Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-01-22
Ghosts That Haunt the
United States Capitol

bcmcnce are the silent political dis
sensions.
provoked by doubling Thomas,
a member of the Capitol night watch,
several years ago. made affidavit that
he had seen this CHASTITY Congress in
session. Yes. he was a sober man
and true.
The shade of General John A. Lo
gan is a frequent visitor at the Capitol
Almost every alternate night at 80
, O'Clock this ghost matcralizes at the
door of the room occupied by the Sen
ate committee ON Military and Militia.
Silently the door swings open and out
steps the looming and luminous pres
enCe. to stalk in stately dignity away
into The swallowing gloom. This is
4 favorite phantom with the guards.
It's conduct is exemplary
Then there is the shade OF Vice
President Wilson, who died in his room
in the Senate end of the Capitol, YOU
and desultory. When il does come
! there is always an expression OF con
Germ and scIf-ahsorption in the ehostly
face.
The movements of the vapory body
are restless and hurried.
All of the older members of the
night watch are we'll acquainted with
Vice Presidents Wilson'S appartion
and never fail to salute IL although.
truth to tell, the shade romans haugh-
tily Indifferent to their presence. This
spook rarely fails to put in an appear
ance when the body Of a dead states
man of national renoWn is lying in
state i'll the capitol.
Deep in the subcellar vaults spooks
Of lesser magnitude revel in hordes
| Immediately beneath the Hall OF Rep
resentatives every night is to be found
tall erect, gaunt spectcr, whose iden-
| tity has remained mystery for years,
! in spite of unceaSing efforts on the
part of the nightwatch to uncover the
secret of its origin and antecedents.
| It's hands are clasped behind its trans
parent back in a conclusive clutch and
! the face evinces condition of emo
, tiGn prodigiously wrought upon.
Many attempts have been made by
guards with ruber soles on their shoes
to catch this wrath unawares; but
| failure is the invariable result Pres
to. 1t is blown into thin air before
the sleuthing watchman is within for
ty feet of it.
There is one ghost in the subcellar
| vaults, however, that has a purpose
! for it's walking which is we'll under
stood.
Nearly ten years ago there died an
aged. man, who for nearly half a cen
tury had been employed in the library
of congress, then having quarters in
the capitol.
AT that time the library was dis
tressingly pushed for space, and sew
eral Of the vaults in the subcellar
We're given over to the librarian, to
amend as far as possible, the conges-
| ton
| 1T was in one OF the most remote
, and gloomy of these stone and brick
! ing was done by the aged man. The
floor of this particular cell was piled
from bottom to top with books and
there was scarcely space to accommo.
date the necessary amount of oXy-
gen.
Now. just before his death, the
aged man suffered a stroke Of paraly
sis. which forever destroyed his pow
er of speech.
He made known by desperate pam
tomimic efforts that he desired to be
taken to the library, but before he
cOuld be carried tn"fe lHe aSeu man
died
His heirs soon discovered the rea-
sons of his demands to be brought
once more to the capitol. Down in
the dust and rust of his vault in th"
subcellar the aged man had concealed
several thousand dollars worth of
government bonds.
The heirs searched and searched
among the musty tombs but the
bonds were never found.