Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-05-30
A QUEER MANIA.
Midnight NIaraUder who Goes
About Tickling Women's Feet.
saa Francisco Chronicle.

/ DIN TIUluC4SGo SLEOllSIS-
The worthy citizens living in the
suburban districts of South San Fran
cisco and Butchertown are greatly ex-
cited at present; but their exci.ment
amounts to almost nothing when COM
pared with their Indignation. The
peace of their Ls..les has been sudden
| 1y shattered by the advent of crank
in their midst; and all the efforts of
| Officer Bennett and the other police
men stationed in that district have
thus far been unsuccessful in ferret
ing him out. When the neigh bors
meet in the morning the first question
they ask one another is, "Whose feet
were tickled last night2' The cause
of their uneasiness can briefly be ex
planned. Shortly after midnight a
few weeks ago gentleman living
with his family near the slaughter
house was awakened from his Sleep
by the piercing shrieks of his daugh-
ter, a young miss of 16 summers. He
grabbed a revolver and hurriedly ran
to her room, in the expectation of
meeting burglar. The girl was al
most dead from fright, and in broken
accents she narrated to her father the
cause of the outcry She had
been rudely awakened from her
dreams of innocence by a atickling SEN
sation in the soles of her feet. When
she opened her eyes she saw, by the
aid of the pale moonlight, which was
struggling through the bedroom win
dow, masked man standing at the
foot of her bed. She shrieked and the
Intruder sprang through the window,
out into the yard, which is few feet
below, and made his escape. The
father at first thought that the girl
had been dreaming, but the cold night
air, waited up from the bay, soon
made him realize that the bedroom
window was open, and the adventure
was reality. He closed the window
and sat Gown on a chair to cogitate
on the strange affair, when his teeth
began to chatter He started off for
his own bed to continue his medita
tion, when he discovered that the
front door was Open He closed and
locked the door, and when he reach
ed the bedroom, he found his wife
closing the window in the room. A
hurried investigation showed that all
I1IG "lIuONS anu oCOIo Oa L1C AONSt
floor of the house had been opened by
the midnight prowler. The next day
the police authorities were notified of
the action of the nocturnal visitor.
Scarcely a night passes now but some
female is awakened by the fiend tick
ling her feet As soon as the victim
wakes up the man makes his escape
either through an open window or
door. In every instance the prowler
opens all the doors and widows
in the house before he proceeds
with his deviltry The man
wears a wide brimmed hat, car
ries dark lantern and has the lower
portion of his face concealed by a
cloth. He never steals anything, or
at any rate nothing has been missed
from the houses visited except IN one
case, where a towel was missing 1t
is probable that the fiend forgot his
disguise that night and took the towel
to use as a mask. A few nights ago
a married lady felt the prowler ticl1l-
ing her feet. She quickly lit a can
die, which the intruder as promptly
blew out and then jumped through
an open window. The officers have
been searching for him and he seems
to be aware of the fact, for he always
selects victim at a distance from
where the officers are stationed. I'm
less he is caught IN a short time the
fair Iasses in the locality infested by
him will be compelled to wear their
shoes in bed to prevents having their
sleep disturbed.
OF late cows have been stolen from
stables in the vicinity and some of
them have afterward been found shot.
/ OF the others no traces have been
found, but whether the cattle stealing
is a part of the programme carried
out by the feet ticker" is not known.
TI,o Dor;I, IF pnifyar Crn-siurs