The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-19
KANSAS CITY GHOSTS
FAMOUS sPooKs OF THE TOWN ON
The SIG MUDDY.

- 49, LOW n NAN tlie I'M
Jams" Stirred L? Jail Full OF Criminals.
It may bc truc that conscience makes
towards of us all, but with the ignorant
and superstitioUs conscience is not cir
cunstance when compared to vivid
Imagination The greatest coward on
earth Is the person who secs III every
dark shadow, III each deserted house and
around every dismal building the rest
less spirit OF some departed sinner whose
crimes Will not allow him to enter
heaven. who is doomed to wander around
this earth until Gabriel's trumpet is
sounded, who must hover near the scene
of his former misdeeds until the last
day.
The place by popular consent most
adapted TO ghost wanderinSs and the
place most fruitful i'll the production Of
the bona fitlc article is naturally the
graveyard The drcar;er. gloomier ard
more moUrnful the aspect of TIE grave
yard the more ghosts. But the real be-
lever in spooks and spirits does not
deem 1t necessary to 60 among the tombS
and graves of the dead to find Il spirit
Ghosts IRE numerous. They can be
found i'll all sections of the country.
There is not village nor deserted
country house nov railroad bridge bat
has its ghost. But the ghosts are not ell
confined to the country by any means.
There have been several in Kansas City
that have gained extensive notoricty on
account of their many visitations,
and the parts of tho city in which they
are Wont to disport themselves are still
eyed with suspicion and looked upon
askancc b. the inhabitants of Belvidere
Hollow, Hicks Hollow and other por-
tons Of the city thickly settled by the
descendants Of Ham.
The oldest. the original ghost that is
most wildly i'll the memory of the su-
perstitious and is most often the topic
Of Grewsome whispers among the peollc
mentioned, walked the lcvec between
Main street and Broadway II years ago.
One winters night, tho story goes, a
man was lying in wait for an enemy
on the lcvce. III his hand he clutchcd
pOnderouS double barrcled shotgun
loaded with nails and slugs He saw a
man walking down the lcvee In the
dim, flickcrinS light he thought he rec
ognizcd his enemy He raised his gun,
fired and hdrricd away. The next day
he read liz the papers that his brothers.
body had been found on the levec, hor-
ribly mangied and torn. The murderer
WINGED, but kept his secret Then the
dead brothers. ghost began to walk Ev-
cry night, at the same hour of tho
shooting, it could be seen on the levcc
Each time it would walk straight TO the
spot where tho body had fallen. Thcn
the ghost would fall, go through a death
struggle and disappear. 1t kept this up
for years, and there arc those who say it
does it still
The second healthy, we'll developed
ghost disportcd itself in the ruins of the
old Santa Fc Stage Coach company's of
fee at Second and Main streets in 1856.
So generally known did it become that
often large crowds would congrcgatc and
await the appearance of the nocturnal
visitor. Early one evening young man
who wished to investigate n little went
into the ruins. When he emerged from
them al hour later, he found Il large
crowd standing on the opposite side Of
the street, near the jail, Watching for
ghosts. Some enc III the crowd, thinking
that the young man had been playing
ghost, threw q brick at the investigator,
striking him Oh the head. He fell sense
less with IL gaping wocnd il his head
The SAINT. Fc ghost has not been seen
since.
In 1887 there was story anoat that
at - O'Clock each night ghostly cable
train glidcd down the incline between
Walnut and Main streets and GisaDpcar-
cd into space In the grip car, Guiding
the train, was the ghost of IL grip;nan
who had died 1t short time before, after
having been insane for some time, the
result of grief over the fact that his train
had run down and killed Il pedestrian.
Crowds copyrighted ut the junction
nightly TO sec the strange sight For the
most part they Went away disappointed,
although there WAS plenty who declared
they had seen ''i:. -
Another story. III which ghost was
never seen, but which smaCncd strongly
of spOol;s, WIS the Conway murder on
East Eighteenth street, between Oak and
Locust, i'll 1850. Mrs Conway, Il young
woman, and her little girl were beaten
to death with Il coupling pin. Tho muir
dcrcr or murdcrcrs were never caught.
Suspicion pointed toward two men, but
there was 10 evidence. Both of them
afterward died horrible deaths-ono of
the CHAMBERS and the other Of cancer
The ghost Of tho victims never walked
openly, but that section OF the city was
given a wide berth by tho true bclicv-
ers for many months aftcrward
Last. but not least, were the ghosts Of
Clark and Jones. tho men hung for muir