News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-01-31
Echoes In the Capitol Dome.

| 'Dld you know that the dome OF th(
Capitol was haunted-the highest par
of the dome, just under the worn
| light ?" said an old watchman to a re
porter the other day.
"Why, no; tell me about it," said the
reporter with sudden interest, getting
close to the old man and speaking in a
low, confidential tone.
'Ne, you didn't know it. Well, ii
ain't" he said, shutting his mouth with
snap and looking as blank as a faded
guide-post, which tells you that it is l
miles to-, and leaves you to guess
where.
''Yes, that's the Senate side," he said
to a wild-eyed countryman who was
staring about in quest of that decorous
body. Then turning to the reporter,
''NO. it amt haunted"
''It's not, eh? Well, I thought not, :"
replied the scribe, sticking his thumbs
into the arm-holes of his vest and look
ing at the new frieze-work.
"No, it amt haunted; it amt haunt
ed, repeated the old man with low
chuckle. ga man committed suicide off
the rail there one time, but it ain t
haunted Then he looked knowingly
at the reporter to see if his curiosity was
sufficiently aroused. But the scribe was
admiring the Baptism of Pocahontas,
and the old mau assumed a more con-
fidential tone. "You remember the man
that jumped off there? It amt been so
long-about six or seven years. You
know he stood on the rail of the highest
balcony, and, throwing up his arms to
heaven, gave a wild plunge and was
crushed on the iron roof, nearly two
hundred feet below. Well, I guess his
ghost went somewhere, but it didn't stay
about here"
"Well, what are you talking about
then?" said the reporter, his interest
getting the better of his patience.
''No, it didn't stay about here" he
continued, not noticing the reporters
mpa tience, "but some folks think it did,
and it seems kind o'natural that it should,
too. Lots of queer folks go up on the
dome. I've been here long time, and
I see lots of them. They go up there
more in the winter than they do in the
to one more. It's too hot
to climb the stairs in the summer
There are some who come every session
with Congress. They come to the
Capitol every day, and always go on the
dome. They are the 'dome-rats, that's
what L call them. [ don't know what
they go there for, any more than I know
why church-mouse stays in church.
All the strangers who come here want
to go on the dome, and couples who want
to get off by themselves often go up
there. You can see them standing at
every landing, looking out the windows
with a way-off look. Then there are
cranks who go up there to get nearer
Heaven"
"Well, yes, know" interrupted the
reporter, "but what's all this got to do
with the dome's being haunted? Did
any of these curious visitors ever get
frightened at ghost up there and fall
down stairs i? Has any ones hair been
turned suddenly white by the sight of
specter about to plunge head-long in a
suicidal leap? Where does the ghost
come IMP"
'Didn't [ say there weren't any
ghosts" retorted the old man, an in
jured expression passing over his face.
81 was just coming to that" he said, re-
covering his good humor under the in
fiuence of the reporters conciliatory
smile. '"Ihere amt any ghostup there,
but some of these strangers get fright
ened and think the house is haunted. 1t
all comes of the whisper gallery You
know the whisper gallery? Well, you
know when people are talking around
on the other side the echoes bring their
voices right close up to you. A great
many strangers hearing these voices and
not seeing any one have jumped at the
conclusion that the place is haunted.
Knowing that man committed suicide
there, they think that his troubled spirit
still fingers about the scene. AS 1 told
you, it amt haunted, it's only the
echoes "