The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-08-30

tbs cause Of the haunting OF the old
mansion?
1t was recalled that during the lat
ter part ot tie Barre6aS' brief occu-
pancy Ct the house a ycung and beau
tiiul Cuban woman had been a guest.
She was relative CT Mrs. BaTreoa, or
Sonora Barreda. who was herself a
Cuban and cne Of the hardsonest Wo-
men that ever graced Newport socle-
ty.
THE SENORITA DISAPPEARED.
For some reason that was not e1.
plained at the time, and has never
sirce been accounted for, the young
seno1ita suddenly disappeared. She
was not known to have go1s away
from the city, nor was she ever again
seen in or about the house.
Soon after the final collapse Of the
B,rreGa fortune came. The family
departed and ever after was lost to
view. Senor Barreda, the Spanish
American who had dazzled Newporters
With 8 fortune estimated at ttteen
millions, a fabulous sum 10 5hoSe
times had held the position OF
United States Minister to Peru, ano
was atterward sent on q diplomatic
mission BY the Government to Eog-
land and France bscane ali OF a SUD
den q common bankrupt.
Ten or fifteen years ago he dice
penniless in small town in New YORK
State. His widow went back to Cuba,
it is believed, though 10 cne seemed
to think IL worth while to keep track
Of her.
Everybody thought her dead, when
three OF four years ago she reappeareo
at Newport. She was al old, broken
down woman with snow.Whi5e hair,
the very ghost Of the radiant beauty
OF former years.
Fer few days she stopped at an
questionable ;hotel, VISITED the old
mansion in the guise OF stranger
and went to see her old retainer,
Gardner Williamson. Then she dis,
appeared, telling no one whence OF
why she came nor whittier she was
going.
But her visit served the purpose OF
revivirg the old traditions about the
':BarreGa Palace" and the ghost that
has been supposed to haunt it during
recent years.
It raised again the question OF what
really Old become Ct une be- u iful SEN
orita who mysteriously disappeared SC
| many years ago, and was it really her
ghost that Butler White saw, or bis
superstitious fancy:
But even these startling queries
soon died cut again in the rush and
whirl Of Newport's short summer sea-
sons. The cottage colony quickly for
got all about it. Only in the garden.
er's family the tradition was Kept
alive.
Gardener Williamson is a canny
Scotchman. Never word does the
inouisitive Sumner visitor get out OF
MIN about the traditions Of the house
or the AStor family. Or al the army
Of servants that come and go, season
after season, with the different occu-
pants, he a.one stays OF Winter and
Summer. He gees with the estate, y
as the saying is. BE is MI. AStor's
special custodian and retainer, like
the old family servants on an English
estate.
In the Summer MI. Williamson and
his family live st the ledge near,the
gateway. In the Fall, after the Sum
mer tenants OF the big house are
gone, the gardener and his family
move into the basement for Winter
quarters.
Rarely 10 they go into the upper
part Of the house, which is then desc
late and gloomy enough, with bare
floors and chandeliers and furniture
swathed in CHASTITY white wrappings,
But on Autumn and Winter nights
they hear strange noises overhead, as
il heavy pieces Of furniture were be-
ing moved, and doors opened anc
closed.
At such times, years ago, Gardener
Williamson and his wife used to take
lamps and grope their way through
the upper rooms and corridors to make
sure that no robbers had entered
But no trace Of burglar was eyel
found-and the gardener and his wife
gradually settled down to the convic.
| tion that it was the ghost Of the Bar.
reGas that was revisiuirg its old home
and ought not 10 be molested.
So OF late years when the noises up
stairs are heard the gardener and his
family only hud6le together closer
round the hearthstone. II chance
family friend is visiting them the
gh"st story is retcld.
One sucn visitor suggested that Mr..
Williamson put chalk OF the rollers OF
the furniture, so tEat next day 1t
might be seen just what pieces had
moved during the night by the marks
on The polished wooden foor5.
WHAT ABOUT TIE wALsHEs.
LII oS dlSO SOAJSCCS1CO k4sV CLAo
might reveal secret PANEL behind
sone picture or tapestry, in which
some ghost or living intruder might
be lurking.
Another friend Of the gardeners
family expressed the belief that II the
house were ever Torn down the skels-
ton OF the ssnorita would be found
within the walls Of the lower story.
The parts Of the house in which the
cminouS roises anl appari5ions most
often Occur are or the ground floor.
The main hsll, through which the
ghost seems to pass, is big dinly lit
passage, finished in 6ark Flemish oak.
Cu5 Of this opens reception room,
the library, almost as Clark and som.
bre as the hal, a rather gloomy
drawing rcon aud a brilliant morning
rocn, finished in white and gold, a
startling contrast to the other roons
on the floor. Into the morning room