Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-03-05
An ApparitiOn that is Greatly TX
citing the People OF Rich
mOnd, Texas.
An Emigrant Wagon Which Nightly
Passes Through the streets
of the City.
The Citizens and Officers are Unable
to Unrayel the Mystic
FiOus Affair.

takes the form of a large old.fashioned
wagon of tie sort known as emlgrant' S or
prairie schooner" and drawn By two
oxen, says a Richmond, Texas. special to
the st. Louis Republic. The phantom, as
il ia believed 10 be. Is commonplace
spectacle enough and would attract little
notice were it not for the hour Of its visit,
and the extraordinary phenomena attend
ing It's appearance About two weeks
ago the people residing on Main street
were awakened at the hour mentioned by
the creaking OF a wagon as Il went along,
but thou yht nothing Of the occurrence up-
tIl thu thing was repeated the next night
and the night after. when their curiosity
concerning its erranl began to be aroused.
Several prominent citizens waited on the
fourth night, and when the wagon ap
proacned 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, an5 at last with some per
emptoriness, determined 10 solve the ques-
ton for themselves, the men ran forward
and attempted to lay hold of the oxeu's
heads, when, 20 their utter amazement,
nothing was to be found on the spot where
the moment before the huge team was to
be seen. II was gone as completely as a
shadow before the sun, but twenty or
thirty feet further on was presently seen
wagon and oxen lolting on as composedly
as ever.
Dumb struck at the occurrence, the men
resolved to thoroughly investigate the
matter before speaking Of the puzzling
thing they had just witnessed, as they
feared the story would meet with only in
credulity and ridicule. They ran after the
wagon, but failed TO overtake it before it
was swallowed up in the night, and were
unable to find 1t again. Ine next night
all we're at their posts a full hour before
the apparition made its appearance, and
the watchers Of the night before, joined by
others whose slumbers had also been dis
turbed by its passage, waited, Guns and
Tevo,vers in hand for the coming of the
mysterious vehicle 10 was seen coming
promptly at the usual hour, appearing all
at once just beyond the FIRST house on the
street, and moving along al q leisurely
pace
The oxen appeared to be very weary and
and every now and then the
seuud OF q whip snapped In the air cCn d
be heard, bur no other ign cr lite could be
heard or seen about the wagon itself. A
dark figure sat on the scat, which was
pushed back under the canvass. but
whether the driver was a man OR woman
could not be decided. Several Of the keen.
Is, sighted declared il to be- "A man with
his bar drawn down far over the face. CON
caalHg the features while as many others
were quite as positive tu8t tine H-ure was
that OF a woman wearing a dark sum
bonnet
Blu. whatever the sex of the driver, the
shadowy figure paid not the slightest aa-
tentiJn to the crowd collected and stand
ing on both id IS OF the street, but pur-
sued its way vi lOut SO much az turn Of
the head in ans ser 10 lie questions pied
to it. Toe oxen plodded on without a sign
that they beard the shouts, and did not
p use even for a moment Twenty men
sprang into the the streets as the wagon
neared; twenty pairs of hands were put
cut 70 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 10 Oe seen at that
spot though it could be distinctly per
ceived disappearing in the distance. In
the meantime that portion Of the crowd
that had remained on the sidewalk con-
tinued to call out to those who had essayed
to stop the wagon, and, seeing the mys-
ferrous vehicle as plainly as ever, could not
but wonder at tie discontinue displayed
10y the others.
These spectators declare that the wagon
moved placidly through the midst of the
eager hands that grasped at 1t, and to
them no reason was visible Why they
could not have stayed 1t.
Excitement now became almost uncon-
trOllable, and 1t was impossible 10 keep
the matter quiet, so that on the following
night the street was lined from enc 10
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 a roll
of barbed wire attached to stout posts. not
TO be uprooted by any gentle means.
PunctUai to it's tacit engagement the
strange team made Its appearance, 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 1t approached the u, Officers
Gray and Connolly stepped out into the
street and directly In front OF the oxen and
called upon the phantom driver to malt.
The rext moment the men we're seen 10
stagger back aud stretch their length up
on the ground while the wagon seemed TO
pass directly over their bodies. So sure
was the crowd that tins had happened that
volley Of shots from half a hundred guns
were poured into the vehicle. But with
out even a mOmentary cuec6 the team
pursued Its way thr. ugh ropes aud wires
as if they had been bat shadows of the
things they were. The crowd ran after
the wagon until i, disappeared close to
the river a. mysterIou>iy as It had come
In the meanwhile tue officers had Teen
taken up unconscious, but uahuri in any
way 1t was hours before they could be
restored 20 their senses. Both were
genuinely frightened out 81 their wits.
Mr.. 6ray says:
Those that ike may eootinue Is in
vestIgate the wagon, or ghost of one, and
what It carries, bat Ties mas count me
out nave nothing more 10 do with III.
fer while ! "a not afraid Of ANYTHING
can hold on to, I'LL admit In 5 very poor
hand a lacklInE the unreal No. { won't
describe what saw, fgr can't and b4.
sides don't want my miul dwell on
II; but tell you how ! f4lt. ana
that Vas as i Id stumbled Ga an Ice.