davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1918-04-14

passed that way something over year
ago, but he moved away from the place
to which his name was given and soon
after moved away from the larger
place which men call world"
John Hitaffer and his brother William
came to Fairfax county from Loudoun.
William settled further up country near
Great Falls and married. He, too, is
dead. John settled where the little
house of wide weather boards and tin
stands among the blossoming trees. He
was given an acre and half of land
at that point by Samuel II. Cults as
payment for building a big barn on
the Cults place. He built his house
close by the side of an old road. which
leads from Swink's mill on the George
Alexandria and Leesburg turnpike by
way of Jones Corners and Ordick
schoolhouse. distance Of four miles,
though a line three miles long would
reach from one Of these ancient turn
pixies to the other.
When the electric railway was built
from the Adueduct bridge to Great
Falls 1t was decided to make a stop
ping point where the railway inter-
sected the road connecting the pixies.
The only person living close to the
point of intersection was John Hitaf-
fer, and the stopping place was namsd
for him. Hitaffer is Ave miles west by
north from Chain bridge as the crow
flies, when he flies straight, but only
an aviator may reach the place by such
a direct route. 1t is a good deal farther
to follow the convolutions and the &C.
centricities of the car line or the wagon
roads. and after leaving Georgetown
the car passes Rossiyn. Colonial. Mack
eys. Park Lane. Pearce. Clark: Thrifton.
Dominion Heights. Cherrydale. Harri-
son. Greenwood. Maplewood, Living
stone Heights Lyonhurst, Summit,
Rtxey, Jewell. Vanderwerken. Frank
Evening star., 1918-04-14

not likely to be either n dream or q
nightmare over Afghanistan. but a So
ber realization of the battles which
may have to be fought il the great war
should end in a draw. Consequently
the determination is probably more
grim than ever that the future routes
to India shall be settled on the west
ern front.
Some of the Berlin newspapers seem
to have discussed the possibility OF
Teutonic contral of Transcaucasia and
of this railway route to India as q
compensation for the loss of the Ber-
lin-to- -Bagdad railway. The pan-Ger-
manists no longer claim that Berlin
ever will be able to build the Bagdad
line, and get to the Persian gulf, thus
being in a position to threaten India
from the sea base. But they pretend to
think that control of the Persian ana
Afghanfstan routes would be compen-
sation. '--'7.,
In the economic sense there would be
no compensation. The Bagdad railway.
under the Turkish concession. gave
Germany a monopoly of very valuable
resources = agricultural, forest and
mineral-in Asia Minor. and particular
ly IN the fertile regions OF Mesopo-
tamia, which. under irrigation, would
blossom as they blossorned In the time
when Nebuchadnezar by the irrigating
canals turned the waters Of the TfGr1E
and Euphrates into the barren plains
All these suggestions may be ocn-
sidered far-fetched, but In view cx
the German lust for world power and
the German ambition 70 strike Enn
land through india, they would net
should 0ermsnypeglnf1
the western front
Evening star., 1918-04-14

is on one side of the river and the ship
yards are on the other. Before the war
Orange had a few hundred people en-
pioyed in its sawmills and small ship
of the south Today 1t is like live
frontier mining camp OF the west 1t
has more than 10, 1000 population, mostly
made up of the men employed in the
wooden shipyards- Tempted by the
wages of from IS to $40 a day, cowboys
from the Texas plains have come in on
their bronchos and hired out to build
ships. They are numbered by hun
dreds and the shipbuilders say they
make the best workmen. They are
sturdy and tough and full of initiative.
In the meantime shacks have sprung
There is only one hotel in the town.
The place Is wide open. Money comes
easy and goes easy. Prohibition has
not yet struck that part of Texas. and
those of gold camp at it's beginning.
The port of Pascagoula is just the
opposite of Orange In character. all
though 1T is growing almost as fast.
When 1t began to build ships, 1t was an
old established community OF 5000
people. It has now more than three
times that number. and the increase Is
made up OF the men who have come in
to build wooden vessels.
Pascagoula is in Mississippi, about
forty miles from Mobile. It is on the
Pascagoula river. not far from the
mouth. and its harbor Is such that large
steamers can come up and unload. Three.
of the four big yards which have been
established are building ships for the
fourth ID engaged upon work for the
italian government 4
The italian shipyards have come to
stay. Mr.. Piaggfc - building y model
Evening star., 1918-04-14

