Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-29

MYSTERIES OF WASHINGTON

enough to contain rooms, which appar-
emily have no entrances.
When the recent discovery of an
unknown shaft occurred, it was re
called by old employees of the capitol
and by certain members of congress
that Henry D. Flood. a representative
in congress from Virginia and chair
man of the foreign affairs committee,
who died recently, was regarded as a
sort Of mar of mystery around the
capitol because of his wholly unac-
~countable disappearance. The story
goes that at times when Mr.. Flood
wanted to be alone to transact urgent
business without interruption he would
disappear absolutely. He would be
seen walking down a corridor of the
capitol, would turn a corner and sud-
denly would be gone.
Floods Secret Died With Him
Nirginians took a large part in the
building Of the capitol, the pre-emiu-
ence OF such men as Washington. JEFF
ferson. Burr and others giving them a
prominent place in any governmental
undertaking. The theory has been adj
vaneed that Mr.. Flood. of Virginia.
the political heir OF these famous
statesmen, in some way became pos
seSsed of some of the architectural
secrets of the capitol and used them.
Mr.. Flood is dead and. presumably. his
secret, if he had one. died with him.
The capitol remains and looks solid
enough to remain to the end of time
win some enterprising architect find
its secret or will the building crunble
with no one the wiser
The capitol is by no means the old
est building in Washington. One of the
mast i,4apaCrtr~ afa hn,Snc ~, tSach-
ington is 0ctagon House which stands
at Eighteenth street and New York
| avenue. 1T now is owned by the
| American Institute of Architects and
| preserved by a magnificent specimen
of early American architecture. 1t
was built by a Mr.. Taylor, a Philadel-
phia capitalist. During the war
Of 1912 the British burned not only
the Capitol but the White House.
President Madison and Dolly Madison,
the mistress of the White House, re-
became the White House pending the
rebuilding of the new executive man
sion.
passages. For instance, if you go up
the main, winding staircase and touch
a certain panel in the wall decorations
the panel will swing open and reveal
another staircase, going down. It was
not until the new home for the de-
partment of the interior was built that
the most interesting feature of this
house was discovered. This new build
ing stands just across the street from
Octagon house. In the course of ex-
! ~caYation for the deep cellars, the ON
tractors discovered a secret passage
running from Octagon house in a
northwesterly direction.
The young man who was superintend-
ing the excavation unfortunately was
not a person of archaeological curiosity
has been obscured. Here is the story
which he told. The steam shovels
were working in q great hurry to get
the job done. They broke into the
secret passage and i'll a few hours oblit-
Grated it. The passage extended to a
point about the middle of the square
On which the building was to be erect
ed. There it opened into a fair-sized
chamber. From the secret chamber 1t
continued to q destination not yet as
certained. The fascinating point is that
in this secret chamber stood a table
and a chair. On the table was a candle-
| stick, with a burned out candle and a
book, lying open. The accumulation of
| dust Indicated that the secret cham
! Der had not been occupied for a CEN
! tury. The book lay. opened, just as It
| had been left q hundred years ago.
.NNhat was the book?" he was asked.
"oh, I don't know" he said. Il was
too busy to notice. One of the work
men took it. We had to get the lon
done and couldn't stop to bother about
a hundred year old books. If the book
had been any good the man who owned
| it would not have left it there
Was it a book which Preslent
James Madison was reading! Was
some British spy Willing away. his time
in the secret chamber with some
romance? Probably no one will ever
know.