Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1904-06-17
GHOST SENSATION 4
FROM OLD MEXICO
Some Natives Of a Haunted Vii.
Iage Succeed in Unsarthing
a Mystery.
rel OF THE SKULLS
Following a Ghost to His Hiding Plaet
Under a Huge Stone, the Populace
Excavate Remains of an An
cient Buryins Ground.

From old Mexico-Coatepec do
Morelos, near Zitacuaro. in the state OF
Michoacan, Mexico, has always a a
reputation for ghosts n spirits.
, There is not an inhabitant, man, 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 tha 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 woul
swear upon 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 turies that ghosts actually do exist,
and that, moreover, they take an In
terest in the affairs OF humanity.
If you go to Coatepec. and are fortG-
nate enough to have a 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, and will be as
sured by a dozen persons, before the
day has passed, that he is "a very In
telligent person, very intelligent" with
a decided accent upon the word very.
Yet Jose Miranda was the man who not
only saw the ghost, but secured PROOFS
of its material existence, If a ghost
can be said to have any material ex-
istence.
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 Next
co. And the titular god of the place
was QuetzalcoatI, the winged-serpent
god. And the city still bears his name;
for C~oatepec means the hill of he ser
pent, referring not to the animal, u
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 10 say that the low
err class people have their old Aztec gods
hidden away in 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 neighboring noun
Jams like q COAohs 4 SStAS0S AASAR SH4S.
And they have never been the least bit
shy, like ordinary ghosts, for they have
been seen by hundreds.
Jose Miranda himself is one of the most
intelligent men in the village, a land own
err and a councilman. One night some
weeks ago he was coming home from a
~neighboring village when a ghost, all in
white, its graye-cowl fallen Jack upon
it's shoulders, leaving its head exposed
to view, met him.. 1t was standing be-
tween him and the moon, which vas 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
was 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 slackened
pace until it reached home.