of which are in Maine Most of these
plants are engaged in making wooden
vessels Of the Ferris type, and all are
pushing their work to the utmost.
But few people realize the stupendous
size of this wooden feet undertaking.
Four hundred and thirty-four ships
have been contracted for Supposing
each ship to be the length of the
Ferris model. which is the standard
wooden vessel. the ships II Joined end to
end would make a solid line Of wooden
steamers twenty four miles in length. The
wood of each ship if made Into lumber
would fill a train mile long. and the
lumber required for the whole fleet would
load enough cars to their fullest capacity
to I'LL track from Philadelphia to Pitts
purgh, or double track from Boston to
New York. The aggregate tonnage Of the
wooden feet will equal more shipping
than was made by Great Britain in the
year before she entered the war, or about
four times as much as the United States
was annually building prior to that
time.
It seemssstrange to think of making a
grea1 saodeA steamers are cut out from
pa8tekne Just as n tailor cuts out a suit
of lGlothsS. The tailor lays his patterns on
tn woods and marks the lines out with
made of boarsls half an inch thick, and he
lays these on the thick timbers and marks
ot1S The fitches and framea The timbers
are tnen run through the sawmili which
taxes the place of the tailor's knife or
sclsSors. and cuts out the frames
In the meantime the shipway has been
cleared and the keel has been laid. The
ships way is the foundation upon which
tne heavy snip ID to be built The keel 10
tte iong square timber which forms the
bottom. OF. backbone, of the vessel ITS
thicknes5 is equal to the height Of an
gtMeTy STOOL and 1t runs tho entire
Evening star., 1918-04-14

which show a persistent devotion to
the garden Of their youth and bear
their blossoms every spring and sum.
mer as if in faithful remembrance OF
the hand that planted them, even
though that hand withered and van
fshed generations ago.
A hundred yards southeast of the
house is big barn. Massive, rough
hewed oak beams are part Of its con-
struction. The barn Is not as old as
the house. The first barn burned and Its
successor is the barn that John Hit
after built, for which work he received
the plot Of land on which he built the
little house of wide weatherboards and
tin. Between the garden and the barn
is a bit of land which was surrounded
by paling fence. A small part OF
this fencing is standing. though de-
crepit Some of it is leaning and would
fall but for tangled vines that sup
port 1t. Much of 1t has fallen and
disappeared. Part of this bit of land
is so upgrown with tall blackberry
bushes that a man can scarcely enter
gnarled trees lay their shadows on
the spot. patch Of green growth.
which the Rambler took to be blue
flag, blue iris or heur-de-1is, had
sprung up. Above this patch of bright
an old gray slab on which the follow
ing Is carved:
In memory Of Richard Jackson: who died the
days
Family, dear. weep not for me.
When in this .gars gs nns my voc
That called me to eternity.
Carved beneath the mortuary verse is
this:
Andrew Jackson. born % Of August, 1913.
died 18th Of August, 1913.
Evening star., 1918-04-14

the framework together. The whole
seems simple until you know the enor-
nous size of the timbers. and the means
by which the structure Is SO put to-
Take the thickness of the walls and
the bottom Of hull of one Of these
ships. The bottom Is thirty inches
thick and the walls range from that to
one or two feet. The ceiling on the in
side Of the frame is eight inches thick,
ing. is almost two feet from the water
outside to the goods in the holds.
All these parts are made Of wood. and
they are Joined together. not with nails
or iron bolts. but with wooden pins.
which will expand and contract like
the wood which they hold together.
This is necessary to keep out the water
and consequent rot. The pegs are known
as treenaiis Each Is as big around as
the handle of pitchfork and two or
sands of them for every vessel of
wooden fleet. A ship carpenter, work
ing on one of the Ferris ships, told me
that more than a quarter of q million
treenafls would be required for that
boat. The best wood for the pegs is
load. cut in little square sticks. which
are turned out to size. The sticks cost
va cents apiece
After the framework of the boat is
completed and before the outside plank
Ing is put on. 1t is inclosed in basket
Or lattice work of great steel straps.
each half an inch thick and three or
four feet In width. There is one big
iron band that runs clear around the
top OF the hull and the others run
crtsscross from there to the kesl, being
framework is held tightly embraced By
a lattice of iron.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Evening star., 1918-04-14


