The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • B05

PHILLY.COM MONDAY, OCT. 50, 2017 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER B5 Tricks before the treats of Halloween mi 1 iflfi f- All IWBl.li ATM iT-ffl 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 in juarA 'vtut. Cape May's Chalfont Hotel is said to be haunted, according to medium and guide Craig McManus. michaelbryant staff Ghost tours boost effort to save Cape May history By Tommy Rowan STAFF WRITER Locals know the night before Halloween as Mischief Night. The term isn't used everywhere, and it sometimes confuses newcomers to the Philadelphia region.

Here, we explain what it's all about. What is Mischief Night? Halloween Eve, Oct. 30, is known in the Philadelphia region as Mischief Night. How is it celebrated? With vandalism. Why? Good question.

Though "mischief" has always been a part of Halloween, a dedicated holiday devoted to the hijinks apparently started with the English. According to the Guardian, the earliest recorded use of the term dates to 1790. A headmaster at St. John's College in Oxford put on an annual school play that ended in "an Ode to Fun which praises children's tricks on Mischief Night in most approving terms," according to the Guardian. The tradition followed Irish and Scottish immigrants as they moved to the United States.

As for when Americans began adopting the deranged custom, Live-Science points to the Great Depression, which makes sense. "Black Friday," after all, took place on Oct. 29. What type of vandalism are we talking about? It has varied over the years, but the most common occurrence seems to be kids throwing eggs at houses, cars, and other objects. Other tools of the trade include paint, soap, and toilet paper.

Who calls it Mischief Night? Mostly people living along the Northeast corridor. A University of Pennsylvania study found the term is common in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware. The best part of the study: Most people who responded to a survey (70 percent) don't have a term for the night before Halloween. What do other people call the night before Halloween? Devil's Night, Trick Night, and, oddly, Cabbage Night, in which mischievous children leave cabbage and other rotten vegetables on strangers' doorsteps. How bad has it gotten? The early 1990s were the worst.

Rocks were being thrown through windows in Levittown. In Camden, arsonists took it too far. In 1991, there were about 150 reported fires set on Mischief Night, making it the busiest day in Camden Fire Department history. For the remainder of the decade, parents and officials took precautions. Yearly police patrols, curfews, and other neighborhood initiatives in Philadelphia and the suburbs were employed in an effort to prevent problems such as the Camden fires.

That was the peak. Is it still a thing? Yes, but these antics have dwindled in recent years, presumably because people have more distractions than ever before. And we have evolved. Hopefully. E3 TRowanphilly.com 215-854-2269 (ffitommyrowan Pi Harry Bellangy, historian for the Greater Cape May Historical Society, looks out the Colonial House attic window where an apparition has been sighted.

McMANUS from Bl times, he began writing a column called "The Ghost Writer" for a local publication, Exit Zero. He was called upon by local homeowners and innkeepers to help deal with the spirits they said were residing in their premises. He eventually turned some of the columns into his first book, The Ghosts of Cape May, which he self-published. He sold out the first 3,000 copies one summer season at local shops. Four more volumes on the same topic have followed.

And whether or not you believe in things that go bump in the night, ghost tours in Cape May and elsewhere, from Savannah to Los Angeles, are booming, according to travel experts. But nothing much was happening on this particular day, as McManus made his way through the period pieces and antiques some of which are original to the 18-room house designed by acclaimed American architect Frank Furness and built in 1879 in stick-Victorian style for Physick, a Philadelphia physician who lived there with his mother and two aunts. But according to McManus, the house has been rocking on certain nights when he says the ghosts of previous inhabitants possibly the mother and aunts of the original owner have made thumping noises, sighed loudly, sent out chilly blasts of air, and created other distractions for visitors and staff members in the historic site. Ben Ridings, a registrar for MAC's antiquities, said he has experienced quite a few odd occurrences inside the Physick house since he's been working there in the last several years, including one day when he arrived early to await the arrival of volunteers who were going to help decorate the museum for Christmas. "I clearly heard two women having a conversation and just assumed a couple of the volunteers had arrived early," Ridings recalled.

"But when I started to look around for them, it became clear that no one else was in the house or had shown up yet for the day. The lights were still out, the doors were still locked. It was kind of spooky but after a while you get used to stuff like that." The skeletons seated at the dining table and lounging in the bedrooms upstairs and mannequins dressed in various scary costumes, such as the old gypsy conducting a seance in the parlor, add to the spooky atmosphere of the old mansion. Ultimately, visitors can digest the historical information about the mansion and its Victorian inhabitants with a side of Halloween fun, according to Susan Kry-siak, a spokeswoman for MAC. "Our Halloween tours are always among our most popular throughout the year," said Krysiak.

"It's scary how much fun people have with the tours." Krysiak said the center partnered with McManus in the early 2000s and has allowed him to be its "resident ghost expert" after deciding that such tours and activities fit well with its mission to preserve and cultivate the town's history. "That was a question that we really asked ourselves but Victorians were very much into spiritualism, especially just after the Civil War, when many wanted to commune with their loved ones who had been lost in the war," Krysiak said. So among its perhaps more main stream offerings such as workshops on Victorian cuisine and how to become an innkeeper its Halloween ghost tours, mystery dinners, and other events centered on the paranormal account for about 10 percent of the nonprofit organization's annual ticket sales. McManus' annual seances and his "Walk with the Ghost Writer" tours often sell out a year in advance, Krysiak said. Included on that tour is the Colonial House, an anomaly among a sea of Victorians that is believed to have been built in the 1730s and is the oldest structure in Cape May.

