The Washington times., 1922-05-21
Family ~Hant" New
Idea i'm SOciety'S
Search for Thrill
'Fairview' Estate Has
Last Word i'm Fam
lily Specter.
FAMILY ghosts and banshees are

the newest wrinkle. To be
truly fashionable one must have a
haunted room in the ancestral
mansion or apartment.
A real, 100 per cent. dyed mote
the word -in-the.wool spook is a
social asset Of value. Ghost parties
are quito the smartest thing and
invitations read:
Mr.. and Mrs. So-and-So re-
quests the honor of your company
to- meet their family ghost. Au-
thenticity guaranteed"
In purchasing family mansions
or renting fashionable apartments
one stipulates a 'hant." A genuine
family banshee adds considerably
to the cost Of the dwelling or
apartment but the tenant con-
siders It worth 1t. One hears
rumors OF a certain fashionable
apartment hotel where the wrath
OF a former influential politician,
recently deceased, returns to haunt
the particular apartment he once
inhabited. Wiseacres opinsd that
the visitations were a warning OF
certain recent dire political de-
velopments in the late politicians
home State. Whether the hotel
manager will raise the rent Of the
apartment in question remains to
be seen.
The fashionables are planning a
trip down into Virginia to call
upon a particularly alluring spook
of guaranteed authenticity. The
"hant," spook Of the gentler
sex, is a family tradition on the
famous "Fairview" estate Of Mrs.
8. s. Wales on the Miles River
near Easton. Md.
Recently Mrs. Wales has sold a
large tract. about 26e acres, Of her
estate to the Glenn Stewards. who
will build Q reproduction Of an old
Spanish castle on the neck Of Fair
view Point. The Stewards are
planning q most complete estate,
with kennels for their magnificent
Irish wolf hounds, and stables, and
everything. They will not. how
ever, as far as anyone knows,
secure possession OF the ghost.
She. II il understood. remains the
family specter Of the tenants Of
the mansion house. and unless she
has a few obliging relatives in the
astral world the Glenn Stewards
will have to import their own
spook.
THE Fairvtew tract originally
contained 900-odd acres, and
included a good portion Of the
peninsula formed by Miles river
and Leeds creek. The tract was
divided into three farms. and the
one at the lower end OF the penin-
sula, containing about 500 acres.
was purchased several years ago
by Mrs. Wales. On this tract Is
the mansion house, owned for
many years by Anthony Banning,
and purchased about 1856 by
Thomas H. Oliver, who married
he daughter Of the late Col. Ed
ward Lloyd. and sister Of Howard
Lloyd. the present owner Of Wye
House. Mr.. and Mrs. Oliver re-
sided there for many years before
removing from Talbot county and
.ater selling the estate.
The ghost was a tradition even
in the time of the divers, and
when Mrs. Wales purchased the
estate the specter obligingly
transferred its allegiance to the
new owner. 1t is q spinning
specter. In a little alcove in one
of the older wings of the house
the industrious ghost bends low
over a whirling distaff, spinning.
they say, the fortunes Of the fam
ily-the one in possession Of
the homestead. Those who have
seen her say that she is dressed
in faded garments. a gray shawl
wrapped around her head, and
her face lined and haggard with
toll.
Always the visitation has pre-
ceded some dire calamity in the
household. The former owners
Of the place, while scoffing at
the yarn, carefully avoided any
mention of the family spook.
But the new owner, more alive
to the possibilities of the tradi-
tional "hant," has given the in