A Word Picture of George Washington.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 376, 12 June 1889, Page 3

A Word Picture of George Washington.

There has been a great affluence of portraits of George Washington lately in connection with the centenary of the first President's inauguration and the publication of the Sharpies papers, and the reflection cannot be escaped that if so many unfamiliar portraits insist upon coining out and being authenticated one by one, as accurate likenesses of the Father of his Country, the people will presently be all at sea as to bow he really looked. Tbe Stuart portrait has so long been accepted as the Washington that when other portraits, showing almost a totally different man, turn up, we simply look at them with astoni&hment, and say to ourselves, ' Can this be Washington ?' In view of this confusion no apology is needed for copying a remarkably realistic account of Washington, which was written by David Ackerson, of Alexandria, Va., in 1811, in answer to an inquiry from his son. Ackerson commanded a company in the Revolutionary War, and had many opportunities of observing the Commander-in-Chief. The letter from which the account is taken is in the possession of Dr. Joseph M. Toner, of Washington, D.C , who is engaged in editing Washington's diaries, and a correspond ent of the New York 'Tribune' has got hold of it. It describes Washington as he looked three days before the crossing of the Delaware, and again pictures him in the closing years of his life. Washington had a large, thick nose, and it was very red that day, giving me the impression that he was not so moderate in the use of liquors as he was supposed to bs. I found afterward that this was a peculiarity. His nose was apt to turn scarlet in a cold wind. He was standing near a small campfire, evidently lost in thought and making no effort to keep warm. He seemed six feefc and a half in height, was as erect as an Indian, and did nob for a moment relax from a military attitude. Washington's exact height was 6 feet 2 inches in his boots. He was then a little lame from striking his knee against a tree. His eye was so grey that it looked almost white, and he had a troubled look on his colourless face. He had a piece of woollen tied around his throat and was quite hoarse. Perhaps the throat trouble from which he finally died had its origin about then. Washington's boots were enormous. They were No 13. Hia ordinary walking shoes were No 11. His hands were largo in proportion, and he could not buy a glove to fit him and had to have his gloves made to order. His mouth was his strong feature, the lips being always tightly compressed. That day they were compressed so tightly as to be painful to look at. At that time he weighed 200 pounds and there was no surplus flesh about him. He was tremendously muscled, and the fame of his great strength wa3 everywhere. His large tent, when wrapped up with the poles, was so heavy that it required t\vo_ men to place it in the camp waggon. Vv ashington would lift it with one hand and throw it in the waggon as easily as if it were a pair of paddle-bags. He could hold a musket with pne hand and shoot with precision as easily as othei men did with a horae-pistol. His lungs were his weak ' point and his voice was never strong. He was at that time in the prime of life. His hair was a chestnut brown, his cheeks were prominent and his head was not large in contrast to every other part of his body, which seemed large and bony at a'l points. His finger-joints and wrists were so large as to be genuine curiosities. As to his habits at that period, I found out much that might be Interesting. He was an enormous eater, but was content with bread and meat, if he had plenty of it. But hunger seemed to put him in a rage. It was hio custom to take a drink of rum or whisky on awakening in the morning. Of course all this was changed when he grew old. I saw him at Alexandria a year before he died. His hair was very grey and his form was slightly bent. His chest was very thin. He had false teeth which d.id not fit and pushed his under lip outward.

Foreman (explaining an accident to the owner of the building) : * Barney was workin' on the roof, sir, and he slipped and fell the whole four storeys, bringing the cornice down with him, sir, and breaking both his legs and half his ribs.' Owner : ' Oh, well, never mind, I intended that cornice to come down, anyhow.'

'I GO A-FISHING.' A mountain brook, a shady nook A ripple, A rod and fly — ' He's very sly, Be careful !' A sudden dash, a little splash — ' Don't, lose him !' A turn, a bout, a splendid trout — ' Now ! land him !' Three hungry men, a frying-pan Capacious ; A crispy brown, no such in town— Delicious !