Visitors don't even have to go inside the house to see a ghost. The apparition of a woman in an upper-floor window has been reported for decades. "There are a lot of old spirits left here," said Harry Bellangy, a historian for the Cape May Historical Society which operates the Colonial House Museum. "But we try to have fun with it because it gets people interested in the building, interested in the history." For more information about MAC's Halloween offerings now through Tuesday: www.capemay-mac.org or 609-884-5404. E3 jurgophillynews.com 609-652-8382 (ffiJacquelineUrgo Arv HVnrnvd On Misvhivf Sight Innocent Halloween fun may lead to traffic accidents amonc Philadelphia children tonight unless proper safety preeaut urns are taken, the Safety Council of the Philadelphia Chamber ol Commerce warned vcsterday.

urged a rule agaimt Mnlllu Discliiimnm any desire to spoil the the use of candles, mid flameproof ing all cost times, pointing out that crepe paper decora- fun of 'niis hii'I mulit." Walter Matthews, manaiMiiK director of the Council, reminded parents that innocent tions, cloth costumes. mtlammabU "somf of i lie results of false whiskers and hair, and similar items are easily set afire. He also urged that eyeholes in masks be made large enough, and free from sharp edges, to avoid m- mischief, ovei -e a and riowiu iuht carelessness, are frightening Traffic haarris and careless driving are not goblins but they cat. Ret von if vou don'i watch out!" the eves the le. he nmnnued mid be nccom- Hazards against winch parents jury or infection to should be on guard, he said, include wearer Where possi the ii.se of candles in lack -o -lan- mischief makers si terns.

masks and costumes which pained on their forays by icspoiiM- Inquirer readers were warned of the danger of "mischief night," the night before Halloween, in 1947. Inquirer Archive Delco Dems consider the Trump effect awa cowty Once an overwhelmingly Republican stronghold, Delaware County now leans Democratic, with a gain of more than 47,000 voters since 2007, compared with a loss of more than 33,000 for Republicans. Democratic Republican 250,0 225,846 179,896 200,000 It 150,000 1631 Barack Obama 'elected President 100,000 ADVANTAGE from Bl machines ruled the county for nearly a century. But in recent years, the county has seen the type of Democratic registration gains similar to those of Philadelphia's other collar counties. As registered Democrats outnumber Republicans for a fourth year, the county's Democratic leaders like their prospects.

"We have the edge. I don't think we're going back," said Landau. "We're running the most vigorous campaign we've ever run for County Council and the row offices." Fifty years ago, registered Republicans in the county outnumbered Democrats nearly 4-1. Although Republicans outnumbered Democrats in all four of Philadelphia's collar counties, the margin was largest in Delaware County. Four years ago, the number of Democrats in the county registered to vote crept past registered Republicans by only 19 voters for the first time that August.

Now, Democrats lead Republicans by 16,525 voters. Democratic registrations have benefited from an influx of former Phila- ry for County Council Jennifer Leith with Kevin Madden. But Leith, considered a potentially strong nominee, had dropped out of the race months before the primary. Republicans accused their rivals of "bait and switch" and said they had an obligation to inform voters of the change. Landau said then that the two current candidates, Madden and Zidek, are the "best opportunity Democrats have ever had to win countywide." He said they aim to fix inefficiencies in local government and increase transparency if elected.

Landau said his party is getting better at getting voters to the polls and is better organized. Democratic leaders also are relying on a less tangible metric members of the party galvanized into action because of Trump's presidency. The party has raised more money and gathered more volunteers than in previous years, Landau said. Andrew Reilly, the GOP chairman, acknowledged that some people would be receptive to the nationalization of the race, but I I I I I I I I I I I I I 2000 2004 2008 2012 i i i i 2016 Staff Graphic Brian Zidek delphians and upticks in racial diversity. In 2000, the population was 20 percent non-white; now it is close to 30 percent.

But the GOP has electoral inertia on its side, said Ben Berger, associate political science professor at Swarthmore College. Registration advantages can take years to bear fruit, especially in local elections, in which voter turnout usually is tepid, he said. He called John J. McClure, head of the Delaware County GOP for more than 50 years, a "political genius" who "organized one of most efficient and impressive political machines in the country." Kevin Madden McClure's political machine the "War Board" went out of existence in the mid-'70s, but Republicans continued to use established practices to dominate. Republicans in the county remain well-organized, efficient, and skilled at turning social capital and relationships into political wins, Berger said.

"Making inroads against well-organized machines can be difficult," he said. "For years, it's been an uphill battle" for Democrats. Republicans have attempted to make an issue of the fact that, in May, Democrats announced they were replacing a candidate who won the prima SOURCE: Pa. Department of State he said the election should be purely about local issues and knocked the Democratic candidates' lack of public service experience. He called the Republican council candidates incumbent David White and John Perfetti "common-sense local Republicans who have gotten the job done for years in Delaware County and are com- mitted to this county." He said the candidates will continue to help businesses prosper and will keep taxes down.

"Just because people register Democrat," he said, "it doesn't mean they'll vote Democrat in local elections." E3 MBondphillynews.com 610-313-8207 (ffiMichaelleBond.