The Washington times., 1922-06-30
bOYD'S
GHOST R0AMS
ON NCAP|TOL HILL
Sweet Flower of Confeder-
acy" Worries Woman's Party
Home Residents.
BY WINIFRED VAN DUZER.
IniXersal Service.

btFNtce.
Belle Boyd. sweet flower OF the
Confederacy," may have been a
gentle creature and a marvel of
finesse In her day.
But Belle Boyd's ghost, according
to members of the National Wom-
ans party, IL tactless, impertinent
and q thoroughgoing nuisanse.
SO yesterday. while Miss Alice
Paul was handing over the check
which lifts the last bit of debt on
the only woman's national clubhouse
in the world. other members Of the
party, in session In one OF the nigh
old gloomy chambers on the second
floor, were considering plans for
permanently removing what IS be-
lieved TO be the restless spirit Of the
beautiful spy. thought to have re-
turned to the house where she once
was held prisoner.
Lock Doors Carefully.
Mrs. Isabelle Kendy Gill. member
ship and research secretary. who
has not seen fit to make her home
in the building where nightly man
ifestations" are said to occur. ex'
planned:
Perhaps II Is only that some OF
US are little timid. rambling
old house that has stood more than
100 years naturally would offer
weird features.
1T is true that not many Of the
party women are living here AT
present. but many have left for
the summer and have every inten-
ton Of returning.
1T is also true that doors nre
carefully locked for the night. But
so far such precautions haven't ap-
peared to be effective. The doors
are open in the morning"
Miss Sue White. of Tennessee.
is one most frequently annoyed by
the mystic tenant Of the old Cap
itol" Promptly at o'clock each
morning she awakens abruptly,
though there is no sound save. per.
haps. such as a robe trailing the
crumbling floor might cause.
And while she listens with breath
choked into her throat, chill
glides over her face. as II a cold
little hand had been passed across.
Other women have felt this chill
at the twilight hour as they hurried
up and down the old walnut stair
cases or through the maze Of pitch
dark passageways which weave
through the rear portion Of the
house.
Then there have been reflections
in the marble OF the fireplaces,
stretching half way across one side
Of nearly every room, such as
might be the shadows Of something
white and filmy moving swiftly be-
fore 'the polished stone.
I'VE wouldn't mind having a ghost
IL she's stay in her own quarters up
In the attic" one of the party said.
IT'S her way Of wandering around
all the time, orening closed and
locked doors and spreading that
graveyard atmosphere that is caus-
ing us annoyance and alarm.
The significant part of 1t Is that
as our plans for remodeling and
undermining the building progress
the more troublesome she becomes.
She seems to object to our changing
things which Of course isn't proper
for a ghost"
The task Of raising s146,Ooo. cover
ing the total cost of the building
which housed Congress from 1915
to 1919 after the Capitol was burned
by the British, turned out to be
negligible when Mrs. o. H. p. Bel
mont, president OF the party bought
cause It was dedicated with great
ceremony in May and today prepara.
tions were begun for tearing out
partitions. removing the gloomy and
weather stained decorations, doing
away with primitive gas-fixtures, and
otherwise obliterating all evidences
of age and decay.
Was Used as Prison.
During the Civil war the house
was used as a prison for Confederate
prisoners OF distinction. And upon
the cracked surface Of a door In
fourth-story chamber one may see
certain batters and csars which are
said to be fist and teeth marks; evil
dences Of the struggle put up by the
beautiful young Southern spy against
her Incarceration.
The task Of raising a young for
tune is one thing however. and that
of driving out a tenant tenacious as
she is Intangible Is another.
Consequently the ousting plan
which found most favor today was
one Of meeting the spook on her own
ground by way Of a seance. The
ghost committee is considering the
advisable OF installing a medium
In the clubhouse who will find out
what Belle Boyd's wrath will take
IN nooye IN to the attic and remain