Evening Star Newspaper, September 8, 1929, Page 97

readers of The Star are also entitled to peruse its contents. So here it is: “Dear Mr. Proctor: “I had the pleasure of reading in the Maga- gine section of last Sunday’s Star your article about old houses in Washington, including the house at Ninth and Pennsylvania avenue southeast, which was the home of my grand- father; in which you quoted substantially from an address delivered by my mother before the Association of Oldest Inhabitants in 1913. “It might interest you to know that after she delivered the address and after it was printed, she continued her investigation in order to trace farther back the history of this property, “Knowing that that portion of Washington was formerly part of Prince Georges County, Maryland, I went to Marlboro, examined the land records in the clerk's office, and discovered a number of old deeds describing the property. “It passed through several hands prior to 1746, but in the earlier deeds there was no description of any improvement on the property. In a deed recorded in Marlboro in 1746, the property is described by metes and bounds and also contains a phrase, ‘improved by a large mansion house.’ “Therefore the house in question was stand- ing in 1746. How long before that date it was built I have been unable to ascertain. “The fact that it was not mentioned in earlier deeds does not mean that the house was not existent, for the reason that the de- scription of land in a deed carries with it all improvements, whether mentioned or not. “Very truly yours, ‘“J. 8 EASBY-SMITH.” (8Signed) . B. LILLIE, a close reader of these columns, was also greatly interested in the Tunnicliff article, having made some investigation on his own part, which the writer feels the public should know of. Though his letter on the sub- ject is long, yet it adds so much to the history of the old landmark that its contents are here given in full: “Dear Mr. Prcotor: “Your historical aceount of Tunnicliff Tavern in The Sunday Star of this wegk interested me very much. I have lived in the neighborhood of this old hotel for the past eight years and have tried to find out all that I could about its history. I have also heard of the ghost story which you quoted, as well as another legend describing the house as having seven cellars. “About five years ago, I was determined to discover these cellars. Every time I passed the building the ancient weather vane upon the cupola seemed to beckon for me to come in. I obtained permission from the tenants to go over the premises and started on my search. Upon entering the original door, which faces the alley, I found a long room, extending the length of the house; this was probably the barroom. To right was a flat Colonial arch which dis- closed the hall, as described by Mrs. Easby- Smith, with the side door opening into it. Close by was a staircase of colonial design; the stairs were broken in their flight by a small landing. Opposite the side entrance was a door opening into another room upon the first floor. This chamber contained two fire- places, one of which was peculiar, for it had a small cupboard in either end. All other fire- places in the tavern had only one cupboard. “Upon the second floor were four rooms; only one of them possessed any distinction. This chamber is in the southwest part of the house, and, at the time I saw it, possessed a finely carved mantel, which probably had been there since the tavern was built. This piece of wood- work was of truly Colonial design, for it was THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SEPTEMBER 8, 1929, s The old W hite mansion at Thirteenth and Longfellow streets, one af Washington’s oldest residential sites. supported by two slender columns and bore a sunburst pattern as well as an egg-and-dart molding. Over the mantel, the chimney breast was outlined in a heavier molding, which joined the ceiling in a cornice. I sincerely hope that this architectural feature is still in ex- istence. This chamber may have been the library. There was another mantel in the room beyond, but it was not 50 interesting in detail. “MOUN’I‘ING the staircase in the hall, I emerged into a smaller hall into which opened four half-story rooms. In each of these rooms and along the eaves, I found a ‘cubby- hole,” which Mrs. Easby-Smith described, but I saw no ‘deep spot on the floor.’ In the south- west room was a ladder, leading to the attic and the cupola. “Later, I discovered the cellar door under the staircase on the first floor, but this door was tightly nailed. However, upon inguiry, I learned from one of the tenants that the tavern had only one cellar, which was closed on ac- count of the dampness. “Around the yard I also noticed a number of bricks, and I came to the conclusion timt they were ruins of wine cellars, which had been - filled with earth. In later years, this tavern was a beer garden, At present, the Pennsylvania Oil Co. owns the property. “William Tunniclifi’s name has always in- terested me; I remember that Allen C. Clark relates in his ‘Greenleaf and Law in the Fed- eral City’ that the prospective tavern keeper suggested that ‘the eastern end needs a hotel.’ He was present at the barbeque that was given in celebration of the covering of the 20 build- ings; this event took place on South Capitol between M and N streets, Monday, September 26, 1796.” HILE the writer was searching Rock Creek Cemetery for graves of the White family, he came across a tomb which has a bearing on what has been said heretofore of William Tun- nicliff. Taking the date as noted in the inscrip- tion on the slab, he found in the National Intel- ligencer the following announcement of death: “Died—On Tuesday last in the 38th year of her age, Mrs. Mary Tunnicliff, wife of Mr. William Tunnicliff on Capitol Hill, ; “By the death of this valuable woman, her husband and son sustain the irreparable and inconsolable loss of as amiable, affectionate and industrious a wife and mother, as perhaps any among her sex. “Mrs. T. was born in Shropshire, England, of a respectable family; had been well educated, was of polished manners, and a refined under- standing. Her great solicitude