Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1900-01-16
CURIOUS INCIDENT.
~ UNUSED ROOM THAT HAD A
SUI DASH or MYSTERY IN IT.

49,. OASvJ VI MvSueNV IN u.
y Th1ns1sFnatioa That Was Quickly
SAaa silently Injected, or Il May De
- ODtssal nlssaea That Deceived
\ IkEss Fslss u Dyss.
u In the couras OF the after dinner talk at
Il little xathering q FEW nights ago a well
known profess nal man or New Orleans
aod the following singular stcry: I'm the
Spring OF 1892" he said, II Wa living In
u house on North Rampant street which
had taken on one year lease, expecting
Ito build. Our family consisted of myself
and wife. our little boy, then only 8
years old, and. my unmarried sister. The
house was q two story brick which had
been built before the war, and the inte-
sEior arrangement was very simple. The
ikront door opened on a hall which con-
s1ained the staircase and ran all the way
on the right hand side. while on
HE left was first our parlor. then the din
Ing room and lastly q small unused
apartment not much larger than a closet.
UP stairs were bedrooms, and in the rear
was detached kitchen.
I'VE allowed the little room on the
first floor to stand vacant for several rea-
SONS. To begin with, it was really too
email for actual service and was badly
lighted by only one high. narrow window.
Besides, some of the plastering had fall
ZEN from the ceiling, and l was afraid the
rest might come tumbling down on our
heads. That was undoubtedly a source
ssof danger and prevented US from using it
Sfor storage, so we simply left it as we
found it-entirely empty. l suppose the
room was constructed originally for .
spantry. have been little particular in
describing these details because, as you
will see. they have direct bearing on my
sstory. Il
1--WE had been living In the house al
most a year." continued the speaker,
s"'when one Sunday In June, as nearly as
II can remember, l went with my wife
land child to see some friends near Audu-
sbon park. My sister was visiting at BIZ
::loxi at the time, and we let the servant
sof for a holiday. We got back at 3
O'Clock or thereabout, for recollect it
was still quite light, and as we were
walking toward the house l noticed that
somebody had left a stepladder standing
directly in front Of the high window
sopening into the little disused room on
sthe ground floor. That's rather cordial
invitation to prowlers,' said, half jok-
fingly. Let's see whether any have avail
ed themselves Of it,
$50 when we went inside we walked
back together to the last door, and l
.pushed it open. why. what does this
mean? exclaimed in amazement There
@was nobody there, but the room. which
had always been entirely vacant, con-
f<oi of F1,n
rough looking table stood in one corner
with an old fashioned straight backed
chair in front Of it, and opposite was a
small cot bed. There were some papers
,and other things on the table and reli-
sgious print stuck on one Of the walls.
: Il started to enter. but my wife held
me back. Don't go in she pleaded.
The plaster may fall. Those things
as very strange that the cook should
move in without asking permission, but l
aoticed my wife was very nervous, so I
drew the door to, and we went into the
parlor. A few moments later walked
ed it up l glanced through the window.
The room was perfectly empty.
II am not superstitious, and the proof
IT,
the victim of some practical joke. re-
entered the house quietly from the rear
and again l opened the door. The room
was as empty as drum, and it was evil
dent at a glance that no sort Of trickery
was remotely possible. I won't attempt
to describe my feelings. l was so shock
ed. SO bewildered, so frightened, to tell
you the truth, that for moment or two
I was simply rooted to the spot. Then
I pulled myself together somehow and
went back to the parlor. My wife saw
IT. once that something was wrong. It's
that roomv blurted out. There's moth
ing in it now-not a stick! and immedi-
a+ely I had a case Of Mysteries on my
hands. That's about all there is to the
story.
Next morning I examined the place
carefully by broad sunlight, and it was
plain from the dust on the floor that no
furnishing Of any kind had been there for
years. We left the house before the end
Of the week, paying a months forfeit on
the lease, not because we believe in
spooks, but because we didn't care 10 re-
main in a place where unaccountable
things happen. It's bad for the nerves.
my wife and have talked the matter
over thousand times. carefully compar-
ing notes, and as far as we know, we
both saw exactly the same things. My
boy must have seen them, too, because
when he went back to the parlor he ask
ed his mother whether that wasn't Aunt
Hattie's chair. Aunt Hattie is an old
relative Of ours who has a favorite
straight back chair, similar to the one
we SAVIOR thought we saw-in the
room. Or course we have never allowed
ourselves to refer to the occurrence be-
fore the child. so am unable to say posi-
lively what else he observed. What |
saw myself was as plain and distinct as
you are at this moment. l even noticed
that one of the table legs had been mend
ed with a piece of slat. and my wife re-
marked the same thing. The house is
still standing and has since been occu-
pied by several successive tenants. As
far as am aware none of them has ev-
err had any unusual experience."-New
Orleans Times-Democrat.
One who Controls.
"Who is the head of your house?'
Tho hono6icf Civoa q fauu minufoa IN