The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-08
SOUTH DAKOTA GHOSTS
AN UNCANNY MYSTERY AT MADISON
THAT DEFIEs EXPLANATION.
A Lonely House ON the Prairie That
Harbors the Spirits Scenes and
Sounds That Raise the Hair.



mystifed by what appear to be supernat-
oral manifestations in a farmhouse near
Madison, the county seat. Sedate business
men, solid farmers. representatives of near
ly every kind and condition of men have
striven to solve the mystery Of the haunted
house. but without success, and those Of
skeptical nature who have visited and re-
manned in the house over night for the pur-
pose of probing the mystery TO the bottom
have been compelled to confess that the
matter is beyond their understanding. Gen.
tlehien with a positive distaste for anything
on the morbid or sensational order have
gone as deeply as they dared into the matter
and retired discounted. with their material
istic ideas completely dikorganized.
The haunted house is situated about three
miles from the town of Madison. The land
which surrounds it is ordinary prairie. The
owner does not reside upon the land him
self, but has been accustomed to lease it
from year TO year to responsible renters
Several different families have lived in the
house for time. and then betrayed an un-
conquerable inclination to desert ii. The
building is about eighteen by twenty-four
feet in size, With an upstairs chamber di-
vided into two rooms, and the same on the
ground floor. On the first floor the rooms
been lathed, but the piastering has never
been put on. Underneath is a commodious
cellar. nicely stoned up, with window in
one side which has been covered up with
soil. All the time the investigation was
made to secure facts for this article the
soil was frozen, and it was impossible TO
open the cellar window The first occupants
were man, his wife and their infant child
They moved away quite suddenly, and are
now lost sight of and forgotten. Since then
there have been several renters, but none
of them have remained in the house for
any great length of time. The last renter
was young Norwegian farmer named Carl
Olson, who moved into the house with MS
wife and children on the 18th of last De-
cember. When the Olsons moved in the pre-
vious renter had not yet removed all his
goods. but when night came he refused TO
sleep in the house, although invited to 90
so. He remained with neighbor. and the
next morning finished the work of remov-
ing his goods. He inquired of the Olsons If
they had passed a comfortable night, but,
notwithstanding that the couple had been
beset with strange noises all night they
thought that the clamor arose from natural
causes and made no mention of IL. But when
the succeeding night came and the expert
ence was repeated. and night after night
followed in the same way, this honest couple
began to think that all was not right.
THE GHOSTLY MANIFESTATIONS.
Neighbors were called in to assist them in
unraveing the mystery of the noises, and
these never failed TO go away fully satisfied
that there were uncanny sights and sounds
In this farmhouse by night that could
not be explained or accounted for. On
Christmas eve Olson and his family retired
early and slept soundly during the early part
of the night. Mrs. Olson was awakened
about 10 o'clock by the sound of flute, play
ing sweetly pathetic air. The sound was
not close at hand, but seemingly dulled by
an intervening wall, as though the music was
proceeding from an adjoining room. The air
could easily be distinguished Mr.. Olson also
awoke and heard the music, and Tor three
hours the couple lay and listened 10 the in
terminable strains from the spirit flute. The
air was the same throughout, and was re-
peated until it became very snonotonous
music would proceed to a certain point, and
then a false note would be sounded; the
attempt to strike the note properly two or
three times, and. failing, would go back to
the beginning and play the few bars all over
again, stumbling at the same point, and re-
peating again as before.
After listening to this for three hours it is
no wonder Mrs. Olson's nerves collapsed.
Then the husband arose and lit the lamp.
whereat the music ceased. This experience
has never been repeated since that time but
Olson still remembers the ghostly music.
and can whistle the refrain, which yet sticks
in his mind as though ii had been branded
there with a hot iron. After this the DEM
onstrations subsidized to the ordinary nightly
noises. On Sunday nights the house would
De comparatively quiet, but on each Wednes-
day night the noise Vas so loud that it
seemed at times that the house must fall
about the listeners ears.
1t was at about this time that rumors of
these strange proceedings commenced to
spread throughout the surrounding country
and II was not long before as many as a
dozen visitors at time would spend the
night In the house to test the truth of the
runners. The phenomena was ordinarily the
same each evening. commencing with
steady sound es of dripping at two points
on the chamber f1oor-one in the middle of
the room. giving metallic sound, as of wa
ter dripping into a tin dish or skillet: the
other, near the corner wall with a sound
as Of water dripping upon wood. The in
both of these points and listen to the steady
drip at his elbow. Downstairs the same
noise would be audible, only softened by
continued all night and ceased about 5
o'clock in the morning, and is yet a matter
of regular nightly happening. The regular
| spluttering noise Immediately after the drip
ping starts: then the walls begin to crack.
and ghostly fingers glide. VI. and down the
walls, making in the unfinished chamber a
! strange rub-a-dub noise on the hare lath
On each Wednesday night there are a great
| many additions to these manifestations.
INVESTIGATION REGUN.
The attention of MIR. Moger, a prominent
anu lHtellgent cltlZen or Lake county was
| finally called to the matter He was very
| skeptical as to the reports, but finally YIELD
| ed to entreaty and consented to spend a
| night in the house. So interesting was his
first nights experience that he gave I'D his
| time for the next five nights to a thorough
investigation Of the affair. The result opened
| uD TO him an entire new fled of inquiry.
and convinced him that these were mani
festations and visitations from the spirit
| world.
''On the first evening of my inyestiga-
| tion," said Mr. Morgan, 'Tsrepairei TO the
| house about midnight fully determined that
the whole business could be readily ex-
| planned, and intending to satisfy myself
that there were no FRANKS being PLAYED by
| human hands. first searched the yard
| then the barn, and on entering the house
| / examined the cellar thoroughly. satisfyinp
| myself that no one could enter ii except
| through the room above Then the first
| floor and the chamber above were likewise
| thoroughly explored, and the little attic
| above the chamber, entered through a tran
| door. In every case i found IL imposs ible
| for any one to enter and cause these dem
| onstrations without my knowledge Having
| brought with me two friends, / arranged 10
| have one of them sleep the first floor.
| while the other, with myself, retired for the
| night on a cot in the room above turning
| II there were any at all, full play From
| the first moment of stiffness we heard the
| dripping. near at hand to our bed. and this
| i may say, continued uninterruptedly ali
| night. Then from the side walls and from
| the floor proceeded strange cracking noises