The Topeka state journal., 1899-10-11
STERETT's GHOST RACE.
FFrom the New York sun.l


night aIone'' The speaker was Judge
Ed Bower, who for years was the coun-
ty judge of Dallas county, Texas. His
remark was addressed to Col William
Green Sterett, better known as plain
"BiIl'' Sterett, who for ten years was
a well known correspondent at Wash
ington and is now a picturesque per-
sonality of wide reputation The banter
was made to "BiII' away back in the
winter of 1856 before he went to Wash
ington. A party of conviviaI friends
sat around a comfortable fire in a res
taurant in Dallas, Texas, discussing
politics, spinning yarns, slipping from
the cup that cheers. and incidentally
keeping out of the storm that was rag
ing outside.
The storm was what is known in
Texas as a wet nOrther'' and wet
nOrther'' is to Texas and the southwest
what a blizzard is to the Dakotas and
the Northwest. While blizzard kills
people a wet norther'' only makes
them wish they were dead. A ''norther"
of the southwest is simply the tail end
of a blizzard, and it depends upon the
amount Of moisture in blizzard
whether the "nOrther' is wet or dry. A
dry norther is bad but wet norther
is something awful. 1t blows and driz-
zles and freezes. A man caught out
in one of them on a bald prairie with
light clothing on and no stimuIants Ito
speak Of is in for the toughest exper-
ience of his life
The norther of this night was fully
up to the sample and it caused the
friends in the restaurant to tarry long,
er than usual. The conversation final
" turned to ghosts, spOOks, haunted
houses and uncanny things Judge
Bower told a story of a haunted house
about a mile from the city limits of
Dallas. He said the ghost that infested
that house was known to assume many
different shapes and to appear at any
and all times, and that no one had ever
been able to stay at the house all night,
much less live in 1t. and consequently
it had been tenantleSS for more than a
year "Bill' Sterett announced his ut
ter disbelief in anything of the nature
of ghosts. and denounced Judge Bow
er's story as superstitious rot" It
was then the Judge made the banter in
the opening sentence of this story Bill
took his wager at once and his friends
set to work to help him prepare to win
the money.
Bill wrote his wife a note saying that
he had been sent to Fort Worth on an
assignment, bought quart of good
whisky, borrowed a Six-ShOOter and
/ ''hiked'' out for the haunted house. 1t
was a terrible night and Bill had not
gone two blocks from the comfOrta bic
| restaurant before he regretted making
! the bet, not because he was afraid Of
] ghosts, but on account of the weather.
| The fine rain hit his face and stung
/ like yellow jackets. The pavements
I
7 of ten feet from an electric light. which
| looked this night like the spirit photo
graph Of q pumpkin, it was as dark as
1 the inside Of a tunnel at night At the
| city limits Bill hit the black waxy''
mud. A man who has never tried to
walk in the black waxy'' mud of cen
/ tral Texas doesn't know what human
( lOcOmOt1On under dlfncult1eS is. 1t IS
/ to human pedal extremities what sticky
| fly paper is to the feet of the fly.
Bill persevered. however, and finally
| reached the haunted house blowing like
/ a pOrpO1Se- He pushed open the r1ckety
| old door. lit a piece of candle, with
/ which he had provided himself, stuck
/ it on the mantle in some of its own
[ grease. and proceeded to take an inven-
tory of his surroundings. There was
nothing in the room except an empty
I cracker box. There were a few dry
/ chunks of half burnt wood in the fire
| place, and, kicking an end out Of the
/ box and whiting a few slivers from it,
/ Bill started a chunk fire. He took a
/ long pull from his quart bottle, sat
4 down in front of the fire on the crack
! er box and soon began to feel quite
/ comfortable.
| In a few minutes Bill heard an unearth-
ed his sfx-shooter raised the window,
threw open the shutter, but found moth
/ ing but dampness and darkness He again
] hit the bottle and resumed his seat with
! the exclama ton that it was nothing but
! same sound occurred at another window
] 1t took Bill little longer to reach that
J window than it had the other though It
! was no further from him He found moth
/ ing He resumed his seat and took anoth-
/ er drink He was beginning to feel a lit
| tie queer and to wish l-e had not left the
comfortable restaurant In a very lev lev
/ seemed to come from the door That door
| was only fifteen feet from him, but 1t
/ took Bill almost fifteen minutes to reach
! it and summon the courage to open it He
~ 80 - it6 I4i ~ sf1-eb0ntar crdISsd s61
/ ready for instant use.
/ In through the door ran a little kitten,
9 d. j
! not stop until it reached the fire. and
/ then curled up on the warm hearth. Bill
said that never before was he so glad to
! see a living, breathing thing as he was
/ that little kitten He petted it and talked
/ to it as though it were human Then, feel
/ ing that he had company, he took two
/ drinks The warmth of the fire and the
| whisky made him so comforta BILE that he
/ soon fell into a doZe- The same noise thai
| had before startled him come this time
| frozen with fear Not three feet from him
| young calf with eyes as large as saucers.
| unnaturally visible and shining in the
| middle OF each was an lneandescent eIee-
! tric light As BIZ hat began 70 slowly
! unetiy as a man could say II
There. isn't anyone here but you and
That's So" said Bill. as he made dive
| for the door. and in about second there
| won't be anybody here but you"
Bill leaped ten feet from that door and
| made running motion before he hit the
| good time on It as he would have done
! mach stuck out until it resembled a little
/ boy tOting a big drum at a muster. He
| kept up the gait for about half a mile.
! when from sheer exhaustion he was COM
/ PEELED to sit down on a stump and get
| his wind. He had been sitting there, the
/ worst scared man in Dallas county, for
| about one minute when a slight tap on
| his shoulder caused him to lump three
| feet in the air. There was the horrible
! object again It stared at him and then
/ said:
THAT was a nice race we had"
Y es said BiI with bound as he
| going TO have another
| This time Bill held out until he fell
exha austed at his own dooryard- He hid
| out from his friends for q week and tc