The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-13
WHERE GHOSTS STALK.
AT LEAST, WHERE PERSONS. NOT
TOO CREDULoUs, BELIEVE
THEY DO.

haunted Wards IN HOspita1s-The
Ghost That Tried to Get Square for
an Unsuccessful Operation on Him
when He WINS "A----.' AMI Not at"
The Ghost That Accused the Nurse.
A sncctraI believer in he "BIack
BOttIe''-And the phanto-a Ambu.
lance Patient.
Despite the protestations of hospital
attaches that ghost stories invariably
emanate from the fertile imaginations
of patients. certain traditions and
CHASTITY tales are handed down year
after year by departing to incoming
house-doctors, and by senior nurses to
"probs'
A notorious haunted ward is now
used as supply room in Boston hos
pital where hundreds of municipal pa
tients are cared for annually. In it's
earlier history it opened from a corri-
dor leading to the operating room, and
was frequently used as a single or
private ward for patients just taken
from the operating table. Suddenly
it seemed to fall under some evil infiu-
ence, and the story went forth in the
hospital that the room was hoodooed.
NO matter how simple the operation
the patient removed to this room
would die before rallying from the an
aesthetic. So regularly was this re-
suit recorded that for time the ward
was closed, but in due season the ac-
commodations of the institution proved
inadequate for its needs and the haunt
ed room was reopened
The initial operation was followed by
the customary catastrophe. The head
nurse and her vigilant assistants were
panic-stricken, and the house-surgeon
was baff1ed, but determined to probe
the mystery. And probe it he did
When the next patient was carried
from the operating table to this ward
the house-surgeon personally superin-
tended the removal. Later in the aft
ernoon he appeared, before the head
nurse with an air of suppressed ex
element. and issued orders that be-
tween the hours of and 10 p. m.
neither she nor her assistants should
enter the now dreaded room.
By o'clock the patient not fully re-
covered from the anaesthetic, lay in a
doze. The nurses were ostensibly busy
in the large wards at either end of the
corridor, and the house-surgeon, vigil
liant and calm, lay under the cot of the
patient-waiting. The moments passed
like hours, but he did not move, and
at last it come-a stealthy step that
could be felt rather than heard-from
the direction of a door leading to a
swinging balcony. A few leaden Sec
ords, and something paused beside the
cot. Then two long muscular arms shot
out from under the cot there rose
wild mixture of English and Italian
nXnlnfiU0C ND fU=A xx-,.sfI nI
the floor, locked in deadly embrace
When the startled nurses and help
ers came to the rescue they found the
surgeon bleeding from several flesh
wounds received from a fine, needle
like stilletto, but still holding his grip
on Tony one of the night-watch-
men and helpers.
When TONY" had been removed to
the insane ward and the excited pa
tient soothed, the surgeon explained
the situation. While experimenting
the removal of the patient, he had sud-
denly caught the eye of Tony" who
was watching the proceeding, and was
struck with the expression of triumph,
hellish and gloating in it's intensity In
TINS he saw possible solution of the
horrible mystery. TONY" had been re-
garded as a harmless and useful helper
in the various wards, but from the mo-
ment of his capture in the haunted
ward he became violently insane. There
was no means of knowing how many
patients had died of actual heart-faiI-
ure resultant on the operations and
how many had been victims of his cum
ming. What methods he employed re-
NAMED mystery also, though it was
generally thought that the patients.
weakened by the operations and stup-
flied by anaesthetics, were smothered
by the mad Italian.
In spite of the fact that the angel
of death showed no further inclination
to visit the room and that municipal
charges were more carefully examined
before being detailed for duty, the hor-
ror of the ward remained. In the in
terests of good order among the at
taches the superintendent soon trans
formed it into a shelf lined supply
room. Yet there are still timid
"probs" who in the midnight watches
imagine they see Tony creeping
fresh victims And the house-surgeon,
now gray-haired practitioner, still
owns the stiletto.
In great East Side hospital of New
York, the center of entement life mis-
cry, the nurses tell a weird tale of a
little chorus girl who comes back at
certain seasons of the year, trailing
dAttI Tie COIlNelllOIldI burial SnrOuQ
which she begged should never be
wrapped around her. And thereby
hangs a pathetic story.
The girl, who came of poor, hard
working parents, was enamored of
stage life. She was honest in her in
tentions and ambitions, and had vi
sions of hard struggle in the chorus,
lessons under good master, and fin
ally chance in a leading role Her
sweetheart, a respectable young ma
son, had visions also-when he would
be a successful contractor and build a
palace fit for the idol of his heart. In
vain he reasoned with the girl that al
ready his wages would support .wo
very comfortably. Art was the tri-
umphant wooer, and the girl sang in
How she worked In fair weather and
foul always on time, always throwing
hec small energies into the work as
if the entire performance depended oV
herl Never was fine scored against
the name of Elaine Clayton, dear to
the young mason as Mary Mccartney.
The stage manager always smiled at
her cheerfully when she nodded to him.
but once he turned to the star with a
shrug of his shoulders.
Mice little girl that but she won't
last long There's consumption in that
face. I've seen 'em before
The young mason saw it, too, but
Mary shook her head and closed her
ears to his entreaties. Why look at
her eyesI And the color she had-she
really did not have to rouge any more.
Then came that awful night when
she could not sing in the final. The
wild burst of melody had stopped the
in aF oh