The Washington herald., 1913-03-02

President-e!ect Wilson when he comes
to Washington will take up his residence
in a haunted dwelling. The White House
has long been famous for its ghosts.
The most interesting OF these speclers
is that OF a woman with cap or an
tiaue pattern. n garment resembling 4
lace shawl, and widely distended noon
skirts She is seen not at midnight. as
is customary with most well regulated
ghosts but Just before daYbreak. gliding
slowly along the wide hallway. which eX-
tends lengthwise through the middle "f
the White House. 1t is always from
the west end to the east that she moves.
and when she reaches the closed double
DOORS which give entrance TO the East
Room. she passes through them, as If
thev offered no obstacle. and Hanishes.
Nobody can tell with positiveness, of
course. but the supposition is that the
phantom is that of Abigail Adams, the
first mistress OF the White House She
;ook up her residence in the mansion in
the autumn Of 1900. when it was as vet
nv no means finished. and history relates
that she used the East Room Originally
Intended for a banqueting halD as a
laundry drying the family wash there.
Ghosts Made No Difference.
But of what account is one ghost. more
was called in the early DAYS OF the re-
public? No mans ambition to occupy
it was ever Iessened by stories of the
''haunts" that infest It
The most Familiarity known and best
authenticated of White House specters
Ia that of Abraham Lincoln. So far
can be ascert aimed it never appears else
where than on the stairs-the double
fight, that is to say. which formerly
hItSi nf-
fees. At the present time tsInce the
reconstruction of the mansion by Roose-
velt the upper floor is occupied wholly
by bedrooms.
Mr.. Lincoln $50 witnesses of the pho
nomenon aver is always seen walking
up the stairs. 1t is impossible to mis-
take his tall. awkward figure and
shambling gait. When he gets to the
top, he looks around. smiles sadly, and
disappears. One might imagine that he
melted into enlist.
In earlier wears the attic was said to
be haunted by President William Hen
ry Harrison lwEo died in the White
House)-though why he should have Sc
lected this part of the mansion for his
phantasmal activities is not easy to cN-
plain. The attic was then a lumber
room. filed with discarded furniture,
stacks of trunks, and quantities OF mis-
cellaneous Junk. representing gifts sent
to the White House by well-meaning but
foolish people Now tsince the recon-
struction) il Is occupied as servants
quarters, and the shade of Mr.. Harrison
is seen there no longer.
OF all places in Washington. however
the one most indubitably haunted is the
room in the Capitol, now known as
Statuary Hall, which formerly was the
chamber of the House of Representa-
tives IT was there that John Quincy
Adams died-he was a member OF Con-
gress for nineteen years after he relin-
uuished the Presidency-and the seat he
occupied when fatally stricken by paraly-
sis is marked to this day by brass
star set in the marble floor. They do
say that his ghost frequents the place.
an amiable and harmless spectre. and
that his footfalls-but of them word
presently.
Saw Entire House.
There was a member of the CAPITAL
police, not long ago, who made formal
affidavit that entering Statuary Hall one
night he beheld there the entire House
of Representatives of. 1S4S. assembled as
it for law-making purposes-a phantom
legislative crew, Including Mr.. Adams
himself and many other personageS
familiarly known in history. but long
dead. All Of them. to a man. turned and
looked at him as he came ina mysteri-
Gus and ghostly light illuIlined the scene
but not one of them said word. The
police officer was dismissed for drink
ing, and the charge may have been Just,
but there are other watchmen at the
Capitol who shake their heads solemnIy
" h'n tic a;tr is mentioned, and say