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WASHINGTON LANDMARKS. .HISTORICAL HOUSES STILL STANDING IN THE CAPITAL. WHBR1 BRAVI ?MMMoi.oHK PIX'ATt'R IAVED AM) HKNItY CbAY KKSIDKl) A3 SECUKTART OP STATK A HKMINl.srKXCR OP PAN l-BL WUMTKR ? TBI QHOBTC that HAUNT THI van NS88 MANSION. Waahlngton, Aug. H.-Tho history ..f Wash? ington ? inner life is. necessarily, that of a com? ing and gota?, a lodging for the night, "a mo menl a hall a momentary taste," as Omar Khayyam has it. f. r most of its population is in a state of continual ?hange. oniy th? old land marks seem to have stood still, and .-v.-n they are beginning to tremble before the unromanUc man!; of "modern improvement," and to move, if they at so fortunate as t" he left t.? them? selves, slowly and contentedly, to the nothing whence they came Perhaps the least changed <>f th?-s.> silent records Is the Decatur house, at H-st at.d Jack Ma PI ici Bull? by Latrobe In 1819, it was the first of thos? historic hoines that rose around Lafayeth Square, where so many ..f the most fam..us mskers of American history have lived and died. Th. square Itself in thos. days was known at "Burns*s Orchard," and was used as a parad- ground for militia muster. It is a large, red brl? h house, with a pyramidal slated roof and s. verely plain front : but In the days of the famous commodore (whose toast, "My country. may she always be right: but, rich; or wrong, my country." will always be remembered) the gorgeoui nei of ihe Interior fully compensated for any la. k ? :' outward adornment. It has been sai?l that the history >>f the commodore's life was v.ii--..ii on the walls, f..r they were coveted with -ii?' trophies of his many sui cesses, both of war and peace. His wife had been sought in marriage by Jer ?me Bonaparte, bu! on the a?l vlce of a Mr, Harper, who predicted that Na? poleon a ? ;'.| never recognise such a marriage. ? ,TT: ?. v w ? i - K.4Y m?M ? David burns'S cottage. ?N'.iw r. iiiov? .1. ' sh.? refused him, and became the wife of the gal? lan! ommodore, beside whom even Jer-.me B nai art.- grow.- rather Insignificant. It was here thai be died, after the unfortunate encoun? ter with Commodore Patron, on the old duelling ground of Bladensburg. Sine- his day the hlgh-walled garden and tall tamps on ihe steps have seen almost more than their siiar.' of wit and beauty, for th.- house has seldom i.n wlthoul some famous occupant. It was the bon.f Henry Clay, the only one he had it, Washington, aa he died at th? National 11" t? i. jr. |iv< d th? n during his tenure of office aa .Secretary ol State under John Qulncy Adams, and Edward Livingston, th?- third Secretary of State In direct succession ?Martin Van Buren Intervening), occupied it in the same capacity. Manj are the stories told of Mr. Livingston, brother of thai Roher! Livingston bo prominent as Governor of New-York, and of his beautiful wife, th? fascinating Mme. Moreau, whom he marri' d at midnight in the chape! of the Ursuline conven! during his Btay in New-Orleans. In it. ?,?, Baron Hyd< de Neuville, th<- French Am 1 assador, was wont to entertain royally, and his v .. we ;i,,. told, spoke English with such a de? lightful llttl? French accent that her greeting to hi i guests, "I am charming to see you." was truer than sin- knew. The first and last owners, too, wer? singularly connected, for under ten era: Beale's grandfather Decatur served as mid? shipman. -fill* OLD OCTAGON HOUSE. ..-,,.,, ge, m to be no family ghosts connected With this house, and the skeletons, if th*?r?- are any. have wit enough still to keep In their dark cupboards, and nol Haunt th.