The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-06-16
GHOST SENSATION
from OLD MEXICO
Some Natives Of a Haunted Vii.
lage Succeed in Unearthing
a Mystery
CIRCLE OF The SkULLs
Following a Ghost to His Hiding Plact
Under a Huge Stone, the Populaoe
Excavate Remains of an An
Gent Burying Ground.

From Old Mexlco-Coatepec do
Morelos, near zitacuaro. in the state Of
Michoacan, Mexico, has always had a
reputation for ghosts n spirits.
There Is not an inhabitant. MAJ, wom-
an or child. who Will not tell you con-
fidentially that he has seen one or more
of the Inhabitants of the air, or the
streams, or the graves of The many
dead that lie buried all about the viii
lage, for the place is a very old one.
a short time ago Coatepec had a
real, live ghost sensation, and there
are dozens in the village who would
swear pom the hottest altar in the par-
ish church that they had seen his
ghostship himself. One could gather
evidence enough In Coatepec. in ten
minutes, to satisfy the most skeptical
Of juries that ghosts actually do exist,
and that, moreover. they take an In
terest In the affairs of humanity.
II you go to Coatepec. and are fortu-
nate enough to have q letter Of intro
ductiOn to some one high enough In
the social scale to Insure you an entree
into the right society, you will probably
meet Jose Miranda. M will be as
sured by a dozen persons, before the
day has passed, that he is "a very in
t%elligent person, very intelligent" with
q decided accent upon the word very.
Yet Jose Miranda was the man who not
only saw the ghost, but secured proofs
Of It's material existence, If a ghost
can be said to have any material ex-
tStence.
Ghosts of Coatepec.
Ghosts have always been more or less
fond OF Coatepec. In early Aztec times
1t was a place of great renown, being
one OF the several holy cities of Mexi-
co. And the tltular god of the place
was Quetzalcoatl. the winged-serpent
god. And the city still bears his name;
for Coatepec means the hill Of the SER
pent, referring not to the animal. but
the god. Thus the people Of Coatepec
will gravely tell you that they and
their ancestors, away back beyond the
memory Of history, have been favored
with sights of ghosts and spirits and
gods.
The people of Coatepec claim to be
Christians. But there are those who are
Uncharitable enough to say that the low
er class people have their old Aztec gods
hidden away Iii the caves OF the noun
tains nearby, and that they observe the
Aztec religious ceremonies.
For more than a year ghosts and spirits
have been wandering about the streets Of
Coatepec, and over the neIghborlng noun
tains, like u colony OF restless night owls.
And they nave never been the least bit
shy. like ordinary ghosts, for they nave
been seen by hundreds.
lose Miranda himself Is one OF the most
intelligent men in the village, a land own
er and a councilman. One night some
weeks ago he was coming home from a
neighborlng village when q ghost all IN
white, Its grave-cowl fallen back upon
It's shoulders, leaving its head exposed
to view, met him. 1t was landing be-
tween him and The moon. which was shin
Ing brightly through the hollow sockets
Of the eyes, and a bullet hole in the skull.
1t stood still and pointed with one bony
hand toward the mountains. Miranda
unable to move. But as soon as the
horse caught sight Of the ghost It took
to its heels and made for the village as
fast as It could, and 1t never Blackened
pace until 1t reached home,