Norwich bulletin., 1920-12-10
ODD INCIDENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
THE FIRST LADY OF THE WHITE
 xyar-cr

HOUSE.
 It was an uncomfortable induction into the governments mansion at Washington that Abigail Adams Experienced, at the latter end of 1890, when the capital was removed to that city and the presidents wife took up her abode in the White House.
 In November. 1900. Mrs. Adams left her Massachusetts home for Washington It was a memorable journey. It was under taken by post chaise, stage coach and 1 private equipage, with breakdowns on the highways and lo waits for relays. The party lost their " through the thick woods not far from Baltimore, and when | it was regained, with the help of a strag- l g1ing colored man. they went on and OH through forests. You can travel for miles without meeting human being" wrote Mrs. Adams.
 l Thus the party slowly advanced to the | city of Washington and along the mud rucked'' avenue to the presidents house. | There was no lawn, TO yard, no approach l When the first lady" reached her new home the principal staircase was not up
 nor single apartment finSled; no bells, 1 no lights,S no grates. All the, available l wood had been used to dry out the newly I plastered walls, and it is said that the mistress of the house sat shivering as shs, wrote: Surrounded by forests, can you
 believe that wood is not to be had because you cannot find peo,.e to cut and cart it /? You must keep all lis to yourself" she
 added. "and when asked how 1 like it, say I write you the situation is beautiful which is the truth
 | But Mrs. Adams had schooled herself to meet circumstances of whatever char acter, and to show her adapting herself to conditions she wrote that she had found magnificent place to hang her clothes in the unfinished east room'' The commissioners appointed to erect the executive mansion had offered a prize
 for the best plan that was submitted, and the. award was made to James Hobans an Irish architect living in Charleston. Hoban modelled his plan after the seat of
 the Duke of Leinster at Dublin Fore:sn sculptors and artisans were imported and
 work on the building progressed as fast
 as the scant supply of money would al low. The cornerstone of The executive mansion was laid in October, 17S2, and } had, therefore, been eight years in the | building when Mrs. Adams reached Washington.
 The city at the time of her arrival had the population of village and was 2 chaos of building material. unfinished houses, brick kilns, temporary l,uts anf : wet clashes" covered with s,s ub oak, 3 and alders. AS there was but one goof I tavern, lodgings were difficult to oEta;1 and many members of congress sourh quarters at Georgetown, where there wa,
 famous inn known as Suter's tavern.
 The people of the place were Door - and Oliver Wolcott wrote to his wifi
 that, "as far as I can judge, they al
 live like hSnes, each eating each other e Pennsyivania avenue is" wrote a Con r. necticut congressman, nearly the whol
 olsFance a deep -inorass covered with al
 oer pushes, which were cut through tn, t width of the intended avenue during th, t ensuing winter
 After the comforts of Philadelphia If
 In the new Capital was far from satis
 factory and Wilderness City" "Cit, or Streets without Houses" "A Mudhol ] Almost Equal to the Great Serbonia
 Bog" Capital of Miserable Huts." an,
 City of Magnificent Distances" wer Il some of the epithets bestowed upon if h Q luxury-loving statesmen and their friend.
 But Mrs. Adams was not compelled f
 put up with the discomforts of the Whit d House for any great period of the yea, F as she spent most of her time at Ouine
 and went to Washington when occasion
 demanded. Nor was she the only Pres v ident's wife that found the Executiv
 Mansion of this great nation an uncorr :. fortable home in; the early years. ' The White House was not cousidere
 finished until many administrations ha
 passed in and out of it Up to 1928 tt r East room, which Abigail fonnd conver is tent for wardrobe, was used by tf E. wives of the presidents as a laundry ar
 nursery When niece of John Quinc
 Adams visited the Mansion during Clev yh lands administration, she Is said to ha1 m remarked upon looking at the East room t- 'Laws-a-massy, is this really the san
 old room? Why a meal barrel used
 stand in wonder spot and over there u
 wash tubs" is Up to 1918 the groinds about the Ma, ig sion looked like an unsightly vast le without grass or shrubbery In fact u :. place was utilized as a sort of fari
 with cultivated patches extending ov .r-I the greater part of the area
 ,t-I At first the building was known avt the presid snt's palace, and iS was not u ral til the 5lackened sanE stone walls we
 coated with white paint. covering up ;
 traces of the mischief that had he Ii, done that 1t rsce'ved the name Whi ' House, It is not true that the mar eh came as has heen fredrar Atlf allere en from the residence Of Marina Gus alsi Washinr*on's wife. which vas similar ib-l designated.
 (Tomorrow-Isae NezrA 1,-aAszzss t1)