed by several negro choppers
and hewers in his woods, he sat down
on q log, watch in hand, and timed
them at their task.
With his eyes upon them the men
toiled hard. 1t took. he found, so many
minutes to fell a tree, so many min
utes to cut off its branches. so many
minutes for consultation over how the
work should be done and SO many min
utes to hew away the bark and turn