Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-04-12
A HORRIBLE DESERT SCENE.
Floating Arms and Legs and Black ROBBED
Priests in tho Rlup Ether


Priests in the Blue Ether.
"Whoop up the romping spooks out
east of Barstow," said John Carson, an
Atlantic and Pacific railroad man, to a
San Francisco Examiner reporter. II
saw you had something in The Examiner
several weeks ago about the mirage On
the Mojave desert, and the myriads of
people that were seen in boats about
there. Well they're thickening up. In
the winter time, you know, they always
get thicker. For eight months now,
have been running the hundre6-mile
division ont east Of BarstUw. The spooks
used to loom up about every other day.
NOW we see them nearly all the time.
They're the ghoulest lot OF things, too,
ever did see. They appear in all sorts of
shapes. At first they were tolerably
respectful lot of ghosts. clad in white,
With faces and hands that looked very
much like apparItion as shown in pic
lures, only they appeared and disappear
ed, floating horizontally and in every
other position in the air, and always
stand about q quarter of a mile away
from Us. Now you can get within an
eight OF q mile, and some OF them are
trigged out like Indians, with feathers in
their hair. and sometimes with q streak
of red around their bodies.
S'The scientists say that the increase in
phenomena is owing to the peculiar at
mospheric changes at this time of the
year. Whether it is or not, know they
would have a very hard time convincing
the people of it who travel over line. A
woman last week, who was from Illinois,
tainted dead away when she got glimpse
of them sailing on an imaginary lake.
Lakes and green trees appear without
number now on the Colorado desert.
Fringing these lakes with a circle of
green and with the strange characters
floating about On them, q queer sight is
presented. You can never get nearer
than eighth of mile to these lakes.
''There rose up in front of the engine
last Saturday, however" said Mr.. Carson,
''the strangest conglomeration of figures
that presume moral eyes ever behsld.
Ever see pictures of Dante's Inferno as
IL Illustrated by Dore? It was something
like that, the weirdest, awfullest sight, an
admixture of floating arms, legs and
pieces OF shrouds. Three or four white
faced women, as many gray bearded men,
and a acknowledged priest in black
robes foated in the blue ether with the
mass. Sol Anderson, our engineer, was
the most scared man l ever saw. He put
on every pound of steam he had, and we
went tearing over the desert like mad
Wells, Fargos & Cos agent, I thought would
have died. Lucky for US that the awful
mirage lowered by the engine and tender,
else we should have bowling lunatic asy
lam aboard the train. Do you suppose 1
could convince them that these things
were not genuine? Not much. Fact is,
l had all could do TO hold my own self
level. Every time 1 looked at them I
said: My God those things are real!
There can't be anything SO clearly repre-
scented as that and not be genuiner Well,
they lowered there for twenty minutes,
and then disappeared like flash. Be
yond were nothing but our green fringed
lakes.
''The desert just now is unusually hard
and parched. The sun shines clear and
warm. If the apparicions thicken don't
know what we will do with our people.
Some of them are likely to go raving
mad"