davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

had been shod with iron, which was
not then usual, and as souvenirs Spots.
wood procured to be made in London
for his companions small golden horse
shoes set with Jewels and inscribed
"Sic Juvat Transcendere Montes."
The King, when he heard the news,
knighted Spotswood and sent him a
jewel-studded golden horseshoe, small
enough to hang on watch chain.
There is nothing now at Germanna
to indicate its former importance. Not
far from the site of the town, however,
is an old house, which may perhaps
be taken as typical of the buildings
which once existed.
Identified with Germanna were the
Gordons. The first Of the name there,
James Gordon, represented Orange
along with Madison in the Virginia
Convention in 1888. which, after des-
perate struggle, ratified the Federal
Constitution. His son, Gen. William
Fitzhugh Gordon, was for several SEES
sions member of the House Of Req.
resentatives and the originator of the
subtreasury system. and there is an
interesting biography of this states.
man who figured SO largely in the af.
fairs of the Nation, by his descendant,
ArmiStead G. Gordon of Staunton, the
well known author.
Madison's father. at the close of the
Revolution, owned tract Of land OF
about 5000 acres four miles from the
courthouse. on which he had built in
1850 what is now the central portion
Of the Montpelier House, to which ad
ditions were made in the beginning OF
the last century under the direction
OF two leading architects. Latrobe and
Thornton. who was the architect OF
the Capitol. At Montpelier. which has
a splendid outlook on the mountains,
Madison. after retiring from public
service. spent the lAst 10 peaceful
years of his life, enjoying his family,
his friends and his books, constantly
visited by those who sought his coun-
sci and conducting the correspondence
which makes up large portion of the
two volumes in which his writings are
collected. There he died and within
few hundred yards he and his wife
and many of his relatives are buried.
Hardly anywhere are there more
lovely gardens than those to the south
Of the house, upon which the present
owner, Mr.. du Pont. has lavished so
much care. The tradition is that when
Lafayette visited Montpelier in 1924,
Mrs. Madison asked one OF his suite
to suggest a plan for a. garden. and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

some of the circles closer set; and the
interstices had been filled in with an
. orange-colored ocher.
AS to just where we should go, 1t
was very much a matter of ''quem
sabe?" The good padres said, my son,
We dare not advise in such a matter"
But they told me that at the mouth
of the IsSana was a wondrous settle.
ment, established long ago by rene
gade Spaniard who had raised a. whole
colony of stalwart half-breed sons and
quarter breed grandsons, and who
ruled them like king. The king Of
the Issana. he was called; and. said
the padres, he was at least a good
Catholic. They suggested, then, that
we go to the Issana and there obtain
information.
X X * X
THE council of the three. solemnly
convened. said Good! the Issana
let it be-" For of the original eight
in the expedition. all but three had
left. The Respectable Member, original.
ly my assistant, and Young America.
originally secretary. but now hard
bitten explorer, remained with me.
We hoped that some balata-runner
would arrive in exhausted enough con.
dition to be willing to trade in his
outfit; or possibly some such one might
be able to convey us as far as the
Issana for a consideration. There was
nothing for it but to sit and wait for
AMANDA.
Luck favored us. No less than
three fortuitous balata-runners sur
vived the rapids and arrived in a
bunch. Colombians they were; and
they were banded together for mutual
defense and, as it TRANSFERRED, offense.
Our cook, good fellow, held a long
conference with his compatriots and
then brought them round to talk
business. They had boat apiece.
and their supply of stores had been
sufficiently depleted, during their long
up-river journey. to enable. them to
find room for our gear.
A providential arrangement, wasn't
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

