Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-03-04
Bill SIER[T1'S GHOST RAGE.
II Came After an Experience I'm q
Haunted House.
A Kitten That Grew to the size of
Young Calf.


Judge of Dallas county, Tex. His re-
mark was addressed to Col. William
Green Sterett, better known as plain
Bill" Sterett, who for ten years was
a well-known correspondent at Wash
ington, and is now picturesque per-
sonality Of wide reputation. The ban
ter was made to Bill" away back in
the winter of 1886, before he went to
Washington. A party OF convivlal
friends sat around a comfortable fire
In a restaurant in Dallas, Tex, dis
cussing politics, spinning yarns, sip
ping from the cup that cheers, and
incidentally keeping out OF the storm
that was raging outside.
The storm was what is knows in
Texas as 'wet norther' and wet
norther" Is to Texas and the south
west what blizzard is to the Dakotas
and the northwest, says writer in
Washington paper. While blizzard
kills people wet norther" only
makes them wish they were dead. A
"norther" of the southwest Is simply
the tail end of a blizzard whether the
"norther" is wet or dry. A dry north
er" is bad. but a wet 'norther" is
something awful. It blows and driz-
zles and freezes. A man caught out
in one of them on bald prairie with
light clothing on and no stimulants
to speak Of is in for the toughest
experience of his life.
The norther of this night was fully
up to the sample and it caused the
friends in the restaurant to tarry
longer than usual. The conversation
finally turned to ghosts, spooks,
haunted houses and uncanny things.
Judge Bower told story of haunt
ed house about a mile from the city
limits. He said the ghosts that in
tested that house was known 10 as
sumo 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
it, and consequently 1t had been ten
antless for more than year. Bill
Sterett announced his utter disbelief
in anything of the nature of ghosts,
and denounced Judge Bowers story as
superstitious rot" 1t 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 a 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
comfortable restaurant before he re-
GREETED making the bet, not because
he was afraid of ghosts, but on ac-
count of the weather. The fine rain
hit his face and stung like yellow
Jackets. The pavements were Slip
perry and outside of radius OF ten
feet from an electric light, which
looked this night like the spirit pho-
tograph of pumpkin, it was as dark
as the inside of 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 central Texas doesn't know
what human locomotion under dlf-
fculties is. It is to human pedal ex-
tremities what sticky fly paper is TO
the feet of fly.
Bill preserved, however, and nnally
reached the haunted house blowing
like a porpoise. He pushed open the
rickety old door, lit piece OF candle,
with which he had provided himself,
stuck 1t on the mantle in some of its
own grease, and proceeded to take in
yentory of his surroundings. There
was nothing in the room except an
empty cracker box. There were few
dry chunks of half burned wood in the
fireplace, and kicking an end out OF
the box and whiting few slivers
from it. Bill started a chunk fire. He
took long pull from his quart bot
tie. sat down in front of the. fire on
the cracker box and soon began to feel
quite comfortable.
In few minutes Bill heard an I'M
earthly noise at one of the windows.
He pulled his six-shooter raised the
window, threw open the shutter, but
found nothing but dampness and dark
ness. He again ''hit" the bottle and
resumed his seat with the exclamation
that sit was nothing but the wind"
In less than two minutes the same
sound occurred at another window. 1t
took Bill a little longer to reach that
window than 1t had the other though
1t was no further from him. He found
nothing He was beginning to feel
little queer and to wish he had not
left the comfortable restaurant. In
very few minutes the same hair rails
ing noise seemed to come from the
door. That door was only fifteen feet
from him, but it took Bill almost fif-
teen minutes to reach it and summon
the courage to open it. He threw it
wide open and then jumped back six
feet with his six-shooter cooked and
ready for instant use
In through the door ran a little kitten.
thin and poor, wet and bedraggled 1t did
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 to see
that little kitten. He petted it and talked
to 1t as though 1t were human Then. feel
ing that he had company, he took two
drinks The warmth of the fire and the
whiskey made him so comfortable that he
fell into a doze. The same noise that had
before startled him came this time from all
most from his feet. He jumped up frozen
with fear. Not three feet from him stood
this kitten, grown to the size of a young
with q c arra