-ir rattling bones in people's fans, hut the old Octagon House, Whose windows now look down on the new home of the Corcoran Art Gallery, has. according to rumor, f.ir ni"re Inhabitants wh >se footsteps are only heard hy those who listen to that "belle dame sans m. roi," than ever it had among those who wa'k In the plain garments of ordinary flesh and Mood, ???' their feet nevr so light. It was built f"i John Tayloe, the richest Virginian of his day. whose ?Southern hospitality and princely entertaining were expended to oil the Mite of Washington, and It Is whispered that some of the five hundred Blavea who kepi the place in such beautiful order come hack, ?ven now. In 181-1. after the burning ?if th-: While House, It was rented by .Tarn.-.? Madison, and for a time "Sweet Polly" neld her court liiere. It was here, too, that Madism signed '.he procla? mation of the treaty of Ghent, .hen the Na? tion's joy at the ending of the War of IM- .vas so great that even the boys "parade 1 the streets with paper bands in their caps bearing the word "Peace." Put, though its glory may have been bright in former years, it is still a most !til ?resting TH.'. OCTAfiON Hol Si!. place aside fr?im its historical conneeii ma The Octagon, to b? sur.-, requires a liitl ? stretch of the Imagination, bul ?i I? all ihere, n 'i rthc less, The worn steps lead up t > a pillar-.i por. h, around which the trump t-vin?- ha. flung its sweeping branches bo long thai they have made almost a fairy bower ??"i lie- tiny porticos of the upper windows. The circular r*K>m, Into which the fpitit door opens and the "in- ?ii rectly over it, are. perhaps, the mail rurioua features of th.- house. Th.- floor of the lower room was on. ?? tiled with white marble, bul this has been taken away, ind two quaint Iron stoves, set in t h. r.- ??? ?if th?? wall ore the only pieces of furniture left from the ?> I i fg.tr.i . The doors in both rooms aie rounded ??> ii? the walls, and there is not a Ingle t ill n am' ? ne of th.-in. while every window eli.-s curves, too, though s?, gradually that it is not noticeable at a careless glance. Th.- wide door, with Its dainty carving around the linbls and large round '.ran-rvn, ?pens from this hall to another that leads in turn to dining and drawing rooms. The high mante! in the drawing-room is beautifully rarv ??!. Ihe gi i.-. fu| ligures portraying a feas! of Bacchus, an?! it i stlll excellently preservtd Tin- vails ?vere originally covered with white and "oil p,,? .-. but, th?? house falling Into th?- hands of an art class, all th.- room.-, on the lower ? or ...|. painted a dull red, now s?. fast disappearing TUR VAN NBSS IIOI'SK. fN'f-ar the old I'otomac flats, Washington.) that they look as Tom Fa gin's strawi.-vv mare must have done when h.-r coat <?f cream b^gan to wear off. Th?* room over the Arawtn {-room was occupied by the gracious Polly, and th>- one over the hall was made famous no loss by the treaty of Ghent than by the Cabinet meetings held there, when so many not??d men graced it with their presence. From this room two doors of curled maple lead to two triangular eloseta, without which the circle would loue il, lym in.?try. containing rows of 1 ?ng Wooden pegs, that hav.? n,. doubt groaned nan* times under the weight of greatness, or Its outward wrap pings, that was thrust Upon tle-m. Downstairs the walls are covered with h iTse sho.-s that ii?. doubt kelp largely to k-ep the ghosts away, but the place is well cared for by a custodian, who seems aptly fitted for it, aa be is a direct descendant from an onVer "f (en? crai Washington's staff. The o?d locust trees still look over the wall, and a remnant of the figtr.-es, for which the garden was once famous, nestle beside it, and shake their heads in mourn ful apprehension, for progress Is marching perll ousl) near, and threatens t?? o.'erwhelm tie house, stabb s and carden thai they have guarded so lorn; DANIKL vVKRHTKR'H iPi.Mi' The house when Daniel Webster lived, in P st., b??tw-.