Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-21
ar Tales of Ghosts Give Color to Cys Lore of the Past

doors never failed to bring a chilli
draught.
The trail of the ghosts Of Washing
ton leads one along a path of fasol-
mating adventures. full of amazi:-3
contrasts. and keeps the iNc1;f"tio
turning handspr:nss to keep ab-ess
of the vagaries OF human nature
which are revealed in the quaint places
and the sensational stories that belong
TO them and their various "haInts.'
1t takes one up broad avenues, down
narrow alleys. across thresholds OF
tumhle-down shanties, stark ard for
lorn-like old skeletons, into the dismal
loneliness of the old Bladensbu@g duel
ing ground, where the unhappy spirits
of those who were killed in the duels
there linGer at the spot.
The trail leads through the navy
yard to the house of Cornmand4nt Of
the Marine Corps. said to be regularly
visited by the uneasy spirit of the
first COmmandant: from there to the
old Capitol Prison. where the spirits
Of many prisoners are said to hold
concOurse. and ~t..:r muffied weep
ing and signs and means tell of the
anguish of those long since dead. Even
the refurnishing of the historic edi-
flee into the headquarters of the
Woman's Party has not driven out the
supposed Specter of the young /, irl
spy of the Confederates, Belle Floyd.
who was held A prisoner there, ard
whose wrath is said still ~ glide
about the place she hated 81 bitterly,
although she did not die there.
CTATELY Maple Square. on South
~ Carolina avenue. has always boon
house of distinguished "cCupI",-.
This began in the days of it's builder,
W. NJ. Duncanson, wealthy tobacco
planter. and continued with its pur-
chase, shortly after the Civil War. by
Mrs. Emily Edison Briggs, famous
newspaper correspondent. better
known as Olivia. When Mrs. Briggs
took possession she discovered that
the best bedchamber was the abode
of a most gentle and benign ghost,
whose worst fault was that of roam
ing over the property and at times
causing sounds of weeping. or that
there were soft strains of weird music
to break the midnight stiffness.
The fact that her popular house
was haunted disturbed Mrs Briggs
not at all, but one morning, after sew
eral years bad passed. with occasional
spectral viSitatiOns, she entered her
spare bedroom and was astonshe1 to
note a depression in the pillow, as
though some one had lain down upon
the bed and left the imprint &c her
head upon it. Closer examination re.
vealed a tiny pearl in the hollow.
Mrs. Briggs often recounted the
story, insisting that with the appear
ance of the pearl the ghoStly visitor
took its departure, never to return.
Many different tales were built around
the ghost of Maple Square. most of
them including in their features the
untimely and tragic death of a Young
and jealous wife, embttered Ivy her
husbands thoughtless Sallantrics to-
ward an older woman. The pearl Mrs.
Briggs believed to be the symbol that
the restless spirit had found peace.
Tales of haunted houses axe rapidly
passing with the march Of progress
nd business but there are still erough
such places scattered throughout the
city, from Georgetown Heights To the
flats of Anacostia and the Arsenal to
the northernmost boundary. 10 make
n tale the half of which has never yet
been told. For the old FIRST ward" is
still rich in ghostly legends.
Lafayette Square and its immediate
neighborhood have been the scene Of
so many narrowing events ard tragic
Tragedy Square" Many of the spa
cious and historic mansions that fur
nished the setting for these violent
deaf have been DESTROYED. and. re
membering the tendency Of specters
to linger about the scenes Of their
violent exit from mortal life, It's re-
| lated that upon certain phases Of the
moon under the famous Wishing Tree
sometimes foregathers famous com
panv of the spirit world-the ghosts
of Tragedy Square.
This trysting place of lovers has
long been the objective Of an endless
procession of the vote ries worshpinC
at fortunes shrine, who. like the gay
Prince of Wales Gater King Edward
of England. at the bidding of The
lovely Harriet Lane. came. looked ard
whispered hopes. fears and wishes into
its mystic branches.
While romance finds In this SPOT a
fit setting for rosy path that leads
to plighted troth. ira gedv. TOO.
claims it for a muster Of the little
army of restless spirits who here hold
conclave when the rush and noise ~
traffic have faded into the hush of
night
When the gallant Decatur erected
his handsome home. the first on the
square. the vast lot in front of il
was already peopled with a spectral
throng. and it was long after his vio-
lent death and long after the window
at which his appariton was so often
beheld had been walled up, that the
barren drill field. with an apple orchard
at one end and an ancient cemetery at
the other, was materially changed.
The advent of a group of laborers
with picks and shovels. uprootng old
graves and disturbing old bones,
brought to pass the beginning of the
parks ghostly visitations, to which
the years have added a number of re-
cruits. Not long after the disastrous
duel the legend of Decatur's ghost re-
visiting his house was current. The
story is that he returns to the beau
tiful home he built with such high
hopes and ambitious plans. and slips
out of the side door just before dawn,
with his black box of pistols under
his long military cloak. and strides
through the park to the spot where
his second waited with his horse to
attend him to the meeting with
Barron on the field of honor at
Bladensburg.
On the same side Of the street is
house. the scene of such magnificent
festivities and also such heartbreaks,
nut most remembered Tor ltS Tragedy.
A flutter of white from an upper win
dow carried it's fateful message across
the stretch of park to two--husband
and lover. A smoking pistol and
crumpled heap upon the sidewalk pro-
claimed the old. old tragedy that
branded young wife's name and
gave to the unwritten law its place.
The spirit of Key, the gay, debonair
district attorney. still haunts the spot
where his bullet-ridden body left its
life blood upon the ground.
A roll-call of the phantoms Of
Tragedy Square brings to mind the
Miss Ward. who jumped
from a window to her death, and that
Of the mela ncholY Mrs. Adams. whose