states consular agent about up
4 river travel and what trade goods
to select. The gentleman was not
very helpful. He knew nothing about
river travel; and he was by nature
a doleful alarsnist.
There was one man in ManaoS who
knew all about the upper rivers. and
that was Jotte Jae. That was the
cognomen known throughout the mil
lion and a half square miles OF the
State of Amazonas. of a great trader
who established a trade-supply house
in Manaos and who held all Amazonas
in the hollow of his hand.
The Emperor of Ama2onas. he was
called. But he was a ruthless man
and the official distinctly lowered his
voice as he retailed the scandal-a
robber baron who desired no stran.
gers butting in on the fell secrets Of
his doings: and rumor had it that his
hired braves had recently quietly done
away with two or three parties of
strangers who had ventured in upon
his forbidden territory.
The official warning, then. issued
solemnly by the consul in his role of
adviser to American citizens, was by
all means not to go up-river, and to
steer very carefully clear of this me-
dieval despot.
The only course. in the circum-
stances, seemed to be to so and get
a passport from this formidable mon.
arch Of a million and a half square
miles of territory. So l went.
Audience was granted with a graft
flying lack of ceremony. Away at the
end of a great square block of trade
store was little glass Office, and in it
sat the monarch. An old man now,
but keen and alert and hard-eyed.
The face. it was true, of merciless
man Of business. ~.s
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

roomed. The historian, Hugh Blair
Grigsby, had it from Tazewell, Vir.
GINA Senator and Governor, that Ran
dolph was very idle, and was logged
regularly every Monday morning, and
two or three times during the week"
II this was an exaggeration, Randolph
could not complain. One of his habits
was caustic and often most exagger-
ated comment on friend and foe. He
described James Barbour as terribly
discursive and Philip Barbour as
painfully close reasoner. saying that
Phil could split a hair, but Jim could
not hit barn door," Nevertheless, he
seems to have liked and appreciated
both Of them.
At the end of the Virginia constitu-
tional convention of 1890. which
was presided over by Judge Barbour,
Randolph eulogized him for his dis
tinguished ability, his impartiality and
dignity" OF James Barbour, President
Adams writes in his journal: with
the exception of Rufus King, there is
not in either House of Congress a
member from the free States able to
cope in powers of mind with William
Pinkney or James Barbour"
When Barbour was being considered
for appointment as Minister to Eng
land Mr.. Adams recorded that Daniel
Webster was one of the aspirants for
the appointment. When Philip Bar.
bour was nominated for the Supreme
Court. fancy being nominated at the
same time for Chief Justice, the great
Justice Story wrote that he and Web
ster agreed that the Supreme Court
"is gone" But after Barbour's death,
Story said, HE was a man of great
integrity and of very solid and acute
understanding. of considerable legal
attachments lin which he was daily inn
proving), and altogether a very con-
scientious, upright and laborious
judge, whom we all respected for his
talents and virtues and his high sense
of duty
1t is not possible, within the limits
of a newspaper article, even to glance
at many other individuals and places
deserving mention, but those have
been mentioned which caused the Gen.
eral Assembly of Virginia to name
the four magisterial districts of the
county. Madison. Taylor, Barbour and
Gordon
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24
MYSTERIOUS LAKE.

One Of the latest attempts to answer
the riddle of Lake Baikal is that of
the investigator Berg. OF the 80
specimens of fish found in the lake
he finds that Ia are peculiar to it.
while 10 have a wide distribution in
Siberia and Europe.
Many of these peculiar species are
without near relations anywhere. OF
the moIlusca 80 per cent are peculiar.
Berg does not think that the facts
demand the hypothesis that the lake
was once marine. He believes that
it has always been fresh and that
the fauna peculiar to 1t have had a
twofold origin. A part has originated
in the lake itself during the long
ages of it's existence and the rest is
a portion of the prehistoric. fresh
water fauna of Siberia which it has
preserved.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

| the fire, which was fatal to the main
dwelling, the elaborate and attractive
building which once housed many of
the activities of the great estate is
now occupied by Mrs. Ellis. a de-
scendant of the original owner.
Frascati, the home Of the younger
Barbour, Is most impressive in the
character of the house, the beauty
of the flower garden, and the box
wood, which is of unrivaled size. The
present mistress of the home, Mrs.
ington Irving, who, as young man,
wrote words Of the warmest admira-
ton and praise Of Dolly Madison. the
mistress of Montpelier.
James Barbour was Governor Of
Virginia, United States Senator. Sec
rotary of War in the cabinet of John
Quincy Adams and by Adams APP
pointment Minister to England. In
the Senate he was chairman of the
special committee which in 1916 re-
ported in favor of the creation of
standing committees. and upon the
adoption of the report he was made
chairman of the committee on for
eign relations, post which he held
for seven years, and which, in the
stretch OF A. years from 1916 to 1860
vas ACio AOA o. years ny virginia
Senators.
Philip Barbour was Speaker of the
House Of Representatives. When a
new Congress met in December, 1921,
on the first day there were seven in.
effective ballots for the choice of
Speaker. Barbour's name not being
mentioned. The next day. on the fifth
ballot, he was elected. President Jack.
son appointed him justice of the Su-
preme Court in 1886, and he served
until his sudden death in 1S41.
1t is noteworthy that three members
of the Barbour family sat in the
Eighteenth Congress, James Barbour
in the Senate. in the House his broth
err, and also in the House their kins.
man, John S. Barbour. who repre-,
scented the Culpeper district, adjoin.
ing the Orange district. long before
the two counties were thrown into
the same district.
John RandOlph's EulOgy.
John Randolph Of Roanoke attended
school a mile from Barboursville,
where stands the building in which he
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

