Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1900-01-29
spooK FURNITURE. rTv
" Not This, Then What Could ItBsi
"A Peculiar Story.

A singular story ia related By the
| New Orleans Times Democrat. 1t was
| told by wellknown professional man
at a stag dinner, and the unusual ex.
perience stated In HIS own words Is
well worth repeating
I'm the spring OF 1892" he said, II
was living in a house in North Ram
part street, which l had taken on
oneyear's lease. expecting to build.
, Our family consisted OF myself and
wife. our little boy. then only years
old, and my unmarried sister Tho
house was a two-story brick, which
had been built before the war and the
interior arrangement was very sim.
pie. The front door opened on hail.
which contained the staircase and ran
all the way through on the right-hand
side. while on the left was, first, our
parlor then the dining-room, and last
ly, a small unused apartment not
much larger than a closet. Upstairs
were bedrooms, and In the rear was a
detached kitchen. We allowed the lit
tie room on the first floor TO stand
vacant for several reasons. To begin
with Il was actually too small for ac
tual service, and II was badly lighted
BY only one high. narrow window, be
sides some OF the plastering had fallen
from the ceiling and | was afraid the
rest might come tumbling down on
our heads. That was undoubtedly a
source OF danger. and prevented us
from using II for storage, so we sim
ply left Il as we found it-entirely en-
PITY. / suppose tire room was con.
structed originally for a pantry.
have been a little particular In de
scribing these details because. as you
will see, they have a direct bearing on
my story.
I'VE. had been living in the house
almost year" continued the speaker.
when one Sunday in June. as nearly
as | can remember, went with my
wife and child to see some friends
near Audubon Park My sister was
visiting at Biloxi at the time and we
let the servant on for a holiday. We
got back at O'Clock or Whereabouts,
for 1 recollect IL was still quite light,
and as we We're walking toward the
house / noticed that somebody had left
a steDladder standing directly In front
OF the high @Indow opening into the
little disused room on the ground
floor. That's rather a cordial invita-
tion 10 providers. ! said half Joking.
Let's see whether any have awaited
themselves OF IT, So when We went
inside we walked back together 20 the
last door and | pushed Il open. Why
what docs this mean | exclaimed IN
establishment There was nobody
there, but the room. which had always
been entirely vacant. contained sew.
eral pieces OF furniture. A rough.
looking table stood In one corner with
"A fn aN,s oh frs
frOnt of it and opposite was a small
bed cot There were some papers and
other things on the table and relig.
ious print stuck on one OF the walls.
] started TO go in, but my wife held
me back. Don't go in. she pleaded,
the plaster may fall Those things
mist belong to tho cook It struck me
very strange that the cook should
move in without asking permission.
I but ] noticed that M wife was very
nervous so I drew the door to and We
went into the parlor A few minutes
later I walked outside to shift the
ladder. and as ] picked Il up | glanced
through the window The room was
/ perfectly empty.
Il am not superstitious. ana the
proof of Il is that thought Immediate
~ l was 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 a
drum, and 1t was evident at a glance
that no sort Of trickery was remotely
! possible | won't attempt TO describe
my feelings. / was so shocked. so be.
wildered, so frightened to tell you the
truth that for a moment or two 1 was
sumply rooted to the spot Then
pulled myself together somehow and
went back to the parlor My wife
saw at once that something was
wrong.
ITS that rooml" l blurted out
There's nothing in IL now-not a
stick
"And Immediately had a case OF
Mysteries on my hands. That's about
all there is to the story. Next morn.
ing / examined the place carefully by
broad daylight, and II was plain from
the dust on the floor that no furnish
Ing OF any kind had been there for
years. We left the house before the
end OF the week, paying a months for
felt on the lease, not because we be
lieve in spooks, but because we didn'l
care TO stay in a place where unac
countable things happen. It's bad fol
the nerves. My wife and have talked
, the matter over a thousand timo3
carefully comparing notes. and as fai
, as we know we both saw the same
, things. My boy must have seen them
too, for when we went back into tbs
parlor he asked his mother whether
that wasn't Aunt Hattie's chair .Aun
Hattie Is an old relative OF ours, whit
I has fayorite stralght-back chair, sim
e liar to the one we saw In the room
4 OF course we have never allowed our
selves TO refer 10 the occurrence be
e fore the child, so I am unable TO sa,
e positively what else he observed
Il What ! saw myself was as plain an,
s as distinct as you are at this moment
l. even noticed that one OF the tabl
3. legs had been mended with a piec
4 Of slat, and my wife. remarked tn
l. same thing. The house IS still stand
IS ing. and has since been occupied b,
& several successive tenants AS far a
D. ] am. aware none OF them have eve
had any unusual experience"
= BLACK EYES.
ssl Treatment for the Kind That Are Nc