I t t u on D ecem ber 14, 1711, a l it tle before noon, and Mr. T lcknor u n : " I o ften beard person* u y a tth e tim e th a t one coaid know how fa r th e news had spread by the clos­ing of th e shops. Each m an, w hen he heard th a t W ashington w as dead, sh u t hie s to re a s a m a tte r o f course, w ith o u t consu lta tion , and In two hou rs all business was stopped.

“ M y fa th e r cam e hom e and could not sp e a k he w a s so overcom e. M d m o th er w a s a la rm ed to see h im lh such a s ta te t i l l he reco vered enough to te ll h e r th e bad new s. F o r eom e tim e e v e ry on e, even th e ch ild ren , w o re crap e upon the a rm . No boy cou ld go in to the s tre e t w ith o u t It.I w o re It, th o u g h o n ly e ig h t y e a rs o ld .”

The resum ption of cap ita l pwrtO D en t In France seem s, to the Boston T ra n sc rip t to h ave been called for.

covered.I t w as In 1195 th a t th e M atlonal

G overnm ent erected a t W akefield a m in ia tu re copy of th e W ashington M onum ent, w ith th e inscrip tion “ W a sh in g to n 's B irthp lace,” an d in sm all le tte rs a t th e b ase th e w ords “ E re c te d b y th e U nited S ta te s , A . D. 1 8 9 5 . ” — W ald on F a w c e tt , in th e W o m an ’s H om e C om panion.

“ M y ste ry ” o f W a sh in g to n 's D eath .C lem en t K . S h o rte r , an E n g lish

w r ite r o f m ore o r le ss d istin ction , su rp rise d e ve ry b o d y la s t w eek by p rin tin g in a Lon d on n ew sp ap er an a rt ic le In w hich he asse rte d th ere w as a m ystery su rro u n d in g th e d eath o f G en era l G eo rge W ash in g to n about w h ich A m erican s h esita ted to ta lk . I f th ere be a m y ste ry w e sh ou ld lik e to kn ow w h at it is.

G eo rge W ash in g to n c a u g h t cold w h en r id in g o v er h is p lan tatio n a t M ount V ern o n on th e a fte rn o o n o f D ecem ber 1 2 , 17 9 9 . F o rty -e ig h th o u rs la te r he d ied .

H e w a s attend ed b y th re e o f th e b est p h ysic ia n s o f th a t p a rt o f th e co u n try . H e w as bled no le ss th an th ree tim es to re lie v e a so re th ro at, and he w as dosed w ith calom el en o u gh to d ep rive a h e a lth y m an o f h is life . B u t w h at is th e m y ste ry ?

E n lig h te n e d p h ysic ia n s fre q u e n tly a s se r t th a t G en era l W ash in g to n w as k ille d , th a t he w as b led to d eath and poisoned w ith ca lo m el. T o b ias L e a r , h is se c re ta ry , sa y s th a t a fte r the doc­to r had bled him tc th e exten t o f h a lf a p in t W ash in g to n In terrup ted w ith the re m a rk : “ T h e gash Is notb ig e n o u g h ; m ak e It w id e r .” And th e h ig h ly tra in e d p ro fessio n a l Idiot p roceed ed to do so. “ D oes y o u r th ro a t fe e l a n y b e t te r ? ” asked the le a rn e d leech. " I t ’s v e ry so re ,” m u r­m ured W ash in g to n . W hen th e sec­ond p h ysic ian a rr iv e d M rs. W ash in g­ton trie d to s ta y h is m u rd ero u s hand b y p ro te stin g th a t “ th e G en era l w as too old a m an to stand m uch b leed ­in g .” " Y e s . y e s .” sa id th e m ig h ty d octor N u m ber T w o, " I ’ll be cau tiou s in b lo o d -le ttin g .”

A nd then he proceeded to rob h is c o u n try ’s F a th e r o f a fu ll p in t o f l i fe 's m ost p recious fluid . W hen the th ird p h ysic ian had com e he ro lled h is e ye s so lem n ly and sa id : “ I w illb leed h im .” “ W e both tried th a t ,” sa id th e o th e r d octors. “ Y e s . I

P o p W ash in g to n — "N o w , m y boy, as a p un ish m ent fo r cu ttin g dow n the c h e rry tre e , yo u m ay cu t It up, and a fte r th at 1 w ill see you a t th e h o u se .”