lin Park, Rockwell, Chesterbrook. FL
Nido. Selva. Viresco. Lawnvale, Nc
Lean, Ingleside and Balls Hill, and the
and Great Falls are the stations Jack
son, Prospect Hill, Belleview. Glendale.
Peacock, Fairview. Elkins and Dfckeys
Road. It is a formidable list of stop
ping places. but they are not far apart.
Turning to the south from John Hitaf-
fer's home and following the road
which carries you across a bridge that
spans the railroad cut. you turn into a
trail which once was q farm road and
pass through an abundant growth of
yellow sedge and through an orchard
of apple trees to the old house with
the sloping roof and the dormer win
dows. There is a wide space of ground
around the house which has never felt
the touch Of plowshare since the
and shows that the people who lived in
that house had plenty of land to spare.
You may see now from the ragged.
long-untrimmed shrubbery that the
loving care of women was bestowed on
Maryland and Virginia, and no doubt
in other parts of the world, tho wheat
and tobacco fields were the domain of
the master of the household. but the
garden about the house was the realm
Of the queen and princesses of the
home.
Among the old dark cedars. the
gaunt, storm-broken black 1ocusts and
a holly tree, lilacs and spirea, bridal
wreath and snowbalIs are blooming,
while jonquils spring out of the turf
every year and roses bring their gar
lands There are certain loyal flowers
Evening star., 1918-04-14

ed to build breastworks for the Con-
federates near that historic junction Of
the Alexandra and Orange and Manas-
sas Gap railroads. omitting any at
tempt to reproduce in type the quaint
dialect Of Charles Turner, the sub
stance of what he said was:
When the Yankees got thick around
my way the old boss told US we would
have to shift for ourselves. I got job
working on the railroad. going home
every night. After the war / worked
for Col Taylor on his farm on Gap run.
near Warrenton. His wife was a Miss
Carr and my wife was her cook. She
was mighty powerful fond of my wife.
Then l worked for John Seaton, on Gap
run. Then / came up to Alexandria
where 1 had some folks. and then I
came over here. Samuel H. Cults own
ed this place and a powerful scope of
land about here. He bought 1t from the
Jacksons before the war. Mr.. Cults
wife's father belonged in Amelia coun-
ty. His name was De Kraft and he
lived here. but he was big man in
Washington. He had an office there
and used to come home every Saturday
night. They had two children-Charlie
Cults and Hebe."
Evening star., 1918-04-14

Eifrabeth Jackson. born Bird of-rdarch. 1sr7.
died 11th Of August, 1921.
within a few feet Of, and on hori.
izontai line with the stone. described
above, is a marble slab, that long ago
was white, but which Is now discol-
ored by lichen. On this skone one may
read the following:
To sasa as ans Of ass Rres e.
Her son. James ". jackson. by her side.
o '. md sef .m IN es
and sweetiy to God she prayed for all her
friends to meet her in heaven.
Several feet in the rear of these two
gravestones are two others. One is
inscribed: Sacred to the Memory of
Barnett Stewart, born November 8, 1905,
died April IS, 1888. Rest in Peace"
It's neighbor monument ts inscribed:
Sacred to the Memory of Ann Maria
jackson, wife of Barnett Stewart, born
February IL. 1913, died December 23.
1893"
There are many other graves in this
inclosure, but only four toInbstoTes,
How many members OF the Jackson,
Stewart and Donaldson families HE
there the Rambler does not know, And
it is very probable that no living man
knows These little family burJing
grounds In the country were hqspit3lble
places to the dead. They received the
bodies of slaves, and. landleB white
people in the neighborhoodso sofuen found
a sepulcher there.
II
Leaving the burial plot, the ERambier
strayed back to the garden of the
abandoned house. sat down on the
grass by the side Of a venerable holly
tree and lighted his pipe. After some
refreshment of this kind he walked
around the house, peered through the
windows into it's bare and melancholy
chambers and scanned the three old
chimneys for a trace of a date, for
sometimes the brfekmasons would in
sert rough-forged iron figures in the
brickwork. The search was vain. In
solemn and deserted places like this
one almost expects spectral figure TO
rattle the rusty bolt of the door, or
saunter over from the cemetery to bid
you welcome. but this time nothing Sf
the kind occurred
Below the southern edge of the gar
den and by the side of a trail whic
that crosses the country from the
Georgetown and Leesburg pike. to
Jones Corners, on a road leading from
a ruinous cabin" Built of logs. the in
terstices were chinked with mortar
mixed with bits of stone and brick.
Most of this chinking has fallen out
and winds and the sunshine play with
in the cabin. Time and weather have
warped 1t so that it's lines are cotnsider-
ably out Of plumb. All around It, e1-
cept on the side along which the trail
leads. is field, waist high with the
dead weeds Of last year. It was a good
subject for a photograph and th 9 Ram
bier set up his camera. looking toward
the log hut. He had not seen anybody
approach. The only sounds that had
come to him were the cries of a flock
of guinea fowl or keats" at 'Swink's
mill. q mile away.
Somewhere of in roadside shTubbery
a cardinal was singing his loud, clear
and lively warb1e and sounding the
Evening star., 1918-04-14
Germanys Ambitious Plan to Obtain Afghan Route to India

