Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-09-09

finished blue and gray room designed
for Chief Justice Chase is an unframed
oil portrait of pretty blonde girl with
her hand on pet dogs head. 1t was
that of his daughter by his first mar
riage, who died in childhood. The
house was unevenly furnished. A carved
mantel of black oak that would be
treasured by Sypher was in an obscure
room. A massive Venetian armoire and
other Venetian furniture was mixed In
with Yankee household goods. A feature
of the construction of the house is a
false hearth in each room, beneath which
is chute for ashes and dust leading to
the cellar Electric bells were scattered
through the house. There are splendid
chandeliers, but no gas.
Amid these scenes of decay ex Gov.
Sprague aud his boy Willie have lived
for several years, in solitude broken by
great excitement as the officers of the
law have come about the place. Fifty
guests, with thirty servants, at one
time spent merry days here at the ex-
pense of the host, who keeps loaded
shotgun now resting on the carved man
tel upheld by the mermaids. An occa-
sional lady friend has, in visiting the
place, put a check to the ruin and the
loss by having the rich carpets moved
from beneath the leaks, and securing
the silverware found behind books in
closets, and even in the grass on the
lawn. Much of the furniture has been
boxed up and sent away from Canon
chet, and much remains.
One room was not opened until re-
Gently by exGov. Sprague. 1t was the
one occupied by his wife, and when she
quilted Canonchet the door was locked,
and her husband carried the key. When
she obtained divorce, he packed up
her goods and sent them to her. The
room was known among visitors as the
mysterious chamber" When the ex-
Governor showed the mansion to visitors
he passed this closed door in silence.
Mrs. Sprague's plans were never COM
pleted. She hoped to make it the grand
est villa in America, and it is said that
her early ambition was to establish a
political salon far from all rivals, where
her entertainments would attract the
men of power and influence in the land,
who could help her in her design to
make her father President of the United
States. When this ambition was blghted,
she IS said to have desired to reign as
social queen, and she prepared her en-
vironment accordingly.
When the first batch of work was
finished on Canonchet, ex-Gov. Sprague,
then man OF large affairs, was under
the impression that it had cost about
$4,000. One day his brother Amasa,
xv,l1 ha1 nh IF Nhn
asked him about insuring the place.
"Well, put $4,000 on it," said the
Ex-Governor.
"Twenty-five thousand p exclaimed
Amasa. "Do you know what it has
cost ?"
"Not over s50,OOO."
"Well," said Amasa, "here are bills
for 5000 000"
The property which was sold recently
for S62 go cost nearly il not all of a
million dollars. la the whirligig of
time it passes into the hands of the hus-
baud of descendant of old Gov. Atwood
Robinson. Mr. Francis D. Moulton, it
is believed, has purchased it for specu-
lation. II has often been talked of as a
grand club house, and again as a gam
bling house and cafe for millionaires.
The landscapes about it is in its primi-
tive state. Two hundred acres of it are
made up of salt marsh with an inlet
from the sea. Mrs. Sprague expected
that her husband would build orna-
mental stables and adorn the grounds,
but he never did. There is not yet a
setting for the costly and odd jewel.
The future of the place is apt to be a
part of the summer life at Narragansett.