ing. G. W. Talburtt and John Howard Payne, author of "Home, Sweet Home," were intimate friends and boon companions:

"They used to sit for hours together under the spreading branches of an old tree, singing and playing favorite airs; and it is a matter of neighborhood gossip that jolly old Bacchus looked on approvingly on those occasions."-George Simmons, "Roadside Sketches.' (Evening Star, 1891.)

Aside from the associations of the old Talburtt place with John Howard Payne, there is little to attract the visitor to the S. side of the river. The higher ground, southward from the shore, bears the modern name of Congress Heights, where a large tract is occupied by St. Elizabeth's Hospital (Pl. III-H5-No. 68), from the grounds of which there is an almost unrivalled view of Washington, which has been reproduced on at least one issue of Government greenbacks.

St. Elizabeth's Hospital is a National institution, under charge of the Interior Department, for the treatment of the insane of the army, navy, marine corps, revenue cutter and marine hospital service, also indigent insane persons who have received honorable discharge from. army or navy, and the indigent insane of the District of Columbia. General visitors are admitted to the hospital on Wednesdays between 2 and 4.30 P. M.

Northeast of Anacostia is the suburb known as Twining City, named in honor of the late Major William J. Twining, for many years the Engineer Commissioner of the District. It lies along the E. extension of Pennsylvania Ave.; and the bridge which here spans the Eastern Branch, completed in 1890 at a cost of $170,000, marks the site of the historic old wooden bridge which was burned Aug. 24, 1814, by the authorities to check the British advance from the south. Just beyond the bridge, where Pennsylvania Ave. intersects with Minnesota Ave. (the new name for the old Anacostia Road), is L'Enfant Square, the only topographical reminder within the District of the man who planned Washington. Minnesota Ave., though broadened and modernized, is the identical road over which the British, under General Ross, marched when they fought and won the battle of Bladensburg.

North of Twining City is the suburb of Benning, named in honor of its founder, Captain William Benning, who built the historic old Benning mansion, about 1799, and constructed the first toll bridge at this point in 1830. The modern Benning occupies part of a large tract granted by Charles II. to one Charles Beall, a Scotchman by birth, and brother of Ninian Beall (p. 462), founder of Georgetown.

THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN

SUBURBS

I. Bladensburg, Brookland and Vicinity

a. Bladensburg

Bladensburg, Md., situated N. E. of Washington about 11⁄2 miles beyond the District Line, is reached most directly by the Columbia trolley line to 15th and H Sts. N. E.; thence north by Bladensburg and Berwyn line along the old coachroad to Baltimore (cars run at intervals of 40 minutes). Half a mile out, at N. W. cor. of Mt. Olivet and Bladensburg Roads, we pass the Catholic Cemetery of Mt. Olivet. Here may be seen the grave of Mrs. Suratt, the only woman among the convicted conspirators who were hanged for the assassination of Lincoln; also the grave of Captain Henry Wirtz, the notorious Keeper of Andersonville prison. A mile beyond Mt. Olivet Cemetery we reach, on R., the grounds of the U. S. Reform School (Pl. III-C7) the principal buildings of which occupy the crest of a sloping hill formerly known as Lincoln's Hill, a fort of that name having occupied the site during the Civil War. Beyond the Reform School the road slopes down into a hollow just beyond the District boundary, and is carried on a concrete arch over a small tributary of the Anacostia River. In the hollow on the east side of the road is the famous BLADENSBURG DUELLING GROUND.

More than thirty duels are said to have been fought on this spot, the most famous being that between Commodore Stephen Decatur and Commodore James Barron on March 22d, 1820, when the former was killed. Just E. of the road, the stream which flows under the bridge joins a transverse stream forming a letter T. The left or N. angle of the T is the spot where Decatur fell.

Other notable duels are as follows: Here in 1814, Captain Edward Hopkins was slain in a duel with swords. On February 6th, 1819, General Armistead T. Mason, formerly Senator, fought with Col. John M. M'Carty, both of Virginia. Mason was killed. Here in 1825, Henry Clay is said to have fought his bloodless duel with John Randolph, of Roanoke. In 1821, two employees of the Government, Fox and Randall, fought, the former being killed. On April 24th, 1838, two members of the House, Jonathan Cilley of Maine and William J. Graves, of Kentucky, fought here, Cilley being killed. In 1851, two other members of Congress, Stanley and Inge, exchanged shots, shook hands and returned to Washington together.

It was in the immediate vicinity of the Duelling Grounds that Barney and his rear guard of 520 men made their gallant stand against the British during the Batle of Bladensburg,

while on the rising ground half a mile further on, was the scene of the disastrous rout of the troops under General Winder. A modern concrete bridge over the Anacostia or Eastern Branch here leads us directly into the ancient village of Bladensburg.

