The morning news., 1892-02-06
A SPECTRAL SCHOONER.
GEosTLY vIsITANr OF TOWN
IN TEXAS.

Mystery.
From the 81. Louis Republic.
RICHMOND, TEX. Jan. 2S.- The entire
city is agog over an apparition which is
said to visit Main street every night about
II O'Clock, and which takes the form Of q
| large old fashioned wagon of the sort known
as emigrant's or "prairie schooner" and
drawn by two oxen. The phantom, as it is
believed to be, is a commonplace spectacle
enough and would attract but little notice
were it not for the hour Of its visit, and the
extraordinary phenomena attending its ap-
pearance. About two weeks ago the peo-
pie residing on Main street were awakened
at the hour mentioned by the creaking Of
the wagon as it went along, bns thought
nothing OF the occurrence until the thing
was repeated the next night and the night
| after, when their curiosity concerning les
errand began to be aroused. Several prom
inent citizens waited on the fourth night,
ana when the wagon approached hailed the
| driver, who could be somewhat indistinctly
| seen sitting rather back in the vehicle. No
response was given to their hail, which was
repeated several times, and at last with
| some peremptoriness, determined to solve
| the question for themselves, the men ran
| forward aud attempted to lay hold OF the
oxen's heads, when to their utter amaze
| ment nothing was to be found on the spot
where the moment before the huge team
was to be seen. It was gone as completely
as a shadow before the sun, but twenty or
| thirty feet further on was presently seen
wagon and oxen joling on as composedly
| as ever.
Dumb-stuck at the occurrence, the men re-
solved to thoroughly investigate the mat
ter before speaking of the puzzliug thing
they had just witnessed, as they feared the
story would meet with only incredulity and
ridicule. They ran after the wagon, but
failed 60 overtake il before It was swallowed
up in the night, and were unable to find it
| again. The next night all were at their
posts full hour before the apparition made
| its appearance, and the watchers of the night
before, joined by others whose slumbers
had also been disturbed by its passage,
waited, guns and revolvers in hand. for
the coming Of the mysterious vehicle
1t was seen coming promptly at
the usual hour, appearing all at
once just beyond the first house on the
str eet, moving along at a leisurely pace
| The oxen appeared TO b5 weary and
dispirited, and every now and then the
sound Of whip snapped in the air could be
heard, but no other sign of life could be
heard or seen about the wagon itself. A
| dark figure sat on the seat, which was
pushed back under the canvas, but whether
! the driver was a man or woman could not
| be decided. Several of the keenest-sighted
declared it to be a man with his hat drawn
down far over the face, concealing the feat
ures. while as many others were quite as
positive that the figure was that of a woman
wearing dark sun bonnet.
LYING IN WAIT FOR THE sPEcTER.
But whatever the sex of the driver, the
shadowy figure paid not the slightest attez-
| tion TO the crowd collected and standing on
both sides of the street, but pursued its way
without so much as a turn of the head in
| answer TO the questions Piled it. The oxen
plodded on without sign that they heard the
shouts, and did not pause even for moment
| twenty men sprang into the street as the
wagon neared; twenty pairs of hands were
| put out TO grasp its sides, the harness of the
team, the team itself, but only empty air did
they grasp. There was not even a trace of
the phantom TO be seen at that SPOT, though
it could be distinctly perceived disappearing
in the distance. In the meanwhile that
portion OF the crowd that had remained on
| the sidewalk continued to call out to those
who had essayed to stop the wagon, aud,
J seeing the mysterious vehicle as plainly as
! ever, could not but wonder at the discom-
| future displayed by the Others
These spectators declare that the wagon
moved placidly through the midst of the
eager hands that grasped at it, and to them
no reason was visible why they conld not
\ have stayed it.
! Excitement now became almost uncon-
| trollable, aud it was impossible to keep the
matter quiet, so that on the following right
the street was lined from end to end with a
crowd determined to solve the mystery or
| know the reason why. Each man carried A
weapon and across the street was stretched
ropes, and even roll of barbed wire at
tached to stout posts, not to be uprooted by
any gentle means Punctual to its tacit
engagement the strange team made its ap-
pearance, and, as the night was
brilliantly lighted by the full moon,
the white canvas, with the dark
body below, was more clearly outlined
than ever. AS it approached them Officers
Gray and Connolly stepped out into the
street directly in front of the oxen and
called upon the phantom driver to halt.
| The next moment the men were seen Go
stagger back and stretch their length upon
the ground, while the wagon seemed to pas
directly over their bodies. So sure was the
crowd that this had happened that a volley
OF shots from half a hundred guns was
| poured into the vehicle. But without even
momentary check the tram pursued its
| way through ropes and wire as il they had
been but shadows or the things they were
The crowd ran after the wagon until it dis.
appeared close to the river as mySteriously
as it had come.
POLICE OFFICERS UNHURT.
| In the meanwhile the officers had been
| taken up unconscious, but unhurt in any
way. 1t was hours before they could be re
stored to their senses. Both were genuinely
| frightened out Of their wits. Mr.. GRAY
says:
''Those that like may continue to investi-
| gate that wagon, or ghost Of one. and what
IL carries, but they may count me out. l
have nothing more'to do with it, for while
Pm not afraid of anything can hold on 80,
| Flladmit that Pm a very poor hand at
tackling the unreal. No, won't describe
what saw, for can't, and besides | don't
want my mind to dwell upon it; but i'll tell
you how felt, and that was as If I'd STUN.
bled on an iceberg Ia the dark, only the air
about that ghosts team was colder than any
ice ever saw"
Connolly confirms this statement about
the tnexpressIble chill that came sweeping
| from the apparition, but says that as be
fell back overpowered by it, he caught a
| glimpse Of a number of dead faces in the
wagon, and that the driver is a skeleton
with burning eyes
The ropes and wire fencing, which had
had so ltttls effect on the passage of the
phantom, were found to be unbroKen and
in their original position. Nonplussed now,
| and thoroughly alarmed, the citizens re-
solved to watch whence the apparition
came, aud stationed some twenty men the
| following night just beyond the spot near
which the team had been first observed on
/ o,NtN 80. 81