Show r t k n I 0 II e + I t V r rf1J oYn Pittsburg Pa According to tho statement of the prisoners and guards murderers row In tho Allegheny Al-legheny county jail In this city Is said to bo haunted and tho fear of tho supposed sup-posed ghosts has so worked upon tho nerves of the condemned prisoners that the cells of the entire row havo been vacated and tho prisoners removed re-moved to another section of tho jail Tho ghost of W A Culp who killed himself In his cell some time ago while awaiting trial for the murder ot his brother is held directly responsible responsi-ble for the orders Issued by Warden Edward Lewis transferring the 14 men occupying cells In murderers row Culps ghost was haunting them they declared It had como back they said visiting cell after cell along the tier set apart for murderers rehearsing re-hearsing the murder of Culps brother and omitting none of Its ghastly details de-tails This happened night after night following Gulps suicide and always between 12 and 1 oclock In the morning morn-ing i Screams of terror from tho fourth tier of cells on the south side of tho old part of the jail where murderers row was situated aroused tho guards and all tho prisoners says the N Y World Lights were turned on and a search made for the ghostly visitor but of course It was never found An hour or two always elapsed before the terrified prIsoners could bo calmed down and silence reigned once more throughout the big county jail Prisoners Ghost Visits Cell Only one prisoner a condemned murderer occupying the cell adjoining the one in which Culp committed suicide sui-cide a man who Is to be executed In October saw the Culp ghost on tho first night It came back That was on the night following the one on which the suicide was committed The condemned con-demned wretch who had ben convicted convict-ed of a most cowardly crime screamed for help and when the guards entered his cell a few moments later they found him cowering In a corner and shaking like a leaf He had seen Culp he said Gulp or Culps ghost had come Into his cell and after awakening him had started to rehearse the murder of his brothel You have been dreaming thats all said one of tho deputy wardens reassuringly Dont you know that Gulp Is dead and burled and even if he were alive It would bo Impossible for him to have been in your cell Besides Be-sides there are no such things as ghosts You have been having a bad dream so just lie down and go to sleep and dont bo arousing the whole jail like this In the middle of the night I But the next night Culps ghost came back again At least three condemned con-demned criminals confined In cells along murderers row declared that they saw It distinctly When examined exam-ined by tho warden they all gave the same description of the ghost the direction di-rection from which it came and its antics in front of cells along murderers murder-ers row This went on for several nights although al-though extra guards were placed along the fourth tier Tho guards themselves them-selves declared that they saw nothing but this afforded little satisfaction to tho prisoners who were either too frightened to sleep or who were disturbed dis-turbed by the screams of their next door neighbors Other Ghost Scares Culps ghost Is not the only ono said I to be responsible for tho haunting of time Allegheny county Jail For years I the murderers row thorn has boon I gradually accumulating the reputation of being haunted I Did not Mlko Rumlnlskl the professional I profes-sional strangler strangle himself to I death in his cell in u most ingenious manner shortly before tho date set for his execution and did not ho comeback come-back That was during tho time of Warden John McAleese And did not the notorious Blddlc brothers Jack and Ed escape from their cells In murderers row with tho assistance of Mrs Kato Soffel wife of Warden Peter SofTel only to be rundown run-down and shot to death near Butler Pa 48 hours later and did not they come back That was during the time of Warden Soffel And did not Hill and Douglass and many another poor wretch who went to death from murderers row by the gallows route come back There are many who stoutly maintain main-tain that they did and that they haunted their old cells and terrified their occupants for many nights Another mysterious happening that contributed to tho spooky reputation IOf murderers row was not explained away until it had been going on for weeks At nine oclock every night It has been customary to switch the electric lights from ono dynamo to another This necessitated tho changing of a belt and occupied from five to ten seconds During that tlmo tho entire jail was In total darkness except for a law Isolated gas jets In the front office of-fice at the gate and In tho main corridor cor-ridor An Unearthly Shriek Was Heard One night several years ago just before be-fore tho lights had gone out as usual an unearthly shriek pierced the Inky blackness of the big jail from somewhere some-where in the neighborhood of murderers murder-ers row It was n long moaning kind of shriek such as no mortal could make and It seemed to swoop and circle down the main corridor beforo dying away Everybody who heard It deputy wardens guards and prisoners prison-ers alike felt tho marrow freezing In his bones An Investigation was made Immediately the lights had been turned on again but no solution to the mystery was found that night The prisoners were questioned and as might havo been expected all denied knowing anything about It Men in cells on the fourth tier thought tho noise came from somewhere on tho ground floor Those on the ground floor thought it came from the roof Next night when the lights were switched off at nine oclock tho same unearthly scream resounded through tho building and once more the resultant result-ant