/ received the impression at once
| that he resented foreigners-resented
their business competition in his coun-
| try. / should say. But, with Brazilian
politeness, he rose and with his own
| hands placed a chair for me, dismissed
three secretaries, to whom he seemed
to be giving orders all at one time, and
asked me what he might have the
| honor of doing for me.
felt that he had known all about
me and my plans a full week ago. But
/ tried to paraphrase into my pest
| Portuguese that l had come to talk
about shoes and ships and sealing wax
and cabbages and, most particularly,
kings.
HIM" he said when he at last un-
derstood. Trade goods. of course.
But why do you come to me. senior?
My statesmen are we'll accustomed to
making out lists of outfit"
Since l was no business rival, was
bold.
Because, SENIOR" I said, "they tell
me that you are the greatest as well
as the wickedest man in all AmaZonas."
For moment he seemed to swell
up. But then he seemed to be pleased
with both compliments.
Who are 'they'?" he demanded
suddenly.
They" I said, lis a composite
person of many nationalities, includ-
ing Brazilians with many long
tongues
HIM he said again. And then,
Are you not afraid. senior, to go into
those bad upper rivers?"
Yes" said quickly. That's why
/ come to you for a passport"
This time the hard mouth relaxed
and presently almost smiled. He kept
half smiling thus into the distance for
some time, while / wondered which of
his henchmen up-river he was think.
ing of telling off to do the dirty deed.
Then he rang bell and sent for his
son.
10 me he said gravely. Senior, I
have not met other gringos like YOU"
And to his son, Have Joao make out
list of all the trade goods that the
senior will need; and do you dictate
letters to our up-river agents and
bring them to me to sign. myself"
So that was the treatment I met
with at the hands Of the wicked EN-
peror of Amazonas.
X X X
A VERY prince Of wicked brigands
- was this son of the emperor. He
gave me lot of most useful informa.
ton. too. He couldn't tell me about
the foot hills; nobody knew them, he
said. But he gave me all sorts of
those tips" which are so useful to
have
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24
Kings and Killers Are Obstacles to Brazilian Jun{

In an article last week, Mr.. Mac.
Creagh reconnted how a North
American expedition with which he
was connected crossed the Andes
with mule train in snow and hur-
ricane.
Arrived at what government
maps showed to be the town" of
Espia, the explorers found them
selves in a barren spot. uninhab-
tied by man. beast or insect. Here
they were left by the drivers and
the mules, with tons Of equipment,
but with no way of moving it or
themselves.
Finally. two mission Indians
found them and took word of their
plight down the river. A feet of
balsa RATS was gathered and the
explorers and their impedimenta
were brought safely through rapids
and rocks to the mission. Mr..
MacCreagh, who is noted as an eX-
perienced canoeist. described the
voyage as the most GREATNESS
water trip of his life. and said that
no canoe ever built would sur
vive 1t.
At the time of the following
article. the second of a series of
four. all but three of the original
members of the expedition had re-
turned to their homes.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

