The drawing-room, containing a mantelpiece given to Washington by Lafayette, and the finest wood paneling I have seen in any American house, has held its own fairly well, as has also the old stairway, imported by Washington from England.

But that these things are not in ruins, like the porches, is no credit to the Washingtons who own the property to-day, and who, having rented the place, actually leave family portraits hanging on the walls to crack and rot through the cold winter.
If there are indeed five thousand Washingtons, and if they are proud of their descent, a good way for them to show it would be to contribute twenty-five cents each to be expended on putting Harewood in respectable condition.
The last member of the Washington family to own Mount Vernon was John Augustine Washington, of Charles Town, who sold the former home of his distinguished collateral ancestor.

This Mr.Washington was a Confederate officer in the Civil War.

He had a son named George, whose widow, if I mistake not, is the Mrs.George Washington of Charles Town, of whom I heard an amusing story.
With another Charles Town lady this Mrs.Washington went to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and the two attended the Fair together on Washington Day.

On this occasion Mrs.Washington made a purchase in one of the buildings, and ordered it sent to her home in Charles Town.
"What name ?" asked the clerk.
"Mrs.George Washington." The clerk concluded that she was joking.
"I want your _real_ name," he insisted with a smile.
"But," plaintively protested the gentle Mrs.Washington, "that is the only name I _have_!" * * * * * One of the most charming of the old houses in the neighborhood of Charles Town, and one of the few which is still occupied by the descendants of its builder, is Piedmont, the residence of the Briscoe family.