Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-21
Los ANGELES HERAID WEDNESDAY MORNINGS AUGUST
LIVELY GHOSTS CAUSE
A REIGN OF TERROR
POLICE CAPTAIN SAYS MYSTERY
is A PUzzLINe ONE
Members of One Family Flee, Clad
Only In Their Night Clothes.
BIoodshed Results
from Fright

| aren't afraid of policemen At least, those
that have been haunting Brown street, in
| Georgetown, are not Despite the Wig
| ilance of Capt. Schneider and his officers
! of the Seventh precinct they continue
night after night their weird and ghost
| like tricks. The police are unable to stop
the showers of gravel and stones, which
appear to be the favorite means of mani
! festation of these materialistic ghosts
nor are they able to discover whence they
| come.
| With renewed vigor these invisible be-
/, ings visited their wrath on the helpless
and terrorized denizens of Brown street
last night, and the visitation was one
that will never be forgotten. The colored
people, who are the principal victims of
the spookish malevolence, were thrown
into panic. The police are utterly mys"
titled, and the musty records of George
towns ancient times do not show a sttua-
tion quite so strange.
The ghosts temporarily suspended bonn
bardment of the outside of the dwellings
last night and sought to play pranks in
several of the houses where the occu-
pants were hidden, some of them In
closets The family of Spike Hampton
fled into the streets to get out of the way
of a ghost which, they claim, was stalk
ing from one room to another.
White Figure at Bed
The Hampton family say that hideous
sounds were heard in the house shortly
after dark. While Hampton was half
asleep, he declares, figure clothed in
white stood at the foot of his bed He
screamed, and the object disappeared.
The whole family a few seconds later
noticed the weird specter as 1t fitted
about the rooms, and they hurriedly
accarad their night clothes
Policeman Young, who has led the ghost
hunt and who was stationed with several
other policemen near by. braved the hor-
ors of the situation and invaded the
house. But no ghost was found. While
Young was in the house. however, the
beings made their presence manifest by
turning loose fusillade of bricks and
stones. They ratified against the side of
the house, and a brick, going through
window, fell at Young's feet The police
man captured it for analysis. 1t was a
e-enough brick and had all the appear
ances of one made from this earth's clay.
Aunt Jane Boldihg, an ex-slave, who
lives at 32lS Brown street, declared no
ghost could make her run, and sat all
evening on the front of her porch defy
ing the onslaughts made all around her.
The other occupants of her house made
their escape and sought the protection of
ever.
The antics of the ghosts resulted last
night in bloodshed in the dwelling OF
Clara Robinson, adjoining the Hampton
house. David Thomas, imbued with the
fear which is universal on the street, was
walking weak-kneed through the dark
hallway of the house. and the Robinson
woman collided with him. Thomas saw
her white garment and began to fight
the object viciously. The woman was soon
stretched on the floor, bleeding from the
wounds inflicted. Thomas told Policeman
McDermott who rushed to the house to
investigate the trouble, that he thought
a ghost was about to attack him and
that the moment his optics fell on the
garment he had an attack of insanity.
The ghost mystery Is as puzzling as
ever and the police are completely out
witted. The best sleuths in the precinct
have tried to fathom it, and have given
the case up as hopeless. The squads of
policemen who have been nightly detailed
in the block were augmented by scores
of fearless citizens, who claim that they
are not supersttious. They witnessed
with their eyes and ears things that they
had not heretofore given credence
The colored folks adhere religiously to
the belief that the spirit of old Mike"
Cation, a daring and notorious figure in
that part of Georgetown twenty years
ago, has returned to haunt some of his
neighbors. whom he hated and distrusted.
Another thing that strengthens the
ghost theory in the minds of the resi-
dents of Brown street is the established
fact that the houses on the thoroughfare
were all built of bricks dug out of vaults
in an old graveyard, which Is within a
stones throw of the haunted place.
ST have been on the police force twen-
ty-five years" said Captain Schneider to
reporter, land 1 have never struck
puzzle like this. My men have worked