Evening star., 1937-01-03

I sang, to my own accompaniment:
The Last Rose of Summer When
had finished the last long
note of the song. turned to have A
look at my audience. Mrs. Lincoln
had risen from her seat and was
standing at a window in the back
part of the room with her back to-
ward me. I could not see her face.
but I knew she was weeping. The
melancholy strains of the ballad had
set her heart aching with renewed
sadness. felt had made an awk-
ward choice"
Nine. Patti further states that Pres
ident Lincoln then asked her to sing
Home, Sweet Home" which she did.
but could hardly finish for her own
emotion. and that when she retired
all hands were weeping.
RUT the White House, like the coun-
try itself, has undergone many
changes since the days Of John Adams,
and things that would have been per-
mitted many years ago would now be
looked upon as horrible.
| One of the outstanding. ludicrous
incidents to take place in the old man
sion occurred on one of the public
holidays during the administration Of
Andrew jackson, when some Of the
admirers of "Old Hickory" sent him
a cheese weighing 1,400 pounds and
measuring feet in diameter and 2
feet thick.
Gen. Jackson ordered that chunks
Of it should be cut of and distributed
at the great reception. To make the
story short, his orders were obeyed,
but not so by his friends, WHOSE lack
| of judgment was shown by the kener-
GUS use they made of the carpets in
trampling on the cheese and the SUBJ
sequent odor that prevailed thereafter.
For some time. it is said. it was TAX
ing big chances to say cheese" to the
old general.
From human viewpoint, the White
House is about the same as any other
home, but some unusual things do
occur within its four walls, and upon
one occasion. on January 20. 1867, all
the Scottish Rite Masonic degrees
were conferred there upon President
Andrew johnson, and only during the
past year, on February 10, the degrees
Of the Order of knights of Pythias
were conferred upon Mr.. Roosevelt.
/ TIM1D people, or those believing in
the supernatural. are not advised
to stop overnight as guest Of the
President. for he is likely to treat you
as President Harding did Ambassador
Harvey, and assign you to Gen. An
drew Jackson's four poster canopied
bed. or as President Hoover did when
he put Premier Ramsey Macdonald
in President Lincolns room and bed.
But. after all. they never complained.
and both seemed to enjoy their visits
very much. though this might have
been due to the peaceful frame Of
mind in which the hobgoblins were at
the time.
For many years the question of
placing the White House elsewhere
|
visable to place it on more elevated
part Of the District of Columbia, and
in 1866 a report on this subject, made
to the Secretary of the Interior, sug-
gested several available sites, and of
special interest is the prices these
properties, then farmland, could have
been bought for. Meridian Hill, where
are now so many fine embassies and
other dwellings, then called "Col.
Mesmore's estate" and consisting Of
100 acres, could have been bought
for $2,613 an acre.
The property OF John Little, now a
part of Washington Heights. embrace
| ing 80 acres, could have been pur-
chased for 6 cents square foot. and
other properties suggested as suitable
were: Metropolis View. homestead Of
the late Washington Berry. and To-
Gated 212 miles from the Capitol. It
was described as being to the west
of Brentwood, and east Of Glenwood
Cemetery and Harewood, and with
lexington to the south. The whole
tract of $50 acres was offered for
100000. And number Of nearby
places were also suggested. but the
White House, as we know, was never
moved and probably never will be.
The value Of the mansion and
grounds connected with 1t might we'll
exceed ones Imagination, and yet an
ofiicial estimate placed upon them in
1927 give their value as $4,000, 900.
which, If the Government paid taxes
on its property in the District Of CO.
lumbia, which 1t does not, would alone
bring into the city treasury $330.000
annually. At the present rate Of local
real estate taxation, and II the per.
sonal property within this building
were included, the amount Of taxes
would be considerably increased.
But regardless of its value and all
other considerations. 1t Is truly q mag.
nificent building. and one every Amer
lean should see.
Billions in Gas Taxes.