1
V
b-
w
if?
ii
SUITE EARLY HISTORY.
Robert Eront, First Mayor of tho
City of Washington.
rtc W'nn Appointed by Irenlilpnt Jcf-
fui-Non, ami Mirny Iimtltutloiin
Foil n ill-(1 liy llltn Arc I2s.lnt-
liiK nt TIiIh Time.
Special Washington better.
The peoples of the old world look upon
their ancient places, their ancient
towns, cathedrals and courts with u
veneration akin to idolatrous adora
tion. The people of this new world arc liv
ing only in the living present, and look
upon antiques very much as Tennyson
expressed his disrespect for titular
.and hereditary nobility, when he said:
"The gardener, Adam, and his wife,
smile at the claims of long descent."
It is now more thnn 400 years since
.the discovery of the new continent was
ROBERT BRENT,
'heralded to the world. We take no ac
count of the discovery by Eric the lied,
for nothing came of it. snve a historic
and reliable account of the discovery
by that bold and piratical buccaneer
Norseman. We reckon only from tho
time that Columbus and Amerigo
Vespucci, and their successors, trav
ersed the dangerous billows of the At
lantic to discover HI Dorado.
Four hundred years! Think of itl
We are not beginners in this wonderful
world of the west; and yet we have
nothing which savors of antiquity. We
hnve ignored, and many of us have de
spised, all efforts to chronicle the
Achievements of our immediate ances
tors. Mark Twain received vociferant
and long-continued applause when he
said: "I am not proud of my family. 1
am trying to do something which will
make my family proud of me."
That epitomizes the popular senti
ment. Nevertheless, there are far
sighted people in America to-day who
are building monuments for the fu
ture; making histories of loculltiea and
local events, which will bo valuable, and
be better appreciated when this con
tinent is older; and, I may say it, more
civilized. There will come u time when
boys and girls will not only study the
outline history of the origin and devel
opment of this great republic, but when
they will study tho development of their
counties, townships, stutes and im
mediate environments.
We had a quadro-centennial exposi
tion in Chicago a few years ago. That
enterprising demonstration was a
(Startler to the whole world, when its
magnitude and iiiagnilicence were un
derstood. Wo had a centennial exposi
tion of our national independence in
Philadelphia in 187(5. We have since
had centennial exhibitions for several
states and sections. Tho people of Ten
nessee are now inviting our entire peo
ple to unite in celebrating the centen
nial of tho formation of thai common
wealth; and the president of the repub
lic has seen fit to lend his personal lu
ll uence and presence to commemorate
the event.
In spite of clamors from thousands of
well-meaning and patriotic citizens,
the state of Wisconsin has placed in
Statuary hall, in the national capitol, a
statue of Father Marquette, the pioneer
of the frontier who brought Christian
ity and civilization to the great lake re
gion. In the same hall of notables in mar
ble, tho state of Illinois has erected a
statue to Gen. James Shields, who was a
soldier of the republic and u senator
irom three sovereign states.
We may never bo able to explain the
manifestations of civilization which ex
cuvutions have developed in' Yucatan,
and other portions of the continent on
which we live; but the time is already
upon us when we must take cognizance
of the immediate pust, and build monu
ments for future generations to study
And admire.
The Columbian Historical society, of
this city, is composed of gentlemen of
scholastic acquirements, and ail of
them possess something of personul
pride in the capital city where they
.have long resided, and which they have
.seen grow into proportions of metro
politan pretensions. Thes- leurued
gentlemen look forward to the time
when there will be 2,000,000 people, or
more, settled within a rodiua of ten
miles from the dome of tho capitol.
They are mnki history for the fu
ture, and it ifa well that they are doing
co.
At a recent meeting of the society a
paper was read which gives a history of
the first mayor of Washington. Kob
crt Brent filled that office from 1S02 to
1812; a period of 12 years, and at a time
when the capital city of this republic
wis a little bit of a village.
George Washington hud seen the frui-
ff '52F -VKWi
I tlon of his dreiiui of a stable republic.
lie had sheathed his sword, delivered
his farewell address, and declined a
third term of president of the new re
public; had gone to his country home
nt Mount Vernon, and had been gath
ered unto his fathers. lie had seen
the city founded, lie had buildcd hero
a city residence, which still Munds; lie
had turned over his high ollice to his
duly-elected successor. Tho republic
was very young, and the city of Wash
ington was yet to be built.
