The morning news., 1892-02-08
A HAUNTED HOUSE.
Ghosts Said To Be Strolliug Around
the Druse Homestead.

the Druse Homestead
Little Falls Special to the albany Journal.
On rise of ground sloping toward a
swamp fringing the more northern of two
bodies of water known as the Little Lakes.
in the town OF Warren, stands a dilapidated
frame structure. whose story OF blood some
half a dozen years ago appalled, the civilized
world. Here it was that Roxalana Druse,
assisted by daughter of II aud abetted by
two shiftless nephews, butchered, hacked
and chopped her husband, William Druse,
and then, with true hell-born instincts,
boiled, roasted and burned the remains and
scattered the ashes In the swamp adjoining
the premise. The story is a familiar one.
The miserable little farm house wherein
this tragedy was enacted has literally been
carried away piecemeal by morbid-minded
rellc-seekers. The wall paper with which
Mrs. Druse covered tho blood-bespattered
walls, has been torn off and carried away;
the floor, which she d6ubed with liberal
coats OF paint to hide the crimson stains,
has been hacked, sawed and appropriated
by the army Of clinker- Drained individuals
who have visited the plVce. just what
pleasure these people derive from these So
called relics it is difficult to determine. The
snake-fence which once surrounded the
buildings has also been carried Off, but
whether as relics or for fuel by some poor
but dishonest neighbor is not known.
And now it is said that the old house Is
haunted. IL would be difficult to imagine
more favorable place for spooks, even were
there no horrible tale connected with il.
Situated in the rear of a great barren field
with a swamp at the back, and the highway
seldom Travelled, however-some 500 yards
distant, with toppling chimneys, fapping
clapboards, creakiDg doors and great rents
in the sides-the building presents a truly
uncauny aspect. But when are added the
details Of crime. the awfulness of which
six years OF retelling has not served to aug
ment, a grewsomeness surrounds the prem
ises which the stoutest-hearted yokel does
not care to investigate.
is said that upon storm-swept nights
the place is visited by the wraiths of tho
murdered Druse and his demon wife.
There are sounds of pistol shots and groans
of yells and curses. There is the noise Of a
falling body, pleas for mercy. followed by
the dull thuds of an ak chop, chop, chop
ping Of hands, arms, legs. The whole hor-
rid tragedy is again enacted. A brief
silence ensues, and then issues forth from the
house a ghostly apparition, which glides
around to the rear Of the building, follows a
path swampward and disappears. 1t has
been noted that the spook appears to be
that of woman. and it carries concealed
large package of some character. This is
supposed to be the ghost of the murderess
and that the package she carries contains
the head and cremated remains Of the mur-
dere1 husband.
or those still living who were connected
with the tragedy, the daughter. Mary, Is
slowly dying in prison Of consumption; the
little boy, George, is still living with the
kind hearted farmer who adopted him;
Frank Gates is living somewhere In the
south and Chester Gates, the younger of
the two nephews. is making a good living
from the sales Of liniment made from a
favorite formula concocted by old man
Druse.