Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1867-01-08
HAUNTED a6Bsfl
Startiing Revelations The Sceue Of Z
Murder Enacted every NiShtt

Murdsr Enacted every Nishti
On the south side of St. Charles
street, between Eleventh and Twelfth,
stands an old brick building of peculiar
construction. There III courts and
corridors, winding stairs, obscure attic,
halls, quaint little chambers. and hooks
and corners innumerable. The build
ing has the appearance Of a castle, with
a high wall around it, O sliding door in
front, with q loop-hole or lookout, Sc
cured by iron bars. The building forms
a square, with the west side open, and
q yard or court in the center. II Is a
two-story house, and there are but one
or two other buildings on the block.
Fronting the house on the north is a
long strip Of ground, boarded up and
used as lumber yards. At night the
place has q gloomy appearance, few per-
sons will venture to pass in front Of the
old house at q late hour of the night,
without a policeman for a guide or a
loaded revolver for q protector.
In former years this house was occu-
pied by q beautiful and we'll known
courtesan, named Mary Henry, who
fourished there for q dozen years or
more, and was regarded as n of the
| most fashionable and fascinating of her
class. About the close Of the rebellion
the house became unoccupied. Mrs.
Henry had retired to live in splendor in
the East on the fruits Of her %contrabsnd
profession.
For some time tho building has been
| occupied by colored families, who take
in washing, work out, keep b~oarders,
and make q living as best they can.
Among the occupants of the house was
On old lady named Mrs. Phillips, who
| lived in q room on the first floor of the
south wing. This Mrs. Phillips was at
first greatly annoyed by the strange
noises heard by her every night, and al
though q constant repetition Of the dis.
turbance had the effect of quieting her
fears, yet she was never perfectly at
ease, and on yesterday removed to an
| other locality. This old colored woman
says the house had the reputation OF
being haunted before she moved into it.
Yet having a clear conscience, she went
to confession, received absolution for
the past, present and future, and boldly
ventured in amongst the ghosts. While
sitting in her room at night she would
hear footsteps softly approaching, the
door would be thrown open, but no OBJ
ject could be seen, whether spirit or
mortal. All the doors oil the house
have bolts on the inside, and Mrs. Phil
lips would bolt her door securely, yet
It would fly open at the approach Of
footsteps, and sometimes close Of its
own accord. She could hear footsteps
ascending the stairs at all hours of the
night; catch the rustic of silk dresses,
but never heard the sound of a human
voice. The door opening on the stairs
would also unclose without any visible
human agency, and the old lady was
often deceived by the sound Of persons
coming down stairs, but could never
see them.
These little annoyances were borne
with christian fortitude; and soon be-
came so common that they were not re.
garded. But there was one scene en-.
acted every night, which always caused
the old lady's blood to run cold. This
was the acoustic representation of q
murder. About IL o'clock ct night a
scufae would be heard-a dull blow
would sound in the CORRIDOR body
would fall heavily upon the Aoor-there
would be a hurried trampling Of feet,
and in q few minutes she would hear. a
noise like the dragging Of the dead body
through the hall, out at the front door,
across the street, and among the rub
bish ofthe vacant lot just opposite. Mrs
Phillips religiously believes that a hor'
rible murder had been committed in the
house, and If we remember rightly, the
bloody corpse Of a stranger was found
in the stone yard which formerly occu'
pied the vacant lot. The nightly repe.
tition of this murder annoyed the ole
lady, and she determined to mov away,
Mrs. Phillips relates many other mys'
terious occurrences connected with the
old house, but we have no space to &c
into details. Will not some Of our spir.
itual friends make an examination o.
the premises and see what truth there
is in the statements Of the old colored
woman2-6. Loui Democrat Dec. 18Th,