The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-06-03
WHO'S LOST 4 GHOST
A Restaurant Haunted by al
Appirition.
WALKS THROUGH SOLID GLASS.
Policemen are Powerless to Capture
the Mysterious
spirit

ence OF ghosts IOr the Simple reason tnht
they have never met them face to face.
Ghosts are usually seen in out of the way
places and haunted houses are conven-
iently located in desolate districts where
the loneliness Of the scene often breeds the
fear that bodies them forth. The very
absence of life in solitude awakens a sus-
picion that should a spirit make its ap-
pearance it will be devoid of flesh and
without any tangible, material substance.
In the stories that are written to amuse,
or fill the mind with vague illusions of the
unreal, the ghosts appear at stated inter-
walls when it is difficult to probe the facts.
When the ghost detectives have waited in
their weary wetching5 a wierG and un-
earthly feeling creeps over them that of
itself would produce the phantom they are
looking for.
But the ghost that is haunting a Salt
Lake house makes its appearance under
very different circumstances. 1t is not in
some unfrequented retreat, not in the boys
of q swamp, but in the swift swirl of the
business center. His discovery flor it is q
male ghost, as near as its outward garb be-
tokens), was rot made when the mind CT
the ghost hunters had been prepared for
the shadowy spirits Of some murdered man,
but at time when the men who saw the
spparition were seeking to capture q
burglar.
Mrs Kennedy, who with her husband
keeps restaurant on Main street, has
been troubled and annoyed by strange
noises on the roof over their restaurant.
AT first she believed that the mysterious
creaking and queer noises were caused by
man walking there. Mrs. Kennedy paid
little heed 10 the disturbances at frat, but
FA A. -. -
succession she became so much concerned
about them that she told her story to a
policeman.
One night recently, as q HERALD re-
porter was taking mis- night lunch in the
restaurant Mrs. Kennedy was heard to
speak to the waiter in low, suppressed
tone;
John, you had better close up, it is
nearly time for the ghost to appear"
The waiter drew the blinds down and
began placing the chairs on the tables
ready for sweeping the floor, when one Of
the chair legs struck g piece Of glassware
that caused a slight crash. Mrs. Ken
nedy was noticed to shudder and she gave
expression 10 eu-g-h! that made the
newspaper man believe that there was
more to the ghost story that idle talk. and
when policeman and private detective
came out from the back part of the house
the reporter was sure of it.
Officer Eslinger looked very brave and had
his coat buttoned up to his neck so closely
that there was not room for SILVER 10
crawl down his back, and the detective,
having swallowed some of Mrs Kennedy's
finest tenderloin ION the strength of dis
covering the man" ghost) smacked his
lips and swelled out big enough to swallow
8 half dozen ghosts al one gup as slick "a
hunters were stiff with courage and the
policeman struck his breast with his billy
three times to satisfy himself that there
was nothing hollow about him ana that any
ghost that would show its head would get
it cracked.
The two officers took their places on the
back part o. the shed, which serves as q
kitchen to the restaurant where they had
full view Of the roof. They could not talk,
for that would scare away the ghost, aud
anyone who has tried TO keep deathly still
when waiting the appearance of an
apparition, even though surrounded by
q dozen friends, know full well the terror
of the awful suspense. AS the minutes
approached for the coming of the ghost, il
is no discreoit 70 say that the officers (who
went there to capture burglary began to
feel heaviness about their well-hled
stomschs, caused by their digestive organs
going back on them.
The pail of night was oppressive, and
even the big stars that hung down out Of
the sky, blinking as big as blankets, only
made this world aDpear the more unreal.
Scarcely footstep was heard on the street
and there was not even the crunkling
sound of passing car The policeman,
however. screwed up his courage to the
sticking point, and 10 keep company with
himself cleared his throat at intervals oy
hawking, while the detective became chilly
with fright
Up to this time there was nothing seen,
nothing heard, and even z ghost would
nave been q welcome change TO the awful
quietude.
When in this state of mind the roof was
felt 10 creak and q fooestep was distinctly
heard. Both men strained their eyes but
could see nothing.
Its all 8 myth, they said to themselves
and were about TO draw consolation from
the absence of any spectre when they
noticed on the center Of the roof about half
way from the Walker House TO the Ray
bould building shapeless shadow with
strcaks of light, surrounded oy waves of
denser darkness, which at times revealed
the outlines of cloaked figure. 1t gradu-
ally moved towards the Raybould building,
but the officers were parslyzed with
Tear, and had not the policeman
len from the ledge on which
he stood to the ground below. This brought
him to his senses. and on recovering him.
self he struck the roof with his club, as he
had been accustomed TO do when calling
for help. AT the noise caused by the police
mans stick the ghost came to a standgtill,
and there were three distinct raps on the
roof, IS If in reply to the policeman's cali,
and yet there was no more visible substance
TO the shadow than vspor
The detective proposed that they should
go up TO the apparition to find out what it
was and to which world it belonged. AS
the two men stepped forward the figure
into the Rsybould building
The next night the cook, who had been
for the ghost several evenings,
would learn its identity. About 3 O'Clock.
8s usual he heard the footsteps on the roof
aud quickly scaling the ladder that leads
up to the rear porch he saw the shadow
pass to the Ray bould block and as he came
closer there were TWO pairs of boots stick
ing out OF the window. He reached out
his hands to secure them, but they sud-
denly disappeared and his hands came into
contact with the cold glass of the window
pane. This frightened him so that his hair
fairly stood on end, and he can not any
more be persuaded TO look for that ghost
han for mis- own skeleton.
He said he had seen spirits before and
lad visited haunted houses alone but that
le had never experienced anything as
CLASSY" as the cold, desthly feeling thnt
,ame over him when his hand came across
ne closed window pane that be thought to
Dc open, and through which he had seen |
nan pass moment before.