From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

The random news for this installment was discovered in The Daily Hub (Centralia, Wash.), February 26, 1916. The following ghost story was top of the fold front page news:

CENTRALIA HAS VERY GENUINE HA’NTED HOUSE

Ghostly Manifestations Defy Solution In Spite of Family’s Best Efforts– Spirit Is Apparently Friendly

 Centralia has a haunted house.

 This piece of news may be a bit startling to those who always connect haunted houses with old, old mansions with a past of bloody deeds to cover, and they naturally inquire where in Centralia can be found a house that answers this description.

 The answer is that there is no such house.

 Centralia’s haunted house is modern in every respect and is inhabited by as peaceable, sociable and jolly a family as you could ask to meet. Neither are they a family given to becoming frightened at the noise of a mouse scuttling across the pantry floor or a board squeaking as the house sways to the spring winds.

No, the Kaestners are wholesome, sociable, unafraid folks and when they finally, after many manifestations admitted to close friends that certain things were transpiring about their home on Waunch Prairie that could not be accounted for under ordinary rules governing human agency and action, the admission had considerable weight that it held up under searching investigation. 

 But the strangest part of the “hant” that has taken up abode at the Kaestner residence is that it is a sociable and also liberal ghost. Unlike the ghost of fiction, it does not believe in needlessly scaring people, neither does it believe in taking away– in fact the Kaestner ghost’s actions bear more resemblance to the gyrations indulged in by Santa Claus than to the work of a soul-terrifying spirit.

 Now to get to the real story:

 About a week ago Mrs. Kaestner went home after a shopping trip down town, unlocked the door and went in. The cheerful singing of a tea kettle attracted her to the kitchen where she found a merry fire burning in the range– and not a soul on the place. Later, when the family assembled for supper she mentioned the occurrence, but each member of the family stoutly denied having started the range fire. This passed without comment, but next day Fred Kaestner took a heavy room rug out on the lawn to clean for his mother. He left it out to air while he did some chores and when he later folded it up to take in, there underneath the rug was a bright new one dollar currency note. This was talked over and it was finally decided that the bill had been dropped by some passer and not noticed when the rug was thrown out on the lawn for cleaning.

 The next visitation of this philanthropic ghost came the next evening. Mrs. Kaestner had gathered the eggs and left them on the screened back porch. Going out shortly after to get some eggs for supper she found, lying on top of the egg basket a nicely folded absolutely new and unwrinkled necktie that had every appearance of having come direct from some good store.

 Things began to look decidedly queer by this time and when the next afternoon the phonograph in the front room started to play with all of the family either out or in another part of the house, Mrs. Kaestner was forced to admit that she was becoming nervous to say the least. This action of the phonograph, however, seemed to have appeared to the friendly ghost as a bit out of its line, for the very next day while Mrs. Kaestner was sweeping the back walk she spied in the grass close to the walk a new $2 currency note.

 As has been intimated and as everyone knows who has the pleasure of their acquaintance, the Kaestners are not people to become stampeded into accepting any ghost stories or fooled by some easily explained prank, but, in spite of a careful investigation, watching and search they have been unable to explain the series of happenings related.

 In the meantime Mr. Kaestner has taken the bills to the bank and found that they are absolutely good, so he is patiently and hopefully awaiting the next visitation.

 Max (1851-1909) and Anna Kaestner (1862-1948) with their young son Frederick Frank “Fritz” Kaestner (1881-1947) came to the United States from their native Germany in 1887. Max had been a lieutenant of artillery in the German army. Initially they moved to Colorado but in 1889 set up home in Centralia, Washington. In a short time the Kaestner family had a reputation as running one of the most sanitary and progressive dairies in the area.

When Max died at age 58, several years before the above story took place, he had become very well known in Centralia. One obituary stated, “Mr. Kaestner was a man of sterling character, a man who held strong opinions, and was probably one of the most highly educated men in the county having received the best instruction obtainable in Germany.”

