THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. CL FEBRUARY 21, 1926-PART 8. 3 Old Washington Home Is Reflection Poisonous Animals, Living and Dead, Os Spirit of Eleanor Parke Custis Received at Office of Stray Letters Charm of Adopted Daughter of First President Helped to Make Mansion Serene* Clerks Recall Experience of Man Who Recovered Set of False Teeth, While Millions Peaceful and Happy Place That It Was. in Money Are Mailed Without Proper Addresses.

BY LEILA WILSON RATHON. : Nellie Calvert and granddaughter of • li\ LEE I'OE HART. once Lord Baltimore. Brooklyn, more the birthday of Airy, long Xiitie is a youtip mail m of — George Washington I Mount the home the Par away to the sea arrives, , Calverts, him. we turn our thoughts descendants of land Baltt-. If. O. B. Bob. we call to the more, is still a home, loved and eared Oh, lettir carrier, find bun lor nn-. first President as a national i AS for. though having passed into other used as an ad- figure, whom the country at cryptogram, hands, its present mistress is Mrs. mailed, ap- large loves to honor, and dress on a letter we. who live Percy Duvall. within easy access of his lovely old parently, for a joke, instances Abingdon lias become tlie property which home on the Potomac, think of him ilie difficult problem* of former Representative Philip Camp- THIS onict, also as a country a confront the dead lettfci gentleman, gen- bell, wlio. with his family, tleman Virginia as makes his a division of tlie United State* Post whom claims her home They have brought it back most distinguished son. .As we there. Office Department, under control of visit misuse and neglect once more, to Mount Vernon, we arc reminded, from First Assistant Postmaster General how- in the community a semblance ever, that to occupy john 11. Rartlett. Maryland is due much of lat ? ast ci .he gay manor house, the pervading personality the in addition, on tlie envelope bear- that still scone of outstanding events in the seems to ding it give it a sense ing llii-se lines, in lieu of superscrip- t>> and happy life of is* y oung mistress, Elea- of serenity sweetness. very tion, were only the words "St. Mark's and The nor Calvert Custis, and her fond spirit youth in one corner. It might have of and ga> ty that made husband. Jack There Ave.” ' young Custis. seemed a hopeless puzzle, but not so the mansion a home in fact, as well as family of daughters in name, very presence i their little three to a woman employe of the the of whose one son tirst saw the light, among certain benign is still by the i and letter ottiee is famous for influence sensed them George Washington Parke t'us- dead who visitors, was lovely girl, her feats as a "blind reader.” that Eleanor : known ns t'ustis of Parke or tis. later “Mr. Applying "the cross-word puzzle Custis. as she is more fa- Arlington.” whose miliarly loved, “Nellie" i old home is the test,” as might termed, the known and pivot of interest in the National it be Custis. the delight of her adopted fa- "blind reader” looked up St. Mark’s | Cemetery, and Is soon to lie refurnish ther, Gen. AVashington. in a Brooklyn directory, and sent j .-,1 as in its ot!tmg old ha nor house may where,” saiil the old man. They were much addicted to cutting first reduction in volume of dead let- jj Money found in dead letters a Vernon, made the trip back myself ago, he often happily bring it. one sensible them 10 years and used up cotton cloth and other dress tors since 1922. and. while it is small, loose in the mails amounted to $1 '• and forth on horseback. His way lay If is them until they were in the mails ii i to this feeling individuality ;,nd lost fabrics for the-IP nests, he explained, it seems to indicate that the response 706.1*2, a decrease of *12,290.67 fro; the hospitable doors of Mount of city past personality, no when l sent them to the to be but wffiit they seemed enjoy most of the public to the department’s ef- the preceding year, and $64,106.66 where, as all old manors manor house in the to ¦ Airy, in country can t<-!| to mended." was wedding cake— ;pieces of which forts duting tlie past year for ; amount was restored to tn was kept to rlie visitor more better; this of its day, open house plainly than Tlie ti-eth were taken out of the were frequently found in lost pack- addressing and wrapping lias in a owners. traveling gentry, and there NELLIE CUSTIS, AFTERWARD MRS. LAWRENCE LEWIS, MIS- Woodlawn its history of all the OF WOODLAWN. serenity, peace and contentment, that ease; the claimant popped them into ages—and the bran stuffing of dolls measure been made. Close to $5,000,000 in money order young man met the daughter of TRESS mouth, they i the Is as much a part of it as faded his and. lo! fitted. A few and pin-cushions. The mischief was : The Washington "dead letter office checks, drafts, etc., were found ii house, lovely Eleanor Calvert. the i i the the brick and stately Its days, too, minutes later, after subscribing to eer- ! dead letter s. The nominal