The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1874-11-12
A HIa united House in Brooklyn.

One Of the most interesting accounts
OF haunted house that has been writ
teen will appear in a forthcoming vol
umc, entitled "The Identity Of PRINT
tive Christianity and Modern Spirit
ualism," by DR.. Edgar Crowel. a work
which will be noticed more at length
hereafter in these columns. Dr.. Gro
well relates the circumstances as COM
Ing within his personal knowledge and
happening to relatives of his. The in
gen!ous Brooklyn reader can guess
from the initials in the narrative where
the haunted house is situated:
Upon the corner of C. and A.
streets, in the city Of Brooklyn, stands
a large, commodious house. The lot
adjoining is cultivated as a garden, as
is also the space in the rear, and thus
the house is detached from other build
ings. In the year 1863 relative of
mine, Mrs. W, moved into this
house with her family. This consisted
Of herself, husband, two young daugh-
ters, and son. Mrs. W and my
self have been acquainted and on init
mate terms from childhood, and | can
vouch, not only for her entire RELIABLE
ity, but also for her sound practical
sense and strength Of character. Dur
ing the first week of their occupation
Of the premises, the only thing
that occurred to excite attention was
that whenever late at night candle or
lamp was taken into the hall while pro-
ceeding to admit one Of the family, it
would invariably be extinguished be-
fore reaching the street door, and this
Notwithstanding any degree of care
that might be used, and in the absence
of any draught of air. In the second
week of their tenancy, one day Mrs.
W was with her youngest daughter
"a child Of ten years of age-occupied
i'll the basement dining-room; all the
ether members of the family, including
the servant, being absent, and all the
outside doors having been secured by
her, when she heard footsteps descend
ing the stairs, and listening, she heard
them approach the door Of the dining
room and at the same time heard the
rustIing apparently of silk dress near
the door of the dining room but no per-
son was visible, and she with her
daughter then inspected the hall, clos
cts, kitchen and every place on that
floor, and from there assembled and made
the strictcst search over every part Of
the house, without success. In a few
days thereafter similar occurrence
took place with similar results, and
was repeated at intervals dur.
ing some months. One evening
Mrs. W, her son, and daughter be.
inc absent, and her husband, with the
youngest daughter being IN the back
parior, he reading and the child lying
on the sofa, and the door opening into
the main hall being ajar, they heard
footsteps tripping down the stairs from
the floor above, accompanied by rus
ting sound as Of the dress of female.
The steps as they approached the par
tally open door became more distinct,
and Mr.. W, lowering his book. re-
marked to his daughter, My dear,
your mother has returned; but how did
she get in . and in the full conviction
that Mrs. W had returned he ap-
preached the door, threw it open and
the hall being lighted-he found no
person there. He then remarked to
the child, Your mother is trying to
surprise us. After listening a mo-
ment, and hearing no further sounds,
he called Mrs. W by name, then
went from room to room. becoming
more and more interested in the search.
inspecting every closet and every place
where person could sCcrete, until
every portion of the house had been
searched, but in vain. Mrs. W re-
turned home in short time thereafter,
and upon hearing Of the occurrence she
remarked, 1T must ne the invisible
lady whom | before heard A few
days after this Mrs. Wand her
two daughters were sitting in the back
parlor. 1t was evening, and with the
exception of the servant who was in the
kitchen, they were alone in the house,
when the same footsteps were again
heard descending the stairs from the
floor above. accompanied by tbs same
rustling noise, and approached the door
as before, and when this was opened by
Mrs. W nothing was seen or heard.
and from this time these peculiar
sounds were heard at intervals by all
the members of the family, so that
they became somewhat unpleasantlv
accustomed to them. Several times
Mr.. VS. hat was struck from his
head while descending the stairs or pas
sing through the hall. This always oc-
Cured in the evening. and at one time
his hat was struck with such violence
that for moment he felt quite certain
it was done by some person with de-
signs against his person or life.
but as it occurred in the
light this suspicion had to be
dismissed. Thus ono year passed.
Mrs. VS. courage had inspired the
other members of the family, aud they
had lost nearly all sense of fear. Ex-
cepting TO two or three intimate
friends, these events were never allud-
ed to. At that time | had no faith
whatever in ghosts, and though | list
ened patiently to what was said, be-
Lieved the cause of all this to exist
alone in their imagination, and even ex.