St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-19
A HAUNTED HOUSE.
A Sensation at Which People
Can Justly Yell
"Rats."
Nevertheless the Supersti-
tious Find Material for
Their Views.
The Police Looking Out for
the Man Who RobS Ladies
on the Street.
Vigilant Globe Reporters
Gather the Important
News of the Day.
THAT house is hauntedw

UN lllCli. hOiiiCtl anu WIN h0AN
had occasion to pass a neat two-StOry
cottage, which stands on Fifth avenue
south, above the corner of Third street.
For over two months the house has been
uninhabited, and for over two months
all sorts of wild and weird stories have
been told about the ghoStly apparitions
which were said to make their appear
ance IN the rooms after nightfall Sew
eral weeks ago, some of these stories
drifted into the GLOBE Office, and at that
time the GLOBE referred to it in
light way. ridiculing the idea of
anything supernatural happening right
in the heart of the city ard under the
very noses of one of the finest police
forces in the country, without the afore-
said supernatural having to run chances
of suddenly being filled with lead or
finding himself bulletined on Judge
Emery'S tab as drink and diSorderly
and turned over TO the Single creek
rock pile. When the story was printed
care was taken TO conceal the locality of
the house alleged to have been inhab-
tied by the festive SpOOkS. for the obvi-
Gus reason that such story might, with
some people. dc the owner of the prop
erty an injustice. Since the publi-
cation of the article the exact 10
catio;: of the premises has been
pointed out by hundreds of persons,
and hundreds of romantic stories
have been set atlOat. In every ones
makeup there is generally supposed TO
be more or less SUperStitutiOn, and
while some seoffed at the tales told,
others looked serious and said ''such
things might be-" According to the
numerous stories. and many of them
agree in the material points, a child'S
voice calling in plaintive tones for its
mother could be distinctly heard at
different intervals during the night;
lights refused to burn for any
length of time in the house. and there
was general air of something indie
scribrbly horrible hanging around the
place that made men of strong nerves
seek the ontside air.
Last Sunday night party of young
men concluded to visit the house and
lay out whatever ghOStly beings
should happen to show their supernat-
ural physiOgnOmies. The experiences
of this party were totally different from
those of any other persons who have
visited the place. There were five of
them, and they are prominent and reli-
able citizens OF the city of Minneapolis.
Before settling themselves for the night
they thoroughly examined every room
and penetrated 10 the cellar. There
they found a cistern. into which they
lowered q lamp. Nothing met their
eyes but a very little water at the bot
TOM Otherwise the ciStern was absO-
lutely empty. Finding nothing to
arouse suspicion, they settled them
selves for the night and to watch his
ghOstShip. Along toward midnight I'M
earthly noises began to I'LL the whole
house. GrOans, means, bowls and
shuekS seemed to issue from every
room and from every corner. Naturally
they were somewhat startled by these
manifestations of something which they
could not see. Patiently they waited
for the author of these disturbances, de-
termined not to run. They were none
of them believers in ghosts, and they
proposed to see the thing through.
Before very long. however, they were
seized with an irresistible impulse to
fight. Here is the strangesJ part of the
story. Everything between the gentle
men had always been of the most
am C ble nature and no earthly reason
existed for their disagreemenrs. But
fight they must. and every other MEM
Der of the party was the object of each
individuals displeasure. AT it they went,
hammer and tOngS. Hitting right and
left, falling over one another in their
anxiety to punch somebody, they strug
gled and fought tor several minutes.
Finally. without the least bit of warn
ing and without knowing how they
came there. they all found themselves
out Oh the street and the door shut be-
hind them. Some had bloody noses,
others abrasions of the skin, and each
had few sore spots made by the blows
of his companion.
As soon as they were out of the house
all their animosity vanished, and they
were again the best of friends. None
were hardly willing, however, to at
tempt TO pass the remainder of the
night in house where their experiences
had been of such startling nature.
They had felt no fear while in the
house. They were labOring under men,
tai excitement of such decidedly diff
ferent nature that they had no time to
think of fear, but all concluded that
they did not want to try it again.
They compared notes on the events
of the evening. No definite result
could be reached. No one man could
tell what led him to fight his cOmpan-
ions, nor how he was finally elected
from the house. All that he was sure
of was that he had fought, and been
lOu81l III Dc llIO OOhJ OOlC lCSll-
mony, and that he was at last out of the
house. As to the manner of his getting
out he was totally ignorant.
One of the peculiarly distinctlvefeat-
ures of the experiences of this party is
that they saw nothing. While other in
vestigating parties claimed to have seen
all manner of apparitiOns, from spOokS
fifteen inches high to those reaching
from floor to ceiling, they saw absO-
lutely nothing. They heard uneXplain-
able noises, were influenced to fight
one another, and were finally elected
from the building-nothing more.
They were all somewhat excited
over what they had gone
through, but the stories of all five agree
substantially as here related, They are
reliable and reputable men, and DO not
wish to be known as mixed up in the
affair, They went TO the house merely
to satisfy themselves. Hence their
names are not published. Let it suffice
that all the circumstances narrated can
be substantiated.
Another story is that two big lumber
men made a wager few nights ago
that they would remain in the place all
night. Shortly before IL O'Clock their
light went out, and an apparition which
they describe as being encircled with
blue sulphuric flame rose from the
floor. When first seen, it was about two
feet high, but rapidly assumed immense
proportions. the men were terror
Stricken, and could not give any &C
count of how they got to the sidewalk.
Many of the superstitious people be-
lieye this story, but thinking people
credit it TO a diseased Imagination,
which was possibly heightened by the
use of liquor. 1t is well-accredited
fact, however, that.the two lumbermen
were so thoroughly frightened that
both went into commissions, and have
not yet recoYrcd the normal state of I'M
shattered nerves.
al am sorry that such nonsensical
stories are ailoat. and am surprised
that any one in Minneapolis should take
any stock in them. said Sweet W.Case,
the owner, yesterday. 81 have tried
hard to sift the stories have heard, and,
as far as can get. their origin is due to
the mischievous action of some boys.
H. r., L.