it? Unfortunately, they shrugged,
their boats would be loaded to the
limit with all our voluminous equip
ment; so they could not possibly take
on four extra passengers.
But that would be easily arranged.
A small chief had just come down.
river with a big canoe and a couple
of men, and they would arrange with
him to take us as passengers. and we
would all go up together in a fleet.
For the first time in some days we
slept without worrying about our prog.
ress. Perhaps as much as FIVE or
six pleasant hours-and then we woke
and found good and sufficient cause
to worry again.
Those three very clever balateros,
plus our astute cook, had hauled their
boats up the remaining mile of rapids
overnight and had gone, leaving a
message that we, in our light canoe,
should follow them and could easily
overtake them in q day or two.
Rather a sudden procedure, 1t
seemed to us. and an unlooked-for de.
cision for those men to arrive at over.
night without telling word to any.
body. We were vaguely uneasy about
IT'LL we found that Pacheco's canoe
had somehow or other during the
night bumped mole IN It's bottom.
Then we realized what gullible
gringos we three had been. and ex.
actly how imperative had been the
need of those clever balateros to re.
plenish their outfit.
It was not a happy position to find
ourselves In. Our trade goldsmith
out which we couldn't pay our way
for half a mile-our personal gear.
our instruments, cameras, every
thing, were somewhere on the Rio
Negro bound for the balata jungles
of the Uaupes and going hard.
y X X
THERE was one last, lone hope-a
God-given stranded launch. II 1t
could be made to go. The owner
threw up his hands, with dozen i'm
possihilities R,lt we took n in hand
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

Particularly must I provide myself
with carved stick to use as calling
card when visiting a chief. AT Sac
Gabriel. the farthest point of civil
cation, was an old Indian witch doctor
who would make me stick.
We duly reached Santa Isabel. the
port of debarkation Of up-river. The
hired assassin of the wicked emperor
supplied us with big monteria and
crew Of eight stout Indians. and we
were all set to make another lap
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24
Gov. Spotwods Enchanted CastleThe Tubal Cain of ViD
Valley River First Called Eupha
the Golden Gordons of
Subtreasurv system

who know Montpelier, Monticello and
Oak Hill. Never seriously disunited,
toward the end of the dynaStic era
they worked together toward speeding
the University of Virginia on its ca
.reer. They served at the same time
on the board Of visitors of the uni.
versity, whose meetings were attended
by President Monroe, riding over
from Washington, and former Presi-
dent Madison. coming from Montpelier.
At Charlottesville they would join Mr..
Jefferson and minutes of the board
are preserved with the names of the
three signed in the order of seniority.
A MONG the early settlers in Orange
County was James Taylor. the
ancestor of President Zachary Taylor,
who was born in the county in 1874.
Resolving a dispute as to the exact
place of his birth, the Daughters of
the Revolution have marked it as a
point near the line Of the Southern
Railway between Rapidan and the
Court House, the decision following
the testimony of Bishop Meade in his
book on "Old Churches and Families
of Virginia" published 20 years ago.
who says that Taylor was born at
Hare Forest, four miles from Orange
Court House"
None Of the biographers Of Madison
and Taylor appear to have partic.
ularly noticed the fact that the fourth
President and the twelfth President
had the same ancestor; that each was
greatgrandson of James Taylor.
The relations of the two men were
not always particularly harmonious.
There Is a story that when Zachary
Taylor. a young Army officer, dined
with Madison at Montpelier he took
occasion to ask favor of the Presi-
dent, and was told that public favors
were not granted for private or fam
lily reasons" and soon left the house
ahead of the other guests. without
taking leave OF his host.
Two sons of Orange County only
less eminent than the two Presidents
were James Barbour and his younger
brother, Philip Pendleton Barbour.
Barboursville, the home Of the for.
mer. was one of the most stately
mansions in Virginia. 1t has been
destroyed by fire, but the remaining
ivy.ciad walls and portico columns.
near which are innumerab1e box trees.
have "all the charm and magic of the
ruined battlement." Untouched by
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

