The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-12-30

of Mortified were MankatO visitors
yesterday.
W. o. Barndt of Minneapolis, a
former resident of this city, was in
Mankato yesterday, renewing &C.
qaintances.
| Mrs. V. "A. Street, Mrs. II. S. Davis
and Master Marion Shugart left at
noon today for Council Bluffs, Iowa,
to spend the holidays.
William Beavens, collector of the
National Bank of Commerce, goes
| to GAINESVILLE tomorrow to spend
Christmas with his parents.
James McGrath has returned from
ST. Thomas college, st. Paul, and
will be the guest Of his parents in
North Mankato over the holidays.
Mrs. William Conrad Of Aberdeen,
n. d., has arrived in the city, having
been called by the illness of her
mother, who resides in West Man
kato.
! Anoka Union: Miss Mabel Nc
Peters was called home from the
Mankato normal which she is attend
ing, by the death of her father, J. j..
McPeters.
N. p. Paulson, bookkeeper for the
A. j. Busch company goes to Brandt,
S. D., tonight to spend the holidays
S. D., tonight to spend the holidays.
Paul this morning.
! Angela and Stephen Lamm, daugh-
ter and son of Robert Lamm, are
home from Prairie du Chen for the
holidays. They have been attending
school at Prairie du Chen.
County Treasurer Hart left yester-
day afternoon for Barnum, to look
after some land, and expects to be
gone three or four days. Mrs. Hart
accompanied him as far as the twin
cities.
Mr.. and Mrs. N. d. Barker of Mar
shall were in the city today. Mr..
Barker represents the Mergenthaler
Linotype Machine company of Chi
cago and New York. Mrs. Barker
| is a sister of Mrs. Charles E. Keith.
Waseca, Mimi, December %, 1910.
The usually quiet little city of
Waseca has been in stage of great
excitement. the past few days on
account of mystery which darkens
more and more every day and which
up to date has been unexplained, al
| though nearly every one in town has
been endeavoring to solve the prob
| lem. A few evenings ago County
Auditor Theodore Peterson, who was
working in his office in the court
house. happened to look out of a
north window of the building and
was amazed to see standing on the
spot where Wards opera house for
merly stood, building all lighted
up and resembling In every respect
the old opera house.
| Opera House Burned in July.
AS matter of fact, Wards opera
house was burned to the ground last
July and the site where 1t formerly
stood is now unoccupied. Mr.. Peter
son called Deputy Auditor Ralph
! Garland to witness the unusual scene
and he was also baffled. The report
was soon spread upon the street and
soon the court house was filled with
curious spectators, but none could
deny that from all appearances the
cid opera house doomed up as big as
| life. For the past two nights the
same sight has been visible, that is,
from the court house window. How
Unintv outside nntbinU nm
usual can be seen. 1t is also a no.
ticeable fact that the building is
more visible under cettain conditions
than under others, that is, when the
street lights are burning, the outline
of the opera house is not SO plain.
Very Singular Incident.
A very singular fact connected
with the affair is that the strange
lights become visible about p. m,
the time it was customary for the
janitor to start the fire in the opera
house. About $3.50, the usual time
for shows to start, the lights become
dim, and at 1890, the time for clos
ing, they can no longer be seen. An.
other peculiar incident is that people
can be seen entering the opera
house about eight o'clock, but no
signs of anyone leaving can be seen.
Many of the local philosophers are
Offering explanations but none of the
explanations are generally accepted
as plausible. An ex-editor of the city
is of the opinion that at some time
or other the court house was struck
by lightning. His theory is that
the court house acted as a camera
and the window through which the
opera house can be seen as a mega
| tive.
What OId-Timers Say.
Old time residents, however, as
sert that to the. best of their knowl
edge the court house was never
struck by lightning and give but 1T
tie credence to this theory. Another
theory advanced is that the opera
house stood in view of the court
house for SO long time that an
impression of some kind was left on
the glass, but the person advancing
this theory is unable to explain by
what process such an action takes
place. The janitor of the court
house contends that as the strange
flights never appeared until after the
| debris OF the old building was re