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Copyright, 181J, by the Star Company, tireat Britain lUshta neaerfeO.
Hood
ooe
of Jc
Will Washington's
Commercial Club Break
the Chain of Horrors
Which Makes Its Hew
Home a Place of Dread
or Will It Jldd Hew
and Weirder Links?
THE moat Implacable of spooks,
with a terror-Inspiring rocord
covering a century and a quar
ter almost the whole oxlstonco of
the National Capital at Washington
has been boldly challenged by tho
Commercial club of that city. They
hayo bought tho land which rooks
of murdor, suicide, deaths by Are
and mystorlou Infection find tho un
tannlest ghostly visitations that havo
vcr figured in ghostly history,, and
Are spondlng 1120,000 to convert
this awesome spot Into a cheerful
f&tre of Washington club life.
Although three soparate buildings
liave successively taken the placo of
ae lonely cottago whero, In 1702,
a record of horror began, the
ghosts have remained with tho land.
They rendored uninhabitable ovon
tho present handsome mansion
which "Baron Roson occupied with
his famlb Surlng his period of sor-
vice as Russian Ambassador, Tho
wife of DakhraetlctJ. tho Daron's suc
cessor, a WashlngtoS sjlrl, familiar
with Its history, would nave none, of
It It has remained vacant and
.voided for tho daring members
of the Commercial Clul :o recon
struct and occupy, while tho oldor
generations of Washington society
await with shivery confldonco tho
resumption of the apook'a blood
curdling activities.
This .persistently haunted spot,
latterly known as the Tyler houeo,
Is on tho south side of Farragut
square, almost In the centra of that
fashionable resldencb district. On
the same spot stood tho mansion oc
cupied by Secretary of the Navy
BenJamlatF. Tracy and his famtly
during the Harrison Administration.
The Tracy servants wore fright
ened out of their wits by tho ancient
3 wok's malicious activities. The.
I max of horror came with a con
flagratlon In which Mrs. Tracy and
her daughter lost their lives. Out
these ghosts, which had remained
with the land although the cottage
of their origin still stood, moved out
to, the Junction of tho Brlghtwood.
road with Mount Pleasant proved
themselves fireproof.
To be readily Intelligible, the
story begins with tho building of
that fatal cottagtj back Ja 1782 co
incident with the earliest work upon
jwaat, during a century and more.
TbanACentOr,
SS ' Jl ) i JEW ft I
has dovoloped into the finest legis
lative structure In tho world. Tho
bulhlor of tho cottago was a young
English stonemason employed on tho
Capitol foundations. He built It
with his own hands to bo a loving
welcome to the blue-eyed, golden
haired woman whpm ho had. sum
moned to Join him In his now pros
perous stato from across the soa.
Tho beautiful, goldon-halred bride
camo, and waB enchanted with tho
homo proparod for her. Whoa, he
loft homo in tho morning, with his
heavy stono-chlpplng hammer and
his kit of tools, she walkod 1 with
him among tho roses to the gato
and kissed him goodbyo. Sho .waB
there, to4 moot him' on his return; at
night often with-her groat" masses
The Daughter
of Baron Ro
en, Whose
Noire Wars
Wracked by
the Weird
Sight She Saw
While Living
in tho "Hoo
doo" Home.
mm
H I,
ill
a
Ex-Secretary of
the Navy Tracy,
Whose Wife and
Daughter Were
Burned to Death
in the Hoodoo
House.
afire
it
-ir to
ll
,t?.
of sunlit hair floating about her
graceful form. Those of his fellow
workmen who were permitted to
visit at the cottage did not wonder
at tho husband's adoration.
.But they did not realize that the
demon of unreasoning Jealously was
harrowing him into Insanity, that he
was conjuring up all sorts of in
juries to himself during the long
hours when his treasure was alone
In tho cottage. Cunningly he con
cealed his jealous madness from her.
No suspicion assailed her when he
retumod ono sttornoon earlier than
usual with the tale that the night
watchman at tpe Capitol was 111 and
he must serve in his stead.
Having flnlsbod his supper, the
stonecutter kissed his wife, took up
hts kit of tools and was off.
Until some time after dark he re
mained away, then, with swift .and
silent footsteps, he returned to find
the cottago dark with closely shut
blinds. But from between them
streamed out from the sitting room
a narrow bright ray. On the instant,
with every magnified Jealous fear
augmented be rushed noiselessly up
the steps, on. to tho side porch and,
giving the Venetian shutters a quick
turn he gazed full Into the brightly
lighted room. What he saw Heaven
only knows or If. indeed, he ac
tually saw anything at all mora
culpable than his wtfo entertaining
some caller. Whatever it may have
been, real or fancied, the sight
turned him frantic. He snapped the
shutter asunder, raised the sash and
valuted Into the room.
One glance at her husband's face
revealed to the poor young wife that
murder had possession of his heart,
and that naught tout flight might
save her. With the fleetness of the
WasMnKtOB Commercial Club's New Home, Situated on a Spot Which Reeks with hunted deer she sped up the steps
Xfwviy- maA Km for Years Bn Haunted by the Vmannlest Ghostly Visitors. 2-w15i-th" 'lozy wheIe't
tage window open
ing outward. Closely
fastened for the night
she could not open it be
fore tho madman, rushing
close upon her heels, caught
and held her relentlessly. With
his stonecutter's heavy hammer
ho literally crushed out her life."
This done, seizing her by the long
bright hair he had so adored, he
dragged her down the steps and out
of tho front door, down through tho
rose garden, over the muddy road
and into the thickest of the belt of
woodland, which later was to form
the delightful old garden of Corcoran
house, on which now look out the
windows of the former Army and
Navy Club and the Rochambeau
apartment house.