in producing iron. On leaving the
Office of governor, he became post
master general of the American colo
MES and had the credit of reducing
the time for the carriage Of mail be-
tween Philadelphia and Williamsburg
to about 8 or 10 days and the appoint
ment Of Benjamin Franklin as post
master for the Province of Pennsyl.
Vania.
In 1716 the governor led from Ger.
mama, which generations later was
to be shaken by the thunder of guns
in the battles of the Wilderness, Chan
cellorSville and Spotsylvania, an expe-
dition which crossed the Blue Ridge
Mountains and discovered the Valley
of Virginia. The crossing was at
Swift Run Gap, which by the present
highway (the "Spotswood Trail being
the stretch Of it from Orange Court
House to the mountatns) is about 20
miles from Germanna, but the expedt-
ton, starting on August 20. did not
reach "the very top of the Appalach.
ian Mountains" until September s.,
when, as narrated in the journal of
John Fontaine, being equipped with
IAN extraordinary variety of liquor. ;"
the gentlemen drank King Georges
health and all the royal family's." De-
scending the west slope Of the noun
tains, they forded the Shenandoah
River, then for the first time seen by
white men, naming it Euphrates. and
turning back, forded it again. There
upon, according to the journal, 1--WE
had good dinner. and after it we got
the men together and loaded all their
arms and drank to the Kings health
in champagne and fired a volley; the
princess health in Burgundy and fired
a volley; all the rest of the royal
family in claret and fired volley; we
drank the governors health and fired
another volley."
Fontaine's frequent reference to In
dams, buffalo, bear and elk is evidence
of the wildness of the country little
more than two centuries ago.
X X X
THIS picturesque adventure led to
= the unofficial order of the knights
of the Golden Horseshoe" The horses
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

along the straight and narrow way Of
duty. So this crew took US as far as
the great rapids of Sac Gabriel, eight
or ten days farther.
At Sac Gabriel was one of those lost
mission settlements, where two de-
voted priests struggle against over
whelming odds to persuade the
heather.
The prosperous witch-doctor lived up
at the head of the rapids and did a
thriving business in the sticks that
do service as calling-cards.
A good stick is as important as
good Bradstreet rating. 1t must be
carved with cryptic designs in a dia.
mond pattern, and with circles and
swellings to fit the hand, which con-
vey to the initiated the attributes of
the owner.
1t functions in this respect some
thing like that inexcusable thing, a
sealed letter of introduction, for the
individual has no means of knowing
what his stick says about him. Among
all these up-river tribes there seems
to exist a ceremony Of calling that is
as meticulouS as that of the open sea-
son at Newport.
So had to get me good and proper
stick. Sub rosa I had to visit the
witch-doctor, for I would not offend
the good padres. A crafty rogue was
that magician. He was not overly in
terested to know who l was or what
1 wanted to do. but he said, "For
piece of cloth and machete and a
mirror 1 will carve you a very good
speaking stick"
/ dared not haggle over the price,
for fear of defamatory runes, so we
struck the bargain, and he delivered
to me very beautiful stick. About
feet long it was, cut of a very
handsome hard redwood that takes a
high polish.
1t was pointed at one end so that it
could be thrust into the ground, and
the other end, for a distance Of about
2 feet, was carved with this dia-
mond-and.circle design. Some Of the
diamonds were smaller than others
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

THE riddle OF Lake Baikal. in Cen
trail Asia. is similar to that of
Lake Tanganyika, in central Africa.
In both cases a large body of fresh
water, remote from the ocean, con-
tains organisms apparently marine.
Both lakes. again, contain very
large number of species not found
elsewhere Lake Baikal contains nu-
merous salmon and seals, as well as
three species of herring. 1t also con-
tains a few mollusca of apparently
marine forms.
One of the most wonderful features
of the lake. perhaps, is that, although
it Is frozen over for about five months
in the year, the animal life is ex-
tremely abundant and varied. This
may be partly due, perhaps, to the
existence of hot springs. --.-.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24
USEFUL EVAPORATION.

TT is fairly well known that IL a
wet towel be hung in the window
the room becomes almost Immediately
several degrees cooler. II a little
alcohol or ether is spilled on the hand
the cool sensation experienced Is due
to the rapid evaporation. Now the
atmosphere contains water vapor, and
when this reaches a certain per.
centage. taking into account the tenn
perature. the humidity becomes OPP
pressive. The reason il that at
certain temperature the air. can hold
only a certain amount of this water
vapor, and consequently no more can
eyaporate.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

the young Frenchman, complying, took
as a model the outline of the hall of
the House Of Representatives.. That
this was the basic idea of whoever
may have been responsible for the
plans seems very clear.
No outstanding men were ever more
closely associated than the three
Presidents constituting what was