Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-12-01
HAUNTED HOUSES.

the Second Ward, not many yards from one
NJ street, there was built fine wooden cot
tage. 1t cost over 81. 600. The owner had
trouble concerning the title, or his creditors.
or something Of the sort, and after deal of
worry about the property, he sickened ard
died in the house, and it passed into other
hands But no sooner did this occur, than the
story went out that the house was haunted.
All sorts of noises were heard in it. No mat.
ter who moved in, the spooks bothered them,
and raped SO loudly and long, that the ten
ants were soon glad to remove. Over and
over the house was rented, and again and
| again it was vacated, the tenants complaining
of unusual noises. Finally the house WAS
! torn down, though new and good and
three. story brick building put up in its place.
With the laying of bricks the ghosts seemed
to be laid also. At the time, that haunted
house was the talk of the town, and one of its
curiosities The mystery was never ex-
planned. Only thinker ventures to account
| for the disturbances, and this is done on the
occultis s. theory that there is body, soul
and spirit. The latter is the essential and
immortal part. The soul is hut the shell that
surrounds it. After death it gradually dies
away, leaving the spirit free. This shell can,
after death, as well as before, visit these
scenes, for it departs rot from them-it is in
sense material, and can make itself felt and
known. Occult Adopts can project this part
! from themselves at will, and hold converse
with each other by psychological telegraphy
at great distances. Of this order of phenom-
ena in degree are the manifestations had
under mesmeric conditions, mindreading,
etc. Nov" says the theorist, " the shell of
the occupant of that house was about, while
| il lasted, and so the place was bothered by
! him, for he was no better in the shell than in
the body, and was moved by the same pas
sions and desires, and so he made it warm for
whoever tried to live in his house." But this
same theorist had business about the corner
when asked to apply the doctrine to the shell
| in the Sixth.street house talked about just
now, for its body had its brains knocked out
years ago. He only replied that it was q case
of hard shell, and that the Sixth-street house
is a case of humbug, for the spirit could not,
or did not, give its name, or tell when it was
killed, or by whom, and it does not seem TO
have occurred to any of the people present to
ask who the man was.
Many years ago Mr.. Polhemus was a drug
gist in this city. He will be remembered for
an annoying habit he had Of stamping his
name on all the coin that came to his till.
! He lived on or K street, with his family.
!
ter, there were strange noises in the resi-
dence. Furniture, night after night. was
overturned, books thrown about, and bed.
clothing rudely pulled from sleepers. Doors
slammed and banged though fast locked, and
up and down stairs the spirits raced in
squesky boots. Finally, Polhenus brought
his family down town and took rooms at the
Crescent City Hotel. Then he sent one of
his clerks, Mr.. Hook to sleep in the house,
/ oil lnE IL
had been there. The next morning Hook
told Polhemus that he would not go into that
house another night for anything. He had
| been roughly treated, and had fled at dawn
IS if Old Scratch was at his heels. However,
Hook agreed to return if a certain we'll
known citizen would go with him. The two
went back the next night They locked all
the doors, after searching the house from top
to cellar, and sounding all the walls and 60
ing into every nook and corner. Then they
bolted the doors and nailed them tightly.
| They nailed down the windows also, blew
out the light and went to bed and to sleep.
Presently, "wbiff went the whole of the
bed clothing, leaving them under bare poles.
| They pulled it back, but soon it shot off
! again, and this time to such distance that
! they could not reach it. Then the pailed
up doors apparently opened and closed with
loud banging. Cracking boots walked
about the floor; the tWitter of birds was
heard in the air Hook says, and so did Pol
hemus, that before that the twittering was
equal to that heard in a bird store filled with
singing birds) the air seemed filled with this
twittering. The furniture was moved about,
chairs thrown over, books snatched from the
css3s and articles from the bureau and tossed
hither and thither; steps went up and down
stairs, windows ratified, raps came on floor,
wall and window, and there was the devil to
pay generally. When things quoted down
the two men got up snd went into committee
of the whole to investigate. They found the
doors still nailed up and the windows nailed
down. No human being could possibly have
come into that room. The furniture was
found upset, the books tossed over the floor
! and the bed clothing scattered about. After
! that night that was known as a haunted
house. a few people lived in it from time to
time; the story died out, and the manifesto
| tons too hut one night the old place took
| fire and was burned down. 1t is to be added
that the watchers referred to tried their best
to have the muscular spirit of that house tell
who he was but he would not respond by
raps or the alphabet whereat they concluded
| that it was dumb spirit
| FIRE COMMISSIONERS MEETING. - The
regular monthly meeting of the Board Of Fire
/ OOulIllsSlOuCIb WAC uClN Gb bhc GuB4u uOuSC
on Fifth street last evening. President jack
son presiding, and all the members present
! Reports of the different foremen on fires and
alarms for the month of November were re-
ceived and placed on file. The payroll for
! the month-S1, 525-was audited and ordered
/ paid, IS was algo the following bills Capital
| Gas Company, S24 80 McElaney, Si7 30;
c. a. Gillespie, $40; Robert Anderson, IS;
NJ Castro & Son. SO 70; Pike & Young, 81 I;
Biiwell & Cook, So 80; G. E. Adams, 81 90 !;
q Nelson. sly S. j. & j. NJ. jackson,
! S15 As Neubourg & L1ges, 81 so; A. a.
Van VOORHEES,, SIS; P. Potter, So 60; G.
McCreary & Co., 81 70; Pacific Stables, $40;
! Whittier, Fuller Il Co., 81 %; Charles Zsit-
! Ter, 81 05; Sacramento Lumber Company,
| 81 q Huntington. Hopkins & Co., Sc 80;
/ Slower & Nicholas. Sl1 20; a. Leonard
Son, 81 80; Union Wood and Coal Com
pauy, 50 80; A. L. Tietjenp, s. !; Herman &
! Griffishs. s. %; S. II. Davis, IS 80; Weizel
| & Son, 81 30; Scofeld & lewis, % cents; A.
! G.. Tufts. 81 80 A. Dennery, So 50; Jacob
! G-eisel 50 80; =. Ii. Krebs, So 10; Friend
& Terry, % cents Daniel Flint. So; George
SchIosh, 81 9S w. F. Frazer, IS 81; r. A.
Fisk, Sl45; G. Sullivan, 81; Daniel Melon
/ aid, $40.
! PROFESSIONAL BEGGARs. esterdsy morn
| ing thirteen tramps assembled at the corner
OF Twelfth and streets. After considerable
parleying, rough, burly fellow, who APP
peared to be the President of the meeting,
was seen to point up and down the streets
directing the other tramps with grace that
would have done credit to q General on
| field Of battle. Immediately afterwards the
twelve tramps divided up into parties Of
three, and went north. east, south and west,
while the boss tramp sat himself down on the
curbine, apparently to await results. Ia
about half an hour they sll returned. having
visited the kitchen door of all the residences
for a distance Of four blocks in every
direction. They evidently had not been very
successful, only three out Of the twelve hsv-
ing succeeded in making raise, and they
only had few crusts of bread. after
short consul alton, they left to canvass some
other portion of the city. Evidently the
people in the neighborhood of Twelfth and L
have dropped on the fact that these Idle fel-
lows are TOO lazy TO work, and would not la.
Dor if they could find employment. No one
likes t. turn q hungry man from his door, but
st the same time it is not charity to give
food t. that class Of individuals referred 10
above
THE METROPOLITAN THEATER Another