Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-11-17
HASKIN l. LETTER
THE LATEST DOPE ON GEORGE
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN

changed very little, There are only 2i0
acres attached TO the estate now The
rest of the eight thousand that Wash
ington owned has been divided among
| about $50 families. In the old days most
of this was woodland, and most OF 1t
is still woodland. From the crest OF
the Mt. Vernon hilltop, you see moth
ing but woods The view must be just
about what Washington looked at.
Until few years ago. they had about
a dozen tame deer in park at Mt. ser-
non Then disease infected the herd,
and the deer were turned loose TO shift
for themselves. The wild character Of
that they have shifted very success
fully. Already they have multiplied
many fold and there are now wild deer
on every farm adjoining Mt. Vernon.
Many fawns are seen every spring. Now
and then an astonished rabbit hunter
jumps big white e-tail buck, aud some
times, by good luck, brings him down:
But both the hunters and the hounds OF
these parts have degenerated since the
brave days of George, and the deer seem
/ to be more than holding their own. Some
of the black andtan rabbit hounds won't
chase them, and those that Will are not
| successful One employe on the Mt.
| Vernon estate has an erstwhlle rabbit
dog who has become addicted to running
| thing else. He stands no more chance
| to catch a deer than he does to bite the
moon. but be now refuses to put his
| nose to a rabbit track. His owner re-
| CARDS him as a total loss.
| George Washington was fond of good
society md it must be source of great
| satisfaction 10 his aristocratic shade that
| Mt. Vernon is still the center of an ex-
eelent neighborhood. The mere fact
I
| to attract the best people so that now,
as in Georges day, good part OF the
surrounding country consists of gentle
mems estates An ex-senator and
novelist are among the neighbors OF Mt
Vernon. A wealthy Chicago woman has
purchased hilltop about. quarter OF
| a mile from Washington's house, ana
! has erected upon it six thousand dol
/ lar replica of a Colonial mansion.
of course there are many humble
| folk. white and black, dwelling in the
vicinity of Mt. Vernon, too. The descen-
dants of the slaves and artisans OF
| Georges dav are still to be found. They
are still living much the same way, ana
doing much the same sort of work.
1t is curious to speculate how the ira
dition of Washington's greatness affects
these people. They are not unaware . af
| il Anyone of the natives about Mt
Vernon will talk about George, and al
ways with certain reverence, thoush
not without humor.
When we entered the. war, great
many of the young men hereaoouts en-.
listed and it seems not Impropapie tha1
the thought of Washington's martial
greatness may have had something to
do with their patriotism.
One of these modern Mt. Vernon war
riors was found building LITTLE, wooden
shack about a mile from Washington
mansion. He was small blond, humor-
Gus chap about twenty eight years old;
He was carpenter and his folks h. had nd
for good many generations Likely as
not, some of his forefathers had car
pentered at Mt. Vernon.
This youth had spent eleven months
| thick of the fighting. He had remark
ably little to say about 1t. He said that
he had enlisted, but that he was now now
done cnlisting for life. He said that