River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-07-28
All MOONS GHOST.
How q Troublesome Specter Was
EffectuaIly Silenced-

process of construction; there was
telegraph system; the army and navy
were rugged out in European uniform;
and all civil officials were supposed TO
have one evening dress suit of imagin-
airy European cut. But the mass of the
people still chung to their ancient Gus
toms and pr ejudices and notions and
Euperstitlons and costume, and. above
all, TO their jealousy and suspicion of
the tojin baka, the stupid foreigner"
Europeans and Americans were not
the only objects of dislike. The AFRO
giant Chinaman came in for a large
share, and a certain community of Ian
gusgs enabled the Japanese 20 revile
him more caustically and effectively
than he could the usually unlinguistic
European. Our comprehensive Chi
nese head of the native department of
the office-was one All Moon. He was
about as thoroughly hated a man as
could be found. although he was a
good and upright servant to us-per-
haps too good and upright to suit the
gentle native. More than once he had
been waylaid. attacked and beaten by
Japanese whom he had offended by a
too rigorous execution Of his duty; and
threatened. The result was that he be
came soured and vindictive, and
changed from merely strict performer
Of his duty into tyrant and bully.
One afternoon in November / was en-
gagged in the daily duty of checking the
amount of bullion and coin in the
treasury-the large strong room at
tached to every office. An Moon was
at my side taking down the contents of
dollar bags and yen" boxes in book.
when suddenly the book fell from ans
hands. an expression of iusuffers Die
agony came to his face, he pressed mis-
hands to his sides, uttered an awful
cry, which can never forget. and fell
TO the floor. When we picked him up
he was dead. A post-mOrtem examina-
ton revealed no traces of poison-sim-
ply one tiny piece of powdered glass
We therefore knew that he was the
victim of one of the most subtle, insin-
Mating and terrible forms of poisoning
known to nations addicted to that
science.
Efforts, of course. were made to trace
the perpetrators of the crime, but with
out success. Arrests were made by the
nhtlNt 1OE the SAKE VI
pearance, and a number of poor
wretches were put to the torture in
lobe prison: but the crime. which was
undoubtedly the work of many, could
b. brought home to nobody, and the
affair soon ceased to occupy at any
rate European minds. But from the
evening of All Moons death the treas
ury was regarded as haunted. and from
that day only one Chinaman could be
found who would. without the mutter-
ing of much jargon, pass through its
great barred entrance. This man was
All Moons successor in the post of
comprador, the late head "shroff' or
native cashier, a man named Hal Ling,
a shrewd, clever fellow, who. strange
TO sey, was as popular with the Japan
csc as his predecessor had been the re-
verse.
He was a good-looking man of fifty,
with one Of those calm. unruffied, ex-
prsssionless faces which generally
characterize the statues OF Buddah Mir
vsns. de. was very European in his
tastes, inasmuch is he took a great in
terest in pony training and racing. and,
mirabile dictu. for q Jhinaman, was
English beautifully, without the small
est infusion of that childish jargon
known as 'Pidjin" English; and upon
one occasion / saw him knock an
offending coolie down in a very scien-
title fashion. and asked him where he
had learned 20 hit. He replied: son
board an English man-o-war."
So All Moon was tremendously laid
20 rest in the Chinese cemetery near the
racecourse, and Hal Ling reigned in his
stead.
Hitherto il had been our custom to
employ Cinnamon as night-watehmen,
partly because they were more reliable
than Japanese. and partly because they
kept awake better. But after All
Moons tragic death not q Chinaman
would consent TO sit up through the
long silent watches of the winters
nights in the neighborhoOd of the
haunted treasury. Hal Ling laughed
at his countrymen's superstitious fears;
but they were not to be moved, and SO
Japanese were put on
But gradually the Japanese became
infected with dread. and solemnly de-
clared that at the dead Of night they
could hear the spirit of the murdered
All Moon striving to burst its grave
bonds, and grooming terribly all the
while. 1 pooh-poohed the notion, and
sent the towards about their business;
but the men who replaced them,
strangers from Toxic. who knew moth
ing about the tragedy, heard the same
sounds. and refused 10 remain So. al
though was utterly devoid Of supersti-
ton, determined to watch myself one
night did so. Not q sound did hear
from eleven at night until four in the
morning-the troublous period for All
Moons spirit, and l turned into bed
railing At the natives for q lot of chick
en-hearted idiots
Still, as the complaints were renewed
during the following days, ! thought
that, IN order to guard against the pos
sibility of a trick being played. would
watch one night without having given
notice of my intention to do so. So l
quietly hid myself in a corner of the
outer Office lust before eleven o'clock.
and waited Shortly after that hour /
heard sounds which certainly came
from the direction of the treasury
scraping. grating sounds. intermingled
occasionally with deep groan. which,
/ must say, sounded inexpressibly
weird and solemn in the stiffness of the
night They were not regular sounds.
but arose by fits and starts; and even i
could quite realize how in the native
mind they might be associated with the
struggles Of an uneasy, restless spirit
Lerept softly along 20 the treasury door
and listened. Inc sounds did not seem
20 be IN the treasury, but near il. on the
road side of the wall What did it
mean? I confess ! was mystified.
The next morning / made thorough
search in the treasury and about it for
some clew to the strange noises That
night watched again. and at as nearly
as possible the same hour as on the pre-
ceding night the mysterious noises
commenced, the meaning and grooming
being heart-rending. Ii was comieal to
note the effect upon the fellows watch
ing upon the versnda outside-for as q
concession to their fears we had doubled