The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-11-06
KANSAS CITY GHOSTS
FAMOUS SPOoKS OF THE TOWN ON
THE BIG MUDDY.

Was Laid-IIow II EIan with the "Jim-
Jams" Stirred Up Jail Full of Criminals.
It may bo true that conscience makes
towards of us all, but with tho ignorant
and superstitious conscience is not cir
cumStance when compared to vivid
imagination. The greatest coward on
earth is the person who secs i'll every
dark shadow, in 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 Glbricl's trumpet is
sounded. who must hover near the scene
of his former misdceds until the last
day.
Tho place by popular consent most
adapted to ghost wandcrings and the
place most fruitful in the production of
tho bona fdo article is naturally tho
graveyard Tho drcaricr, gloomior ard
moro mourrful the aspect of the grave
yard the moro ghosts. But the real be-
lever in spooks and spirits does not
deem it necessary to go among the tombs
and graves of the dead to find spirit.
Ghosts arc numerous, They can be
found in all sections Of tho country
There is not village nor u deserted
country house nor Il railroad bridge but
has its ghost. But the ghosts are not all
confined to the country by any means
There have been several III Kansas CITY
that have gained extensive notoriety on
account OF their many visitatiOns,
and tho parts of tho city in which they
are wont to dispOrt themselves are still
eyed with suspicion and looked upon
askanco by the inhabitants of Belvidero
Hollow. Hicks Hollow and other por-
lions of the city thickly settled by the
descendants of Ham.
The oldest, tho original ghost that is
most wildly i'll the memory of the su-
perstitious and is most often tho topic
of grewsome whispers among the people
mentioned, walked tho levce between
Main street and Broadway 10 years ago
One winters night, tho story goes, n
man was lying in wait for an enemy
on the levce. III his hand he clutchcd
n pondcrous double barreled shotgun
loaded with nails and slugs. Hc saw
man walking down the lcvcc In the
dim, Pickering light he thought he rec
ognized his enemy. He raised his gun,
fired and hurried away. Tho next day
he read III the papers that his brothers.
body had been found on the levce, hor-
ribly mangled and torn. Tho murderer
WINGED, but kept his secret. Then the
dead brothers. ghost began towall1 Ev-
cry night, at the same hour Of the
shooting, it could be seen on tho levce
Each time it would walk straight to tho
spot where tho body had fallen. Then
tho ghost would fall, go through death
struggle and disappear. 1t kept this up
for years, and there are those who say it
does it still.
Tho second healthy, we'll developed
ghost disported itself in tho ruins of the
old Santa Fe Stage Coach company's Of
lice at Second and Main streets i'll 1856.
So generally known did it become that
often large crowds would congregatc and
await the appearance of the nocturnal
visitor. Early ono evening Il young man
who wished to investigate little went
into the ruins. When he emerged from
them an hour later, he found Il large
crowd standing on the opposite side Of
the street, near the Jail, Watching for
ghosts Some one in the crowd, thinking
that tho young man had been playing
ghost, throw a brick ut the Investigator,
striking him on the head He fell sense
less with a gaping wound i'll his head
The Santa Fo ghost has not been seen
since.
In 1887 there was Il story anoat that
at 10 O'Clock each night a ghostly cable
train glidcd down the incline between
Walnut and Main streets and disappear
ed into space. In tho grip car, guiding
the train, was the ghost OF Il gripnan
who had died short time before, after
having been insane for some time, tho
result Of grief over the fact that his train
had run down and killed pedestrian
Crowds congrcgatcd ut the junction
nightly to sec the strange sight. For the
most part they went away disappointed,
although there was plenty who declared
INcy had seen "it. -
Another story, III which ghost was
1lever seen, but which smackcd strongly
of sp0olis was the Conway murder on
Last Eighteenth street, between Oak and
locust. i'll 1855. Mrs. Conway, Il young
woman, and her little girl wero beaten
10 death with coupling pin. Tho muir
herer or murderers wcro never caught
Suspicion pointed toward two men, but
there was no evidence Both of them
afterward died horrible deaths-one of
the CHAMBERS and the other of cancer
The ghost of the victims never walked
openly. but that section of the city was
given wide berth by the true bcliev-
ers for many months afterward
Last, but not least, were the ghosts of