The Haunted Police Station.
A Ghostly Lady in White.
The Apparition Seen by a Policeman.
Great Excitement.
We have heretofore refrained from taking any particular notice of the rumors in circulation relative to the Fourth District Police Station. Some time ago it was whispered, then spoken of more loudly, and at last boldly announced, that the station was haunted. It was affirmed that supernatural noises had been heard in the way of tramplings and aerial voices. Cold breezes fanned the cheeks of night policemen, and other curious manifestations occurred, all very extraordinary and inexplicable.
The house now occupied as a police station is a very old building, and is generally known by the name of the “Schaumberg Mansion.” In former years it was a stately private residence, and the grandest edifice in that portion of the city. But its glories are now passed, and the days when its apartments echoed to the gay laughter of fair ladies and brave gentlemen have long gone by. It grew gray and old, and for some inexplicable reason fell almost into disuse. Various tenants occupied it, but for some reason they never remained long, and the old mansion gradually acquired the reputation of being haunted.
Some six months or so ago a great change took place. The Police Commissioners, in looking up a suitable place for a station-house for the Fourth District, fixed upon the Schaumburg Mansion, situated at the corner of Twelfth and Monroe streets. Capacious in size, and with strong walls and deep foundations, it was well adapted for the purpose. A lease was effected, and the grim old building, after being thoroughly renovated and considerably changed in the interior, became a police station. So much for worldly mutations; the floors on which the silk-slippered foot of beauty trod lightly in the dance now supported the drunken and unruly occupants of the calaboose.
But we have not space to dwell on the history or description of the building, and will proceed direct to speak of its hauntings.
Sergeant Cornell, a solemn-visaged Sergeant, seems to have been the first to detect the presence of ghosts. He heard hoarse whispering voices, we are told, and other strange things when in the station at night. Once the startling words struck his ear, “Come, boys, let us lift the roof off the house,” spoken in a rough voice as if by one of Captain Kid’s buccaneers. Other officers, however, beside Cornell heard strange things and the new station-house fell into bad repute.
“Over all there hung a cloud of fear,
Asense of mystery the spirit daunted –
That said as plain as whisper in the ear,
The place is haunted!”
The most startling manifestation however, occurred on Monday night, and one which has been the subject of a vast amount of comment in police circles. On the night in question, Officer Neussell, as we were informed at Central Station last night, had been in the mansion to warm himself. It was about 11 o’clock, feeling thirsty, he left the office and went to a hydrant to get a drink of water. Just after passing through the entrance he felt a waft of cold air, not like wind, (it is averred) but a curious chilling breath. The door opened partially, and the officer turned and saw standing in a recess a female form, a lady dressed in a loose white wrapper with black ribbon round her throat, and a broad colored sash round her waist. The apparition is said to have moved rapidly away as the officer looked upon it and disappeared. Neussell is a brave officer; thieves, burglars, and bummers could never scare him, but this sight unnerved him somewhat, and he rushed into the office and excitedly communicated to the Sergeant in charge what he had seen. He was laughed at, but he maintained the reality of the spectacle and to show he was not afraid, he walked through the large building in the dark.
This is the substance of the last report from the haunted station-house; and whether the matter was investigated before the Police Commissioners last night or not we could not learn.
Sergeant Frauzel will doubtless receive instructions to arrest the ghostly lady on her next appearance and bring her before the Recorder’s Court for disturbing the peace where spirits have often before appeared.
We fully expect that a deputation of spiritual mediums will visit the station shortly. Let the mystery be cleared up by all means, or the Fourth District Police Station will become as famous as the “House at Waterdown.”
Transcription of an article in the Tri-Weekly Missouri Republican – Published Wednesday, February 12, 1868.
