New-York tribune., 1902-08-18
GHOST IN A HEAP OF RUINS
WHEN 1T APPEARED THE AVENUE
TERRORs" WRECKED ITS HOME


There was a ghost In East Forty y-second-st- on
Friday night. Its appearance was not recorded
in the real estate transactions filed at the Regis
ter's office Saturday. nor is there any men
ton of the spirit in the excise reports OF the
police But that spectre did appear was SOL
emnIy believed by several hundred men, women
and children who live in the neighborhood Of
Second-ave. and Forty-second-st.. and it was
not until the Disseminating sun of the next day
shone on the spectacle that some of them began
to lose confidence in this belief. The real char
acter OF the wrath. however. came to light yes
terday
Whatever may have been the ghosts record.
the bald fact remains that its visit resulted in
a work of destruction, which would have done
credit to a South Dakota cyclone The house
No 90 East Forty-second-st.. where the ghost
made its debut, looked yesterday if it
a small part of st, Pierre. which Mont PeIee
had dropped down into this city The windows
OF the two stories We're smashed in. so that
hardly a silver Of glass remained. The walls
were rent and the roof was punCtured as If the
new 16-inch gun at Sandy Hook had been play
fully practising upon them The floors hung
like sprung trapdoors, and the brick work of
the foundations gaped like an abandoned Span
ish fort.
The first intimation that a ghost was in the
house was made by 'Snipe Jake. King Of the
Avenue Terrors.' about o'clock Friday
evening. The house had been vacant for sew
eraI months and the fact that suicide had been
committed IN the house gave 'Snipe Jake's
story sufficient confederation, to send the news
like wildfre through the neighborhood In less
than half an hour mob of nearly half thou
sand. of all ages and nationalities. had gathered
in the front yard of the house. yelling and
shrieking. so that even the policeman at the end
of the street heard them
Sure enough. there in the window was white
figure of life size ard motionless 1t was not
the stock stereotyped. old fashioned, backnum-
bered kind OF a spectre, with a skull face bony
hands squeaky voice. and sneaking gait. which
amuses itself by playing hide and go seek among
newmade graves or humble the peg on decayed
tombstones There was nothing ugly about IT,
On the other hand. it remarkably beautiful
According to the description of Peter Nc
Ouade who lives at No. 134 East FOrty-second-
Ct alongside Of the alleged haunted house, the
ghost was that Of 4 maiden of pensive counte-
nance and graceful figure one arm had been
amputated at the shoulder, and the other had
been broken off so to leave a stump of sew
eral inches in length. From what could he seen
of her attire some thought that she had at one
time been on the stage.
But the mob did not stop long to consider the
past life Of the ghost In an interval in the
yelled:
..Dere she be. de ghost Is youse fellers skeart
of de bIoomin' bIoke? Dere be-
The speech was hardly begun before shower
of bricks descended on the house. In the melee
Jake" slipped out IF sight The bricks thick
ened in numbers. crashed through the windows.
and in another instant the ghost staggered 10
and fro and then toppIsd over. To the horror
of some of the nearest bystanders there was a
TlrIrt the nOb
had gone wild. and. in the words of Mr. Nc
Quade:
The gang Jest kipt slingin' rocks at the house
till every bit of glass was busted IN The push
was mostly kids They call themselves the
avenue terrors.' and I guess they amt much
out of the way either Wal. wen the gang got
through there wuzn't so much as a swlpe
left.
4 "swipe" according to Mr.. McQuade. is what
the avenue terrors" call anything they can
break.
All dax Yesterday crowds of pedestrians stood
surveying the wrecked building. From the neigh
bors it was learned that the house was occupied
until last winter by X. Bastlon. manufacturer
of plaster ornaments ceiling ana wall decord-
tions. and staff and stucco Work- MI BasLloh
tban vent TO Havana lea yirg his wife and her
r,cther Mime. Du Guines, behind The two were
to follow him. but the day before their departure
~ ,,otbar vas found dead in upper room.
with a gas tube in her NOUN
The daughter then departed for Cuba in such
haste that she left the place wholly unprotected
a month later. however, she received word that
thieves had been at work. and had ripped out all
the lead pipes They had also stolen seVeraI
yaIuahIe statuettes and when Mrs. Bastian re-
turned to this city last month she was astonished
to find what ravage the thieves haGi mace IN neT
borna she then took whatever she considered
Of particular value. and returned to Cuba. but
left no one to protect the mouse
Rut the development which struck the people
of the neighborhood with the most force was
not the Aving brickbats, but the fact that the
NJ ~ - - ,,ofhjng more nor less than much
Common. everyday. ordinary plaster plaster Vt 1t vas.
nIu btcb as far as could be learned. had
been placed in the window where no the electric
lamp opposite could bring II INTO most s'artms ing
eVed could be shed .niRe Jake or n some me other
mem. @ 80 peculiarly retcent ever since the
sca3tered fragments of the ghost were found
25o BOARDING HOUSES
~ =. ..Eour-Track Series: sent free on
nsteu IN 10 9is 10 nv G. H. Daniels. New York Cen