value r< > ways, she was re- lines. ! Perhaps, in some l.luff overlooking the Mount Vernon , one can but believe that the adorable ha\e fallen in pleasant places. It is tain formalities, he walked out of the j resented an increase of more th e sponsible for bis lack of interest in | place happy. (lover preceding year. boulevard, but which, in their day. Nellie was indeed charming, for J loved as such a home should l>e loved 1 perfectly $1,000,00 the his studies. crowned an eminence whose hillside ; besides the of visitors who have been privileged * * * -f \ The amount derived from the sad was beautiful, she was gay. and : -admiration she and those She rolled gently down to the river banks. inspired, was loved by ail to it rejoice that it has been i of unclaimed merchandise (parcel post i the toast of the county, and. though she the visit I /"VrilKß stories are told of poisonous i The road now skirting a later ! large family of adopted by who give it j was $175,461.82. an increase of $55 of 10 children, and, there- ! it is household and the those will ! animals, living as well as dead, she was one development. servants and slaves who tender care and respect. 362.75 over tlie amount realized froi- fore, -dowry, young Custis cared for . tieing received at the office. with little i At comfortable Abingdon all the her grew Visitors : the same source in 1924. Althougl heart, hand followed and tended her as she from Senator Oscar Underwood of to Arizona have been send lost his and his Custis children were Martha, to womanhood, j known to the increase In the number of parcel- by no inconsider- born babyhood the joy and Ala bama purchased it bust Autumn from a few as typical 1 suit, with his means j named for grandmother, later pride I home horned toads sold was less than J per cent, her the of all. the estate of Miss E. M. Sharpe, who souvenirs from regions explored. the able fortune. Mrs. Peter of Georgetown: Elizabeth, I ; amount realized was an increase «>; Dignified letters passed between the Dead letter division clerks who j Law, 46.5 per ent over the like receipts benedict, the squire of later Mrs. Thomas whose old w<-re i t so general and the j mansion is down by the steamship ¦'¦¦¦¦— in the service when tlie offices j the previous year. This was the re- .Mount. Airy, and a wedding that | v were in the old I’ost office Depart- Eleanor, named for her mother, if'-;:-; : sult of the introduction of improve- brought together all the wealth and , docks: nient Building on Pennsylvania and George Washington Oustis, ; I methods in conducting sales of un of countryside soon fol- Parke ' of a fashion the j only he as | avenue relate accounts live Gila claimed matter. named for the father knew, | monster at lowed. forwarded second-class The total revenue derived from ui: his own father died before his birth. I rates. ? j Mciy ' ielivered letters and parcels, including All the children were born while ! Before the dead letter and dead I fees r we can in parlor ¦ collected for letters returned and r'ODAY stand the j Gen. Washington was away with the [ parcel-post moved into Its -*¦ division , postage stamps removed from letter- where the nuptial vows were j Army, and two were adopt- ; | present ijuarters City the last in the Post Office or found loose in the mails, amounted plighted with a. romantic thrill of j ed by and Washington Building, west Station, a ; him Mrs. and i | of Union to .315.74. which is an increase o: pleasure, picturing the scene, as the taken to to | living rattlesnake century-old ivy Mount Vernon make their I with nine rattles ' $39,177.42 over the revenue so realized birds twitter in the j home. There at Mount Vernon today ! which went astray in the mails is said the previous year. that its gnarled stems, like still cradle, reposed i has thrown are seen little Nellie’s her | jto have in a glass jar of . A glance at this resume, tend- Tree trunks, up over railings t>f which the tester bed. which she afterward used, j j alcohol labeled "From Florida.” . to show extravagance the gallery, as one from the the of careless and looks and other pieces of furniture in the | J "But the most alarming parcel ever usual parlor, to nc.ss—the reason for letters and windows of this sacred the west chamber, over whose door is | j received.” interpolated a veteran em- parcels going astray—in age. ; using Uncle romance of that colonial one can the legend, •‘.Nellie Custis’ room,” put ' ploye of the office, "proved to con- postal coaches, j Sam's service might serve as vision stately with restless there by the regents of Mount Vernon. tain 17 small snakes, all squirming of gayly coachmen, source consolation to those who horses and habited From her windows stretched a view and wriggly; one of which, by the way, have or ribbons fluttering front some time other been disap with white of the rolling country and woodland, an adder spotted in yellow and black, pointed by the "letter carrier.” ¦their arms and nosegays in their but- escape