Crawford avalanche., 1891-03-26

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the supposed abode Of spirits from an
other world. Mystery hangs over the
ruins and every visitor to Madison
learns portions of their strange his
tory.
In 1860 young Englishman, Benja-
min Walker, made his appearance in
Madison, accompanied by his wife and
two infant children. He had plenty
of money and he spent it with lavish
hand. Soon after his appearance he
began to build castle, drawing his
own plans, hiring his own work.
men and experimenting the work.
The castle was medieval in de-
sign, with immense thick walls
and underground chambers to connect
it with the State buildings standing q
short distance off. 1t stood on top of
steep hill, amid beautiful scenery,
and with the waters of beautiful Lake
Mendoza almost laving its sides. The
walls were so thick that ventilation
was bad and the castle was conse-
quently unhealthy. Soon after Mr..
Walker moved into it, two of his chill
dren died and were buried on the
grounds. Their death affected him
seriously. He confined himself to the
castle and was seen no more in society.
Using the underground passages he
spent nearly all his time in his stable
and neglected his wife and household.
An English doctor demonstrated with
him and he sold the place and returned
to England. He became a wanderer
among men, finally locating in Is
MALTA, Egypt, where he devoted him
self to the study of Oriental language,
antiquities and history. There he
died two years ago.
Meantime the castle had fallen into
strange hands. Mr.. and Mrs. "Dr."
Thompson took possession of it. The
latter was tall, muscular woman with
heavy mustache; the former had
cago and Milwaukee, They lived
magnificently and rolled about town in
elegant eluipages. But there was
something mysterious about the castle
at night. Carefully yelled women were
seen to arrive at the castle at the deep
of night and find admittance there.
Queer noises, resembling groans and
shiieks of pain. were heard coming
from its walls. It was said "Dr" and
Mrs. Thompson followed a nefarious
traffic. Then there was a son of this
strange couple, a violent fellow and
much given TO liquor. Quarrels in the
family we're frequent, and one day the
son died and was buried on the prem
ises. An inquest was held, but no h.
ing interesting resulted and soon after
ward the strange couple moved away
and were heard of no more. The
castle remained deserted; no tenant
would live in it and popular belief
claimed that it was haunted by the
restless spiiits of the dead. These
rumors of unearthly sights and noises
began to circulate. Fhosphorescent
lights were seen to proceed from its
windows and wild cries pierced. the
stiffness of the night At length the
place was raided. The police found
rich booty, the accumulated plunder of
an organized band of thieves that had
laid the country far and near under
contribution. and that had made the
castle their headquarters and place of
storage. In the underground passages
was found an immense quantity of
riches, iewelry, finery, and furniture.
And now succeeds decay. Care
takers can no longer be induced to
live in the haunted pile. The once
beautiful grounds have become a will
derness and rank vegetation spreads
everywhere. The walls of the English
mans castle still stand, strong and
massive, but the hand of ruin and de-
cay holds it in an unrelenting grasp.