Fritz Kaestner continued to run the dairy for a few decades. If there was a follow-up story about who was jerking this family’s chain in 1916, I’d love to see it.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

The term “yegg” really has some power to it and was used frequently by reporters in the course of telling the story of Blackie Carroll and Irish Slim. Melisa Sevall, a Public Services librarian who had worked in the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center Library before the WSL Central Library staff, pointed me to the reference work, Language of the Underworld / by David W. Maurer (1981). A “Yegg” can be a desperate sort of criminal and burglar, but more specifically (and certainly in our case study) a safecracker.

Our customers are frequently surprised to learn that in addition to having Washington newspapers on thousands of reels of microfilm, we also include a few out-of-state newspapers culturally tied to our history. We have several newspapers from Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, and Alaska. The following piece from The Morning Oregonian of Sept. 12, 1921 demonstrates how their news beat went across state lines:

  ESCAPED OUTLAWS ARE YET AT LARGE

 Carroll, ex-Convict, Once Tried to Go “Straight.”

 RECORD HERE IS STORMY

 Jimmie Costigan, Who Convinced Victim of Wrong Identification, Is Well Educated.

 “The jailbreak at Montesano of James (‘Blackie’) Carroll, expert safecracker and ex-convict, who openly boasted a few months ago that he would have Portland overrun this winter with yeggs and highwaymen, recalls the record of the outlaw in Portland. Police posters containing his picture and offers of reward for his capture were received at police headquarters yesterday.”

“With Carroll in his escape from the Montesano jail was Jimmie Costigan, alias ‘Irish Slim,’ reputed to be one of the nerviest highwaymen now operating along the Pacific slope. Both were awaiting sentence of life imprisonment as habitual criminals.”

 Chief Accepts Defi

 “‘Blackie’ Carroll ostensibly had decided to go ‘straight.’ He opened up a soft-drink establishment in the north end about a year ago. But the only thing soft about the place was the ‘pickings,’ as his dive soon became known as one of the worst bootlegging hangouts in the north end.”

“Carroll was repeatedly arrested and convicted of bootlegging. Finally he sent word to Chief of Police Jenkins that if he were not allowed to sell liquor openly at his establishment he would see that Portland became infested with yeggs and crooks. The chief accepted the defi and compelled ‘Blackie’ to close up shop.”

“After Carroll had been released from jail the last time here he disappeared. A few weeks later he was arrested at Montesano with ‘Irish Slim’ while in the art of blowing a safe. Their conviction as habitual criminals followed.”

 Costigan Four-Time Loser.

 “Jimmie Costigan is a four-time loser, having served two terms each in the penitentiaries at Folsom and San Quentin, Cal. His last escapade locally, which was called to the attention of the police, occurred about eight months ago, when he held up and robbed a local cider manufacturer of about $30.”

“This man picked out ‘Slim’ in the north end the next day and had the police take him into custody. The identification was positive, it was said at the time of the arrest.”

“When the case came before Municipal Judge Rossman on preliminary hearing, ‘Irish Slim” put up such a good front that his victim wavered in his identification. Judge Rossman declined to hold the suspect unless the complaining witness was certain of his identity.”

 Victim Is Convinced.

 “Finally it was agreed that the complaintant and ‘Irish Slim’ would retire to a secluded room and there discuss the case. A few minutes later the cider manufacturer returned to court and asked that the prisoner be discharged.”

“It was not until several weeks later that the police learned how ‘Irish Slim’ had convinced his victim that a mistake had occurred. During the four terms he served in the California prisons time naturally hung heavy for the convict. He took up a correspondence school education and by the time he had finished his last ‘bit’ had won a few correspondence school degrees.”

Complaintant Offers Apology.

 “When he faced his hold-up victim in the ante-room off the municipal courtroom, ‘Irish Slim’ put his correspondence school education to good use. With the choicest English, he told the hold-up victim he was a college professor on his ‘uppers,’ and horrid things like highway robbery were farthest from his mind. So suave was he in his talk that he convinced the other he could not have been the highwayman, and the latter was more than eager to set him free. He even offered a public apology in police court for having caused ‘Irish Slim’ such embarrassment.”

