Evening Star Newspaper, January 18, 1931, Page 87

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 18 1931, Paradise for Hunters Near Washington 15 The “Cleveland Cabin” near the the center of the preserve ajter a successful turky hunt. It is at this cabin that formr President Cleveland lunched on many occasions while fishing in the Potomac River just below the new Woodmont Club. Handsome New Lodge Is Opened on W oodmont Gun Club Preserve in the Forests of Western Maryland, Favorite Hunting Ground of Four Presidents, Rich in Game and Tradition. BY J. GARVIN HAGER. HAPPY hunting grcunds, such as the Indian dreamed of as his heaven—a place where wild game is so plentiful that it is almost unnecessary to even stalk it-— today exists within a few hours’ drive of the Nation’s Capital. If you can vision such a hunter’s paradise, then you know what the Woodmont Gun Club preserve is to 56 hunters, whose idea of heaven on earth has been transplanted into the rugged forests of Western Maryland. These 56 men, most of them millionaires, put aside the cares of business and of their pro- fessions several times each year to come to this hunter’s heaven overlooking the Potomac River, there to hunt the wild deer, turkey and other species of wild fowl, This hunting paradise has been over a half century in the making, where until this year these giants of industry and of finance came to revel in the rugged life and its hardships which they choose to endure in the quest of deer and game. The deer and the turkey are just as elusive as they were 50 years ago, but a handsome hunting lodge completed a few months ago, has removed these little inconven- jences which before meant returning from the hunt to cold rooms, cold baths and other dis- comforts which were considered part of any bunting trip. % This hunting preserve of 6,000 acres, part of which is inclosed, where four Presidents of the United States and many other notables have spent many a happy day, is rich in tradition. It is there that Garfield, Arthur, Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland followed the trail of the deer and have fished for the fight- ing small-mouth bass that inhabit the Potomac, which forms the boundary on one side of the preserve. T was cne of the ranking naval officers of this country—Rear Admiral Robley (Fight- ing Bob) Evans—who “discovered” this hunting paradise that has remained as such over a pericd of 60 years, for it was just threescore yegrs ago this Fall that the naval officer was lured to Woodmont. And therein lies a story that perhaps for the first time has been re- vealed Wcodmont may necver have been discovered had it not been for the Civil War. A 16-year- old youth, Robert Lee Hill, who had becn brought up in the luxury of an aristocratic Virginia home, dreaded war. He was one of the Hills of Virginia, a family whose forbears had settled that State. But he was possessed of a heart that did not yield to the call of the Confederacy. He was afraid to go away with his brothers and fight, so one day he determined to run away The next morning he was on his way, striking out across country and driving deep into the wilderness in Northern Virginia. His wanderings finally brought him to a remote mountain settlement on Sideling Hill of West- tern Maryland, where he was taken in by the simple mountain folk and made one of thoer own. He fell in love with a mountain girl, mar- ried her and settled down to the primitive life. And he loved 1t so much that he soon had forgotten the luxuries which he left behind in Virgini.a Hill never left the mountains until four or five years atter the Civil War had ended, when he ventured out into civilization. In his boy- hocd days he had always wanted to see the Capital of the Union, so one day in 1870 he boarded the train at Hancock bound for Wash- ington. At the station he entered a conveyance 1o take him up the Avenue. Seated beside him was a distinguished looking naval officer. A conversation was struck up between the two, and the officer, observing that Hill was attired in the clothing of the mountaineer, asked him whence he hailed. Hill told him and finally the conversation drifted to hunting. Hill informed the officer that the mountains where he lived were teeming in wild game of all kinds. “Come up some time, and I'll show you some real hunting,” said Hill. The officer, who was none other than Rear Admiral Evans, accepted the The reception and lounging room of Woodmont Gun Club. invitation, took Hill's name and address and told him he .would let him know when he would arrive. That Fall Evans and several friends journeyed to Hancock by train, where they were met by Hill, who acted as their guide. Evans found the mountains just as Hill had described them, and the party took back with it not only deer and wild turkey in abundance, but a story of “happy hunting grounds” such as they never realized existed so near Wash- ington. A dinner was given by Evans to his friends, and venison and wild turkey graced the table. There were statesmen, ranking officers of the Army and Navy, and a number of the social elite of the capital present. At the dinner the first hunting club was organized and was named the Woodmont Rod and Gun Club of Washington, D. C. Part of the present Wood- mont preserve was purchased. 