Investigation came to naught Warden Lewis was puzzled and he determined de-termined to trace the noise to Its source so on the third night ho secretly se-cretly stationed guards In empty cells and along corridors with instructions to make careful note of the direction from whence the yell came If It should be repeated The yell was repeated without fall as soon as tho jail was In darkness but tho wordens plan failed for tho guards had totally different Ideas of where tho sound camo from By the time the uncanny yell had been heard for five nights in succession succes-sion with tho mystery of Its source as deep as over many of the most superstitious su-perstitious prisoners were on the verge of nervous prostration Nobody could ever tell them after that that tho Jail was not haunted Tho warden was almost at his wits end but he tried one more scheme lie began to transfer tho prisoners a few at a time from cell to cell and guards were Instructed to watch each batch of transferred men very closely In this Way the noise was finally traced to a practical joker among the prisoners pris-oners who produced the diabolical yell with the aid of a hair comb and a newspaper A piece of paper was folded across the comb and held as a mouthpiece at tho small end of a megaphone meg-aphone made by tolling the newspaper Sup Into a cone Everybody knows what a fearful nolso can be made by pressing the lips against a papercov covered comb and blowing hard With the megaphone added tho noise Was really magnified and It madeh noise calculated to give anybody cold chills inthq pitchy darkness of a big prison Withtho detection of the culprit time nolsos ceased but the Jails reputation for being haunted spread amazingly oven beyond the granite walls of tho prison and still clings to It The Case of Rumlnskl Mlko Humlnskl was ono of thn shrewdest prisoners ever placed In murderers row On the morning he was sentenced to death for strangling his wife pouring kerosene over tho body and setting are to tho house ho declared that tho sheriff would never get a chance to hang hint Tho ov > denco produced against Ilumlnskl at his trial tended to show that ho was a professional strangler and robber Several months before he killed his wife he had strangled his own baby to death but this was not known until the authorities made an Investigation following tho death of his wife On account of the threat of the con damned man that he would cheat tho gallows nn oxtra close watch was leapt on him In his cell a guard being stationed sta-tioned outsldo tho door day and night to prevent him from taking his own life One night Huminskl went to bed as usual The light outside his cell door shono directly on tho cot and tho guard outsldo could seo him quite plainly But Rumlnskl whllo pretending pretend-ing to bo asleep reached down with his right hand between tho edge of his Iron cot and tho wall and untied one of the thin cord laces fastened across tho framework of his cot and supporting support-ing tho mattress Still working with ono hand he twisted the short length of cord tied It and slipped it over his head and around his neck The handle of a tin cup which ho managed to got i possession of was passed through tho loop and then Rumlriski carefully and quietly proceeded to choko himself tto death So cautiously did ho kill himself him-self that the guard outsldo the door although keeping one eye on Rumlnskl all tJlG tlmo imagined that tho condemned con-demned man was sound asleep When Rumlnskl had choked himself until ho lost consciousness his hand released tho handlo of the tin cup It may be supposed that the tin handlo would spin around a fow times and fly from tho loop and that the cord being released would enable Rumlnskl to breathe again But the crafty strangler had anticipated that very thing and had made provision to guard against his plans being thwarted in that way Tho handle of tho tin cup had been straightened out and then hooked at the end in such a way that the moment mo-ment Ruminskls hand released it it caught in the collar of his shirt and hold fast Rumlnskl had been dead several hours when tho guard attempted attempt-ed to arouse him next morning Then a fow hours after tho strang e t iSf 1 p r kf SDIA9 DJDDJJ r J4tW i JDDL a Nly ° jw Tdti r c + wiL > Ydt1t q d ° e e > r Y I r M Z r 1 i r m j lf5r 9 l L LLu I c H I > = = = = = = JI fi I t lers body had been removed to tho morgue it disappeared most mysteriously mysteri-ously and that night prisoners In murderers mur-derers row declared that they saw Ruminskls ghost walking along the corridor and making ghastly faces at the occupants of tho cells Several months later tho murderers body was found in a stable on Carson street South side and burled in potters field The ears and fingers hud been removed re-moved presumably to bo kept as souvenirs sou-venirs The Blddle Brothers The two Riddle brothers did not die In nturdercrb row but other prisoners confined there have often declared that they saw their ghosts on many nights since th two oung desperadoes despera-does broke jnlrand lied with tho wardens war-dens wife only to bo run down and killed a few hours later Tho sensational sensa-tional case of tho Middle brothers Is too well known and has been dramatized drama-tized too much to need recalling to tho memory of readers It was merely one of many cases which have served to glvo tho Allegheny county jail a meek tpjvitatfon and to mako tho old murderers row MJ longer habltniilo The nerves of condemned prisoners J I e occupying cells thero were recently wrought up to such a pitch by hearing the noise made by carpenters erecting1 tho wooden gallows In tho jail yard that Warden Lewis has ordered a steel a scaffold which can bo put together almost al-most noiselessly with tho aid of a few yS screws and a wrench |