San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-12
JACK THE SPOOK.
HE TERRORIZEs THE SERVANT
AND SMALL BOY FRA
TERNITIES
or the Seventh and Eighth Wards
East Commerce and AdJOin-
ing Streets in a Whirl OF
Excitement Over
His Advent.

There is great excitement among
the small boys, small girls, servant
girls and hostlers, living and working
on East Commerce street, and direct
vicinity south thereof. Good old Cot
ton Mather killed many a spook in
his day, but he evidently didn't reach
them all, for the shady hooks and
| bends of the streets around, and near
the ditch running along Water street,
have been turned into a veritable
"Sleepy Hollow" such as Irving has
made famous, and has been m ade the
rendezvous of mystic, unapproach-
able, and changeable spectre, which
frightens into everlasting remem-
brance, the Undetermined and ten
der-hearted residents Of this part Of
town.
| The LIGHT man has been given a
very graphic description of this Jack
the Spook, who haunts some of the
prettiest and most romantic little
| spots of the seventh and eight wards.
This mystic citizen is estimated to be
about five feet eleven inches in
height. From the ease and elasticity
| with which he moves about and his
general appearance, his weight is
approximated ut sixty or seventy
| FIVE pounds. His head is little
smaller than that OF q we'll develop
| ed man. 1t Is perched upon q
| rather lengthy neck. The head
droops over to the front considerably.
Parties who have come face to face
most unexpectedly with the spook,
| declare that he has q horrible pair
of sharp, clear CLASSY eyes that moves
| about in their hollow socket, follow.
every movement of the frightened be-
holder without visibly moving bic
head. The nose is sharp and slight
| ly aquiline. His mouth is tirmrt
closed and drawn in. rnere
is not single hair upon mis-
lips, to cover or hide his sharp, bony
| protruding chin. His neck is de.
scribed as long and in keeping with
| the balance of his body, thin and
| bony. His shoulders and chest are
broad, and but q few inches in thick
ness. The arms are long and lank,
| and whenever approached, are held
| forward, his ugly hands and fieshless
| fingers being on a level with his fore
head. When he fees with his mystic
rious light gait, these long mem bers
dangle forth and back, one at time,
| as though he were using them as a
means of locomotion. The balance of
his body cannot be described, as he
has never been seen without his
ghostly sheet folded loosely about
him. To all appearance, members of
the frightened communities say, he is
the ghost of some maniac of the
worst kind.
This special ghost is not of the
charitable disposition as the spooks
which inform spiritualists of coming
events, or do the slate act. lift pianos,
or perform other monkey shines in
the delusions called sesnces. Oh
no, the mission of the spook in ques-
ton is quite different His mission
| is, we'll, some say it is merely to
| Brighten the children and women,
who happen to be out after dark.
Others say that 1t is to keep of peo-
pie who are attempting to obtain the
property which q recently deceased
citizen left behind him. This theory
has been looked upon with more Be-
robustness than the others, by the
older women in the community, es-
pecially by those whose long life and
experience has warped their minds
almost into senility. minimizing
mothers of unruly youngsters have
stuffed the minds Of these with the
practical side of the matter, known
as, "If you go on the street so late,
he will eat you up" Now, this
ghost, it 10 reported, has been seen In
| this neigh borhood for almost week,
and the oft ener he is espied, the more
numerous are the descriptions and
tales told of him. Once he Is seen
standing on the bridge at the corner
of North and Water streets, under the
huge hack berry trees. Almost the
same minute he Is seen q little farther
up the street, only he mas been
changed into three, one in pure white,
the other two behind him in sheer
black. Last Friday night q number
of young ladies, accompanied by q
gentleman, saw him on Matagorda
street. At the same moment q young
man, q friend OF the girls, saw him on
Rusk street. The two parties, q
little later, met and related their ex-
periences, and had falling out,
for they all agreed that it was
at the same time, all having looked
at their watches, all felt sure 1t was
the same spook, for certainly all de-
scrlptions Tailed to "T." Then each
party concluded that the other had
lied, for certainly the same ghost
could not be In two places at the same
time, so they all don't speak to the
young man as they pass by, for he has
been set down by them as an unbear-
ahIe tease or a mOnstrous falsifier of