The Oskaloosa herald., 1902-01-02
GHOST OF Il. Il. DRAKE
Spirit Of a Dead Man Haunts
His Former Habitation.

Inc TeSiueHI5 III Inc NlSlnAby VI INV
Stone Ridge Mill on North Skunk Riv-
er are considerably disturbed over
what is reported to be the ghost Of
"old man Drake" 1t will be remem-
bered that hermit named H. H.
Drake committed suicide at his shack
Of place near here some time ago.
Strange noises, not to be accounted for
have been heard at the barn and the
house. Lights are said to have been
seen at unseemly hours of the night
and noises heard that sounded like
the falling of heavy bodies. Groans
have seemed to come from the place
no one can tell just where. The whole
place is filled with strange rustlings
and drafts of air as though created by
the quick passing Of some large OBJ
ject.
The locality is lonesome and the
place where the house stands is out
Of the way. The surroundings are ma
turally uncanny and desolate and this
has added support to the PLAUSIBLE
side of the story The farmers driy-
ing home from market hasten their
pace and try to pass the place before
dark and the young man with his
special lady out driving goes miles by
other ways rather than go by the de-
serted and haunted sheds, Children
on their way to and from school avoid
the locality as much as possible and
when they are compelled to pass the
house it is in little companies and
bands as though for protection against
some threatening evil. People have
scoffed at the idea of their being any
thing in the story of the noises and
the lights, but the stoutest hearts of
the neighborhood have Investigated
and all are compelled to admit that
some strange occurances have been go
ing on in and about the old shed of
house. 1t is explained by some that
when the place is approached it seems
as though an unseen presence is at
hand and seems to resent and oppose
intrusion. An unnatural dampness
and musty odor seems to be blown in
the face from no particular direction
whatever. Lanterns have been put out
and candles and torches held in the
hand have flickered and gone out and
then comes a sound like the rushing
of current of air through crevice
and the smell of some damp, musty
cellar fills the place. 1t is said that
no one in the neighborhood can be in
duced to go near the house any more
in the night time and as for staying
in the house over night-that is en-
tirely out of the question. Those who
are loudest in their ridicule of the
weak hearted ones have tried the ex-
pertinent, and after couple of hours
experience in the place have rushed
from the house half craZed by the
strange things and are now the most
ardent supporters of the ghost theory.
A party of hunters not long ago
were in the locality of the haunted
house. Knowing the place to be un.
occupied they unh1tched their team
and placed it in the barn. Returning
to the stable shortly after dusk they
found the animals in state of unrest
and nervousness that bordered upon
frenzy 1t was next to impossible to
get the animals hitched up, they were
so determined to run. A strap was
broken in the rearing and plunging
of the horses and seeing a light in the
"
one was there, went to the door to
seek assistance in patching the brok.
en- harness. Arrived at the house but
few steps distant, the light was out
and repeated alarms at the door fail
ed to bring any response from the in
terror. Pushing open the door that
stood ajar the hunter entered and
found the place entirely deserted. He
90, al IL. LakA L.
roundings. This was whisked out by
sudden draft of i'll smelling air. The
floor creaked, the sides of the old
shack ratified and the door SWING VIC
lently against it's jam. A feeling of
the weird and the awful came over
the fellow in an instant and he broke
out in a cold perspiration. He lost
no time in getting out of the place.
The broken strap mad in the mean
time been adjusted and the party were
raced down the road by the horses
that refused to be quieted until they
were we'll away from the locality and
then they became docile as couple of
kittens.
The hunters stopped at a farm house
of friend few miles from the scene
of their experience to readjust the
lame harness and they told OF the &C
tions of their horses and the rather
unusual experience at the house They
learned then for the first time of the
story concerning the haunted house.
The members of the party are willing
to stake their reputation that there is
something in the tales that are told
by the residents of the neighborhood.
The stories have come to this city
and there has been some talk of or
ganizing a party and going to the
scene of the so-called disturbances and
make a thorough investigation. The
stories in the neighborhood of the old
Drake property have coupled the
strange manifestations with rumors
of foul play in connection with the old
mans death. Still others have it that
there is a considerable amount of
wealth buried somewhere about the
place and that it was for this that the
old man was put out Of the way.