Then he wandered away, no ono
knows whoro, to be gone for several
years, until lured back by some aw
ful Instinct to the scone af his lovo
and happiness and frantlo crime.
. Not for some days was the mur
der discovered; not until friends go
ing to call found the houso open
and deserted, with a trail of blood
down tho stairs, across the thres
hold, and hero and there still in
horrible little pools along the road
way to tho woodland whero tho
mutilated body was found. When,
later, tho stonecutter was taken
into custody bo mndo no denial
but with horrible frankness gave
every revolting detail of tho wan
ton murder for which he was sum
marily hanged.
For years the cottage with its
rose garden and the Nubian blacka
moor (standing guard at the gate
stood idle a haunted house, shunned
by all In daylight as In darkness.
Then) suddenly one sunshiny morning
the place was opened up as If by
magto and workmen ' completely
removed the disorder ,lnto which
through the years of abandonment
and neglect. It had fallen. It was
a quiet neighborhood with few
curious onos to make Inquiry even
thon a retired spot selected for
this very reason by the wild young
son of a wealthy Congressman
wherein to luxuriously establish the
beautiful young woman with whom
he elected to set up his household
gods without benefit of clergy.
A fast life the young couple led
a life of drink and card playing, in
which the gayest of tho gilded youth
about town uproariously took part
A fast life it continued until the
merry pace came to a sudden stand
still as the. young fellow, In order
to pay a so-called debt of honor,
forged for a large amount the name
of his father's dearest friend. The
friend sought him out and con
fronted him at the club with his
.crime.
Tho distraught youngster rushed
to the cottago and told his story,
wlklly accusing his companion of
being the cause of his ruin. Then
he blow out his brains and fell
a corpse at her
feet. f
It was In Winter,
and snow lay deep
over the roadways
of the city.
As the servants
rushed with blanched
faces Into the room
they saw their mis
tress In a dinner
gown, with thin slip
pers, standing mo
tionless, gaxnlg at
her lover's corpse.
A moment later,
brushing past the
agitated onlookers,
rending the air with
her shrieks, she
rushed into the
night For days she
was a wanderer, with
reason completely
gone. hen finally
she was discovered,
lying exhausted on
tbs frozen ground.
she lived but a few hours and
without uttering a word.
Many years went by, years In
which the charming honeymoon cot
tage stood deserted and shunned.
Then ono fine day tho property was
purchased by an army officer, Colo
nel Bacon, who, having married a
MIsb Stoughton, of Washington, was
fully aware of what ho was doing.
With the true military spirit of hit
ting at the root of things, Colonel
Bacon announced that the cottage
was for sale at a ridiculously low
figure, and a purchaser having been
found who undertook to put it on
wheels and move It far away to tho
Junction of the Brlghtwood road with
Mt. Pleasant, whore It now stands
Intact.
Again Washington society stood
agape, propounding tho query,
whether the curse went with the
house or remained with the land.
Colonel Bacon, and his wifo, build
ing themselves a handsome house on
1 tho haunted site spent a number ot
happy years, until, Tmlng ordered
away Just as the Harrison adminis
tration began, tho moment was au
spicious for leasing the house to
Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F.
Tracy.
With the awful tragedy of the
Traoy fire, which resulted in the
burning of the Secretary's wife and
daughter, and of the latter'a maid,
the wholo world Is acquainted. Every
monarch in Europe gave sympathetic
recognizance In telegrams which lit
erally showered upon the stricken
head of the United States Navy.
That was the last sacrifice of nu
man life upon that fateful spot
When later tho Augustus Cleveland
Tylers bought the property, and,
tearing down every trace of the fire
scarred house, built the splendid
mansion which the Commercial Club
has JUBt purchased for Its future
homo, every one regarded them as
brave Indeed, and looked for some
thing tragic to mark their occu
pancy. No sooner were' the premises In or.
der and the family arrived than the
place was ordered under quarantine
by the Health authorities, as one of
the maids had contracted scarlet
fever. As she was a faithful crea
ture, Mrs. Tyler would not hear tc
her being taken to a hospital, but in.
stalled her In the upper story. This
ended the Tylers' hopes as entertain,
crs. No ono cared to visit tha
"haunted, house."
Tho Tylers began to be bored to
death. After a couple ot seasons
they moved away "for good and all."
This evacuation was followed by a
series of occupancies by wealthy
people, all more or less known. The
Seth Barton Frenches established
themselves thero Immediately after
their marriage, and Mrs. French,
fresh from a long residence with
her parents In Greece, gave some
delightful Illustrated lectures in the
grand salon, which, overlooking Far
ragut Park, will undoubtedly be the
Ghost j
Mrs. Seth Barton French, Who Escaped the "Hop
doo" by Hurriedly Leaving- the Haunted House.
favorite lounging room of the Com
mercial Club. But the ghosts so de
moralized their servants that they
had to give up the haunted residence.
When the Bakhmetieffs were ap
pointed to succeed the Rosens it war
generally supposed that as the Rus
sian Embassy is still unfinished that
they would lease and occupy the Ty
ler house on Farragut Square. But no.
Mme. Bakhmetleff, being a former
Washington woman, and having
spent all her girlhood in the old De
catur house on Lafayette Square
within a stone's throw of the Tyler
house, would have none ot It Had
not the nerves of Baron Rosens
daughter been wrecked there?
The membership of the Comm.er
cla Club Is over five hundred.
Will habitation of the ghostly
premises by such numbers, will
the gayety of modern club lite ban
ish the wraiths of the murdered
stone cutter and his beautiful wifet
Washington Is awaiting with inter?
st the answer to that question
