The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1918-12-19

Degln, ana might be kept up almost lndeHnltely'
though, for his part, Washington never went be
yond a second glass Of wine, and it was his usual
custom to leave the table within few minutes
after his wife had gone.
Toasts, in those days, never drunk until
after the ladies' had left the table and no beautys
health was ever pledged in this fashion while she
was present But when the men found them
selves alone, 1t was the proper thing for young
gentleman to get upon his feet-which, 1t is to
be hoped were still steady-and to say, II give
you Betty Lomax. the most beautiful girl in West
moreland countyl' Or perhaps it might be Susan
Lee of Rappahannock. Such toast was custom
arily drunk standinE-with all the honOrs as the
phrase was.
Indeed, Christmas was a great day Of festlv
ity In the Virginia Of that epoch. Breakfast was
NJ eight or nine o'clock. unless 1t had been de-
cded to go ahunting in the mornlng-in which
case the meal was eaten by cande-light. If there
was fOXhunt-a sport of which Washington was
very fond-the host brilliant red waist
coat trimmed with gold lace, and the ladies' who
rode were beautiful In scarlet habits. On such
occasions Mrs Washington would go out in her
chariot and four" Keeping as close 10 the hunt
ms the roads would permit. Not until 1855 we're
the Mount Vernon kennels abolished and the dogs
sold
Those were days when meals we're ample but
were not multiplied Eating when undertaken.
WAS no mere fryolity, hut serious business. This
Christmas dinner was 1t 3 80 p. m. there had
been no lunch and there supper TO come
After dinner there were games-bnd mans buff
hunt the slipper and the like--with much romplng
and more or less kissing A sprig of mistletoe
hung up in convenient place, ana If girl
happened to be kissed under y by n young man
she did not faint or call for help. In fact IL
might be suspected that She did not seriously Oh.
ject
Never, md nowhere, in this world were there
more capable ana expert makers of love than the
young men Of Washlngtons day In old Virginia.
Nobody ever saw jOilier fellows than they were
If they loved hercely, they proved~ their sincerity
by marrying early; and. when of them was
so unfortunate Ms to lose his wife, he would in.
vnrIaby marry again Marriage was considered
just about the most important duty OF life and
the love affairs OF the gentlefOlk were freely
confided to the servants. Black Tom knew
that Mars james was "gong after" Miss SaLe
Lee and would talk the matter over with his
young master And II was the same way with
the girls.
SO 1t may easily he imagined that on festive
occasion such rs this Christmas celebration Il
good deal of incidental ove-making some of il
serious enough was accomplished. But the
Master Of the Itevels, though he himself had been
sufficiently ardent In his youth was I'm later life
no eager sympathizer with such follles.
Though Mr. Washington took no part in the
ronps that followed the dinner he heartily en-
joycd the fun. Occasionally he rcished game
Of cards, and probably on this Christmas evening
he INDUCED In some such amusement in company
with the older people, while the young folks
scampcrcd and romped He played for money
but the stakes We're small
There were two young people Mt Mount Vernon
in those days--the and daughter OF Mrs
Washington by her first husband. 1t Is easy to
Imagine the part they took In the romps on Christ.
mas day. John ana Martha, their names were,
hut everybody knew them as Jacky and PATSY
Patsy died In 1913 when Just budding into WON.
nnhood, while her brother married young and
had four children, two Of whom. George and Mel
lie GUSTS, were adopted by Mr.. Washington. To
George he left the famous Arlington estate oppo-
site the city Of Washington, which afterwards
fell by inheritance to the wife OF Gen Robert e.
Lee
On Christmas eve there was dance, to which
all the neghbors for many miles around were
M n matter 90 course invited. The party began
beforo eight, and over by ten o'clock
Young ladies' beauty in those times was not
single fiddle, played by an old slave on the place
IA rhlte-halred negro who kept the time and
helped on the tune by pounding the floor with
his big foot.
All the young ladies' wore low-necked dresses
making brave display Of pretty shoulders and
the men were in knee-breeches and silk stockings
Mrs Wnshngtons gown cut y-shaped and filled
In with ruching was Of French silk; but the
clothing she ordinarily wore of domestic
manufacture being woven at Mount Vernon, where
no fewer than sixteen negro women were KEEP
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