In Old Tidewater Virginia 13 



twenty feet wide, and thirty-five feet deep; 

 and from its rear circular wall the winding 

 mahogany stair sweeps gracefully up three 

 stories into the gallery of the observatory. 



There is not a shoddy piece of work in it 

 from cellar to attic. The mahogany rails 

 and spindles are the finest finished hand- 

 work, the window and door sills are of mas- 

 sive Italian marble, and the hard pine floors 

 so evenly and smoothly laid they will hold 

 water. The floors are laid on oak sleepers 

 set ten inches apart, and are back-plastered 

 and sand-ballasted. 



Hundreds of slaves aided the skilled work- 

 men in its erection. Its straight, massive, 

 square lines gave me the opportunity to 

 carry out my dream of a Colonial home. It 

 only required the addition on both sides of 

 the Greek fagades with the pillars, and it was 

 done. 



We had men at work on the construction 

 of these columns who never saw a locomo- 



