Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1888-02-25
HORRIBLE DESERT SCENE.
Float ing Arms and Legs and Other
Queer Things Encountered.

"Whoop up the romping spooks out
east of Barstow," said John Carson, an
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad man, to a
reporter yesterday. 81 saw you had
something in the Eetmiaer several weeks
ago about the mirage on the Mojave
Desert and the myriads of people that
wel = seen in boats about there. Well,
they're thickening m. In winter time,
yOu know, they always get thicker. For
eight months now | have been running
the hundred mile division out east of
Barstow. 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.
1T first they were a tolerably respectable
lot of ghosts, clad in white, with faces
and HANDS that looked veay much like
apparitions Us shown in pictures. only
they appeared and disappeared, tiGated
horizontally and in every other position
in the air, and always stayed about j,
quarter of mile away from us. Now
You can get within an eighth of n lille,
and some of them arc trigged out like
Indians, with feathers in Their hair and
sometimes with streak of rcd around
their bodies. The scientists say that the
increase in the phenomena is owing t.
the peculiar atmospheric changes at this
time of the car. Whether it is or not,
L know they would have very hard
time convincing the people of it who
travel over our line. A woman last week
who was from Illinois tainted dead away
when she got a glimpse of lot of them
sailing on an imaginary lake. Lakes and
green trees appear without number now
ON the Colorado Desert. bringing these
lakes with circle Of green and with the
strange characters floating about on
them, a queer sight is presented. You
never can get nearer than an eighth of q
mile to these lakes. There rose up in
front of the engine last Saturday, how
ever" said Mr.. Carson, "the strangest
conglomeration of figures that, pre-
sumo, mortal eyes beheld. Ever see
pictures of Dante's Inferno as illustrated
by Dorel 1t was something like that
the weirdest, awfullest sight, an ad
mixture of floating arms, legs and pieces
of shrouds. Three or four white faced
women, as many gray bearded men and
a solemn visaged priest in black robes
foated in blue ether with the mass. So
Anderson, our engineer, was the most
scared man you ever saw. He put on
every pound of steam he had. and We
went tearing over the desert like mad
Wells Fargo's agent, 1 thought, would
have died. Lucky for lis that the awful
mirage hovered by the engine AMI ten
der, else we should have had a bowling
lunatic asylum aboard the train. DO YOU
suppose l could have convinced then
the things were not gcnuines No
much. Fact is, had all l could do tt
hold my own self level. Every time
looked mt them said: My God! thOs,
things are reall There can't be anything
so clearly represented as that and not b.
gcnuine!' Well, they lowered there fol
full twenty minutes and then disap
pearcd like flash. Beyond were moth
ing but our green-fringed lakes. The
desert Just now is unusually hard are
parched. The sun shines clear ant
warm. If the apparitions thicken don
know what we will do with our people
Some of them are likely to go rayins
mad San Ffuncisco Examiner.