The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-09-27
A HAUNTED HOUSE.
Mysterious Capers and Franks of
q Ghostly Visitor.

| " HuOSIly VlSllOr.
"Do you see that house over the way?'
said an old gentleman to a STATESMAN re
porter, on the corner of TIL street anC
t, yesterday morning.
81 do"
swell, that house has a history. Yor
see it is vacant now, Notwithstanding it il
conveniently located and desirable look
ing as a residence. Indeed, it is com.
fortably arranged inside. You see,
lived there once, bnt was forced to give il
up" And then the gentleman stared
steadily at the second floor windows, and
seemed in deep reverie.
"What was the matter?" asked the re-
porter, 81 can see nothing unusual about
the place. Certainly everything appears
to be in order"
"That house is haunted. Ough! 1t
makes me shudder to think of it,"
Haunted, eh?" aud the reporter gazed
at the building with its old fashioned, quaint
porches and gabels.
eyes, sir; if there was ever house
where ghos,ly spectres played pranks,
that's one"
"You see it is an old building, and, as 1
have said, IL has a history, but know very
little of it,"
"Nhat do you know" asked the re-
porter, getting interested, for the gentle
man with whom he was talking is well
KIN own, and is not in the habit of dealing
in idle vagaries.
"As | said, IdOn't know much about the
history OF the house. l have been told
that some time during the war a young
lady died there under very mysterious
circumstances, and shortly after the in
mates, who were refugees from Missouri
or Arkansas, forge; which, packed u2
and left. The ygg-R lady was not q
daughter OF :as randy, bgt was the
dsJgn;e. Q! . ;ich I-g,ter w-g isn't hec
20 Texas with ~: family IT, gei be. on.
Of DANCE, VI TIE zr-..as. t.s thought
with ner q grea. oes! u y y-e y and one or
two negro servants"
"Bu, no matter about this. What
wan. to tell you Is that the house is
haunted / don't believe in spirits or
ghosts, but there is something about that
house that can't explain. AS told you,
rented it once, and for a month myself
and family were well pleased. In fact we
never noticed anything out of the way
until one night my wife heard some one
walking up the stairs, but she supposed it
was our servant. 1t was not, however, for
the servant shortly appeared, frightened
nearly to death, and told my wife that she
had seen young lady dressed all in white
and with her hair streaming down her
back going through the hall and up the
steps. On my return home | was told of
this, but attributed it to fancy and joked
the whole thing off. A few nights after
this the servant frantically rushed into my
room and declared that the young lady
had again appeared to her, and that she
seemed to be looking for something. 1
went to the kitchen, but could discover
nothing out of order. The cook left US
the next day and my wife had to do her
ownSwork. A day or two after, while she
was cooking supper, the dishes on the
supper table were mysteriously changed,
and when rearrsnged and my wife's back
was turned they would again be mis-
placed.
Them at night strange sounds would be
heard through the house, and frequently a
strange, ghostly light would move rapidly
through the hail. In short, things grew
from bad to worse, and the tables would
be tipped up and often myself and wife
WOAlu lttl u pressure vi OuI blOuluClS dS
if some person had laid hand or us.
Finally, sir-you may not believe it
but finally the spirit, or whatever 1t wac,
got 80 bad that it would actually take from
the stove things my wife was cooking.
Then, again, at times the stove would cook
nothing, no matter how hot the fire.
Our clothing was dragged from the
closets, and furniture would be
mysteriously moved about and often over.
turned. We could not stand it and moved
out. What I've told you is true, and 1
leave the matter to you for further in
vestigation. Here's the name of gen
tleman now living in Dallas who h I'd
similar experience in the house, and he
will corroborate my story"
The gentleman then left, and the re-
porter will make further investigations.