The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1902-09-26
THEGHOST OF COVER
Deathbed Confession Reveals Perpe-
traitor of Weird Jokes
How the Missouri Town Was Ter
rined by the Franks of = Mis-
ehievous Resident for
Number of Years.

DAYS ago the ghosts at Cover, Mo-,
ceased terrifying the residents OF that
town. Ogden, on his deathbed, con-
fessed that he had been the GHOSTS"
about Cover. For several years he
terrified the village, and while playing
one of his jokes he caused a young
man to lose his life by running against
A tree. At another time he came near
being the cause of a citizen of Cover
being lynched says special 81. Jo-
seph mol correspondence OF the
Chicago Inter Ocean.
In the livery stable in Cover were
box stalls for the horses. Posts were
set in the ground Between the stalls
and planked up on each side. Ogden
bought a long rubber tube and, con-
cealing himself in the haymow, let the
tube down between the boards on one
side of a stall. Then he groaned into
the tube and the sound of his voice was
carried down to point close TO the
ground In a little while the groans
attracted the attention OF the men
EMPLOYED about the barn. They tore
the boards off one side of the stall, but
Ogden drew the rubber tube up, ana
they found nothing. The boards were
replaced and the groans were heard
again.
There lived in the neighborhood
man who boosted that he was not
afraid of "ghost or devil" and he was
employed to locate the cause OF the
groans. He said they came from the
bottom of the stall, and went to work
with a pick and shovel. While ne
worked the voice of the "ghost" en-
couraged him, and when the pick
struck a rock the "ghost" declared
that he digger had struck his bones.
Several hundred men stood around
waiting for solution of the mystery.
When night came lantern was hung
up in the stall, and the man who was
not afraid of ghosts worked on.
Ogden threw white blanket down
on the man at work in the stall, and
he leaped out of the hole with fright
ened yell, running toward the door
with the blanket clinging to him. The
crowd scattered and one man ran
against a tree and was killed. When
some of the men ventured back to the
place the "ghost" begged them to
continue the work of digging, but none
of them would go into the stall. The
owner of the stable finally closed the
place and built another barn.
On hill near Cover stands an old
mansion built in the style that plant
ers affected before the war. 1t had
been vacant number of years when
Ogden conceived the idea of giving it
the reputation of being haunted. He
had lights fitting about the place at
night, and people going near it could
hear screams and hollow groans. The
doors would slam, and the place was
stunned even in daylight. 1t was i'm
possible to sell the house, and 1t stands
to-day weather-beaten wreck.
Ogden contrived a network OF wires
in the cemetery near Cover, to which
he attached balls of cotton soaked in
kerosene. These he would light at
night and work the whole by means of
long string reaching to thicket. a
considerable distance away, in which
he concealed himself. The dancing
lights in the graveyard attracted the
attention of people the first night,
and before Ogden quit he had an audi
ence of more than a thousand stand
ing at safe distance and watching the
strange sights. Many people would
not go into the graveyard in daylight
after that. and some of them removed
their dead from the dreaded place.
Afterward the ghostmaker of Cover
fixed up white figures in the cemetery,
and they could be seen swaying about
to the accompaniment of his groans
and screams. The cemetery is almost
abandoned now on account of the repu-
tation given it by the GHOSTS"
Ogden has confessed that he haunt
ed many of the houses about Cover,
and that he is alone responsible for the
reputation that has attached to the
place of late years. When he played
"ghost" in the livery stable in Cover
he made the ghost declare thath he was
the spirit Of man James Woodward
had killed and buried in the stall, and
the excited crowd gathered about the
place came near lynching Woodward.
When he realized that he was on his
deathbed Ogden called in number of
his friends and made confession. He
expressed deep sorrow for having
caused the death of young man who
ran against tree in his fright, and
said he had always refrained from
frightening women and children as
| much as possible.
Autom obiIe Horse school
A free school to teach horses not
to be afraid of automobiles has been
.4or4od 1,y Tho president of the Auto-