-en Fifth .it-?1 Sixth sus. lias I.n rele? gated to its proper sphere, for it is now dedicated to Ih.- law. i ?n its steps he delivered his memor? able ?11.'h at midnight in 1-."?'J, when *h????tt had won ih.? Presidential nomination from him In less than a >.-at afterward he died, and among his papers was found a ?">x labelled "Precious Documents," with which there is so pretty a story connected that, though it does not belong either t.. law or politics, it is certainly deserving of mention. When he was in Portsmouth he w? nt to ?ail one evening upon a young woman with whom he was much m love, and. Finding her busy untying ski-ins of ?-?Ik. be sat down to help her. Buddeplj he stopped, saying: "Grace, v..- have been engaged in untying knots; let us : ? .- If we ?nu ti?- on. which will not untie in a ill', i.in ," and. partly lying a piece of tan.-, in a pi i ulrar lashion, he han.!, d i: to her to finish. i if course she ?lid ii; for wh n aas Hani, l ever kn< .?n to lose a Bull thai h?> evidently had bo much at heari as this one? When the box waa op? i.???! al his death. H ??? nlalned th early letters ?,f his courtship, and ibis t?ii of tai*e, ui:h the kn??t still fast The old Van Ness house, with its once beautiful p.nk. Is now sadly changed, f?>r though Mm?- de Bl i declares thai "the hoiis.-s and haunts ??f the great ever l?-ar impress of their Individuality,*" it often hap? pens that those who are not world-famous l?-ave their marks too The bous.? has ."teen for s.?me years in the hands of bicycle rid? ing schools or athletic clubs, and they have moat Certainly left their sign and seal, if not m much In the house, at least In the utterly 1 irrei garden, thai has i- ? n converted, or rathei , r verted, int?i tennis court and racetrack The Hums cottage thai Mood beneath th? sha low of tl . lately mansion has disapp i d though like Its canny Scotch or.ner, it held it ground for many years. Bui the memoi Man la Burns is still um hanged, and will alw i ? linger near there two homes that lier gra< in beauty had made :-?? happy. When John Vai N? .. the "well fed, well bred, weil read" .v ?r? Torker, marri d the luv Ij Marcla, nol many years after har fathi . ha i sold hta vast estate to Qencral Washington f??- "whateVer His E lency would i?. pleaseu to give," he hurt Brat, though it is not g? m rally known, the two-story la Ii Ii house ? n the < urn -i of Twelfth and D sts., tut abandoned the project and erected the big square mansion near bia father-In law's coll ige that la r?ll s.? imp?? Ing, in spite of Ita ruin. Latrobe was the ar? lilt et, ai >l ll was one of the first houses to have hoi and cold water ca ri< 1 to the upp r (!o..r The ceiling i, wiiir th ir circular mouldings, are still beautiful, bul the Th rrwaldsen marble man? telpieces have been tak.-n away by those who fell heirs to tin estate. The windows comn ind a mosl extended view of river and park, and the queer "hi wine cellars were, according to sui rent gossip, t.. I.?? usi ?1 as B hiding place for Lin? coln, when he was to h<? kidnapped al the time of hi:- attempted assassination Marcla Bunia was the only woman ever honored In Washing? ton by a public funeral, and her ?mee handsome mausoleum la still standing In the cemetery <>f Oak mil. The hou. ? is -til! stanch, though it Is (hanging rapidly and growing forlorn. Only the old box trees, scraggy and untrlmnrted, bor 1er the sloping road that I? ida up under the white pillared porte-??och?i , and on rainy days th?-y breathe oui s mournful odor, like a sad, unfin? ished love story. There is a legend thai on Ihe anniversary of old General Van N? -s's d.