Watchmen at a burned-down house are scared off by something playing the partially burned piano and other strange noises from within the structure.
Piano Played by “Ghosts”
ST. PAUL, Minn., September 2, 1909. — The house in Forest Street where Mrs. Anna Post, an ages recluse, was burned to death, is supposed to be haunted, and the watchmen who have guarded the house every night since the death of the woman, in the belief that a fortune is hidden somewhere in the ruins, have all been frightened away.
Early the other morning this third watchman who ventured to guard the place heard a noise coming from the partly burned piano, and sought protection from Policeman Swenson and Shook, who were on their way home.
The watchman was terrified, and told the policemen that he distinctly heard the sound of a funeral dirge played on the piano.
He was assured that it was imagination on his part, but he could not be persuaded that the house was not haunted, and he resigned his job then and there, leaving the premises to the mercy of the “spooks.”
Since the death of Mrs. Post, her relatives have had the house guarded at night. During the day the ruins are searched for gold supposed to have been left by the old woman, but so far none has been unearthed.
Last week, the watchman was frightened away by noises that he asserted he heard in the house, and the other watchman was frightened in a similar manner.
Source: Bisbee daily review. (Bisbee, Ariz.), 02 Sept. 1909.