Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-10-30
Belgian Royal Guests Place
Wreath on Washin gt0n' s Tomb
Vice President and Seven Members of Cabinet,
With Wives, Among Official Party
Making Trip on Mayf0wer.

Attended by a distinguished COM
pany. Including the Vice President
and seven members of the cabinet.
with their wives. King Albert. with
the queen and Duke of Brabant, Wis
tied Mount Vernon yesterday after
noon and reverently laid huge
wreath Of chrysanthemums and ever
greens on the sarcophagus of Gen.
Washington.
The shrine of all patriotic Americans
was closed to the public during the
day yesterday, and the official party
was taken to the estate on board the
presidential yacht Mayfower, which
flew the flag of the Vice President
and the Belgian colors. Lunch was
served on board Immediately after de-
parture from the navy yard and tea
was served during the return trip,
the landing being made shortly after
9 o'clock.
Little ceremony marked the tribute
which King Albert paid to the menu
Tory of the foremost figure of Ameri-
can history, but no one who was
ipresent will ever forget the solemn
dignity of the scene.
The king, with the queen and Duke
of Brabant, was the last to come
ashore from the Mayfiower. which
anchored in the river channel off
Mount Vernon. Accompanied bv the
Vice President. he climbed the steep
slope leading from the river to the
tomb. the quiet of the woods and
water being in marked contrast to
the noise and ceremony that has
marked much Of his tour of America.
Removed Cap Approaching Tomb.
Approaching the tomb. where au-
tumn leaves formed a carpet that rus
tied beneath his feet, King Albert re-
moved his. cap. and paused to read the
inscriptions: within this Enclosure
Washington"
Then stepping forward. cap in hand,
he picked up the huge wreath which
two sailors had carried up the hill.
An aged negro seTviter held open the
iron door Of the tomb as the monarch
| stepped within the sacred Enclosure.
A hush fell over the assembled group,
broken only by the rustling of leaves
and the -drone of a Navy flying boat
circlins overhead.
Placing the floral tribute on the
marble slab, King Albert stood for
moment with head bowed. and stepped
again into the open. Queen Elizabeth
and the Duke of Brabant. who had re-
manned standing in front. of the tomb,
then bowed deeply, and the royal
party then walked a few PAGES to the
ieft, where automobiles were waiting
to. carry Them to the mansion on the
hill.
Miss Margaret Wilson, however
disdained to use a motor for so short
a distance, and, accompanied by Sec
rotary Of the Navy Daniels cut
across the pasture and climbed the
steep slope to the house at a rapid
stride. reaching there well In advance
Of those who followed a more circuit
GUS route by motor.
Solemnity Less Noticeable.
The solemnity which marked the
| visit to the tomb was less noticeable
during the inspection of Gen. Wash
ington's home and outlying buildings,
Including the famous flower garden.
| group OF photographers made pic
lures of the king to their hearts con-
| tent. and the queen graciously took
OF her veil as she was photographed
standing at the foot of the f1agpole
in front of the house
| Not to be outdone at her faysrite
pastime OF photography, her majesty
| took a number of pictures with her
own camera. much to the delight of
those who happened to be within
Standing in the Washington home
and surrounded by hundred init
mate objects reminiscent Of American
k khe es eeneury and md half ago the
|
opportunity to visit Mount Vernon
His majesty said, in part:
MY. visit to America would have
been incomplete had not come here
of the first President of the United
States.
I'm this house. where George Wash
turn with emotion to that heroic
epoch. when your ancestors chose him
for their. chief and to the long line
OF iiiustrious statesmen. who for more
than q century have followed him.
In all history there are few ex-
amples Of Political institutions which
have so well stood the test of time as
the government of the United States.
The struggling young republic of
!George Washington has become one of
the great powers Of the world. and yet it
has retained it's most striking char
acteristio in this happy mixture of
simplicity and dignity which gives so
at the same time awakens in the
stranger SO great respect for your
dag"
I Members Of odicial Party.
The official party yesterday includ-
ed Vice President and Mrs. Marshall,
Miss Margaret Wilson. Secretary of
state Lansing. SECRETARY Of War
Secretary of the Treasury Glass, Sec
rotary Of the Interior Lane, Secretary
of Agriculture Houston, Postmaster
General Buriesen, Third Assistant
Secretary of State Breckenridge Long,
Associate Justice Louis Brandeis of
the Supreme Court. President Samuel
Gompers of the American Federation
of Labor, and number of officers
lof the Army and Navy. Most officials
were accompanied by their wives.
The visitors were met at the wharf
by Harrison II. Dodge, superintend-
emit of Mount Venom, and were well
coined at the Washington home by
Mrs. Harriet Clayton Comegys, regent
Of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Associa-
ton, and Miss Alice Longfellow, vice
regent
While the royal guests were shown
through the buildings and the flower
garden most of the party remained
in the wide veranda or the lawn. The
king and queen took special interest
in the historic collection of relics, but
the young prince took advantage OF
the opportunity to walk about
through the surrounding woods and
spent some time feeding peanuts to
the squirrels. He stopped to chat
with several of the civil war veterans
who act as guards about the grounds
and, leaving the gravel path when it
was time to return to the boat, he
ran headlong down the steep slope
leading to the wharf.
The queen was particularly IN
teFested in the ancient coach that
stands in solitary state in the coach
| Ill infN bc