The sun., 1919-11-02

TT so looks the part, that three
story structure at the southwest
corner of Irving place and Sew
enteenth street long known as the
Washington Irving house." that there
Is a positive wrench in writing these
lines destroying a pleasant belief
and pointing out that Washington
Irving never lived there and probably
never even visited there. The actual
house is the one next door, in the
direction of Union Square. Face to
face with the far more picturesque
corner edif1ce to-day, sixty years after
Irving's death, there comes the feel
ing that it was there that Irving
should have lived during the visits to
town from Sunnyside, and there writ
ten. or at least revised, part of his
Life of Washington" Indeed, the
choice of that house next door seems
now to have been almost an artistic
indelicacy on the part OF John Treat
Irving. But wrench or no wrench,
there is no way of fairly evading the
evidence. Here is a recent letter about
the matter. Quoting In part:
IT have told dozens of inquirers al
ready that that house (the corner
house) was built, owned and lived in
by Mr.. Martin, who sold 1t to a Mr..
Phelps, who sold il to a Mr.. Macy.
John Treat Irving never owned 1t or
went up the front steps any more than
Uncle Washington ever did. He lived
next door. 1 am the only one
left of the Irving family who would
know or ever did know anything about
It. Sometimes when Uncle Washing
ton was in town he would stay with
us for day or two, and we lived right
next door U was born there) to the
famous little house."
Tangible Surviving Links.
Destroying the legend of the So
called Washington Irving house" is
the more to be regretted for the rea-
son that within the town itself II was
the only tangible surviving link in
brick and stone and mortar connect
ing the city and the author whose
name is likely to stand for all time
as symbolic OF the flavor and spirit
OF the older New York. The trail of
Irving in New York is to be easily
found, but II is a trail of tablets nailed
against walls bearing no resemblance
TO the walls Of Irving's boyhood, early
youth and maturity. 1t is easy enough
to point out No. 131 William street. be-
tween Fulton and John streets, as
the site of the house In which Irving
was born, or across the way, No. 1928
William street, more intimately asso-
ciated with Washington's prankish
cnildhood. But gone as irrevocably
as the old Golden Hill of Revolutionary
days is the last suggesuon OF the
structures themselves. No. 128 was a
triple structure, composed of a front
and rear edifice of two stories, with a
narrow central building forming a
passage between them and connecting
the two; its roof descending to an
attic window in each division. IryIng's
nephew, Pierre NJ. Irving, has recorded: !:
1t was my fortune to accompany the
author when he visited the old home
stead In 1919, on the eve of its demo-
Hcon, and remember with what :
half giddy feeling as we stood In the
yard, he pointed out the rear building.
from which, a ventursome urchin. he
would climb to this sloping roof, steal
along its dizzy edge to the higher win
dow OF the front garret, mount thence
to the roof of one of the adjoining
buildings, drop a stone down the chin
ney and then Chamber back to his
hiding place chuckling over the
imagined wonder and perplexity he
had created"
Beyond the city itself there are two
tangible surviving links. One, of
course. is the familiar sunnyside. on
the banks OF the Hudson, where Ir-
wing spent his last days, surrounded
ny his "womanklnd," as he called the
cherished nieces who lived with him.
The other still existing structure as
sociated with the Irving name is the
place where Washington just missed
being born. 1t is on the outskirts of
Railway, N. J.. low. rambling, time
and weather SCARED edifce, standing
back from a shaded road that is now
little used, but which in the eiRh-
teenth century was a main line for
the stage coach travel between New