and extreme in- dustry in the fatigues of a public life, it is thought, contributed to a fever complaint which she bore with fortitude, till at last it terminated in a mortification. “An ancient poet had said: “‘Death takes the good—too good on earth to stay, “‘And leaves the bad—too bad to take away.’” Incidentally, both upon the tomb and in the death notice the final “e,” usually placed in the name “Tunnicliff,” is omitted. Center Market Fruit Vender Is Talented Painter BY BETTY FORD. N a far corner of the old Center Market selling fruits and vegetables, is a tall, lanky, French-appearing young man who is an artist—a painter of sunsets which are not for sale. Only fruits and vegetables can be bought from him. But he is not French, and he has never been to Paris, the mecca of artists with its Louvre and its Latin Quarter. Sam Pratt is an Ameri- can, as you and I, and perhaps that explains his perseverance through all kinds of hardships to carry on the work he loves. He is a Virginia boy, and comes from Loudoun County, the birthplace of some of our most outstanding American artists —of Lucien Powell, whose painting of the Grand Canyon hangs at the head of the marble stairway in the Carnegie Library, and of Hugh Breckinridge, who, during the Summer heads the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Gari Melchers lives also in Vir- ginia, Sam had plenty of good examples to proiit br. Spending his work-a-day hours arranging his fruits and vegetables in attractive color schemes, Sam belongs to no formal school of painting. Having to be at work at the market early, he knows the city and its life as it appears at 5 o'clock in the morning, when most of us are still oblivious to the waking world of nature around us. It is about 5 o'clock that the sun comes up and Sam, looking for a subject for his brush, decided that the sunrise has limitless possibilities, its effects never the same. The failing eyesight of several modern artists, who could not see all the details of the things they painted, initiated the great revolutionary move- ment known as impressionism. In the same way has necessity—that is, Sam’s occupation— made him a painter of sunrises, and often, too, of sunsets. . AM paints things as he remembers them, storing up the details in his mind until he has time to put them on canvas. One of his favorite paintings, and one of his earliest, was done an hour after he had seen the subject he wished to portray. Entitled “An Impression of the Rising Sun,” it was exhibited in the inde- pendents art exhibit of Washington, Fruits and Vegetables Are His Only Warss, Though He Paints Pictures of Rare Merit, Plying His Art for the Sheer Love of It. His Work Is Shown at the Independents® Art FExhibit, Although it had been entered a week late, the rules of the exhibition were pushed aside to allow its admittance, so struck were thase in charge by its merit. Very modestly, because the walls were already crowded with other paintings, it was set on the floor, leaning against thes wall. And even after it had at- tracted more and more attention, Sam refused to sell it, because he does not believe in com- mercializing his art. Sam not only paints, but he grinds his own colors and makes his own frames. Sotl Study by Farmers WHEN the agricultural chemist wants to know what's in the soil, he sometimes can use a corn field as his laboratory, and can carry his reagents in his vest pocket. And fur- ther, he doesn’t have to be a chemist, if he will carry out a few simple tests which Georgy N. Hoffer of the Department of Agriculture has worked out The principal ingredients of the soil, so far as the farmer is concerned, are nitrogen, potas- sium and phosphorus salts, and shortages of any of the three are easily discovered. Corn plants, growing under soil conditions of nitrogen starvation, display a yellowish green or yellow stalk and leaf color. By splitting the stalks, and applying to the tissue a few drops of a solution of diphenylamine in con- centrated sulphuric acid, the presence of any reserve nitrogen is shown by the production of a blue color. If there are no reserves of nitro- gen in the stalk, the color will remain un- changed. i Deficiency of potassium is indicated in sev- eral ways. Marginal leaf firing and prema- ture death of the plants, and a production of chaffy, starchy ears are mdlcaUOns.‘that the I Yok soil is lacking in essential potassium. Chem- ically, this shortage may be shown through the tendency of the corn grown in such soil to accumulate iron around the joints of the stalk. This can bé demonstrated by the treat- ing of the tissue around the joints with & few drops of a 10 per cent solution of potas- sium thoccyanate, after which a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid are added. If potas- sium is deficient, a discoloration will follow. These simple tests make the diagnosis of the undernourishment easy, and as the chem- icals involved are inexpensive, their use is a decided advantage to the farmer. Hot Air A deafening report followed by a groan. The circus hands ran from all directions. Had a tent stay snapped or a cage fallen over? Per- haps some one had been shot. A crowd quickly gathered in a far cofner of the tent. A form lay prostrate and silent on the ground. The : Ind}a rubber man had had a blowout. And afternoons, when he has a little time, he slips off to some of the sandlots around town and plays center fielder on the base ball teams. Outside of his boyhood on a Virginia near the estate owned by Lucien Powell, is a Washington product. He studied art for four years at McKinley High School, spent 12 months at the Corcoran School of Art and for three years was a student and protege of Will H. Chandlee, prominent Washington artist. He comes honestly by his artistic tempesa~ Sam Pratt, painter of sunsets. ment, for his father was a tramp poet, mfl- ing over the country and dashing off verses . Whenever his wanderlust was appeased. Sam is in partnership with the sun, even though he only sees it rise and set, and some day he will take off his big white apron for good, des:it the fruits and vegetables and be- come a follower of Sol and the palette forever,