We hove the same sort of government
tt.-day, with slight modifications, that
Washington provided for the national
capital. In January, 1701, 1'resldeut
Washington appointed three commis
sioners for the "territory of Columbia,"
and those commisssioners were the lo
cal rulers until congress passed an act
approved May 3, 1802, authorizing the
president to appoint a mayor for the
city.
The Historical society has published
the following letter, doted June 3, 1802,
to Uobert Brent, Esq., of the city of
Washington:
"Dear Sir: Tho Act of Congress incor
porating the City of Washington has con
lided to tho President of the United States
the appointment of a Mayor of the City. As
the agency of that otllcer will be immedi
ately requisite, I am desirous to avail tho
City of your services in it, if you will per
mit me to send you tho commission. I will
ask tho favor of your answer to this prop
osition. "Will you do mo tho favor of dining with
me the day after to-morrow (Friday), at
hulf past three? Accept my friendly and
respectful salututlons.
"TH. JEFFERSON."
To this official note Bdbert Brent re
plied as follows:
"Washington, Juno 3. 1S02. Dear Sir: 1
have tho honor of receiving your favor oi
this date, asking my acceptance of tho ap
pointment of Mayor, under the Into act of
congress for tho incorporation of tho city.
Although I feel great dllildenco In tho
talents 1 possess for executing that duty, In
a manner which may afford general satis
faction, yet feeling it a duty to contribute
my feeble aid for the public service, I will
venture upon Its duties.
"1 beg you, sir, to accept my thanks for
tho honor which you are about to confer
on me, and for tho obliging manner In
which you have been pleased to communi
cate it.
"1 will, with pleasure, accept your polite
Invitation to dinner on Friday next. With
sentiments of much esteem and respect, 1
have the honor to be, sir, Your Obt. Ser
"ROBERT BRENT."
There is the forinul profiler and ac
ceptance of the first muyoralty of the
city of Washington. There is the for
mality, the deference, the respectful
consideration displayed by the presi
dent to the private citizen; and there
we also see the consideration nnd
esteem of the citizen for the president.
It is a matter of record in the Historical
society that the dinner lasted from
three o'clock until seven o'clock in the
evening. Thomas Jefferson was pres
ident of n republic of about G,000,OOC
people. Kobort Brent was appointed
I mayor of a city of something like 1.G0C
people. There was as much courtesy
and consideration displnyed as though
Brent were being made minister to
Great Britain.
By the. act of congress the appoint
ment of a mavor of Washington wns
V,
BRENTWOOD.
made annual, and the president con
tinued reappointing Mr. Brent until
1S12, when he declined to serve longer
because of his incumbency of other po
sitions, lie was mayor of Washington
for ten years, judge of the orphans'
court from 1800 to 1814 and paymas
ter general of the ormy from 1S08 to
1819.
Manifestly President Jefferson made
no mistuke in selecting the first mayor
of Washington city. lie was reappoint
ed by successive presidents until other
official duties of importance compelled
him to withdraw from the office. He
succeeded Gen. Dearborn ns paymaster
general nt n critical period and ful
filled the functions of that office to the
satisfaction of three presidents.
During Mayor Brent's administration
the citymarkot was established, where
it stands until this day. An ordinance
was passed requiriug the maintenance
of leather fire buckets filled with water
in all storehouses and hotels. Appro
priutions were made for the digging
and maintenance of public wells for
drinking purposes and for the use ot
nre-bucket brigades.
Mayor Brent maintained an elegaut
private residence, and Sir Augustus
Foster, the British minister, wrote to
bis country at Unit time: "There are
only three private residences main
tained in this city; they art by Mayor
Brent, Mr. Carroll and Mr. Taylor."
The first mayor of Wahhington suf
fered a stroke of paralysis in 1S19, when
he was in his slxty-Blxth year. Ho
then resigned the position of paymaster
general of the army. Within a few
months thereafter he died at his man
sion in Washington, September 14, 1819.
SMITH D. FRY.
? i.
FARM AND GARDEN.
SURPLUS OF APPLES.
