New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-02
THE HOSIER'S GHOST.

The reSpeCtaDH ana cOHNSh'lOi"A S'''0"
haunted chamber of the old manor.hoase no longer
serve our turn. a spectre, to command our re;
spect must be, nowadays, of original haDlts. anu
so stand somewhat apart from lhe o'hcI nenii
bers of his extensive clan; ,, ,o -
i was. therefore, not little pleased when,
few years ago. | succeeded m aS1 ,, upon
spectrp of somewhat unconventional type;
NV treasure trove acquired as follows:
/ happened TO be detained for short time
In q small and exceedingly tumpie-doWh ou lo"n
in the middle of the Black Forest: .,ov
The place of which speak is little better tha mar
large village, though IN difference TO tHe IeGt
ings of its worthy inhabitants. who consider IT,
no doubt as the :" hub of the universe. L have
dignifcd il with the appellation of town, ana neS
quite out of the ordinary run of tourists hlsh ana
dry above the restless ebb and flow of the great
let rs cali the old place by the name of
"Dnmmelshem7 it will do well as any other
name. and will convey q delicate and not un-
merited compliment to its respected inl@Pltanis,
Dummelsheim, then, lies in one OF the loVeLysV
of the many lovely green valleys when run IKE
tongues of verdnre between the plneclad hei9hts
and crags of the Black Forest. 1t Is SCI down
on small patch of tablcland, above when rise
some wonderful shapes OF crog and pine forest,
and below which little mountain stream rushes
frantically night and day. raging and tearing ltS
little lire ont among the great bouders and be-
tween the fern-clad banks, ycarnlng 10 o0lltela~
itself in the nearest river that offers a refuge
/ happened 10 be detained in this place on
special business for whole fortnight
A fortnight in Dummelshein. with nothng 10
do represents about five years oil orulhary IN
istence in length and tcdium. ,,
explored the lovely valley. not without duly
feeling the charm of Its peace and isolation;
drank as in duty bound, very many tumblers OF
the peculiarly nauseous spa water, OF when the
Dummelsheimers are so unreason'Dy pIouu anu
then time began indeed TO hang heavily on my
hands There was gaming table, no theatre
no concert hall: a few noisy Gasthauser in which
German Leder made night and morning hldeopS,
and where the lagerbier was the worst that money
could purchase. afforded the only amusement OF
which the stupid little place was capable
To be sure, there was billiards. Every one
PLAYS billiards in Dummclsheim, otherwise its folks
could not eNict Even billiards. however, with
cork pool and the fearful delight of ovcrturninG
YOUR opponents cork with its pile of SLIDER
erosch6n begins TO pail upon one in time. and ere
my fourteen days soIourn drew TO close became
not only weary of poor little Dummelshcim, but
began absolutely TO l9athe the place eoHid h NOT
pen, letter to arrive, and before my time
could not stir. .
At last | discovered a diversion. 1t came in
the shape of a compatriot, resident compatriot
Not that in appearance or garb he was much OF
an Englishman. Twenty years residence III
Dummesheim had made him more German than
the Germans, and had quite onlitemtca ne manu-
work of the good old land that gave him Dlrth;
He had all but forgotten his mother speech, and
when he endeavoled to use IL ms sentences
were patched together by the Teutonc words ana
phrases which came mort readily TO his tongue
lie was as REGARDLESS Of his pcsonst Gpprs an
as devoted to the consumption of tobacco as the
best of them. 1t was supposed that he was a
bachelor. At any rate, of " W0manKind ne haU
none and lived alone with merely the intermittent
aid of a supernaturally mdeous frau at those
times when securing and cleansing became pl'IeI
necessity. go
II was in a cafe that first met with him.
thought when first saw him, what dreadfnIy
shaggy old German that is: no one could mistake
his nationality, at any rate. lie seemed TO dc
part and parcel of the green, m0uldy pace,
sort of human lichen, animated fungus, on TWO
short and sturdy legs Ard his smoking and SPIT,
ting were honor to his adopted country, ana
would have been crcditGble even in citizen OF
San Francisco, or dwcllcr in Poverty, Fat
However. q cOmpatriOt is compatrot and II one
has to scrape the dirt from his coLntenance IN
order to recognize him the operation must be gone
through for the sake of the dear land OF our
NV German-Erg lshman proved, as a companion,
decidedly better than none al ALL and in his morn
ing 'rambles with me pointed out with great care
what he knew of the antiquities OF tnc nttle
town: showed wood where one of the Dunn
mesheimeTs had once in fit OF PlaXf9hness s9
and also the Jail in front of which he was after
ward hanged as a punishment for his little esca
pade. Many other spots of interest where incl
dents of a less tragic. though still striking, char
acter had occurred. were also designated by his
kindly walking stick as we stroled along. After
a day or so my newly found friend began 70 re-
sumo his native speech. so long disused. and by
that time | also had learned 70 translate into
ordinary English his quaint and puzzling Anglo
German expressions.
So we managed 10 get on very well together,
and / found him an interesting if slightly dirty
old man. The town, when explained by such n
cicerone. was invested with quite a new charm Of
interest. 1t quaint enough without any e>-
traneous help, and the houses, being for the most
ing forward with age and han-pg over the streets,
one obtained every now and again street vista Of
delicious petuIcsquenSs ~ WhIch Ie Sn td b
whispering forgotten and piquant scandal OF the
good old German days.
There were at every turn and corner abundant
"bits" which artist for an illustrated paper
would have found very handy. and sketches of
which he could have rapidly converted into current
coin of the realm.
am no artist, but to my great surprise
discovered that my dear and dirty new-found
acquaintance and cOunntryman was. One day.
having accompanied him to the queer and humble
lodging which he inhabited found on the walls
certain induhitable proofs OF his artistic bent.
There were many admirable sketches in chalk
and sepa of striking points in the valley, and
of certain buildings and objects in the town itself
The fountain in the market place was there.
with its great St CHRISTOPHER rs IFS centre figure
There were the porch Of ST. Christopher Church,
the quaint turret at the angle OF the town hail.
and the crumblin0 ruins Of an ancient fortress on
the Ganzberg. Among other things noticed q
sketch of a certain picturesque ola house Whlcii
had indeed seen but the locality Of which | did
not remember at the time
I mentioned this fact. 49,
"Ach nen | have not shown you him He is
in the Ledcrstrasse.' he replied. We will sec
him together aUf morgen.'
On the morrow, accordingly, We walked toee'hei
TO the LederStrasSe.
panion remarked: Il have never been IN tins
Street foY twenty years or more, and never
wished 10 enter it again
Nv curiosity reused
"Why ?" / inquired
81 got SO great a fright here once, and was 81
much laughed at he answered ,,,;. stroo. :,
WHY, what is there about this street u
frighten you? II is old enough, certainty ant
quaint enough. and smells rather-pah eN
claimed, as a full-Gavored German stencil s2lutet
my rostriis; but nothing terrible, after all;
We'll, mcin Herr, il is not the street; II
that house. and-thc ghost in it., the Anglo
German replied, with sort Of shudder, so t.
speak. in his voice.
"Oh, oh then You have not lived long enough
vet and you are not quite n boy. To get rid o
your superstitions, eh? You are still afraid o
ghosts, are yOu?" .
Il was afraid Of what saw" he replied, Wit
a certain amount Of dignity, as if hurt by my lgh
manner and my tones Of mockcry.
nv curiosity OF course reused. and douh
not yours reader, would have been by this speech