Kushkinski Post to Herat, and Eng
land. on her part, has been prepared
to build a hurry line from the border
at New Chaman to Kandahar, in the
south, which strategically Is of equal
value with Herat.
The treaty between England and Rus
sia- in 1907, in which Russia recognized
Afghanistan as within the sphere of Brit
fsh influence, simpltfied the situation. But
the Russian railways are still at the AZ
CHAN frontier, SO that this frontier is In
real connection with Moscow and Petro-
grad and, therefore, with Berlin.
Should the kaiser. finding that Russia
remains completely PROSTATE. decide to
push railway communication through Az
ghanistan. in order to threaten India, his
first move probably would be to offer the
amir chance to become a partner in the
enterprise, If the amir still held to the
notion that railways were not good for
Afghanistan the kaiser would not be likely
to respect his views. Immediately the
Evening star., 1918-04-14

village to accommodate his workmen.
and he has just constructed q three
story. lfty-room hotel, near the plant.
The village will have 800 houses sur
rounding a park. 1t will have water
works, electric lights, paved streets
and sewers Amusement halls and other
things along the lines of our Y. NJ. c. A.
activities are to be created. Six months
ago the site of the town was virgin
forest, and the stumps are still stand
ing in some of the streets.
They are building ships at several
ports near New Orleans Nineteen wood
en- vessels are going up at Beaumont.
Tex, and I understand there are sew
eral yards on the Houston ship channel.
They are building ships at Tampa, Fla. at
Brunswick. Ca, at Morehead City, N. c..
and at Hampton. West Point and under
the shadow of the National Capital at
Quantico. Va There are several wooden
shipyards here at Baltimore. and many
at the ports of New England, about half
Evening star., 1918-04-14

familiar three long whistles and his
chuck. chuck, chuck. Off somewhere in
the fields a meadowIark was whistling
the first meadowlark the Rambler had
heard since last fall. though the mead
owlark. like the cardinal, spends his
winters with us. But as the Rambler
looked through his camera he saw.
leaning against a remnant of fence
along the cedar-lined road, an old col
ored man. How long he had been
there the Rambler does not know. Go
ing over to him and engaging him in
talk, the Rambler got a number of
facts that fit in this story.
Did you know the people who lived
here?"
II worked for them for more than
thirty-fve. years and lived in that log
cabin. l worked for Barney Stewart,
and my wife was with Miss Maria
Chat is, Ann Maria Jackson. wife of
Barnett Stewart) when she died"
The old mans name is Charles Tur-
ner. He was born in Fauquier county
and belonged to Robert Stribley, who
lived near Markham. He did not know
how old he was, but said he knew he
was twenty-five years old at the time
OF the battle of Manassas, and he help
Evening star., 1918-04-14

