The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-12-19

near here, and workmen cannot be
eoaxed for love or money to work there.
The ghost appears always after dark.
Men may work there until twilight but
when the shadows grow deep on the
sides of the quarry they scurry away.
There Is settlement Of shanties near
the quarry, intended to shelter the
wUrkmen, but IT is a deserted village at
night. The men consent to delve in the
quarry in daytime, but instead of re-
malnlng all night in the shanties, they
fly to the town, bringing with them
fearsome stories Of the quarry ghost.
This quarry produces almost the best
gray granite stone in the state. and
there is a great demand for 1t, but the
owners are in despair. as they have not
been able to get a force Of workmen
that will remain there.
They have brought strangers in and
told them the story Of the ghost Of the
quarry. laughing at the superstition,
And the strange workmeu have laughed
with them and have worked away in
the quarry for one day and slept in the
shantles for one night And the next
day they have been Ill. frightened or
missing. Those who remained In the
district long enough told of things they
had seen In the quarry at night that
had turned their hair gray. Invariably
they refused to work longer there. and
SO the little cluster Of shantles remains
deserted.
The ghost seems to be a playful appa-
ritfon. as It scales the seventy-fve
feet OF bare rock against the hill at
will and stands and shines in back
ground of fire, to the terror Of the on
lockers. AT one time II may be a wo-
man throwing her arms high In air
away up on the cliff. At another 1t
may be a CARRIED monk who clasps his
hands at a dizzy height, then plunges
headloug into the pool OF water that
has formed in the basin OF the quarry.
But always, the quarrymen insist, the
form OF man or woman Is enveloped in
a sheet Of blush flame
Reason, argument and money have
no effect with the men; they stay one
day md one night, then refuse to work
longer.
So great has been the demand for this
particular stone that the owners Of the
quarry have offered all sorts Of induce
ments to have It reopened. It has
been closed for three years because Of
th.s Ghost Of Fire" Three years ago
1t appeared and created such consterna-
ton that the village of shanties near
there as deserted. Recently, hoping
that the ghost was laid, the owners of
the quarry attempted to reopen 1t. New
men were engaged, and they determiu-
ed to capture the ghost.
The next morning they appeared with
burned faces and hands at the Offices OF
the owners Of the place, and asked for
their discharge. The stories they told
OF clambering the rocks and attempting
to seize the apparitlon that laughed at
them and burned them only added to
the superstitIous fear OF the workmen
who had consented to operate the
quarry in the daytime, and they, too,
left the place
The Irish quarrymen said It was a
will-o'-the-wisp designed by some I'M
canny creation to lead those who fol-
lowed 1t to destruction. The few Amer
lean employees called It an ignus fatups
merely, arising from the fears Of the
superstitous. Then they watched 1t
for one night and quit work. The Ital-
ians had another explanation, and that
was that the ghost was in turn the
spirit OF Antonio Petro and Dominica
Qualll. They were Quarrymen who had
quarrelled on top Of the rock over G
bottle OF whiskey. They fought. clInch-
ed and toppled over the rock to the bas-
in underneath, where they disd. each
with his hands around the others
throat And the Italians say they can
see the two men wrestling night after
night, from the top OF the cliff down thu
face Of the rock and finally plungins
into the pool.
Edward Mullen, one Of the workmcn
who had made up his mind to lpvestI-
gate 'he ghost, says that he and the
other mon ventHreBonte enough 70 gaze
upon tie apparition Of the quarry after
dark, FIRST saw blush flamc creep
from n orevlce in the rock, then rusll to
meet another lame that curIed up from
The Hoal Of water. Then the two flames
met ard cracked and danced over the
surface.
Then" said Mullen, "the thing, or
whatever 1t was, would straighten up
and extend itself full twenty feet in
the air. whirllng and dancing like
deryish, and assume the figure OF man
or woman. / am a man OF sanity and
sober, as were the others with me, but
nothing in the world ever would get me
10 return to that quarry.
AS we looked at this strange Blush
light It would take the form Of an OLD
man, then n woman of great beauty.
then all would be darkness. The next
moment away up on the face Of the
elm we could see two forms. They were
those Of two men with arms locked and
wrestling in combat. Their figures were
thrown out In startling dIstlnctlveness
by the pale blue light that surrounded
Them and seemed to be part Of them.
They would stagger and totter for
''''t'Ht' tHeH l"li into tHe pVOl' H"u
swear could hear the splash Of water
and the dcspniring cry Of n man.
Whenever these figures appeared the
Same sort Of BLUSH lights would appear
az different pinccs in the tissues Of the
rock on the side Of the quarry. They
Would dance about for minute, then
ny like lightning to the centre Of the
POOL where the devii's dance was going
on by the old man or the lovely woman,
or by the two wrestlcrs,
We were bold enough to try to