Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-02-13
The
Rambler
How Grunt Won
Over Some 'Rebs'

IGUISe VI I d II d III L1uAilS
comes forward now to settle
once and for all the argument
about the naming of Tunlaw
road.
Along with it he passes the
story of how Grant, armed
only with a pair of horse
shoes, took a family of rebels
at Tunlaw Farm long after
the Civil War ended.
Tunlaw Farm was a big one,
covering approximately what
is now Wesley Heights. 1t was
owned by Mr.. Hume's grand
father. 1t was noted for its
fine walnut trees, and from
that - walnut spelled back
wardS-came the name. But
the theory that General Grant
proposed the name appears
false. 1t had the name long
before Grant was a guest
there.
my grandfather, Thomas
L. Hume, was an extraordinary
host" Mr.. Hume writes. "He
built Tunlaw road from his
home to Wisconsin avenue.
President Grant was indeed a
guest at Tunlaw Farm many
times. I have seen pictures
passed around the family
circle, showing him engaging
in homely activities such as
pitching horseshoes.
"The point I am most
anxious to emphasize in this
message is that the HumeS
were essentially a Southern
family. l have been given to
believe we never entertained
Grant as a general. IF this
were true we all probably
would have been captured.)
After he became President
of the United States he fire.
quently visited our home
stead"
Grant must have had win
ming ways, even in peacetime,
to wangle invitations from a
family of rebels.
Beginning
A man we know says he
was in the District Marriage
License Bureau the other
day when he noticed a sailor
and his intended waiting
their turn. The sailor pulled
a snapshot from his wallet
ana the couple looked at it.
Our friend, the nosey type,
wandered over casually and
peered over the sailors
shoulder. He reports it was
. picture of the sailor, all
right, but the girl with him
in the snapshot was not
the one at his side in the
Marriage License Bureau.
When he looked back q
little later, our friend says,
the sailor was glumly tear
ing the photo into small
pieces while his prospective
bride, in a jealous pique, sat
with arms folded, staring
stOnily ahead.
Haven
If there were any tigers
roaming the streets of Wash
ington, the Pan American
Union Building would have to
increase the size of its Jungle
like patio. Sooner or later,
the tigers would be breaking
in.
The only legitimate animal
residents of the patio are the
macaws. But almost from the
first, large numbers of SPAR
rows have fitted among the
exotic trees. In recent years
pigeons have been waddling
in occasionally.
The latest to invade this
wildlife sanctuary is a squir-
rel He has gnawed holes in
the rubber flaps at the bottom
of the Seventeenth street en-
trance doors. He uses these to
enter, climbs up the macaws'
perch, feasts, rompS awhile,
and departs.
Query
Bill Price would like to
know if any old George
town residents remember
Red Hill and its exact loca-
ton.
It was there the Signal
Corps set up its first crows
nest, in 1860, to wig-wag
signals to points such as
Tysons Corner, Fort Reno
and its downtown tele-
graphic Office in the Winder
Building.
1t was there also that the
Signal Corps was born, in
the Signal Camp Of Instruc-
ton. Mr.. Price says 1t APP
pears from Brady photo
graphs that Red Hill was on
the wr0unde ne GaNWwnfnvuv.