-ath six headless horses galop all night around the place, and doubtless these ghostly vi-it..is And their quarters much Improved, as their Held of action Is now quite unlmp-ed-ed, though to other eyes, perhaps, th?*l*e may s?'?-ni t.? be rather a mournful loneliness In the grassless garden and rain Btalned house. ACCIDENTAL G'tl.D DISCOVERIES. From The Boston P??sL Many of the gold finds in the i'londyk" p-gi. have been purely accidental, and some "f the were decidedly Interesting, though perhaps n more BO than many accidental tinds in "iir ow Went In the '-Mis and '.Vis. it was before IX that thr?'<- men while looking fir gold in I 'al fornla discovered the dead bodj of a man wl evidentI) had been "pnispectlng." "I*oor fe low!" said ?ne- of th>- trio. "He has passed i his checks!" "Let's give him a decent burial said an..th"!-. "Some wife or mother will I glad If ever she knows it." They began to dl a grave. Three feel below the surface they dit coveted tie- signs "f gold. The strang'-r w? burled in anothei place, and where they locate a grave the) opened a gold mine. A;; adventurer who had drifted into Leadvil! awoke one morvaing without food or money. 11 wenl out and shot a deer, which, in its dyin agonies, kit ked up the dirt and disclosed sign of gold. Th" poor man staked out a "claim, and opened one of the most profitable mim ever wurk.-.l in Leadvilie. "Dead Man's Claim," th.- name given to ai other rich mine in Leadvil.e, was discovered h a broken-down miner while digging a grave. . miner died when there were several fed ? snow on tie ground. His comrades laid hi h?.?i\ in a snowbank and hir.-d a man for ?f2 to dig .-i grave. Th.- grave digger, after thre ?lays' alis? to ', was found digging a mine m stead "f a gr.iv". While excavating h?? ha struck gold. Forgetting the corpse and his l.ar gain, he thought onlj of the fact that he ha "struck it rich." -o I RUSH FOR INDI IV 1/ i IDEYS. Slloatn Springs (Ark.) correspond? nee of Th Kansas Clt) Times Th r.- is a rush in th" matrimonial mark" over in the Cherokee Strip now. Th" B? v. Oor din performed the ceremony today thai unite? thi"' unit" men to as many Indian maids. Th '.in-." ..I' all this rush is the fact that August li is ?i;.? i i :? ,'at" up.?n which qualification as : Cheroke*? citizen r m h>- made, and as each dusk; maid of tic- fores) carries with her a dowry ?> liiu acrei "?' Territory land, squaw men an being made very fast now. p has I.n the cus t.?m forman) j ars for whll men logo into th? Indian Territory and many Indian 1,'irls, l.u never i'.!.' there such n rush as al presen) a nu .in young white in-u for Indiait wives and the ac ' on ? an) Inu IlMI a? r? .?? ??!' land. T . I??-, n-" i lawful ? in/, n ..f ih. lud?an T rrltory all mar i iges must now i"- mad? according to th? Cherokee custom To this non.- of the whiti m -n obj el ? "' / ER cm Itril ETIQUETTE. From Tii I -"ii ivllli ? ' iui ? r ?! turnal A novel ca ?vas tried In the Plrculi Courl a! Dl> n Ji ki ? Whlti minister of the Gospel, was lined *-"?' for disturbing r llgtous worship. IV1 Ite was i onilucl li i .-,.? .;? till d meeting it Chalylieate Church. The church had mad. i rule thai no young man should si I on th? women's snl" of the h??u ??. and wh n one Mr. (*i"..k- came m who ., Kirl ?ni i . >k a Beat he 1 hei the minister left ihi pulpll and arrested him. Crool made som?* resistance, which caused a disturbance, for which White ?a.? lined. ? ci il so il ih ins WE ?KNE88. From Answers. "Mr- Cumso Is a shrewd woman." "Whit makes you thiak soT*' "She attache? a ryclomel -r t ? the lawn m iwei*. and ??..-s Cumso a medal every time be scores a centui i." - o Ills RROKES 8PEECB. From Answers. Ethel i san Count Hardupekl last evening. Cousin Tom Docs ha talk as brokenly as "V r" Kthel Ob, y,s I heard him ask {k to h n4 him live pounds bet?re ?M lett.