“Although ‘Blackie’ Carroll has promised Portland a carnival of crime this winter, it is believed he will not be so bold as to return here to attempt to direct any of the work. His face is too familiar with practically every member of the police bureau for him to chance arrest by returning to Portland.”

Earlier in his life Blackie had been the leader of a crime syndicate known as the Bozee Boys, who rode the rails and went from town to town blowing up safes with nitroglycerin. Born around 1877-1878, Blackie was a career criminal who had previously served prison terms in Salem, Oregon and in San Quentin where he was released in July 1919. He was also known as Tom Carey. Carroll did indeed operate a “soft drink” place at 241 1/2 Couch St. in Portland for a few months before selling it in 1921.

James “Irish Slim” Costigan claimed he was a San Francisco based sailor originally from Plymouth, England. He was also known as James H. Ward, James Grant, James Brophy, James Dwyer, James Murray, and John Keating. A professional burglar and bold robber, Irish Slim had spent two prison terms in Folsom and two in  San Quentin, a total of 11 years.

By poking around the Hoquiam’s newspaper, Grays Harbor Daily Washingtonian, and also the Montesano Vidette, I was able to piece together a bit more of the story.

In May, 1921, Blackie and Irish Slim formed a gang with forger Fred Morgan (aka Cecil Hill, released from prison in Salem in 1919) in Centralia, Washington. Blackie was wanted for a warehouse robbery in Astoria, Oregon at the time. The trio rode the rails to Hoquiam and decided to blow the safe in a steam laundry.

In the wee hours of May 4, 1921, the yeggs broke into the laundry, set two charges of nitro, and piled clothes over the safe to muffle the noise of the explosion. The charge was a bit too strong, blowing the safe door into the safe itself. They were quickly captured, and within two months were convicted. But as we saw, the Grays Harbor County jail could not hold Blackie and Irish Slim for too long. They broke the bars of their cell and vanished into thin air.

Did Blackie return to Portland to make good on his promise to deliver a “carnival of crime”? On the Christmas after his escape from Montesano, a night watchman identified the two yeggs who tied him up and then blew the safe of a cardroom (netting $1500) as Blackie Carroll and “Jingling” Johnson.

Although I found no record of the fate of Irish Slim, Blackie made his way to Missouri, where he was convicted of burglary in 1923 under the name James Ryan, and sentenced to the state prison. The last record I can find for him was in 1925, when he was returned to Montesano to serve out the rest of his term in the  Grays Harbor County jail.  He was 44 years old, probably making him one of the senior yeggs in the business.

Years ago my nephew used to go to the library in Centralia “regularly”. He was such a regular user in fact that I when I was the lead in the Circulation Dept. at the Washington State Library, I went to a meeting for Innovative users and the librarian from the Centralia Timberland Library introduced me as Paul’s Aunt. I got a big applause. It still brings a smile to my face when I think about it. My family has always been big library users, as you can tell.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

This week’s newspaper on microfilm picked at random is the Centralia Daily Chronicle for Feb. 9, 1909. The reporter who covered this ghost story must have been something of a Wise Guy.

Dealy McCracken, the main subject of this piece, was born De Laparis McCracken in North Carolina in 1838. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and at some point was held as a POW. By 1887 he had moved his family to Lewis County, according the Territorial Census. He died in Winlock in 1925.

The Maplewood Rink still exists today in Centralia as the Rollerdrome.

The Centralia Daily Chronicle, which ran from 1908-1913, can be counted as an early ancestor of Centralia’s current newspaper, The Chronicle.

 WINLOCK MAN HAS GHOSTLY EXPERIENCE

 Strikes a Match in the Dark to Light His Cigar and Flare Reveals Reproachful Face of a Woman – Tried to “Chuck” Her Under the Chin, But Was Restrained by Invisible Substance.

 “‘I tell you there is a woman haunting me and I am going to leave this town. Do I believe in spooks?– Never saw one in my life before, but I tell you I saw Her. You can call her a spook or whatever you please, but I tell you I saw her and there is no doubt about it. I came here to visit relatives and I intended to remain several days, but there is one spot in this town where I see her everytime I pass at night. I have not looked for her in the daytime, but I know I have seen her face there in the dark.'”

