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Show TH OL PAPERMAKER of April 24th, 1700, word came suddenl to the \'Alhgc, and to the Onderdonk houschold in particular, tha the President of the United States was on his way through th island, and that he would stop with the paper-mill owner fo breakfast. The Onderdonk family was around the table catin roasted clams when the message was reccived, and a great commotio arosc among the women to get things in readiness for th honoured guest. They sprang from their benches, and in hast swept into their aprons the clam shells and cups and saucers, soo having the table cleared for a more formal repast for Genera Washington. Afier breakfast the President and Hendrick Onderdonk strolled to the hill west of the pond, and the General remarked that the locality would make an excellent place for a fort y then visited the paper mill, the noted guest seeming muc interested in the process of forming sheets of paper and askin many questions in regard to the methods employed. He ras muc absorbed in watching the men dip and couch the thin sheets, on at a time, and the vatman summoned suficient courage politely t request that the President try his hand at the work. This Washington did, (hppu\ e the surfac laden with the snowy-white fibrous liquid; he the couched the shcu rhe workman ta e to slip a small bit o paper between the felts which covered made. Perhaps this means of identification was later found unnecessary, as the paper formed by a novice is generally dis\mgmsh able by its own characterist . Ttis said that this sheet was a che ished posscssmn of the mill for many y o trace of it ca prcss:d by his visit to the Onderdonk mil, for in his diary unde the date of his sojourn there he had this to say: "I lefe Mr Young's, Oyster Bay, before 6 o'clock on Saturday morning an |
