The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 14, 1900, Page 14

THE SUNDAY CALL A 7 WHERE —THE GnesTs DIsAPPEAR. ee who ruled with de a mountains and val- v s rd because of his dls- b T headlong, over the r t ounta nto the gulch from v vestones are now quarried ut upon the that ha been n this mys- 1 crushed hance of Ramon. ssed since hie rellow gold tumbled into the his mine and found the iut the mountaln If there over was taken out long be- iis awful fate. But ages Ramon Uv idden sbme- the mountain a him far he re- bor. make to whom eluded Qlimbing Stafrs. | G Wd gently. Tt prove i n 1 stafrease 2 X ves a number of 2 n assembled, render e ction possible while x g nventor of what rigidity The belt ” the way of stair loco- Is deflected § el portions correspond- ing to the ds of an ordinary stairway - -l . ani into surfaces representing e ¢ The World's the risers, rnishes an absolutely se- St aon ng out the fam cure and solid footing, since then the The belt deliver e passengers safely | bl n occ \al experi-.cnting with uUpon a metal plate which is stationary on | - stairs, which, however, proved the upper floor without any effort of the | e passenger. The claim that is made for the | invention especially is that it' makes no | noisc and occuples but three feet of space from rafling to railing, no more than that occupled by the ordinary stairway. Trav- | eling at the rate of ninety feet a minute | it is estimated that in crowded stores or rallroad stations the new lift can carry 000 passengers per hour, : e respect or the other, and all were relegated to obscurity. with the so-called that the move- n a jerky fashion, causing peo- brium and making ald to venture on the { was was lose thel m, persons af govel siairs. mine, but day came when h tracked to his camp in the mountaln. night he was seized and bound. His cap- tors tortured him in the hope of find- ing out the hiding place of the treasure he was popularly supposed to cumulated in half a century of to ing this purp they hurled him down the steep mountain side, bending back a stout sapling so as to throw his body high In the air, as from a catapult. Tt the was At have ac- Fall- is supposed that the grandee's ser- worked the mine with- out success and then banked up the tun- and covered the shaft before aban- doning it. One legend says that Ramon's spirit haunted the tunnel and the gulch and drove the old man's murderers from the vicinity. His camp had been in the gulch and he had claimed the entire mountain as his own. That is why imag- tnative people would believe that the ghost of olden time is trying t~ carry back to his haunt the stones that were taken from it to bulld (his strange house. When the moon is bright and the gray walls of the House of Mystery stand out bold rellef lovers who venture in that vicinity on their evening strolls can hear heartrending sighs and strangely soft music, like that of the harp. vants afterw Sometimes a feminine volce calls plain- tively, but the words are not distinguish- able; but there Is nmever any response. Those who know the history of the moun- tain side, with its tangle of wildwood, know that it is Re calling for her lover, who was transfixed by the antlers of a great stag while hunting *-ere many years ago. She wandered out to meet him, guitar In hand, seeking to coax nim home with sweet love dittles. Weeks af- terward they found her bleached bones with those of her lover In the old quarry. The stag’s antlers were deep In a chest- nut tree and upon them hung the skel- eton of the hunter. Rosle had found them thus and had remained there to dfe. « e . Ask the average resident of San Rafael who buflt the roofless gray stone structure on Fourth street, how long it has been there and for what it is intended, and he will answer all three questions by a shake of the head. For many years this strange freak of architecture has been a landmark on the main street of the pretty summerstown. 1he young folks who stroll through the shady streets after the evening shadows have fallen unconsclously cross the street when they approach the specter walls. As children they were wont to consider it the haunt of goblins'and spooks and the nameless fear still clings to them. It is a clammy spot. The lot on which the bullding stands s overgrown with weeds; the stone used in bullding is of the same varjety that is commonly used in cemeterfes, and the wind soughs through the half-boarded windows with that peculiar moan that makes one’s flesh creep. n which the cemetery 2 a upo the very ground up + odds and 1s located, for the most part odd® fUC ends that could not be g ”“;x thrifty graveyard manager buildin sepulchers for the dead. i Joseph Cort! was his own archit With his own stonemason and drayman. hands he ¢ and fashioned every that wes used in ried them over the dusty cemetery the town and hands mixed the mortar and set the walls. It was a great task e wonderful patience and everance ¢ man are demonstrated in the bu that