Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1900-05-13
HOUSE WITHIN A HOUSE.
rseu WeaIthy Woman VII Esade s
 Witeh.S Toodoo.

witeh.s Hoodoa
 Washington Star: X palace built
 literally around a superstition is Wash
 fngfnn's newest marvel and one may
 safely say that nothing to match it aas
 ever been seen anywhere Baroniai
 castles, as well as edifees of other kinds. often gain resident spooks or
 acquire curses as incidents of their
 history, but 1t has not been the fashion
 hitherto to provide in the architects
 plans against such troubles. and the
 notion of embodying hooat9 killer in
 Ghe very fabric Of mansion is wholly
 novel. The owner of this remarkable
 house, which as yet is not quite half finished, is Mrs. R H. Townsend of Rhiladalphia Before Ter marriage she was Mary Scott. a daughter of the hate Col. Tom Scott, of Pennsylvania railroad fame. Her wealth runs into Ehe millions, and the mansion afore- said will cost her about s4Q0 GOO. It will be nearly twice the size of the famous Letter house, on Dupont circle
 being 125 feet in width and f23 feet in depth Mrs Townsend is building it. she says, for her youngest daughter, now 17 years of age, and almost ready ao enter society. It will be the scene. doubtless, of some of the most gor= geous entertainments ever given at the national capital. Now, once upon q aime-a very proper way to begin such n story as this-Mrs. Townsend inter viewed witch. It was q remarkably clever witch. and, in revealing the Future to her lady patron, she predicted . number of events since realized with astonishing accuracy in Mrs. Town sends life. It was very bright and cheerful picture she drew, on the whole one may command a good deal of brightness and cheerfulness if one pos- Gesses millions Of dollafs-but there was one unpleasant prognostication. hhls was that if Mrs. Townsend eyer occupied dwelling which had never 0een lived in before she would die with an six months after moving in. This prophecy struck Mrs. Townsend as RsreWsome, to say the least, and up to now she has carefully avoided all risk of ineurring the penalty suggested. Though anxious for some time past to move her residence to Washington and build home here, she has been restrained from the Accomplishment of Ihis desire by the witch's ominous vat 1eination. She had thought of buying a house, but could find none that was large enough or adequate in other re- speets for her purposes At length, however, she hit upon an ingenious method of eYading the hoodoo and get ting What.she wanted at the same time. She decided to purchase the old Hill yer mansion on Massachusetts avenue. and to construct palace around it This she is doing in such manner that while occupying the new mansion, she will actually live in the old Hillyer house, the skeleton of which is re sained as a middle portion of the re- Namped structure Her bedroom, her dressingroom and bathroom and her boudoir will be i'll the ancient dwelling, the original floor joists and framework, as well as the roof, being kept intact. Thus the hoodoo will be defeated, in- asmuch as the construction on which <he builders are now engaged comes under the head Of alterations. teeh9 hiea1ly speaking, and Mrs. Townsend may consider herself safe against the fulillment of the conditional threat re. corded against her in the book of fata