The record-union., 1898-05-04
FUNKHOUSER SISTERS.
THEY ARE LIKE DUMAS COR
SICAN BROTHERS.
Remarkable Instance Of Telepathy
Twin Sisters Who Know Each
Others Thoughts.

Two quiet little women walked into
the Central Police Station one morn
ing this week and laid upon the desk
of Sergeant Fred Henry a small parcel.
1t contained silver spoons and other ar
ticles of table cutlery and jewelry. The
women We're Anna and Nan FUNK
hcuser. twin sisters. They explained
that they were afraid of being robbed
The officer smiled incredulously The
women insisted, and they were sent ap
stairs to the office Of Chief Broder, VINO
patiently listened to their tale.
Our house will be entered by ROD
bers tonight" said Anna, "and IL we
are not accorded police protection We
wish to place these articles where they
will not be stolen"
Chief Broder asked how they !-neW
what was about to transpire, and when
he received the reply that they just
knew it" he was inclined TO agree With
his subor rdinate and laugh at the PAIR
as a couple of whimsical old maids The
Chief had previously known the sisters
and at times odd stories of what the OF
ficers on the force termed their ''idioSyn-
crasies' had come to his ears. But he
pIOlIllScu luSill pOllCe pTOleClioii e1iiN 80
rected them to the quarters of Police
Matron Gribben, who smoothed their
overwfaught nerves by some sage ad-
vice. To please them further the police
matron took the valuables and locked
them in the safe of Secretary Rutt.
More to ease his conscience than TO
execute what he considered a sensible
duty, the Chief that night ordered the
patrolman in the district to keep sharp
lookout over the home of the two Wo-
men. About l o'clock in the morning
the officer discovered d man proving
in the vicinity. He watched him and
when he had removed a shutter from Il
window, the officer arrested him. The
fellow showed fight and in an attempt tc
escape he was winged by a bullet from
the officers revolver.
In the Police Court the following
morning the would-be robber-a tramp
of vicious proclivities, who had been re
leased from the Workhouse only the day
before-was sent up for a hundred days
Following the trial a conference with
the two women in the Chiefs office de
veloped one of the strangest stories on
record.
feeling that something was going to
happen to them. 1t grew for three or
four days and on the morning in ques-
ton had crystallized around fixed no
tion-and that was that on the night OF
that day their house would be entered
by robbers. They said they knew IL
was no use to attempt to shake off the
feeling. 1t could not be done. They
had experienced similar sensations De-
fore, and they had invariably come true
That a robbery was contemplated the
developments went to prove, but there
was no testimony to show that the
burglar had selected that particular
house because he knew aught of the in
mates or of possible booty TO be OBJ
tained by effecting an entrance there
to. His previous Imprisonment preclud-
ed the possibility Of this.
During the conference it also devei-
oped that the women had been Ire
quently the victims of robbers. Pre-
vious to each night attack, they said,
they had a certain premonition thst
something unusual was about to hap
pen, but not always was it clear At
times, as patrolmen who were called i'll
testified the ladies had indeed spoken
to the officers in the street and asked
that a more than usually strict watch
be kept on their home on certain nights.
The men thought little of this, how
ever as they met with many women
who. they said, were afflicted with ''ao-
tons As far as possible to trace the
days, it is disclosed that on each of the
occasions referred to there had been a
robbery or an attempted robbery at the
home of the two old maids. In telling
their story the women were accurate
as to dates and circumstances, and
each bore the other out in her state
ments.
The strange circumstance in connec-
ton with the lives of the women. and
police is the fact that whatever one
feels the other also experiences exactly
in the same proportion or degree of ef-
fectiveness And not alone is this the
case where robberies are concerned,
for on such occasions the fear Of one
transferred by word or action To tha
other might be accounted for on rea-
sonable grounds.
Investigation revealed that Anna ana
Nan Funkhouser live together AMI act
very much as one person. In the first
place they are twins. They were born
in Kentucky and removed to Missouri
with their parents in the early days Of
immigration to this State. Most of
their lives were spent on farm, but
they received the best education that
fashionable Eastern girls school could
provide They are 50 years old. and
have resided in this city a half score
of years.
They have no living relatives. Meth
er married, and. as far as they Will tell.
neither ever had any desire to change
her state nor had Romeo ever slne,
of the divine passion beneath their
chamber window Their country life
was passed in the pursuit of butterflies
and in the study of their books.
Since the death of their parents and
the sale of the farm the women hav1
lived quietly at their cosy little nom',
No. S33 South Tenth street. where their
days are spent in relieving the wants
of the surrounding poor and their
nights-the police say sarcastically-in
fear of burglars. That this latter feel
ing has some good grounds for its pres
ence has been demonstrated.
Anna looks as much like Nan as Cnly
a woman can look like her twin sister
when both have passed the meridian
and patient old Time has indelib'y
stamped the years on a once blooming
face, and in their radiant tresses he
silent SHOWS have begun to fall. Both
are plain of face and wrnkled ana
slightly stopped, and their eyes are 4
little dimmed, but when they appear on
the streets in their plain black gowns.
the attention of the casual passerby IS
attracted to the kindly light that beams
on their plain faces They are pos