W ash in g to n a s an A th le te .W h en W ash in g to n w as com m and-

e r-in -ch ie f o f th e a rm y on one occa­sion he w ent to the q u a rte rs o f C olo­nel T im o th y P ic k e rin g , w ho had a n egro se rv a n t nam ed P rim u s. H e fo u n d th e colon el ab sen t, but to P r i­m u s’ ap o lo gy rep lied :

“ It does not m atter. I am g re a tly In need o f e xerc ise , and you m ust help m e to g e t som e b efo re yo u r m aster re tu rn s .”

U n d er 'W ash ington ’s d irection the n egro tied a rope to a n e igh b o rin g tre e , b reast h igh . P r im u s w as o r­dered to stand at som e d istan ce and hold It h o riz o n ta lly extended . W ash ­in gton ran fo rw a rd and b ackw ard fo r som e tim e, ju m p in g o ver the rope as he cam e and w ont, u n til he w-as sa tis ­fied w ith h is exercise .

H e learn ed fen cin g w h en q u ite yo u n g . H is teach er w as an old so l­d ier w ho had seen serv ice in the In ­d ies. H ’ s to n e-th ro w in g fe a ts acro ss th e R : .jpah ann ock, o v er the P a ll- Eades and to th e top o f the N atu ra l B r id g e , in V irg in ia , a re m entioned by a ll h is b io grap h ers.

C h a rle s P e a le , th e a rt is t , te lls us w hen he w as p a in tin g h is p ic tu res a t M t. V ern o n , in 1 7 7 2 , he saw him toss a b a r v e ry m uch fa r th e r th an se v e ra l y o u n g e x p erts w ho w ere te stin g th e ir s tre n g th In th a t w ay.

G en era l W ash ingto n w as a sp len ­d id h orsem an . T h ere w as no an im a l

R E M A R K A B L E RO CK FORM ATION N E A R CHATRW ORTH. CA L.—L. R . Freeman, California.

A LITTLE WASHINGTONIAT h e proper m anner In gettin g oij and o ff o f s tree t ears is being taught In the public sch ools o f C hicago and th e id ea Is not a t all bad, to the Ha van nah N ew s. It Is probab ly a fact th at not m ore than otic wom an In tec kn ow s how to get off a s tre e t ca r In o m anner that Is le a st dangerous, or 11 sh e does know sh e fa lls to exercise h e r know ledge. M ost o f the fa lls from stre e t ear steps a re due to the fact tbut the person ges off "b a c k w a rd s .’

O u r F i r s t P r e s i d e n t ’ s G i f t s a s a L e t t e r W r i t e r — W a s N o t

~ E x e m p t F r o m A b u s e — A C e l e b r a t i o n T h a t W a s P u r p o s e l y

O m it t e d — T h e T r o u b l e O v e r t h e J a y T r e a t y — T h e M o t h e s ” o f W a s h i n g t o n . *

0 L A O W t h a t W a s h i n g t o n ’ s tim es, out tne m avccr o i xne tettersI I 1 B ir th d a y Is so u n iv e rsa lly w a s stated p la in ly and fu lly .I I W cel<' ,,rttt°d> it U in te re stin g T h ere seem s to he no end to the

M I s m to note an In stan ce Of th e d isco very o f h is le tte rs . A fte r the o m ission o f th is p o p u lar p ub lication o f enough to fill tw e n ty

custom . O nly th ose w ho h ave care- octavo vo lum es e ve ry a n n iv e rsa ry of,fu lly stud ied the p o litica l h isto ry o f h is b irth e lic its ad d ition s to o u rthe co u n try can h ave a Ju s t id ea o f stock.the condition o f a ffa ir s th a t ex isted One th in g is ve ry re m a rk a b le : No In 17 9 6 . I t w as th e la s t y e a r o f m a tte r how m any le tte rs a re d lsln - W ash ln gto n ’s second A d m in istra tio n , te rre d , no m atter how p riva te th e irT h e F a th e r o f H is C o u n try w a s about n atu re , we a lw a y s find In them theto re tire to p riv a te l i fe ; and It w a s a t sam e w ise, ju st , sound h earted W ash -the v e ry c lo se o f a p ub lic ca re er a s in gton . No d isa g re e a b le d isc lo su resh o n o rab le and u se fu l a s th a t o f an y o b lig e us to recon sid er o u r e stim ateo th er p atrio t In the w o rld ’s h isto ry o f th e m oral w orth o f th e m an.th a t he su ffered such ab u se a s m igh t W h eth er he is w rit in g to an o v ersee rbe heaped upon a co rru p t and selfish ab o ut a re fa c to ry n egro , or to a nep-p o litlca l " b o s s .”

