Evening journal., 1902-02-01
'BiIlParSOn'S 'SCOlnmn
Published Now and Then.
some ehosts LA ! lave Met

Some Ghosts That I Have Met
Have ghosts become obsolete? I do
not pretend to answer the question,
but it seems that they have ceased to
walk the earth. or that there is a deli
cacy in reporting their visitations
Perhaps they made their exit along
with pirates and other freebooters or
has the peculiar seventh or eighth
sense with which our forefathers were
endowed. and which was sensitive to
their appearance, vanished
Perhaps the environment of modern
life is not suited to their fancy, and
they may have retired to those COM
munities less highly civilized where
they are appreciated-or at least, rec
ognized. No one desires to be ignored
and 10 get the dead cut" and we may
be sure that these shades have feelings
/, like other people.
Some years ago where upper Broad
way now meanders. following an an
cient cow-path. there were occasional
gloomy farmhouses that were haunted
by the spirits of those old Dutchmen
who were destined to leave a progeny
which should wax fat. wear hyphen-
ated names and inherit the earth.
Those spirits were no fin de steele
shades but good, lusty old fellows who
Cor which, could furnish more sensa-
tions to the minute than a modern
tragedy. But when the sky-scrapers
r appeared and the streets had cable
cars below and steam cars overhead,
the spirits gave up the ghost, as 1t
were. and like the shade Of the elder
Hamlet. hied themselves to their con-
fines.
,, o $ o
Now we all love these gentle shades,
at least we used to. And we imagine
there is yet a lingering fondness for
them such as impels some of MS to Fead
dime novels on the sly.
OF course they used to frighten us,
for that was their business, but after
all it was a pleasing sensation. 1t
! helped our Imagination and made us
, feel that we were not the only pebbles
| on the strand. but that the former in
! habitants had rights which We were
! bound to respect, and that only our
! good behavior would prevent eject
/ ment
Even back as far as fifty years ago
y there were parents who didn't believe
2 in ghosts. and they lost no opportunity
a to impress upon the young people their
{ views. but il must be confessed that
! they avoided graveyards and places
! that common rumor assigned as the
. abode of some shade. OF course, too,
e while their experiences were not fit for
4 the ears OF children. there was nothing
y to hinoer many whispered and mys-
8 terious conversations among the eld-
D ers.
!. But the children were not to be so
r. easily convinced. There were sources
e of information broader. deeper and
r more coplous. The hired man" OF
S the hired girl held forth each even
S ing in the kitchen. and here the chill
n dren received their information first
d hand. Because these people rarely told
+ of experiences which related to an
y other: they all happened while the
= narrator was the chief actor, and while
y the tale might not have been artistic
e it was vivid and convincing.
S No child ever doubted these ktcher
1t stories and each felt that he knew
g more on the subject than the skeptica
e parents. II fright is capable Of turn
It ing the hair in the night, it is won
p der that there was not a race of gray
n headed youngsters and it may have ac
'e counted for the white-haired and tow
r. haired boys and girls who were 81
d common.
l. Old Joe was a kindly old coloreI
N man who used to frequently visit on
l. kitchen several decades ago. Joe hal
ie had more experience of a hair-rais
NJ ing sort than any other man to m
le knowledge had been blessed with. An
n. the beauty about it was that he ha
D. less hesitancy in telling about tn
iy "hants" of his acquaintance, than mos
I'd of his friends.
Id OF course there was the preliminar
p hesitancy. but since it was alway
ID. overcome. one wonders how real
Id was There was another interestin
he feature of JOes stories; they weI
n told over again and again, but with tn
ly skill Of master so that their gres
81 age was hard to detect
And we believed them. Even TO II
smallest detail we would have stake
our lives on their absolute truthful
ness. If men could believe in theolog
J.. cal teachings as we did in these narri
NJ tives. the clergy would have an cas-
he time.
NN o o o
~ First there was the coon-huntiI
~ story with variations from night
.,,3 night. The dogs got on the ira
OF some "varmint." and after leadiI
,oo the hunters chase through swami
~ and tangled thickets was finally
~ Gated in a tree Here the variation
.ev began.
~ One version had the hunter start
,e. climb the tree. but it was so hot tn
it burned his hands, and the ba
,ce emitted sparks of fire. Sometimes
'bo heard that the dogs suddenly began
,od tremble. and incontinently fed, lea
ro- ing the hunters in amazement
But the things found in that tr
mo when a light enabled them to be
nc Gated. could they have all been fou
ves at once would have made a well-lad
ere tree of very peculiar fruit There "
nov woman in white who gradually floi