toward that section of the estate made its and crawled out M ho are the senders of tonholes in honor of the festive a desk a day or later, the millions occa- where later Gen. Washington parcelled from under two of dead letters which yearly sion, as they drive up around the huge off some thousand to great woman tind their or more acres as the alarm of the - way into the "graveyard” of the Post of boxwood that stands today as ~ circle a weding present for her and her hus- clerks.” jOffice Department? It stood in the olden time, as an ap- band. Maj. Lawrence Lewis, who after A venerable clerk of the old dead Postmaster General proach to the big front door. letter office i Xew and his the death of Gen. and Mrs. Washing- j referred to the great subordinates regard thfs Mount Airy, mellowed by time, is to- | amount of by rats, 1 information ton built t* stately mansion there for trouble made for those who read such * * she was known coveted privilege only of the “blind ~^m I stories. Worthington, daugh- “Minnie” second reader.” At light TpHAT charming little poem, Worthington ! candle on his birthday In ‘‘A ter of John Tolley of the Alas, are these “personal” letters 1799 Gen. Washington gave in mar- Want Ad,” by Lila Frost Sprague Worthington Valley, and his wife, ¦ describes opened? Do! Huge bundles of them |*riage his dear daughter, who, next to the feeling of Woodlawn: Mary Govane Hood, daughter of are placed in an opening machine his wife, was *'l want to buy Mill, his tenderest object of a house— James Hood of Hood’s Baltimore with a capacity for prying mto 50,600 affection, to his almost as An old house. dear Standing- back among the trees County. letters a day. nephew. Lawrence Lewis, son of his With larkspur by the path Montmorenci, the beautiful estate of And from the expressions on the sister, Betty of Kenmore, in the old And clover for the bees. Worthingtons, built in 1760, origi- ] an the faces of the 50-odd clerkß in the dead home town Fredericksburg, want orchard at the side by 2,000 of the With a crumbling cobble wall nally surrounded acres. Is letter office, each epistle apparently wedding taking pldee in the parlor of And bitter sweet all trailing down still a beautiful old homestead, and affords much entertainment. Mount Vernon, and at Mount Vernon Where Autumn blackbirds call. has been willed by its last owner and the dearly loved I want a house where gentle ghosts young couple contin- klit in and out. mistress, the late Mrs. Marie Conrad ued to make their home, and there Or sit before my door Lehr of Baltimore and Washington, Reading by Sound. j their children were born. And whisper softly happy things Louis Lehr, her That happened here before." on the death of Dr. '"TEACHING blind to read by It was not until after Lady Wash- go children of the husband, to to the poor of different shades of ; ington's death, which followed her Though Woodlawn Mansion, which Baltimore, as a country home, under means '* husband’s by two years, that Maj. in the old days was frequently spok- Episcopal sound is a new and remarkable '-? > ; the jurisdiction of the Bish- -'¦*.•}si•¦ j Lewis built the stately of and written of, old method invented by Prof. Rosing, an ;'^ ‘ ; - '^®»sSP^ mansion of en as letters op of Maryland. Leningrad, Russia, f ¦ i Woodlawn, on the land given him and testify, as “The Lawn,” was not built Conrad and her oculist of says Mrs. Lawrence j his wife as a wedding present by till after Washington’s Popular Science Monthly. Every letter Gen. death. Mr. daughter. Mrs. Lehr, have bequeath- alphabet expressed a ! Washington, who spoke of it as “a Kester, Its one-time owner, is of of the will be by the ed to Mount Vernon the most Inti- different sound. So far, sounds have ; most beautiful site for a gentleman's opinion that one wing was built and mate and personal belongings of Nel- of as an by Maj. been contrived for 18 letters of the ; seat.” and in truth it is all that, com- used office Lewis, as lie Custis—her wedding veil, her tiny alphabet. manding a wonderful view of the Po- Washington speaks of stopping slippers, box, there white satin her work sounds are used, too, see tomac and the branches leading to it. to see him, and when Mr. Kester oc- buckles and other The to By some her laces and shoe objects. Experiments showed. It is happy fortune fate has cupied the mansion, “Maj. Lewis' treasured mementos of the beloved claimed, that children using the been kind to all MYRTLE SOPER, ONE OF THE EXPERTS OF sound the homes whose wing,” as It was known, appeared to daughter of Gen, Washington, and mss THE POST apparatus were to many of different able define walls have sheltered the sweet wom- be built materials, brick the Ilfs and spirit of his horns, Mount OFFICE DEPARTMENT, SOLVING SOME OF THE “PUZZLE AD- in a room and recognize pet- MRS. THOMAS LAV, SISTER OE NELLIE CI STjjS. anliness of Nellis Custls, daughter of and timber seeming much older. Dr. y#rn©n. DRESSES.” ; By National Photo. pons1 who were passing,