T h e tro u b le a ro se o u t o f w h at Is know n as J a y ’s tre a ty . T h e re la tio n s betw een E n g la n d and th e U nited S ta te s had been In to lerab ly had , and P resid en t W ash in gto n sen t J j i j , then C h ie f Ju s t ic e , to E n g la n d to m ake a tre a ty . M r. J a y had to ta k e w h at he cou ld get, aud th at w a s a tre a ty w h ich p leased no one and w h ich w a s reg ard ed a s ab om inab le by a ll th ose w h o, w ith M r. Je ffe rso n , fa v ­ored th e a llia n c e w ith F ra n ce .

P u t W ash in gto n , th ough b y no m ean s b etter satisfied th an o th ers, held to th e opin ion th a t an y tre a ty w as b etter than none, and determ ined to ra t i fy It I f the S en ate w ould con­sent to do It. H e did so, a lth o u gh p ro b ab ly seven -c lg h th s o f the people wore opposed to the t re a ty ; and the re su lt show ed h is w isdom .

A lw a y s b efo re th a t y e a r C o n gress had ad jo u rn ed e a r ly on the 22d o f F e b ru a ry to go in a body to p resen t the resp ects o f th e m em bers to the P re sid e n t and co n g ratu la te h im on his b ir th d a y . So h igh did th e p a rty sp ir it run th at a reso lu tion to fo llo w th is custom w a s opposed and voted dow n..

W a sh in g to n 's L e t te r W ritin g .W ash in g to n m ust h ave been one

of the m ost in d u strio u s o f m en, p a r­t ic u la r ly w ith the p en ; a lth o u g h , lik e m ost m en o f out-of-door h ab its , he had no g re a t love fo r th at litt le In­stru m en t, sa id In the h ands o f the t ru ly g re a t to be “ m ig h tier th an the sw o rd .”

H e did not e n jo y bending o v e r a d esk w hen th e sk y w as c le a r , and h is horse w as p aw in g b efo re h is door,Im patient fo r the expected ca n te r to a fa rm five m ljes aw ay . H e loved to be on h o rseb ack , ch asin g the fo x , or r id in g o v er h is esta te to in spect the g ro w in g crops and the lacy c u lt iv a ­to rs th ereo f.

B u t th e m aster o f th is m an w a s d u ty . O bedient to th e b eh ests o f d u ty , he w rote d u rin g h is life tim e o f R ixty-seven y e a rs m any th ousan d s o f le tte rs , som e o f them v e ry long, and a ll w ritten w ith care and exactness.S p e llin g and p un ctuation w ere not a l­w ays up to th e stan d ard o f m odern

F o r the 20-year period 1887-1906 th ere w ere In the U nited S ta te s 945,- 625 d ivorces. In the lik e 20-year per­iod ending with 1886 the num ber w ere 828,716. D ivorces, It Is estim ated , are in creasin g three tim es as fa s t a s the population. At p resent th ere Is n early one fo r eve ry 12 m arriag es. T h ese fig­ures and estim ates are by the census bureau, w hich a sse rts a lso th at the a verage duration o f m a rria g es term i­nated by d ivorce Is 10 y e a rs and that wom en are the p la in tiffs tw ice a s o f­ten a s men. T h ese statem en ts are th e ir own best com m ent. LesB than a xyeek ago P ro f. W a lte r F . W ilcox

D W a9 fnm<ff1 n i r itfc«~'arrtvai o l a tim e w hen fu lly h a lf o f A m erican m ar­r ia g e s w ould be annulled through ap ­p eal to law .

If the rank of v ice ad m ira l Is tc be restored to the n avy it Is nol enough that It be m ade a badge o.< honor with which to rem ard dlHtln gu lsbed retired officers, i t should br m ade applicable to officers s till ot a c t iv e duty, contends the N ew York P re ss , so (hat It w ill not happen ag a in , aa It has during the cru ise ol the b attlesh ips, th at at alm ost every c a llin g port the A m erican com m and e r baa found h im self outranked by tlio fo re ign n aval officer In command o f the station .

w utnan'H ‘‘man a re responsibly

fo r unhappy a n H f i M and anothet a s se r ts that the Increase In d ivorceIs due to the fa c t jthat h a lf o f the W hile the w ork o f the fie ld s chief- m en p ro ve unfit fo r m arried life . Man ly en gages the Indian, hlB se rv ice s born o f wom an Is o f fe w d a y s and a re tendered fo r st ill m ore laborious fu ll o f trouble, lam en ts the Lou isv ille p ro jects . G an gs o f red sk in s h ave beenC ourler-Journal. H e goeth forth In the assign ed by con tract to Irrigation and m orning to be cau gh t lik e an unwary ra ilro ad excavatio n s, and done th e ir fish'. I f u n satisfacto ry he Is dropped w ork so w ell that the dem and fo rlike a hot potato. And y e t he puffe them exceed s tho supply, a s se r ts theout h is little ch est and c a lls h lm scll N ew Y o rk M ail. The S a n ta F e rail-one o f the stro n ger sex. road has had a gung, 210 strong, ilo-

