Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-04-01
VACANT "HAuNrEpo HousEs.
A Rumor Has OFTEN Ruined Variable
Property.

A Rumor Has OFTEN Ruined Valuable
Property.
Probably the majority Of people have
been m0mentarily struck from time to
time by the sight OF dwelllng-houses OF
sad, deserted appearance, curiously
suggestive of rats and romance, which
occur ut intervals In the streets OF
London and most other big human
hives, s0Ys Household Words, There
TREY stand, year after year; no one oc-
cupies them, no one seems to make in
quiries about them, or to regard them
as habitable; generally they crumble
through sheer damp and disuse, or. are
eventually razed by the legalized
'house-breaker." OF course, many
houses answering to this description
stand empty for years pending decisions
In the court Of chancery or because the
sanitary authorities have seen fit to
condemn them; but 1t Is a fact that
hundreds Of such houses remain vacant
simply because of some queer local
aversion or superstition, which has
gradually surrounded them with fatal
atmosphere of ill-luck. Call house
haunted" and with many people the
ghost is taken for granted Occasion
ally the reasons why certain dwelling
houses should have been marked out
and Stunned in this way are humorous
to degree not to say ridiculous. The
writer knows Of one substantial pile,
standing in northwest suburb, which
has been practically doomed to perpet-
ual emptiness solely through local re-
port that dastardly crime had been
done in one Of the rooms. Not an atom
of base FOR this rumor was to be had,
but in short space of time the belief
obtained such credence that 1t was no
uncommon thing for one or more NOR
bid sightseers to be found staring up
at the blank windows and specializing
as to the nature of the deed. Finally
the street urchins took every oppor-
tunity to riddle it with stones, while
every possible tenant was solemnly
warned against occupying the premises.
The despairing owner reduced the rent
from time to time, but bad construc-
ton was placed upon this action, and
the building is now an uninhabitable
shell. Another house, in the very next
street. had stood tenantless for long
time for a somewhat similar reason.
1t appeared that the last occupants had
mysteriously disappeared, owing money
in all directions. This was no unprece-
denied occurrence in itself, but it so
happened that local busybOdy dis
covered in one of the upper rooms a
red stain, which was duplicated in the
passage below, and Immediately there
were whisperiugs as to foul play. An
investigation disproved this theory,
but the rumor had gone forth, and that
house was doomed. The fact that the
stains in question were found to be
nothing more than blotches of red
paint made no difference. They were
red. Instantly the local mind settled
that they must be life-blood. Even
those people who pride themselves
upon being above the influence of such
idle gossip very naturally do not relish
occupying house that Is pointed at
and talked about" while they can OBJ
tain one with no such notoriety at
tached. AS a landlord bitterly re-
marked to the writer recently: Let
a house he singled out for local suspi-
cion and whispers, it is almost certain
to be doomed to future emptiness No
one cares to put the matter to the test"