St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-22
THE HOUSE is HAUNTED.
MYSTERIOUS DEMONS TRATioNS IN A
ST. PAUL RESIDENCE
WITNESSED BY "GLoaE,' MEN


Companion in a Quarrel Over
Woman-Gives the Address
of His Mother in Chicago, and
Other Information.
For months there have been rumors of
haunted house in the upper part of
the city. Doors were said to have been
slammed and thrown open again with
such force as to dent the wall hairpins
were thrown against the ceilings, bolts
dropped from unknown places, sleepers
pinched by some unknown presence,
etc.
The GLOBE sent reporter to lnvesti-
gate. He found family living up
stairs and another down stairs. The
ghostly appearances are in the rooms
below. There is a front room at the
right of the stairway, where two broth
ers sleep. The gentleman and his wife
sleep in the room back Of this. being
separated by the usual plastered par
tition. Their bed room opens through
an arch into a middle room. both being
heated by a base burner coal stove
| standing in the middle room near the
arch.
None of the parties were spirltualistic
and had no Information in relation to
the Rochester or other alleged spiritual
rappings aud were alarmed and nervous
over the manifestations, and yet at first
refused to permit any investigation, but
when assured that it was desired to in
yestigate from scientific standpoint
they made a date. They showed the
| reporter where the door was slammed
against the wall and gave other points
| of interest in relation to the alleged
manifestations.
The reporter was accompanied by
two gentlemen and lady. Neither
were spiritualists. One of the gentle
men, whom we shall call Mr.. A. is a
member of the Society for Psychical
| Research, of which Gladstone and many
prominent people in Europe and Amer
| lea are members. They are bitterly an
tagoniZed by spiritualists because they
demand evidence, and reasonable eX-
PLANTATION, and proof to determine
whether any phenomena to explain
really does exist. They seldom accept
| spiritualistic conclusions. even as to the
existence OF the phenomena.
Their method of examinations usually
| permits those claiming to present phe-
nomena to go ahead in their own way.
under their own conditions. and do their
best. and then see what can be done un-
der other and different conditions. and
consider how to account for them. They
are not in sympathy with dark cabinet
affairs, and under no circumstances pay
any attention to the spiritual shows. but
! it does their souls good to find and in
vestigate as to haunted houses.
/ The gentleman at whose house the
| manifestations occur was little nerv-
Gus and excited over disturbances which
were real to him, no matter how much
others sneer or doubt. AS he stated that
the manifestations usually occurred in
| the dark, though they sometimes con-
tinued after the lights were restored.
the lights were removed. but the two
communicating rooms remained lighted
| partially by base-burning stove sit
ting near the arch between the TWO.
/ The four persons from tlre<GLOB Er-sssifd
! four members of the family were seated
! in the middle room: the bed and bureau
were in the other room, which was eX-
amined carefully and found to be an
ordinary bedroom with combined dress
er and bureau in one corner and the
bed against the wall in the other corner.
| The stove was in the middle room. The
rapping was said to come usually on the
| wall about where a person lying in the
+! bed would touch the wall with arm eX-
tended, and at that point the wall had
been indented where the gentleman
said he had struck it with his fist to
drive the thing away. whatever it
might be.
| Inquiry developed the fact that the
older brother was sleeping in the front
room, separated from this by the usual
plastered wall, and that he was in there
| at that time asleep. The bed WAS said
to stand across the corner, instead of
against the wall. OF course the idea
was suggested that the rappings might
! be zone by the brother, consciously OF
nnconsciously, and-in either case would
| give the alleged affect as to the rapping
| on the wall. From the spiritualistic
standpoint, his sleeping so near would,
] with the other two, complete the bat
! terry necessary for manifestations.
| Mr.. A. soon asked permission to go
| into the bed room, as there were no
manifestations, and took his seat with
knees against the bed. opposite the
point where the rappings were said to
occur.
A running conversation was had. The
gentleman said while the raps usually
were heard only in the dark the other
night when he was tired of hearing
them. and said he would get up and
| light the lamp and see if they would rap
in the light. there were three quick raps
/ given as if in response to his suggestion,
and when the light was turned up they
| raped on the table on which the light
! stood, and elsewhere about the room.
They moved things from the windows,
! bureaus and dressers. threw coal around
j the house and raised the Old Nick gen
| orally, though they had done no harm
beyond pinching his wife and brother,
! and he had felt them occasionally him
/ self. He said he had made no attempt
/ to inquire what it was and had not felt
specially nervous until and since the
night when they slammed the cellar
| door with such violence. He must con-
fess that made him uneasy. This was
Wednesday after Christmas.
| Here something metallic struck the
| floor near the bureau; another some
thing dropped at the feet of the reporter
| Of the GLOBE, and other articles were
| moved from the window, table or bu-
i reau. Something fell in the back room
| where the door was alleged to have been
! slammed. and key struck the gentle
man in the face. falling from the cell
| ing. apparently, and then all became
quiet, but there had been no rapplng.
| A light showed that key had been
dropped near the bureau; wooden bell
had fallen at the feet of the reporter. A
!, bolt had been dropped near the stove,