now stands as a monum! Twelve or fourteen years a timers say, the work was Degt not finished yet. Corti cannot exact date of the commencement work, but he tht at it was n long ago. During the past three ye: work has been done on the building cause the shrewd owner has not f to his liking and does mot and furnish the building unt! e rental to pers the glve ks th is a 1 the pre- tecturally the buflding Arc of the most pronounced type. rlous efforts of the designer have been in epulchers for the tle” he rom goor- the line of vaults and s dead, and In designing his “ has not made a radical departure There is a great arch his trade. r- way In front, wide enough and high enough to admit a team of horses and a There are several narrow win- coach. dows on three stdes, so placed as to &l the buflding & curious appearance. With- in the four walls there is nothing b0* emptiness. The buflder frankly admits that he has not yet decided what kind of roof he will put on or how the rior is to be subdivided. The structure sets back seventy-five feet from the street, and Is now inclosed by a dilapidated high board fence. “I built it with a view to renting it for an ice cream parlor,” says Corti, with great complacency, but he cannot make his neighbors belleve the story. They say that the bullder had planned to make it a ehop for gravestones and monuments, b afterward sought to transform it into a ‘wine cellar. The builder professes to be highly amused at the comments of his bors, stories and t “Some day aditic touches,” he walls are ¢ and t blossoms a ers wh drinks, they will £ had offers to who will g San Rafacl’'s “House of (INystery” and does not care want to sell. When a tenant co a . . Odd Sights 1n the Y far the most Interesting building B at the Paris Exposition s that known as the Palace of Optic | this building | visitor may witness a score ¢ | ments as original and varled as the mind can concelve. This enchanted pala | close to the Eiffel Tower. Its enor | halt dome, covered with beautif | colorea glass, zives the bullding a co | splcuous appearance and singles it for special attractlon. g magnificent Passing in at the entrance gate, says | Tit-Bits, one of the first entertalnments | s an electric storm. Lightning flashes | here and there, followed by distant roars | of thunder. Both zigzag and fork | lightning are produced. As onme watches the flashing lightning and hears the peals of thunder, one can hardly realize that |1t 1s a mock show so realistic Is the | whole scene. Indeed, women will often shriek and childre- cry, so vivid and real | does the storm appear. The lightning, of | course, is obtained by the ald of elec- | tricity, and the thunder is produced by | rattling thunder sheets | Another remarkable st s the | demonstration of Crookes electric tubes, | which the lecturer tells you “will be the ight of the future.” Cu enoug the light will be cold. Indeed, any visitor | can feel the long little tubes which give THE e out a bright light. The brightness of the WAT<H::END | light, of course, is controlled by the e rent. Passing into the next room there {is a plano, the notes of which connect with hundreds of small electric lights which light the room. When a key Is depressed a circult s formed, which produces a light. The more keys that are Stripped of its mysteries and supernat- | depressed, therefore, the greater the ural adjuncts, the history of the “house | number of lights. When the plano s of mystery” is more than ordinarily In- | played the scene is decidedly novel. If a teresting. It sfands to-day as a monu- | big swell is produced the foom is very ment to the thrift and industry of a|light, but If only one or two notes are native son of Northern Italy who has |brought Into requisition the room is fairly made San Rafael his home for nearly a | dark. quarter of a century. Joseph Cortt is his| In another room the wonders of the name. For fifteen years he has been su- | microscope are shown. A photograph of perintendent of the Mount Tamalpais a drop of water, magnified many thou- Cemetery, which occuples a secluded spot | sands of times, is thrown on a sereenm. about e and a half miles south of the | The water Is filled with wriggling mon- pretty town. sters, some of them engaged in lively bat- The house 1s actually constructed of [tle. The water is taken from the Seine. gravestones. They were quarried from | Next come magnified views of the mi- crobes of other disea interesting. In a dark cor E t5s woat & In another 1 stands behind a see only Shooting another The only perf: duced b d with water w shaking, and sphorescen: and Is illust cs by throwing Tevolvin 1ga happens the flo wherw Bie cuit » the bottom of the silvered avold the snares of th ¥ is a roomh itor sees scores ¢ It he waves his hat easily imagine him but careful inv the-myriad refl that the mirrored walls form chamber, whose and forth indefinitely scope. Close by looking glasses are that chaff at the ridiculou sent. s tria s they repre- P