Hcmv to IivuoriUo Fruit to Advnn
tiiKe on the I'll r in,
Waste of tho fruit crop is one of the
causes of greatest loss. Many who can
not dispose of tho crop in a fresh state
nilow it to rot or feed it to stock. I have
found It profitable to evaporate what ap
ples could not bo sold fresh nnd so con
structed on evaporator. The plan wns
original with mo and has worked to per
fection. Tho building is eight feet long,
four feet wide and nine feet high to the
eaves. The walls are of good hard brick
andeightiuches wide. Tho firebox (a) is
in tho end opening on tho outside. In
HOMEMADE EVAPORATOR.
the center of one side is a door two feet
wide and extending down six foot from
the eaves or to within three feet of the
ground. This leaves space three feet
wide on each side for trays (c) which
are two feet square and made of one by
one nnd one-half inch material, tho bot
tom being covered with fine wire mesh.
A framework extends entirely around
tho room of two by three inch material,
nailed six inches apart, to support the
drier frames. When a frame is filled, it
is cosily slid into a place either on tho
right or left of the door. Close the ven
tilator in tho roof when the sulphur is
put into blench the apples. The firebox
GROUND PLAN.
(a) is ten by ten inches square, three
feet long, arched with one four-inch
thickness of brick. The firebox walls
ore four inches thick. Cold air is ad
mitted on both sides of tho firebox
through flues four inches wide, passing
from the roar of the box to the front of
it nnd passing into the frnme room just
In front of fire or smoke Hue. As shown
in the ground plan, the smoke posses
from the firebox to the left, buck to the
front, over the firebox, along tho end
wall, then the side wall, round the end
wall to the chimney. In a larger build
ing a larger firebox and larger frames
are needed. Any good bricklayer ought
to be able to put up this building. W.
O. Ham, in Farm and Home.
HOW PLANTS FEED.
They Drnw StiNteiuiiiee. from the Air
UH Well n m the Soil.
Bulletin 48, Utah experiment station:
It may be iuteiesting before we pass
on the experiment proper to explain in
n very general way how a plant obtain
its food. The substances which make
up the ash of the plant, the water
which it contains, and most of the nitro
gen of tho combustible portion are
taken from the soil and tho air through
the roots; while all the ciirlon and
some of the nitrogen are token from
the oir by means of the leaves. When
n plant burns, the carbon or charcoal
It contains unites with the oxygen of
the air to form an invisible gas, usu
ally known as carbonic ncid gas. Since
the burning of charcoal in one form or
another is always going on at the
earth's surface, it follows that the air
we breathe, the atmosphere about us,
must contain considerable quantities of
enrbonio acid gas. The green coloring
matter of loaves, known to scientists
ns chlorophyll or leaf green, has the re
markoble property, when under proper
conditions of temperature and moist
ure, nnd in the presence of light, of
taking the carbonic acid gas from the
air, and of breaking it up in the cells
of the leaf into charcoal and oxygen.
The greater pnrt of tho oxygon thus
tet free is thrown bock into the atmos
phere, while the charcoal is caused to
unite with water and other substances
found in the colls to form the various
classes of bodies that make up the
combustible parts of plants.
KfTect of I'immI on .Milk.
The effect of food is an importantfac
tor, but not always appreciated in its in
fluence upon the quality of the milk.
A specific breed possesses certain cap
abilities, the fulfillment of which is
dependent in lorgo measure upon the
food supplied. That is, while food may
not exert a posithe and iinmediate in
fluence in improving the quality of
the milk, because of the inherent chur
tioteristics of tho animal to make a prod
uct of a definite composition, still, un
less the nnimol is supplied with suffi
cient food, she cannot reach her normal
milk giving capacity. American Agriculturist.
ft ""- J
IOWA TAKES THE LEAD.
I'Mrnt WcNlont Mutt to lleuln Ilntlit
1 n 17 of Permum-nt ltonil.
