Evening star., 1936-02-23

tContlnued From First Page.)
senlbled under a series of gasoline
storage tanks
Then johnson was handed three
silver dollars. The first two he was
to throw as further practice, while
the third was the pay" dollar, in
scrlbed with the name of the donor,
John F. Goldman, jr. Johnson's
name also was engraved on the coin,
along with Ferry Farm" where the
family of the young George Wash
ington once lived
The big pitcher took little time to
warm up his famous right arm. He
already had visited the spot several
hours previously to hurl five silver
dollars toward the opposite bank. The
practice ammunition was sulplied by
the committee.
First Dollar Falls Short,
The first of three dollars which
johnson threw in public fell five or
six feet short of the far bank One
citizen in boat made futile efforts
20 recover it from the stream, which
WAS lull OF QrlIt ice.
The second dollar flew clear across
the stream, distance estimated at
273 feet by local surveyor, and de-
scrlbed as 1920 feet on an old map in
the British Public Records Office. This
latter figure was supplied by Repre-
sentative Sol Bloom of New York,
former chairman of the George WASH
ington Bicentennial Commission.
Representative Bloom cabled the
London Office to learn the width of
the river in George Washington.s day.
According to local authorities. the
river could not have been that wide.
If this was true" said one Fred
erlcksburg citizen, then the old city
OF Fredericksburg would have been
flooded off the map!"
Bet Is Called Of.
Unable to reconcile their calcula-
tlons, the Representative and the
Chamber of Commerce called off a
bet, by which Bloom would have lost
100000, with his 20 to l offered odds
Ine young Washington had ferried
the Rappahannock at that point on
MS way to school in Fredericksbure
Accorolng to Parson Weems, a popu-
iar nlographer of Washington. whose
Veracity has been challenged on good
autnoflty. the schoolboy once threw q
silver dollar across the river.
subsequently a new controversv
arose over whether silver dollars were
current at that time. While the date
seems early for a Treasury issue
there IS authority for the fact that
Spanish dollars were known in the
colonies before the Revolution. These
collars were heavier and thus easier
to throw.
AS Johnson wound up for the final
throw. local wit remarked that
Dollars went farther in Washing
TOMS time than they do now" But
johnson only grinned and collected
MS big shoulders behind the pitch.
Lands in Middle of Crowd.
He hurled the pay" dollar all the
way over the river and good 20 feet
onto the bank, in the very midst of
q crowd which had assembled to try
to catch the missile.
Ihls eagerness on the part of
young and old was whetted by the
of1er OF a local shoe dealer to nav
500 for the souvenir. The offer later
was boosted.
The dollar fell squarely at the feet
OF a naturalized citizen who said he
was Pietro Yon in his native Italy.
but since had been known as Peter
Yon. Yon quietly stopped, slipped
the dollar into his pocket, and moved
away from the crowd which had
heard the dollar was in that vicinity
and was scrambling for it with great
guSto.
Yon was. photographed with his
prize several times. He then hastened
to the Office of the local newspaper,
where he was interviewed at length
He explained that he was 81 years
old. came from the north of Italy,
and at present was engaged as a
stone mason at a Federal park near
here.
"What are you going to do with