Evening star., 1917-01-14
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THB STAR

In lib DIAN
Congress late in 1856 passed a bill
for the enfranchisement of negroes in
the District of CO.
District Negroes 'iumoia' which wa:
Enfranchised. Johnson The HOUSE
and Senate, however, passed the bill
over the Presidents veto. The Star
Of January 8. 1867. said:
"As was anticipated, the Senate yes
terday held to their heretofore action
on the District negro suffrage bill and
by vote Of 20 to 10 passed the bill by
the requisite two-thirds majority over
the Presidents veto. The House today
will undoubtedly pass it by a two
thirds vote. Tho Presidents message
was conceded by republican members
generally to be a temperate. dignifed
document, and not few admit the
great force Of the objections urged to
the indiscriminate suffrage extended
by the bill. but do not seem inclined
to detach themselves from tho ma
jority who have willed to establish
colored suffrage here without qualifi-
cation. Congress having thus r6it-
Grated it's purpose in the matter, the
esce with good grace in what Is be-
yond their control and aid in giving
the experiment a fair trial"
On the same day the House, as ex-
pected. passed the bill over the Presi-
dents veto by a vote of 113 to 3S. a
strict party vote with the exception
of a single member.
All was not entirely smooth at the
new skating park, which was a popular
source of diversion in
Skating Park Washington half
century ago. Some
I A1oupAes. difficulties arose be-
cause members of the skating club
were inclined to disregard the rules of
the organization. In 1he Star of jan
uary 10, 1867, is the following news
item:
Tuesday afternoon Mr.. Alexander
Adamson, one of the stockholders of
the skating park. went to the park
| with his children and took them upon
the ice with a sled. The rule of the
park forbids the carrying of sleds upon
the ice, but Mr.. A. claimed that he had
written permission to carry the sled
upon the eastern part of the pond,
where he was going. The managers
| ordered him off and he refused to go.
and they undertook to put him OFF,
when a fight ensued in which several
engaged. Mr. A. was arrested and
taken before Justice Drury, who ruled
the case before Justice Morsell, in the
second ward. for trial at IL o'clock
this morning. At the hour appointed
the witnesses not being present. Justice
Morsell dismissed the case against Mr.
A, but held him to bail for peace. Mr.
A. then had warrants issued for Will
liam A. Gray. w. H. Clagett, NJ W.
Parker and Capt Rodgers. for assault
and battery. These cases are ruled for
tomorrow at O'Clock. at the central
guard house. where the whole case will
be Investigated"
When the case was brought into
court it was continued. pending a pri-
vate settlement of the matter. and later
the skating club itself considered the
whole affair and the trouble was ami
cabiy adjusted.
Washington has had a number of
haunted house sensations in it's history
but none that caused more
Haunted excitement than one half
r century ago, reported as
ouoS' follows in The Star Of
January II. 1867:
For several nights past house on
south near 10th street west, occupied
by two colored families, has been vis-
tied by persons from all sections of
the city to witness wonderful things
which could not be accounted for ex-
cept by ghostly theories. The colored
residents in the vicinity, except those
living in the part of the house where
the wonders occurred, declared 'dars
chooses in dat hous,' and there were
some persons of apparently more in
telligence who expressed similar opin-
ions. The performances commenced
regularly between y and 3 o'clock
opening with a corkscrew Jig between
the wood axe and a straw broom then
followed a trot of a tiatiron over the
floor. Jumps of coal began to fy about.
to the peril of the heads of the COM
pany, one piece striking three persons
IN the room The cooking pans jumped
of the stove and skipped over the moor
and many such things occurred, caus-
ing the eyes and mouths of the greenies
to expand with wonder. They sent for
some spiritual mediums to come down
and see what the ghosts wanted. The
spiritualists' went over lot of fun
merry, calling upon different spirits to
tell what was the matter, and trying
to get rappings from the table, and
succeeded in getting one rap furnished
by bystanuer. The crowds visiting
the place attracted the police, and they
went In to see the sights and keep
order.
They detected two or three little col
orcd children singing coal and shying
pans and threatened to take them to the
station If they repeated it: and catching
white man in some suspicious move
ments, accused him of hoaxing the peo-
pie. He said he had nothing to do with
1t at first, but catching the children
and finding himself hoaxed he deter
mined not to be alone, and sometimes
lent his assistance in keeping up the
hoax. The lieutenant of the police and
his men wfll pay attention to the place
hereafter, and after his declara tions to
Maj. Richards, we will not be surprised
If the chooses and probably some of
their visitors are locked up in the sta
ton house.
1T seems that the portion of the house
where the ghostly manifestations occur
Is occupied by a colored individual for
merly from Boston, and 1t is thought not
impossible that he is ringing in some of
his experiences in Boston spiritual cir
cles to astonish the Washington negroes.
The house previously occupied by him