This village was incorporated in 1742, and named in honor of Sir Thomas Bladen, the Governor of Maryland. In its early years it was a thriving commercial town, and large barges, laden with tobacco, came and went on the Anacostia, which was then a navigable river, but has since shrunken to a shallow and sluggish stream. It was at Bladensburg that Clark Mills, the sculptor, had his work shops and foundry; here also was born William Wirt, the distinguished Jurist, once Atty.-General of the United States.

Aside from the quaint old houses along its principal street, there is little in the town itself to interest the visitor. It has the appearance of having slumbered since the close of the 18th century. The old George Washington Hotel, where Washington is said to have stopped, bears the date of 1732, and a little further up the street is the Palo Alto House, inscribed 1734.

Calvert Estate. The land N. of Bladensburg for a distance of about two miles, reaching to Point Branch, along the southern boundary of the present grounds of the Maryland Agricultural College, and comprising 16,000 acres, was formerly an estate belonging to a branch of the Maryland Calverts who traced their descent to Benet Calvert, father of the sixth Lord Baltimore, who, in 1728, was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue in the Province of Prince George, now Prince George County, Maryland. The old Lord Baltimore Mansion, said to date from about 1775, is still standing and is in excellent preservation.

It is reached from Bladensburg either by taking Bladensburg-Berwyn trolley to Riversdale and then walking a mile west; or by walking W. from Bladensburg to Hyattsville and taking Maryland trolley line N. to Riversdale, where the stopping place is almost opposite the Mansion.

The

Originally the Mansion occupied the centre of the estate, and a semi-circular drive a mile in length led from the northern gateway southward to the main entrance. The house remained in possession of the Calvert family until almost the close of the 19th century. grounds, however, were gradually sold off; the tracks of the Baltimore and Ohio R. R., passing within a few hundred feet of the Mansion, nearly cut the estate in two; and the modern village of Riversdale has steadily encroached until only a fraction of the original property remains. The slave-quarters and spacious stables that could shelter 500 horses were still standing in 1885, when they were destroyed by fire from a spark from a passing engine.

The title to the Mansion and remaining grounds was acquired by the Riversdale Land Company, by whom it was conveyed to a Mrs. E. K. Gordan, to whose extensive repairs the old building owes its present good condition. It is now occupied by the Lord Balti

more Country Club, and is not officially open to the public. Strangers, however, applying during the morning hours will usually receive permis sion to visit the rooms on the main floor.

The Mansion, designed by Henry J. Stier, an exiled architect from Antwerp, is distinctly on the English order of the period, and contains forty rooms. According to tradition the marble columns of the N. portico were originally cut for use in the Capitol; but having by a blunder been cut too short, they were purchased by the Calverts to replace the original sandstone columns. From the broad entrance hall one enters the large central ball-room, opening upon a spacious veranda at the rear; while on either side are doorways opening respectively into the drawing-room on W. and the dining-room on E. The latter was formerly completely surrounded by an elaborate frieze of hunting scenes, but the walls were later papered and the fresco ruined. Beyond the dining-room a short flight of steps leads down to the long, high-ceilinged breakfast room; while the corresponding space at the W. end of the house contains the library with its two quaint built-in bookcases; and beyond it the Coach house with its broad doorway still intact. Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were often entertained here, and one of the upstairs rooms is still known as the Henry Clay room. South of the Mansion may still be seen the scanty remainder of what was once a spacious lake, formerly supplied from the then abundant waters of the Anacostia River. It was on an island in the centre of this lake that Henry Clay is said to have drafted his famous Missouri Compromise Bill.

From Riversdale the visitor may make a pleasant trip northward through Berwyn to Laurel on the borderline of Prince George's Co., passing the Maryland Agricultural College (cars to Laurel run at one hour interval.) The Maryland Line offers the quickest return route from Bladensburg to Washington (cars run every fifteen minutes). Tourists who do not mind a little extra walking can save time on the whole Bladensburg-Riversdale trip by taking the Maryland Line (terminal at G and 15th Sts.) to Hyattsville, walking east to Bladensburg and Duelling Grounds, then returning and continuing by trolley Riversdale.

b. The Catholic University of America

to

*The Catholic University of America (Pl. III—B5) occupies a 144-acre tract in the northern section of Brookland, situated on the N. side of Michigan Ave. and bounded on the E. by Brookland Ave. and on the W. by Harewood Road, which separates it from the grounds of the Soldiers' Home (p. 432). Inclusive of a number of affiliated organizations, it already comprises a group of 24 buildings.