Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-05
BY JOHN CLACETT PROCTOR.

~ No doubt some of our automobile
drivers would think nothing of driv-
ing from Washington to that quaint
Virginia town in an hour, though the more
prudent would rather take twice as long, de-
string to arrive there intact rather than in
sections. But, after ALL even two hours means
nothing when we consider the knowledge we
acquire by visiting one of Virginia's most his
toric cities
Travelling along the road, one does come in
contact with all kinds of people. Some create
a dangerous condition by loafing along the road
at 20 miles an hour, while others-real speed
.kingS-just burn the road at terrific gate,
cutting in and out, in the most needless, reck-
less sort of way, apparently thoroughly bent
upon committing suicide or worse still, murder
ing some poor innocent soul who is doing the
best he can to drive cautiously
Two Sundays ago the writer drove to Fred
ericksburg to some historic relics and places
he had especially in mind. It was not his first
trip there at all, for he has been there several
times before, and he hopes to visit there sew
eral times more, for the place is full of in
terest, and the more serious minded person
viii have no difficulty in dreaming of the days
when Mary Washington mother of the first
President, was occupying the little frame dwell
ing at Charles and Lewis streets; of James
Monroe in his little brick law Office perhaps
waiting for clients; Gen. Hugh Mercer making
pills in his apothecary shop, John Paul
Jones sewing buttons in the tailor shop
where he was apprentice wonderful
place, crowded full of American history.
One Of the things we cannot account for is
why some people go abroad to see foreign his
toric sites when they have not seen, particu-
1arly, the shrines of American freedom, some
OF which may be right at their very door. It
certainly displays bad judgment and most as
suredly may put the American tourist in a very
embarrassing position, for should some one
ask him something about some particular place
he has passed up near his own home for the
noted places abroad, he might not be able to
talk mtelligently on the subject. Indeed, there
are other good reasons why we should adhere
= to the slogan: "See America First"
MANY of our old American cities have taken
on somewhat too modern dress and have
lost to that extent that exquisite appearance
that only the antique can produce. But not
so with Fredericksburg, which still contains
structures of the Colonial and Revolutionary
periods and their associated architecture, and it
breathes not only of the times that "tried mems
souls" and of an earlier date, but as well of a
subsequent period when the South was rollins
in wealth and every one in Fredericksburg
seemingly had full and plenty-before the days
of the Civil War
Poverty in many cases followed this cruel
conflict, especially among those VINO had been
among the elite, but pluckily they endured
the hardships thrust upon them and many today
are living in comfort from wealth acquired
subsequent to that great clash between the
North and the South. With a limited few,
however, such is not the case for the writer
was told on his recent visit that all is not well
with some now grown old who once knew full
and plenty, when their hearts were young and
they danced the minuet and the Virginia reel
before the days of 1861, and who, in some in
stances, simply as innocent bystanders, suffered
a total loss from which they were never able
TO recover. But even these exceptional cases,
no doubt, the good people of Fredericksburg
will care for without outside help.
In, 1890 Fredericksburg had population Of
J. 485, including SGT slaves, a larger place at
that time than Williamsburg. In 1860 the pop
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