Iown, from the first, has token a lead
ing part among the odvocotes of im
proved roods nnd highways, and per
haps nothing hns more contributed to
that position than the paper dealing
with the financial phase of the good
roads question, read by Judge Thayer,
of Clinton, at Council Bluffs, la., four
years since. That paper was replete
with facts nnd arguments In favor of
Improved means of intercommunica
tion between towns and cities, and the
United States department of agricul
ture, fully appreciating its value, re
printed it and scattered It broodcost,
and It has helped materially in educat
ing public opinion up to a full recogni
tion of tho Importance of tho subject
ns a great national one. Iowa has now
commenced a practical exemplification
of its faith in tho matter. Tho super
visors of Scott county have tecently
bought a largo gravel bank and a stone
quarry and has several gangs of men
at work on different roads, and will
soon have solved tho question of per
manent highways. They are fortunate
hi having tho material necessary for
road making so near at hand. Their
method is, after grading, to lay a depth
of six inches of rock, and two Inches
of macadam ore laid on this, nnd over
the whole two inches of gravel are laid.
Culverts of boiler steel are placed in
fills, hills are being graded; and, when
tho good work Is finished, the pauper
labor of the county will bo employed,
as far as possible, in keeping the sur
face of tho roads in order. It could be
wished all the counties of Iowa and
other states needing improved roads
wore as favorably situated both as re
gards roadmaklng material, and also
that other necessary funds as Scott
county seems to be. It gets $30,000 a
year from her saloons, and her rood tax
raises this to $75,000 a year, and is all
available for rond purposes. The cost
of the 10-foot rood now In formation
is between 33 nnd 40 cents n running
foot. Tho average cost per mile of
the improved road "fine as any pike"
is $2,000. Here is an object lesson in
road making which should be token to
heart by good roods advocates in other
localities, especially those which have
the natural advantages of a uupply of
gravel or stone available. .Journal of
Agriculture.
THE LOGANBERRY.
CroMH llettvueii the Iletl Itiinphcrry
ami the IllucUlierry.
There has rarely been a novelty In
troduced that hos excited so much dis
cussion os the loganberry. It has been
highly praised by seedsmen who had
plants to sell and has been declared
worthless by hundreds who have tried
it. From some facts concerning this
berry gleaned from bulletin No. 43, of
the New Jersey experiment station, it
scorns that both sides of the story have
been founded on truth.
The loganberry was originated by
Judge J. II. Logan, of Santa Cruz, Cal.,
a public-spirited gentleman who liua
never reaped nny benefit from it nor
atempted to do so. It seems to bo an
intermediate form between the red
raspberry and the blackberry, having
tho color and flavor of raspberries and
the shape of blackberries. It has been
called a red blackberry, but It is prob
able that it is a cross between a variety
of the European raspberry and a wild
blackberry native of tho Pacific coast.
At tho New Jersey station it ripened
with the raspberries and was found to be
quite inferior when eotou row, but of
good flavor when cooked. The original
stock is quite prolific. It is propagated
by stolons, but the seeds grow readily.
The plants grown from seed produce a
fruit that is worthless, and this is the
source of a great deal of stock sold by
nurseries. It will not endure the hard
winters of New England, but is hardy
in Now Jersey. Fanner's Voice.
Work In the (inrilcn.
The work of tho garden is never end
ed, as many imagine. There is always
plenty to do for those who seek it and
are interested in their work. Tho prin
cipal thing to do now is to keep the
crops picked clean, and ns soon as they
ore over to clear them away, carefully
raking up nnd carting oil oil rubbish.
At all times there may bo found bits of
stick, stones, paper, wire, tin cans, etc.,
to mar the nppearauco of tho grounds;
these are frequently carried there iif
tho manure and should nlwuys be
picked up and not thrown under the
currant bushes or into some corners in
tho garden, as such cannot bo hidden
from tho quick eye of the employer and
should be taken cieunuway. American
Gardening.
The Cure of SvpnrutorN.
All-kinds of separators should be
token opart and cleaned out; the lower
boxes uiwl spindles and bull bearings
should bo wiped off clean, and if they
hove begun to get worn and rough
they should be replaced with new ones.
Where the separators are run four or
five hours every day they should bo
cleansed out every two weeks or often
er. By doing this the boxes will never
bent, and your operators will run more
smoothly and do closer skimming. You
cannot expect to do close sklmmingun-losi-
the separators run smoothly and at
n higher rute of speed, and keeping tho
bearings clean and well supplied with
oil Is the main point in running them
properly. Dakota Field arid Vuvtzi.
WEDDING FROM THE OUTSIDE.