WHO did Hebe marryr' asked ths'
Rsmbfer.
""'Deed I doan know. He wah scznR
Granger roun' hyar an done fofxos
SIS Hebe livingr'
No. indeed. sar: de poh chfle's dssd
She done got burnt up. De gas oot
somehow she got choked or burnt up, I
dosn known how It was" And the Old
black mans eyes got moist.
He told the Rambler that Charlie
Cults lives in Washington. that Samuel
Cults is buried in the little churchyard
At Levinsville and that his wife 10 at
rest in Oak Hill cemetery.
The question of the little burial
ground close by came UP IN the course
Of the long talk between the Rambler
and old Charles Turner. and the latter
said: TT looks right poorly now, but
ole Barney Stewards son. who lives
over yonder, by Lewinsville. he come
over every summer and clear II OF. He
certainly do take good care of dem
graves"
While telling of that tombstone. in
scribed ITO the memory of Mrs Jane
Donaldson Jackson: born June 22. 1876;
died March 81. 1922. Her son, James w.
Jackson. by her side" the Rambler for
got to relate that by the side Of that
stone is a sink in the earth. That was
the grave of James Jackson. All that
was mortal of the man was removed a
few years ago-the Rambler thinks IL
was about five years ago-but It may
have been longer. There was very lit
tie in that old grave when IT was
opened.
The man who was buried there was
Chief actor In a tragic episode at the
beginning of the civil war. 1t was on
May "a, 1861. a few hours after the
Union troops had entered Virginia from
the District of Columbia
The name James Jackson" causes no
memories to revive in the minds Of this
generation of men, and the memories
of many of the old fellows have become
SO dull that perhaps the name does not
strike spark But II you say the
Jackson who killed Ellsworth" most
persons come to attention, because
everybody who lived in 81 was thrilled
and shocked by the affair. and no his
tory of the civil war has been written
that does not mention the tragedy. The
phrase "the man who killed Ellsworth"
sticks, and most people hold the opin-
ion that jackson was a man of great
wickedness- Standing by the old house
with the dormer windows which was
his fathers fome and where his boy
hood was spent, and standing by the
grave of his mother and that grave in
which his body lay so long, the Ram
bier feels that Jackson was not
wicked man IL by that term is meant
a man who was vicious. treacherous,
mean and sordid. This place was the
first rome that Jim jackson knew, but
when he came to mans estate his Ia
ther gave him a farm on the Leesburg
pike After the affair at the Marshall
House In Alexandria Jackson's house
and barns were burned, and the parts
of the gray stone walls are standing
today. Perhaps these ruins are visible
from the roof of the old house with the
dormer windows and the little buryinR
ground close by.
Evening star., 1918-04-14

the coming Of these troops were quick
ly settled by the amir recognising that
he had been in the wrong. or the weak
er party, in the controversy which had
resulted in the armed conflict. When
the affair was settled satisfactorily to
the British authorities the troops were
withdrawn and Kandahar again became
a purely AfEhanistan town.
~
On a clear day It is possible to climb
the heights above New chaman and
get a good view of Kandahar, which.
in an air line. 10 said to be not more
than fifty miles away. An excellent
view also can be had Of the Kandahar
road, which is traversed by the cara
vans, and which Is even said to be
good enough most OF the way for auto
It would serve as the roadbed
for a railway. although the engineer
ing reconnoissances which have been
made by the British on the occasion of
their military marches have not indi-
Gated the roadway as at all points the
most feasible route.
The distance between New Chaman
and Kandahar by this road Is only SIX
ty-five miles. 1t is not a military or
political secret that the Indian govern
large quantity of rails and other equip
nent tor building and operating . rail-
way. There 70 said to he enough on
hand for eighty to one hundred miles
Of single track line, and work. on
ayin- the rails could be. begun over
Evening star., 1918-04-14

several of these will be In the water
before this letter is published.
Mr.. Piaggio has added to the size as
well as to the number of his vessels.
He has established yards at three other
ports along the Gulf of Mexico, where
he is making a number Of vessels of
$500 tons each.
At Pascagoula. Miss, he has four
yards with twenty-five ships under
construction. and he is putting IN eight
additional ways at that port, which
will enable him to build twelve wooden
ships and eighteen steel ships at one
time.
The ports of Orange, Tex. and Pasca-
goula, Miss, are perhaps the two larg-
est wooden shipbuilding centers in the
south. Orange has now four ship
yards in operation, with about twenty
eight ways, and Pascagoula has con-
siderably more. The port of Orange is
in Texas, on the Sabine river, which di
vfdes Louisiana and Texas. The town
Evening star., 1918-04-14

has to be considered in the discussion
of the railway routes to or from India.
The town is q mile or 80 from the
boundary line of Afghanistan and COM
mands the approach to India from
the northwest
New Chaman is purely a military
outpost. The authorities have not en-
couraged the development of trade,
preferrfng that all trafic for this dis
trict should be centered at Quetta.
The strategic value Of New Chaman
lies in its geographical relation to
Kandahar. which is the only large city
in southwestern Afghanistan. and in
size Is next to Kabul, the capital. It's
population is between $4,000 and
$4,000.
Kandahar has distinct military ad-
vantage as a strategic center. When
Lord Roberts. then Gen. Roberts, made
his famous march to Kandahar and
British troops took complete posses
sion. the difficulties which had caused