The tents of the provost guard pitched at the electric railway terminus at East End with pickets posted at various street corners made Falls Church appear like a town under martial law. Under all the circumstances the conduct of the troops was admirable. The homes of the citizens were thrown open to the soldiers doing picket duty in the village, and the ladies of the place vied with each other in contributing to the comfort of sick soldiers at the camp. [Illustration: Mr. C. H. Buxton] The summer of 1898 was a most eventful one in Falls Church. No such stirring scenes had been witnessed here since the days of the civil war. Troop trains arriving or departing, drills at camp and practice marches through the town, martial music from many bands, reveille and taps, all contributed to impress the town folk with the fact that the country was at war. FINANCES OF THE TOWN. The expenses of the town government for the year ending August 31, 1904, was $2,188.47. The assessed valuation of the town is $420,125, which is about 50 per cent of the real value. The tax levy for all purposes is six mills. The levy is divided as follows: For corporation purposes three mills; for school purposes three mills. The total receipts for fiscal year 1904 were $2,289.20. There is no bonded indebtedness. A number of times propositions to bond the town for school or street purposes have been voted upon but each time the citizens have decided against incurring any bonded debt. [Illustration: Mr. Summerfield Taylor] The following are the officers of the town government: OFFICERS OF THE TOWN. George N. Lester, Mayor; Henry Crocker, Clerk; John N. Gibson, Sergeant; R. C. L. Moncure, Corporation Attorney. Members of Council: 1st ward, Elmer I. Crump, S. E. Thompson, G. A. Brunner; 2nd ward, E. A. Kimball, Geo. N. Lester, Geo. W. Hawxhurst; 3rd ward, Thomas Hillier; Wm. M. Ellison, H. C. Birge. Committees, Street Lamp Lighting: E. A. Kimball, Thos. Hillier, S. E. Thompson. Finance: Wm. M. Ellison, Chairman, H. C. Birge, Geo. W. Hawxhurst. Board of School Trustees: J. W. Brown, Chairman, R. J. Yates, Clerk, J. S. Riley. HEALTH. In the matter of health Falls Church leads. Statistics obtained by the U. S. Census Bureau relating to the mortality rate show that out of 341 towns and cities from which returns were received the lowest death rate for the year ending May 31, 1900, was in St. Joseph, Mo., with 9.1 for each 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Portland, Oregon, 9.5, St. Paul, Minn., 9.7, and Minneapolis, Minn., 10.08. For the same period there were only 5 deaths in Falls Church, its population then being 1,007. The average annual death rate in Falls Church is about 9.5 per 1,000, only 57 deaths having occurred here between August 17, 1898 and September 2, 1904, a period of a little over six years. [Illustration: Mr. A. P. Eastman]