“‘Dealy’ McCracken, of Winlock, stood on the platform of the Northern Pacific depot in Centralia a few days ago and wasrelating his experience in Centralia to a friend. ‘Dealy’ is a southerner. He rolled his r’s and ‘reckoned’ this and could not account for the harrowing experience which he stated he had undergone. He appeared as one fleeing from some impending, mysterious, and unaccountable danger. He denied he was superstitious, but added, ‘there are some things we all don’t know about.’ Then he told what had so badly upset him.”

“He was going by the Maplewood rink. It was a very dark night and it was late. Not a soul was astir excepting himself. The darkness and silence, he says, got a little on his nerves. He noticed that his footsteps sounded on the board sidewalk with a hollow, rumbling sound. The noise of his footfalls seemed to steal out away from him and then be thrown back at him in a thousand distributing echoes. It affected him so that he tried to walk on tip-toe to get away from the sound. No sooner had he done than the thought was suggested to him that he was stealing away from something– he knew not what. He had a sneaky feeling and on the heels of that came the sensation that he was being pursued. He searched his conscience as to why he should feel that way, but found nothing in the reflection upon which to base such an apprehension. But the sensation that he was being pursued by something uncanny remained. It made him feel cowardly and ashamed of himself. It occured to him that it was foolish for him to let himself feel that way and that by an effort of the will he would calm himself. He would act unconcerned. Instead of tip-toeing as though attempting to avoid detection, he would walk in the ordinary manner. But even walking had a suggestion of flight, so he decided to stop in his track and light a cigar.”

“All those thoughts flashed through his mind in much less time then it takes to tell it. The mind under excitement thinks with more than lightning rapidity. When he stopped to light his cigar he was standing in front of one of the windows in the skating rink. He struck his match on the sill of the window. Then it was that the great shock came. The flare of the match revealed the face of a woman. Just the bare face and nothing more. It was a pallid face, very pale with the exception of the cheeks, which were earmine colored. There was a suggestion of rouge and powder about the countenance and the eyes were the eyes of a woman in which the light had nearly burned itself out by its own intensity and was flickering low. It was the face of a woman who might have lived much in a short time. A face that knew and knew sorrowfully and its expression was reproachful.”

“All that ‘Dealy’ saw by the flare of the match. The match went out and left ‘Dealy’ in darkness and horror. He forgot to light his cigar. He was held to the spot as one fascinated. His feet weighed a ton each and seemed to be pulling him down. He stood there until the darkness seemed to bear in and down on him as though it would smother him. It became unbearable and he fumbled for another match. With a trembling hand he struck it and there again was the face before him. It was close enough for him to reach with his hand.”

“It is a peculiar fact that often in moments of most intense excitement a sense of humor developes. ‘Dealy’ says that for some unaccountable reason he resolved to ‘jolly the old girl.’ He extended his hand in a spirit of bravado with the intention of ‘chucking’ her under the chin. His hand was put forward to carry out his intention, but some invisible substance was encountered which seemed to restrain him from a violate act. Although his hand almost touched the reproachful face there was not a change of expression, not a quiver of the eye. The face seemed to know it could not be violated. Then ‘Dealy’ discovered that his hand was against the window pane and that the face was on the other side was pressed against the pane. But that did not impress him half as much as the fact that the face was really there. He lost all resolution to quiet his nerves. He no longer felt that his imagination was playing him false. He knew the face was there. What did he do?”

“He did not tell his friend what he did for just then the train for Aberdeen began moving out and he boarded it.”

“Unless superstitious persons be too deeply impressed by Mr. McCracken’s experience it is to the point to state that a reporter for the Daily Chronicle inspected the window in the skating rink in which the face was reported to have appeared. He made his investigation in broad daylight and the face was there. It is there now. But there is nothing unnatural about it. The inside of the window has been boarded up. Some thoughtless masquerader at some of the numerous masquerade balls that have been held there evidently removed her mask, a false face of a woman, and thrust it between the boards and the windowpane.”