The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-07-09
RATS! RATS! RATS!
In Short, They Created the Tailor's
Ghost.

In the fall of 1S47, New Orleans was
as lively a city as the most ardent
seeker after excitement could well de-
sire. The Mexican war had made
business very brisk, for most of the
army supplies came through this port,
and paymasters' money circulated very
freely. There were here, then, nu-
merous~ large contractors who had
made handsome amounts furnishing
the boys down after Santa Anna with
clothing and provisions; and every
thing wore the appearance of flush
times. The sugar crop had been good,
cotton was coming in quite freely, and,
commercially speaking, business was
booming Balls, soirees, opera par
ties and trips to the neighboring plan
tations were much in vogue, and al
most Partisan gayety reigned.
st. Charles street, between Poydras
| and Canal streets, was one of the live
liest portions of the city, and gorgeous
oyster saloons, shooting galleries and
gambling-hOuses ran night and day
with patrons waiting to be attended.
The old st. Charles hotel, with its
great dome and imposing architecture,
was one of the centers where planters
and merchants congregated of evenings
to discuss the crop prospects and to
make arrangements for the coming
season. During the earlier part of the
year Asiatic cholera had made sad
havoc among the population, and many
families had been nearly broken up.
But propitious outlook for the win
A,.o.
restless spirit of the younger inhabit-
ants, soon dissipated the gloom left
by the dread disease, and pleasure was
wooed by her votaries with all the zest
she had excited before.
If there was one thing more than an
other that the Creole gallant prided
himself in, it was the perfection of fit
in his clothes. Neat to a fault, and
possessed of a taste that was almost ar
tistic in his personal habiliments, he
was thoroughly a cOnnoisseur in the
cut of q coat or the ''set' of a pair of
pantaloons He believed gentleman
should be a gentleman even in his
neck-tie, and personal adornment was
not beneath the consideration of
Prince. To meet the demand for the
finest of garments, there grew up
race of tailors here probably not ex-
celled even in Paris. The most costly
stuffs from foreign looms found ready
purchasers, and the richest fabrics
could be seen on the backs of the hab-
itues of the opera house any night. 1t
is said that each of the leading tailors
had his staunch supporters, and their
respective merits were often the sub
ject of discussion.
Perhaps as the leader in the art of
fitting the human. shape, old Ducour-
neau stood head and front above the
others, at least, many old residents,
still alive, testify to his great popu-
1arity. His place of business was inn
mediately opposite the st. Charles
Hotel, and he employed a large num-
ber of operatives. He, however,
trusted no one to cut out a garment,
except one foreman. Ducourneau' s
coats had a curve in the collar and
sweep in the tail none others had, and
he would not sacrifice his reputation
by permitting a careless hand to alter
them. Even tailors are amenable to
Asiatic cholera, and Ducourneau's es-
tablishment, popular as it was, didnot
escape the intrusion of this unwelcome
guest. One bright spring morning the
foreman was taken down, and was
soon followed by three workmen. They
all succumbed, and the old tailor was
compelled to redouble his own exer-
tions to fill the orders that came
crowding in. His shop was on the
ground floor of the building, and along
either wall were arranged the tables of
his assistants. Few of them ever went
home to dinner, but were served from
q neiehboring restaurant. Here they
piled the needle until six o. clock struck
from the clock of DIR. Clapp's Church,
at the corner, when, in silent process
sion, they filed out and went away to
their families.
About two weeks after the death Of
the foreman, the porter of the shop was
informed that after dark the place was
haunted, and nightly the ghost of the |
deceased foreman returned to his ac-
customed table and there in the dark |
ness proceeded to cut out surtouts, |
redingotes and vests for spiritual gall |
lants of the other world. The state |
ment was corrOborated by several cab |
men whose hacks gtood in front of the /
building. They had heard, night after /
night, the clipping and swapping of the /
ghostly old gentleman s scissors, and
many other mysterious noises within
the shop. The heavy plate glass doors
permitted a full view of the interior
from the street, and it was plain to see
that no human being was there TO pro-
duce such sounds.
Ducourneau himself paid but little
attention to the story, but it had its
effect on his workmen, and in their
homes and amongst their acquaintances
they talked about the matter, so that in
the course of one or two weeks large
proportion of the inhabitants down
town had heard the strange story. 1t
was then that small knots Of listeners
could be seen after n1ghtfall, standing
about the doors of the Ducourneau tail
oring establishment. At first these
groups were composed of the omni
present small boy, but it was not long
before those of larger growth assisted
In these vigils. By September proba-
bly, some twenty or thirty could be found
there, listening with rapt attention for
the defunct tailor 10 commence his noe
turna1 work.
Sure enough. when the passers grew
less and something like quiet reigned,
there commenced the "snip-snip-snip
Of the tailor's shears, and then the
watchers would datten their noses