5 '[‘HE first club was limited to 60 members, and included among its membership United States Senators and Representatives and a number of sportsmen of the Capital. An old log house, 140 years old, was the club’s first quarters, and was occupied for two years, when ancther club house was erected 200 feet above and overlooking the Potomac River. For several decades this club house was used by the mem- bers and guests until it was destroyed by fire in 1903, when some of the members wanted to erect an elaborate club. Others opposed the plan. The disagreement over the erection of a modern club house became so bitter that it was finally decided to abandon the preserve and sell the property. A bid had been received from a lumber company, which desired the club property for its timber. Word reacehd a native of that section, Henry P. Bridges, the present secretary-treasurer of the club, then a rising young attorney of Bal- timore, who had hunted over thv mountains. He hurried to Washington and mage an offer for the property, but his offer, although higher than that made by the lumber company, was not accepted at that time. The following year, however, he bought the property for $50,000 and, with some freinds in Baltimore, the club was reorganized under the name of the Wood- mont Rod and Gun Club of Baltimore City. Nelson Perin of Baltimore was elected presi- dent and among the charter members, besides Mr. Bridges, were the late Van Lear Black, S. David Warfield, Jerry Wheelright, George K. McGraw, Bartlett Johnson and others. Mr. Bridges became secretary-treasurer in 1908 and has held that office ever since. Some years later Mr. Perin resigned, and Harrison Nesbitt, president of the Bank of Pittsburgh, was named president, and still holds that office. When President Nesbitt became a member he interested several Pittsburgh financiers—Rich~ ard K. Mellon, Emit Winters, the latter in the steel business there; Edward Jenkins, retired capitalist; Edward Allen, Eugene du Pont, Wil- mington, Del.; Charles Stone, Boston capitalist; Daniel Berrington, Edward Warrier and Dr. Drinker, educator, all of Philadelphia; Senator Clarence Watson, Fa'rmont, W. Va., and C. W. Bendix, Chicago capitalist, who became charter members. For many years, these and other active mesim bers, were contented with the liitle club house with its many Inconveniences. It was not until early this year that the majority of the mem-~ bership voted to erect a new club house, and % was the leader of this group, Mr. Bridges, who had once saved the preserve, who saw the proje ect to a successful conclusion this Fall. 'HE building, a magnificent structure of né= tive stone, stands upon a bluff overlooking the Potomac River. The view from the wide porches of the club is one of rarest beauty. ‘The new club house, visited during the past hunting season by several cabinet officers and many other notables, was declared to be ome of the finest hunting lodges in the world. ‘The building itself is a structure of beauty, but its interior, together with the decorations, brings exclamations of surprise. This interior is done in rough-hewn hardwood, massive beams and supporting timbers having been cut from the mountains’ virgin timber. But it is the collection of game and pictures that were brought from the far ends of the earth that catches the eye as you enter the building. Over the huge fireplace in the reception room hangs the head of a great buffalo, while deer appear - to be leaping from the corners of the room; wild turkeys, almost lifelike, strut into the open. From the walls of this and other rooms hang fine paintings of game, many of them worth many times their weight in gold. There are three paintings and etchings of the wild turkey by the noted artist, John James Audubon; & rare handcarved clock of Swiss design, which must have taken its maker years to carve; on another wall hangs a huge painting done in 1613 by Gyshecht Houdekoeter, valued at $10,000. A dining room, which will seat 50, also is Javishly decorated with all types of wild life, ¢ Above the fireplace in this room hangs the head of a huge moose, a head which is said to be the finest specimen in the United States. Moun- tain fowl and fish, prints and etchings«of the hunt are to be found in the downstairs rooms, There are many priceless heads in the collec= tion, including the rare Thompson gazelle, one of the two heads now in the United States being in the Woodmont collection, the sacred bull of India, while hanging from the fireplaces are rare firearms centuries old. In all there are 500 heads, pelts and mounted animals and birds, as well as ancient firearms. The sleeping quarters, with accommodations for 50, are on the second floor. Another wing contains ‘the garages sleeping quarters for chauffeurs, chefs and“other help which the members might bring with them. The club rooms are finely furnished, but there is one pilece of furniture which is prized most—the President’s chair, which is now an institution at the club. The chair, built by a guide, bears the names of four Presidents of the United States on silver plates, one for each Chief Executive who has been seated in it President Hoover, who this Fall dined upon - venison and wild turkey from the club preserve, has promised to be the fifth to sit in it next Spring, when he will visit the club to fish in the Potomae, where Grover Cleveland spent many a happy day during the Summers of 1895-96. A rock in the Potomac, three miles above the new club house, which was Cleve= land’s favorite fishing hole, has been named Cleveland rock, while a small house far back in the woods, where Cleveland stopped to lunch, has been named in his honor, and it is there that hunting parties eat their hot lunches; which are prepared by guides. HISTORY, for which the Woodmont section is noted, has aided in the naming of the three immense fireplaces in the hunting lodge. One is called the Fort Frederick and contains one of the stones taken from the famous old fort not so many miles away, which served early settlers in their war against the Indian tribes that roamed those mountains. A secomd Continued on Eightcenth Page