—------ Ing re p a ir w ork on the lines w est o fM r. D avid Lloyd-G eorge, Interview ed Albuquerque. P ra c tic a lly a ll o f the

In Ixtudon, on his retu rn from G e r ■ w ork o f controlling the inflow o f the m any, said he had n ever realized be j C olorado r iv e r to the Salton s e a w as fo ro the g igan tic sca le o f tho Ger- dono by Indians, chiefly P lin as and m an pension system , nor how sue Pupagos, us m any as 1100 h aving ceHsful tho id ea had proved. T lie thing been em ployed. From th is Job th ey th a t Im pressed him with the most cleaned up in a few m ouths net w ages sa tis fa c tio n w as th at in e ve ry c last o f m ore than $100,000. T h e sto ry o f and In e v e ry w ay tho system w orked a ll the w estern reservatio n s Is that p erfectly . The em p lo yers said thal the Indian Is a ctu a lly w ork in g out his the system prom oted efficiency. He own sa lvation . Nobody e lse could do w as m uch Btruck a lso with tho wuy |t fo r him.th e G erm an revenue w as obtained ---------from the ra ilw a y s , raining and ro ya l T h e Irrep ressib le conflict betw een t ie * on the unearned Increm ent lr t*ie JX-'OP'** the s ta te and rec k less the c itie s . He then d w elt on the cosl autom obile d riv ers w ill lose much of o f liv in g and the enorm ous rise !u l u viru len ce If reasonab le u sers of prlcos. m otor ca rs continue to s id e with the

h ew a t school w ho is g iv in g h is teach ­e r tro u b le , o r to a s to re k e e p e r o f h is C h ristm a s b ill, w e see him Ju s t and co n sid erate , in ten t on d oing th e th in g th a t Is e x a c tly righ t.

W ash in g to n ’s M oth er.In the l it t le old house In C h a rle s

s tre e t , F re d e r ic k sb u rg , V irg in ia , W ash in g to n ’s m oth er, w ho w a s in h er d a y a fam o u s cook and h o u sew ife , w a s a t tim es fo nd o f g iv in g a “ sm a ll d ance and d in n er p a r ty .”

T h e re , “ on the w axed floor o f the fro n t room , ligh ted b y n u m ero u s can ­d le s ,” the b e lles and b eau x o f o th er d a y s “ d id dance rlg h te m e rr ily .” In a d ia ry now w orn and ye llo w w ith age , one b righ t-eyed b elle te lls :

“ M y p ettico at w as o f flow ered P e a ch sa tin , w ith lo n g -w aisted C oat o f W h ite . A lace ’K e rc h ie f w as g a th ­ered round m y sh o u ld ers, and m y A rm s w ere b are to th e E lb o w . A s tr in g o f M ilk -w h ite P e a r l3 d id tie aro u n d m y th ro at. M y h a ir I had h ig h and p le a s in g P o w d ered . And s ilv e r B u c k le s w ere upon m y S h o e s .”

Old M r. L , one o f the n e ig h ­b o r , happened to d rop In one m orn ­in g w hile M rs. W ash in gto n w as bus.v In h e r d a iry , w as requ ested to com e th e re I f he cared to sp eak to h er. H e en tered , found M rs. W ash in g to n w ith s k ir ts turned tip and s leeves ro lled b u sy w ith th e fre sh m ade b u t­te r , w hich sh e w as m o u ld in g 1». a w ooden tra y . “ F o r you kn o w . M r.L - ,” ’ sh e sa id , “ m y to n g u e andm y h an d s m ay be em ployed a t the sam e tim e w ith o u t lo ss .”

W ash in g to n 's D eath .

■ M r. G eo rg e T lck n o r, w ho w ro te “The H isto ry o f Sp an ish L ite ra tu r e ” and “The L ife o f P re sc o tt,” rem em ­bered d istin c tly th e d eath o f W ash ­in gto n . H e sa y s In his d ia ry :

“ T h e re n ever w as a m ore s t r ik in g o r m ore sp on tan eou s tr ib u te p aid to m an th an w a s paid in B osto n w hen th e n ew s cam e o f W ash in g to n 's d e a th .”