Mount Vernon
the home and estate of George Washington. It is situated on the Virginia shore of the Potomac, sixteen miles south of Washington. It is reached from Washington by a trolley line; also in the summer season by pleasure steamers plying on the Potomac. The house was built in 1743 by Lawrence Washington. He changed the name of the estate from Hunting Creek to Mount Vernon in honor of a British admiral of that name under whom he had service. On the death of Lawrence and his only child, George, Washington inherited the estate. He came to live here shortly after his marriage in 1759. He was absent, of course, during the Revolutionary War, and again during his term of service as president; but Mount Vernon was his home. His leisure and his happiest days were spent here.
The house stands in the midst of fine, well wooded grounds. The site commands a view of the Potomac and of the city of Washington. The mansion is a wooden structure, ninety feet long by thirty feet in width. It has two stories and an attic with dormer windows. An octagonal cupola, surmounted by an antique weathervane, affords a magnificent view of the surrounding country. A pillared piazza, twenty-five feet high, runs along the front of the entire building. It is paved with flagstones brought from the Isle of Wight. A wide hall extends through the house from front to back. There are six large rooms on the first floor, a number of chambers on the second floor, and others again in the attic.
In 1855 a descendant of Washington, being unable to maintain the estate, offered it for sale. An association of patriotic ladies was formed to undertake its purchase. Edward Everett Hale assisted them in the undertaking. They raised $200,000. Washington Irving gave $500. The house and 200 acres of land around it were purchased in 1859. An organization was perfected, consisting of a regent and of a vice-regents for each state in the Union.
The several allotments in the care of the vice regents for the different states are as follows: Alabama, the main hall; California, the wharf; Connecticut, a spare chamber; Delaware, a guest chamber; District of Columbia, a guest chamber; Georgia, Mrs. Washington's sitting-room; Illinois, a parlor; Kansas, servants' quarters; Louisiana, summer house and piazza; Maine, a guest chamber; Maryland, Miss Custis' room; Massachusetts, the library; Michigan, the old tomb; Minnesota, an upper chamber; Missouri, the garden wall; New Jersey, Lafayette's room; New York, banquet hall; North Carolina, an upper chamber; Ohio, music room; Pennsylvania, river room; Rhode Island, the sun dial; South Carolina, the family dining-room; Tennessee, a chamber; Virginia, the room in which Washington died; West Virginia, the green room; and Wisconsin, the room in which Mrs. Washington died. The arms of the states are displayed in the respective rooms. The building was repaired carefully and converted into a museum of Washington and colonial relics. Much of the old Washington furniture was still in the mansion. Mementos were collected from every direction.
The hall and various rooms are now hung with medallions and portraits of Washington and other members of the family. Among other relics are three of Washington's swords, Washington's own map of the Mount Vernon estate, his dressing case, holsters, part of his camping equipage, his flute, his card table on which he and Lafayette played whist, his spectacles, champagne glasses, steel camp fork, a lock of his hair, his silver inkstand, a suit of his clothes, a velvet waistcoat, silk stockings, his compass and reading glass, his favorite chair, and the bedstead on which he died. Other family relics are Martha Washington's ivory fan, the harpsichord of Nellie Custis, a guitar and music book belonging to a cousin Fontleroy, and the family china. Nearly all of Washington's books are owned by the Boston Atheneum, but duplicates have been placed in the old bookcase, giving the library much the appearance it must have had in Washington's day. As stated, much of the family furniture has been preserved. Other pieces have been obtained from relatives and friends, creating at Mount Vernon the most complete exhibition of colonial furniture, chairs, tables, bedsteads, sideboards, mirrors and mantels, andirons, bookcases, and cabinets in existence.
A covered colonnade connects the mansion, Virginia fashion, with a series of outbuildings, including two kitchens, storerooms, and coach house. The latter contains the old family coach. There are shaded, well kept lawns in front of the house and a deer park below them. In the rear there are lawns, gardens, and orchards. An old-fashioned sun dial stands in an open place. The flower garden is inclosed with quaint boxwood hedges. There are numerous trees set out by Washington's own hand. An elm was planted in 1876 by Dom Pedro, emperor of Brazil. A young elm, sent by Miss Alice Longfellow, vice regent for Massachusetts, was set out by Mrs. Grover Cleveland. The famous Mary Washington rose, named by Washington for his mother, still blooms. A willow from Napoleon's grave at St. Helena is still flourishing. Washington's tomb is protected by an iron railing. Though visited annually by a hundred thousand people, the grounds show the utmost care. It is pleasing to reflect that Mount Vernon belongs to the nation, and that it is guarded as a sacred heritage.
See Washington; Lafayette; Potomac
Mouse (plural, mice), a widely distributed family of gnawing animals. Mice and rats are related closely. Except the shrews, mice are the smallest quadrupeds known. The house mouse is probably of Asiatic, certainly of Old World, origin. It has followed the white man in all his wanderings, coming to America, we are told, in the ships of the early colonists. Like the rat, it is a famous stowaway, hiding in the boxes of colonists, and especially in the walls of wooden ships. The mouse is too well known to require description. Mice are not only exceedingly destructive but they multiply with great rapidity. A single pair of mice under favorable conditions, will develop into a colony of 100 within a year. Were it not for the vigilance of the house cat, they would soon overrun mills and farms to such an extent that the production of grain, meal, and flour would be impossible. In 1908, 15,000 acres of alfalfa were destroyed by field mice in the Humboldt Valley, Nevada.
Of our wild or native mice, several are of interest. The deer mouse, also called the white-footed mouse, is a delicate, dainty creature with large ears and fine, brilliant eyes. It whisks about at night laying away a store of seeds and nuts. It is exceedingly timid and not infrequently dies of fear when taken in the hand. In winter it makes tunnels in every direction under the snow.
The jumping mouse is a shy creature seldom seen. Its fore parts are slight; it has long, powerful hind legs, and a slender tail. When surprised, it endeavors to make its escape by a series of jumps several feet in length, kangaroo fashion, in which, no doubt, it is assisted by its tail. It is not a true mouse.
The meadow mouse is a heavily built creature, rather slow in its movements. Other wild mice are the pine mouse, the long-eared mouse, the harvest mouse, the cotton rat, and the rice-field mouse.
See Jerboa; Dormouse; Rat; Lemming