New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-16
Camp Wadsworth Soldiers
Remove Cemetery-Arc
Warned of Ghosts
Negroes Prophesy
Evils to Come
Seventh Pitches on Site Is
and Begins Training for
the Great Purpose
Bv II. w. Francis
CAMP wADSWORTH (Spartanbur

A, not deal with such things and
,,,k materialism prevadcs all the out
rourinrs from headquarters, so it is
,ot easy 70 obtain a fair official es,
innate Of the number of ghosts that
,;shtly parade the company streets of
This camp. Major General John F.
O'Ryan says there are none, but Long
distance" q pstriarchisl darby. whose
words are regarded as prophecies by
The bulk Of the negro population Of
the district. has proclaimed the camp
"a be haunted by the shades of scores
81 ante -bellum negroes whose sequest-
,-ed graves have been violated by
Colonel Vanderbilt's 22d Engineers
The darkies for miles around avoid
III. camp after twilight, food their
.hanties with candle light and SILVER
at the sound of taps reverberating
through the dark.
What is now the centre OF camp
used to be 4 small settlement of negro
farmers whose homes nestled in the
shelter Of the naples, oaks and pines
that now shade divisional headquarters.
The broad expanse, which now is a
eo,e-ordcr drill ground, used to pro-
q duce corn and cotton, which the ne
groes sowed. titled and harvested on
shares with the white man who owned
the property. The pride of the settle
ment was a frame church, built by
popular subscription on the site Of an
old meeting house in which the set
Element fathers, decades ago, wor-
shipped regularly as slaves until they
were laid 10 rest in the slave GEM
etery' adjoining the edifce.
Although the old church was torn
down 70 make way for the new, the
cemetery was left untouched, the
dsrkies holding that any interference
with the graves would "arouse the
spirits With the advent of the mil
it&ry the darkies moved away. SER
vices were discontinued in the church
and the building was purchased by the
government for use as a hospital or
stOrehous6 The structure, deserted,
fell into disrepair.
Coming Tower" Put to Use
In order to obtain a panoramic pho
tOgraph Of the camp, The Tribune built
tower on the roof of the edifice
which, rising above the church steeple,
commands q clear view in any direction
from the highest point in the vicinity.
The structure, now often used by army
officers as an observation post, is gen.
orally known as The Coming Tower"
The negroes regarded its erection with
forebod!Hgs, references 10 the tower of
Babel and dire predictions concerning
The fate in store for those who ventured
70 ascent 70 the tower top being made.
When The Tribune photographer as
eended took his pictures and descended
unframed the negroes were astounded
al his temerity. But their astonish-
ment was as nothing compared to their
amazement, when, a few days later. the
I'D Engineers carried picks and shov..
els 70 the old slave burying ground
and began 20 uproot crumbling head
and Gisiuter the remains of slaves laid
TO rest long before the civil war.
The cofaus had been ordered removed
and the cemetery cleaned up by
Lieutenant Colonel Edward r. Maloney,
divisional surgeon, in the interest OF
camp sanitation. But all this was
lost on Long Distance" who solemnly
ayerred that If you soldiers want TO
proteck yo' health you'all will leave
them there skeletons alone
Things began TO happen as soon as
the first set Of time-bleached bones
were brought TO light. Private "Neelie'
Vanderbilt, the pride of the headqusrt--
ers' troop and son of the colonel OF
the POD, was taken down with a mys.-,
terious ailment which Long Distance"
proclaimed 10 be "speerit fever" and
which kept the camps richest recruit
IN his bunk for FIVE days.
Sentr.ss reported hearing dismal
grosns issuing from the woods in
which the tents Of the supply train
are pitched. The negroes diagnosed
the sounds as the wailing protests OF
departed souls, indignant at being dis
turbed in their sleep of centuries and
Captain George Robertson, IN command
Of the train, formerly the auto race
driver OF Vanderbilt cup fame, and a
hrm believer in the efficacy Of the
'hoodoo,' was almost converted 10 the
view when the ghost was laid.
0'Bricn Shores Like a Ghost
The unearthly groans turned out TO
Be nothing but the stentorian snores OF
Sergeant Justin O'Brien. son Of former
Juoge Morgan j. O'Brien of the Supreme
Court, who explained that he had been
dreaming Of the Pilsener Gardens Of
Berlin. With one ghost laid to rest
the camp was swinging back to It's
normal materialty, when numerous
sentr!es, members Of the North Car
DINA National Guard, who did duty
here before the It'll arrived. re-
ported being scared out of their wits
by the apparition of long, rakish,
gray automobile which sped, silently,
but at incredible speed, along the
camp roads in the darkness Of the
night, ignoring all challenges and dis
appearing before a rife could be aimed
a. 1t.
Long Distance" and his black
.heigh0ors had various theories TO &C
NSeHt lOr TINS motor RnoSt, put
none Of them appealed to General
oRyan, who called the sentries before
INN and upbraided them for laxity in
their guard duty. The sentries swore
10 get the motor ghost" if a we'll
placed 1922 could do the trick. PM
waite Moorehesd, who donned the khaki
al Shelby, n. c., a few months ago,
to.d himself ne didn't believe in ghosts.
massaged his trigger finger and
watched
Two nights later the "Motor ghost
came floating up toward his post
HALT" yelled Moorehead, but the
shadnWY cnr snaH On The sentry