Nolurliluirly CoiniiiuiitM on the llrlile,
Her I'a ml I y anil Her I'ate.
Two men drove up to the house, took
the framework and canvas of a canopy
out of the wagon, and began erecting
it across the sidewalk and up the stoop.
It was a quiet, respectable, well-ordered
neighborhood, where things worth
talking about rarely happened. So the
canopy set the neighbors talking.
"What can It boV" asked one across
the street.
"It can't be thnt they arc going to
give a reception," replied her com
panion. "Well, I should say not," rejoined
the first. "They are entirely too mean
to do anything of tho kind."
A caterer's wagon drove up nnd men
began carrying boxes into tho house.
"Oh, come and look I" cried a neigh
bor across the street. "Those people
are actually going to have something
to eat at last."
"You don't mean itl" cxclnlmcd
her companion.
"1'vu watched and watched nnd
wntched," continued the neighbor, and
I've never seen more thnn ten cents'
worth of food carried into that house
at one time before."
"How could they manage to live?"
asked tho companion.
"I never could find out," replied the
neighbor. "They must have been sav
ing all these years. But what can It be
that they are going to have?"
A florist's wagon drove up ahd de
livered mosses of flowers.
"Do you suppose It's somebody that's
dead?" asked a third neighbor.
"Well," replied her companion, "if
nny of that family was dead, I should
think their friends would bo glad
enough to send them flowers."
A delivery wagon drove up and left n
green nnd gold chair.
"Do you know what?" cried one of
a party of neighbors. "It's a weddlngt"
"No!" cried tho neighbors in chorus,
"Yes," continued tho first, "nnd that's
one of tho wedding presents."
"What a horrid, cheap-looking thing
to send!" commented a neighbor.
"It shows what their friends think
of them if they get presents like that."
"But there's nobody in the house to
get married."
"Nobody under 40, anywnj'."
"Oh, I remember seeing a wizened
dricd-up, red-hnired little thing going
into the house."
"But she can't be the bride!"
"I thought she wns an old maid sis
ter." "And maybe it's that little boy who
has been calling there that is going ta
marry her!"
"Whatubhumc!"
More wngons from the caterer's drove
up, and smooth-Hitmen, dignified wait
ers in short sleeves began bustling
about the sidewalk and the house.
"Do you suppose they can get any
one to go to the wedding?" asked a
neighbor.
"You can see thnt nobody around
hero would go," replied her compan
ion. "Everybody here is either peck
ing out of the windows or walking up
and down the block to get a look ot the
house and they wouldn't do that if they
had been invited."
"They know bettor than to invite us,"
said the first.
"I should say so,"
replied her com-
pauion. I suppose
they will try to
make those waiters
pass os guests
among strangers.
"They are a great deal sweller look
ing than anyone they know," rejoined
the first.
Darkness came, and a band, and a
flood of carriages that blocked the
street, and a flock of carriage callers
whose voices filled the air.
"Two forty-nine I two forty-nine!"
cried a leather-lunged youth running
down the street.
"The ideal" exclaimed a neighbor.
"There nre not 15 carriages here, and
they arc pretending that there are hun
dreds." "They hnve only tickets with high
numbers," said her coiupnuion. "What
a fraud! They ought to le nshamed."
The bride was driven away in a
shower of rlee, tlie carriages and wait
ers gradually disappeared, and the
neighbors turned reluctantly from their
windows, tired but happy.
"How glnd her parents must be to
have really got rid of her," they said.
"Yes," replied their companions,
"and how surprised she must be to have
actually cauyht n man. I wonder how
she did it." S. Y. Sun.
It W'nn Not Slnnc
"I want yon to give It to me straight."
The man who used this expression
was not in the habit of suing slang.
Neither did he use slnng on this oc
casion. He wns in a hardware store.
He was buying a rule.
Obviously a crooked one would
not answer his purpose. Pittsburgh
Chronicle-Telegraph,
London's I'urka.
London has added to Its parks until
they occupy n fourth of the city's area.
They have added to the health and pros
perity of the metropolis, and the Lon
doners could not bo persuaded to part
with any of them. N. Y. Sun.
In Bombay the plague is carrying1
off over COO persons n week still. It is
now officially declared that tho plague
exi.s's in Jiddnh. the port from which
Mecca is reached.
X