The Topeka state journal., 1919-11-17
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM NATION
Blu RE AU
FREDERIC J. HAEKIN. D1xUeeaR.
WasAanxsaaa. u. q
THE LATEST DOPE ON GEORGE.


Mt. Vernon, Va, Nov. 14.-One. of
the ancient countrymen who guard
and explain the sacred treasures of Mt.
Vernon was telling the spruce-looking
gentleman from Detroit how splendid
ly and substantially George had lived
He pointed out the roomy smokehouse
and kitchen, the servant quarters, the
stable and coach house, the walled-in
flower and vegetable gardens. Here
was everything, he said, that a gentle
man could wish for. Old George sure
knew how to live.
But l didn't see any bath room in
the house. said the well-groomed
man from flivver town. NOR anything
| that looked like a bathtub.''
Washington didn't need any of
them things" the old man explained.
He owned eleven miles of the Po-
tomac river"
He could take a bath every spring,
then, couldn't he?" the visitor sug-
gested.
He could assented the native, 'if
he needed it."
But this question of how Washing
ton washed is impertinent Many OF
our leading citizens can remember the
time when they had recourse to the
regularly in their undershirts, but they
were not stunted as a result, and
neither was George
1t is frequently pointed out that
1
in Washington's time, but it is not so
often realized that there was vastly
more room. Washington, for example.
owned eight thousand acres. He had
a great, roomy house. In front of it
spread one of the most inspiring views
of woodland and river to be found
in Virginia. There was more than
enough of everything right at hand.
His fields and gardens produced all
that rich soil and favorable climate
lie nd :
his grain. The river was full of fish
which his negroes netted in silver boat
loads. Wild fowl came in myriads
every fall, and George himself used to
fore breakfast, as his diary shows. The
forests Of his own estate Wee full of
deer and wild turkey. Good beef and
mutton fatted in his pastures.
Who would trade the abundance
and dignity of that life, the beauty of
that environment, for a modern flat
with its bath tub and its gas stove, |
it's stinks and noises, its inspiring
vistas of back alley and basement
door?
And George wasn't a rich man,
either. He was just substantial citi-
zen. Most of his neiShbors were
equally well fixed. Everyone had
plenty of room and plenty to eat. And
If he didn't like it where he was, an
entire unoccupied continent lay inn
mediately to the west.
George mayhap did not know the
luxury of ful1-length hot bath. But
neither did he have to worry about the
cost of living. And he was never
crowded, hurried, worried, or suffo-
Gated, as We luxurious and we'll
washed moderns are every day.
With that inspiring view before him, |
with the sense of security and free
dom and leisure which his broad do
main gave, with his energy unwasted |
on non essentials, no wonder that
George. could dream of new nation !
on the face of the earth. If we pro- ,
duce no men of his size nowadays, |
maybe it's because we don't give them
enough room to grow. You can't raise
a lion in a rabbit hutch
You can probably get no better idea |
Of colonial virginia than by going to i
Mt. Vernon. Not only has the estate |
itself been kept as it was in the old |
days, even to the coach in the coach !
house, but the country thereabouts has !
changed very little. There are only |
240 acres attached to the estate now |
The rest of the eight thousand that
Washington owned has been divided |
among 100 families. In the old days
most of this was woodland and most
OF it is still woodland. From the crest |
of the Mt. Vernon hilltop, you see
nothing but woods. The view must be |
just about what Washington looked at. |
Until few years ago, they had
dDOuI d uOZeH tame Oeer III a park al
Mt. Vernon. Then a disease infected |
the herd, and the deer were turned
loose to shift for themselves. The |
wild character of the country is illus
trated by the fact that they have
shifted very successfully. Already they
have multiplied many fold. and there
are now wild on every farm adjoining
Mt. Vernon. Many fawns are seen every
spring. Now and then an astonished
rabbit-hunter jumps a big white
tail buck, and sometimes, by good
luck, brings him down. NBut 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-and-tan rabbit hounds
are not successful One employe on
the Mt. Vernon estate has an erstwh1le
rabbit dog which has become addicted
to running the lordly stag and refuses
to do anything else. He stands no
more chance to catch a deer than he
does to bite the moon, but he now
refuses to put his nose to rabbit
track. His owner regards him as i
total loss.
George Washington was fond of
good society and it must be a source
of great satisfa ction to his aristoc-a:ic
shade that Mt. Vernon is still the CEN
ter of an excellent neighborhood. The
mere fact that George once lived there
has served to attract the best people"
so that now, as in Georges day. a good
part of the surrounding country con-
sists of gentlemen's estates. An ex-
senator and novelist are among the
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