The Washington times., 1933-06-10

the place. He was a Quaker
and was in power as the commits
sioner governing Maryland under
the lord protector, Oliver Crom-
we'll
st. Leonards, the town and
creek. are named for the par
ish of st. Leonards in London
and were named by Bishop Clag-
EFT, who settled there. The
bishop was greatgrandson of
Capt. Thomas Clagett, one of
the early settlers. During the
War of 1912 a battle was fought
between a flotilla of British boats
and an American fleet, the lat
ter commanded by Commodore
Barney, in St. Leonards Creek.
Pass Old Chapel
About five miles north of Solo
mons Island and a short distance
from Route 2, stands Middle
Chapple, as it originally was
called. 1t is chapel of the
Protestant Episcopal Church and
was rebuilt in 1748. The date of
the original building has been
forgotten, but the figures "1748"
are painted on the side of the
chapel.
Solomons Island is at the
mouth of the Patuxent where the
river, unusually deep anyway, has
great and deep anchorage spaces.
1t has long been famous among
watermen for it's harbor and to-
day the Standard Oil Company,
with its large deep-water refiner-
les at Baltimore, uses the anchor
age off Solomons as the place in
which to overhaul its fleet of tank
ers.
During the past week, nearly a
score of such ships we're riding
at anchor in various stages of re-
pair. Approximately 225 men are
employed by the company there,
rs of whom are natives of Solo
mons.
The ships are run in and gone
over, inside and out. Boilers are
cleaned and inspected. Tanks are
blown and cleaned. Paint is
scraped off and a new coat put
on.
But there are four ships tied
up there whose days at sea are
over. They are the Monticello,
Mount Vernon, George Washing
ton and the America. Four ships
of the proud German merchant
navy in the days before the late
war. 1nterned with the outbreak
of hostilities, they later were re-
paired and pressed into service in
taking men and supplies to France
to fight their former owners.
Wilson's Ship
President Wilson went to Yer
sailles aboard the George Wash
ington. The ship also was famous
as the rescue ship commanded by
Capt. George Fried, who now is
skipper of the new George Wash
ington, one of the largest ships
ever built on the American CONT
nent.
The old George Washington, her
engine dismantled, her compasses
gone and everything salable taken
out of her, came to her last
anchorage last fall. herded igno.
miniously to an inshore berth by
three seagoing tugs. She had come
down from New York-like the
others-in tow of the big tugs.
The four ships are anchored
fore and aft with their own
hooks. Added are lines run ashore
and to piling on the edge of the
ship channel. The Monticello
closest to shore, is headed down
stream, the next ship has her bow
toward the upper river, and the
remaining two alternate in their
directions.
Their maSts and tunnels form
maze that is reminiscent of war
days when ships we're painted in
weird designs to hide their true
lines and course. The paint is
falling from them and they are
four sad. rusty hulks lying at
anchor. They add nothing cheer
full to the view and residents of
the island resent their presence.
A ferry-now on it's summer
Schedule-runs from Solomons
Island to Milestone Landing. The
fare is 81 for car and driver
and 25 cents for each additional
passenger. At Milestone Landing,
road leads out to Great Mills,
connecting there with Route 5 for
LeonardtoWn and Washington.
This trip was made by returning
to Prince Frederick, turning left in
the town for Holland Point and
crossing the ferry there to Bene-
dict.
Flag Calls Ferry
The State road to Holland Point