The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-01
TO KILL. A HOOD0O
HOW MRS. r.. I'll. TOWNSEND Is
ENGAGED IN ERECTING A
PALACE
AROUND "A SUPERSTITION
A Residence Which VIII Be the
Most Magnificent Ever Erected In
Washington-It Is Not Quite Half
Finished-The Mansion VIII Cost
About 100000 - Building 1t
for Daughter of Seventeen.

for Daughter of Seventeen.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Sept. ga pal
ace built literally around g. superstition
is Washington's newest marvel, and one
may safely say that nothing to match 1t
has even beensseen anywhere. Baronial
castles, assWell as ediflces Of other kinds,
often gain resident spooks or acquire
curses as incidents Of their history, but it
has not been the fashion hitherto to pro-
wide in tEs architects plans against such
troubles. and the notion Of embodying
hoodoo- kiiIersin the very fabric Of man
sion is wholly novel.
The owner Of this remarkable house,
which as yetis not quite half finished, is
Mrs. r. Fl. Townsend, of New York city.
Before her marriage she was Mary Scott,
a daughter of the late Col. tom" Scott,
Of Pennsylvania railroad fame. Her
wealth runs up into millions, and the
mansion aforesaid will cost her about
100000. 1t viii be nearly twice the size
of the famous Letter, house, on Dupont
circle, being Iz5 feet in width and 1913 feet
in depth Mrs Townsend Is building it.
she says. for her young daughter. now II
society. twill be the scene, doubtless,
of some of the most gorgeous entertain
ments ever given at the national capital.
Now, once upon q time-a very proper
way to begin such a story as this-Mrs.
Townsend interviewed a witch. 1t was
remarkably clever witch, and, in reveal
ing the future to her lady patron, she
predicted a number Of events since real
lied with astonishing accuracy in Mrs.
Townsend's life. It was very bright and
cheerful picture she drew, on the whole
one may command good deal Of bright
ness and cheerfulness if one possesses
millions of dollars-but there was one I'M
pleasant representation. This was that
If Mrs. Townsend should ever occupy a
dwelling that had never been lived in
before she would die within six months
after moving into it.
This prophecy struck Mrs. Townsend as
grewsome, to say the least, and up to
now she has carefully avoided all risk of
mourning the ipenalty y. suggested Though
anxious for some time past to move her
residence to Washington and build a
home here She has been restrained from
the accomplishment of this desire by the
witchs ominous vaticination. She
thought of buying a house, but could find
none that was large enough or adequate
in other respects for her purposes. At
length, however, she hit upon an in
genious method of evading the hoodoo
and getting what she wanted at the same
time. She decided to purchase the old
Hillyer mansion, on Massachusetts ave-
nue., and to construct palace around it.
This she IS doing In such manner that,
while occupying the new mansion, she
will actually liEefn the old Hillyer house,
the skeleton. Of which is retained as
middle portion OF the revamped struc-
ture. Her bed roomI her dressing room
and bath room and her boudoir will be
in the ancient dwelling, the original
floor joists and framework, as we'll as the
roof, being kept intact Thus the hoodoo
will be defeated, inasmuch as the con-
struction on which the builders are now
engaged comes under the head of "alter-
ations," technically speaking, and Mrs.
Townsend may consider herself safe
against the fuIfillment Of the conditional
threat recorded against her in the book
of fate
One interesting point in the story is
that the retention of the framework and
roof of the HiIlyer house does not save
one cent of expense; ON the contrary, 1t
adds to the cost of the mansion, being
very much in the way of the builders,
who are obliged to accommodate their
plans to the old skeleton instead of put
ting up fresh one to suit the require
ments Of the new structure.
Another very curious fact, well worth
mentioning in this connection, is that
the Hillyer house.. which the millionaire
New Yorker is thus employing as nu-
cleus for her magnificent future habi-
tatfon, is itself most unlucky, having
been the scene, a few years ago, of a
deplorable tragedy-an incident, in fact,
not less melancholy than the suicide Of
the only daughter of it's owner, Judge
Hillyer, from whom Mrs. Townsend
bought the property recently. The ro-
mantle history and tragic fate of pretty
against the wishes of her family, make
one Of the saddest chapters in the social
records of the national capital.
By curious freak of circumstances,
Mrs. Townsend, anxious to escape the
operation of a hoodoo, has selected the
dwelling in which this frightful tragedy
occurred as her future home in Wash
ington. The process by which she is
converting it into the finest mansion at
the capital consists in widening the orig
inal structure and adding thereto two
great wings and a huge back building.
The front will be of Indiana limestone,
having much the same effect as white |
marble, quafried at Bedford in that |