Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-09-23
KILLING A GHOST
DR.. FELL'S HAUNTED CHAM
BER RIPPED OPEN
Sealed Up For Years Sweetness ia
chunks-Mght Have Been Warm
Reception For the Bishop-The
Busy Bee Gets More Busy
EVERYTHING STUCK UP AT COL
LEGE PRESIDENTS HOME


Verify. verify. the busy bee doth
improve each shining hour, and for
eight or nipe years has been getting
more busy at ST. Johns College.
Sh-sh-spcak of it softly in whis-
| pcrs, for 1t has only been known 10
the closest friends Of President Fell's
| family OF 81. Johns College and 10
the visitors who occupied the guest
1 chamber, that there was haunted
room i'm the house, where mysterious
/ noises were often heard. IL has been
/ known for years that something un-
/ canny occupied the room usually as
| signed to guests, and that weird, grue-
\ some noises could be heard In this
room all hours Of the night when the
household was supposed TO be asleep.
| The room was called DIR. Fell
| haunted chamber, and on one occa-
sion Dr. FeIl's niece, who had come
over from England TO visit the fam
| lily, and who had been assigned this.
| room, positively refused 10 occupy
it after the first night because of the
| ghosts, or the ghosts of sounds that
emanated fherefrom. The sounds were
a drOning, hnmming, curiously buzz
zing kind, and were anything but
| soothing and harmonious. The ghost
| theory was laughed TO scorn by the
| members Of the household, who are
not at all snpcrstitious, but those
| sounds still remained and could not
4 be accounted for until few days ago.
| seated about the dining room table,
| the family Of Dr. Fell although always
sweet tempered, became conscious Of
/ additional sweetness. Like showers
Of blessings, something was dropping
1 from above. and where every drop fell
| il stuck. Liquid sweetness WAS drop
ping from the ceiling over the table
| and on the family aud WHOM some one
dared to taste it, IL was discovered TO
| so honey. Was anybody playing a
| joke and pouring honey through the
/ fioOr abovey oh no. What thcny The
discovery is made; the ghost theory
exploded; the noises in the room
/ above for the past few years are cx-
| plained. Bees. bees, bees. But how
did they get thereg
The president Of the college takes
| into his confidence the tree surgeon
| and horticulturist engaged on the
| Liberty Tree surgery. On yes, be
| has heard of such things before as bees
1 living in the easement and ceiling of
= houses, aud be begins To investigate.
| In building the house the stone mason
| had not properly set window gill,
| there being space of some inches be-
tween the stone and the brick, the
mortar not filling this In properly.
/ Here for eight or nine years bees have
been passing In and out, and build
| ing their hives, until one complete
| hive eight feet long aud sixteen inches
deep had been built. They had filled
| the. space between the floor and joists
10 its end and were rounding a
corner when their work was inter-
fered with, uncorenoniously.
To get the bees out was matter
Of no little consideration. Sulphur
candles were used, and 6Dally kerO-
scno, and at least 1000 TO 5000 bees
we're killed and driven out OF the
space between DR.. Fell's dining room
| ceiling and the floor of the guest
| chamber. When the dead bees were
| gathered up there were two water
bucKetfulls, including little Of tho
| plaster that had fallen with the bees.
lThen the honey that had been dripping
its sweetness OH the heads OF the fam
lily was to be looked after. II was
estimated that $50 pounds Of honey
was extracted from the honey comb.
There were Six large pans full, and
every available dish In the house was
used as receptacle for the chunks
OF sweetness. The honey comb was
Ieverwhere. Tho honey IL OF n very
dark hue, and looks rs IL The source
Of supply has been buclxwheat, SO the
borticulturists say, but II is not
known that buckwheat Is growing
anywhere very near Dr. Fell's home.
IBuckwheat cakes and honey, sounds
good, doesn't ity
In getting the bees out, which was
work of no little care, .only one per-
son was stung. and he was DIR. Fcl's
steward. II Is thought all the bees
have been driven away or killed, and
there is no fear OF them hiving there
again, as IL Is quite certain ethe queen
bee was killed. In order to get the
bees out ii was necessary TO rip up
the flooring. The opening under the
window sill where the bees affected
an entrance was a half inch deep and
eight inches long, aud is the fault -oi
worlxmen who built the house. Had
the mortar been patched or properly
sealed at any time the hiyiDg Of the
bees I'm the house would never have
| occurred. Such occurrences arc rare,
hut A few are known TO have exist
ed. one n case where waspg mes ted
in house in similar manner.
The room where the bees made nn-
canny noises was the one 10 have
been occupied next week by the
Bishop of London. who is expected
here next Sunday. The Bishop would
probably have had a warmer reception
than he anticipated mad the bees moi
been released. AS IL is,this particular
guest chamber in President Fell'i
house will not be ready for occupancy
for some time TO come. Everything has
been stuck up about the Fell house
hold for the past two days. Even the
bricks near .the hives were satuated
with honey and weighed three times
rs much as ordinarily because Of this.
The family, always sweet, have sud
denly become sweeter than honey and
the honeycomb, with which their
home is literally saturated. There il
sweetness in. the very air they breathe,
and college campus is land flowing
with honey even If thesprice Of milk
has gone up.