Evening star., 1934-05-20

80 years ago, when the present building was
erected and 1t Is now used for public school
purposes for first and second grades and for
children attending the kindergarten.
A MOTHER gentleman the writer met in his
\ rambles was Albert ]. Almoney who owned
and edited the Montgomery Advocate for many
years and still had time to chief clerk
of the Maryland House of Delegates for more
than three decades. He is now the secretary of
the Maryland State Democratic Central Com
mittee Mr.. Almoney is said to be the oldest
native living in Rockville, but he hardly looks
old enough to qualify in this respect. He knows
his town pretty we'll and told the writer of his
attending the Rockville Academy and of some
of the early families and landmarks of the vii
lage. He said that where Wilson's Pharmacy
stands on Main street once stood the old Wash
ington Hotel and that the ancestor of the Perry
family of Washington once lived on the site of
the Montgomery County National Bank.
Where the Farmers Bank stands Main
street was the site of school once kept by the
Misses Dugan and Walley-from the early days
of the Civil War to about 1880. owens Ordl-
nary, he said, about mile south of the
village the Georgetown Rockville pike, and
that the site of Hungerford's Tavern is now oc-
cupied by the Baptist Church and parsonage,
corner of Washington and Jefferson streets. DR..
E. SCOneStreet once llVeQ Wnere Is now LIle
high school.
very old house on Washington street, lit
tie north of the center of the city is the Upton
Beall residence, now occupied by Miss Dawson,
but wher the writer called there, the owner was
visiting Washington, or he might have had more
to say about it at this time But, then there Is
SO much to be said about Rockville that at least
another visit will have to be made there in order
to complete the story.
Probably those of an astronomical turn have
heard of the wonderful meteoric shower of No
vember IL and 13, 1888, when the heavens just
seemed to open up and pour out fiery stars upon
mother EARTH striking terror to those who had
never before witnessed shower of this kind.
A CERTAIN gentleman, whose name is un-
known, upon the occasion referred to- was
on his way to visit an old Revolutionary soldier
named Charles Saffen, and as part Of what he
relates took place in Rockville, and it is inter-
esting and tells of historic event, the writer
will repeat it here:
Five miles beyond the mill Choppers on the
Great Seneca), at early candlenght, I reined up
at the farm of Charles Saffell, an old soldier,
then "a years of age, who had been musician
in the Revolutionary Army. The old gentle
man had drum, fife and fiddle, an old English
musket, which he captured at the Battle OF
Brandywine, and many other relics from the
days that tried mems souls.
"At the hour of 10 o'clock I took candle
and a row of paper matches, about the length
and appearance of a row of pins, and retired
to bed in an upper room. The matches were
made by cutting out piece of. paper about 3
inches long and inch wide, and making dozen
clips with a pair Of scissors into one OF tne
longer edges of the paper so prepared, as to
extend about three-quarters Of the distance
across its width. struck the match,
the first kind known in trade, and with .
cheerful and glad heart lit the candle. I was
under the cover and yielded to tifed natures