| |
Texas'
Favorite Ghost Story
San Antonio's
Overworked Ghost Children
San
Antonioby
Raoul Hashimoto |
Like
an episode of Columbo - we'll give you the story at the beginning:
Ten
happy children on a school bus going home - bus stalls on railroad tracks - speeding
freight train comes - crushes bus, killing children.
Now on the anniversary
of the event or Halloween or anytime (depending on who's telling the story) any
car that stops on the tracks, intentionally or not, mysteriously moves off the
tracks as if pushed. Talcum placed on the trunk of the car receives little peanut
butter and jelly stained handprints in the powder.
An add-on to this
urban myth is that the names of the nearby streets are named after the deceased
children.
The site is well known and there have been reports of car-jackings,
purse snatchings and worse perpetrated by non-believers who exploit the want-to-belivers
when they get out of their car to check for handprints.
Police have to
keep the traffic moving every Halloween.
The tracks are on an incline,
but of course that doesn't have anything to do with it. There's no record of such
an accident in the newspaper files anywhere in Texas, and the builder of the subdivision
named the streets after his children. But ignoring all this, and assuming we all
want to believe the story (which we desperately do) let's ask ourselves - Is this
the proper way to behave with kind-hearted children? Kind-hearted ghost children?
Let's look at ourselves. Aren't we better than that? Aren't we kinder and gentler?
The site of the collision is on an incline, (which would explain the
movement to a logical mind) but even so, pushing stationary vehicles is a bit
of a strain even for grown-ups. Is it right that people trick the ghost children
into pushing 30 or 40 cars an evening off the tracks? It was told to us that faint
little voices (faint from exhaustion?) have supposedy been heard saying things
like "Take it out of park, Stupid!" or "I'm not pushing this Camero
another time tonight. I hope a train does come." One woman reported drops
of moisture appeared on her talcumed trunk.Were these tears of the ghost kids,
or sweat from being overworked?
Assuming the little tykes are there,
shouldn't they wise up? Can't they see there's no train coming? Haven't they noticed
that these drunk teenagers didn't stall their car, but intentional stopped and
got out? Okay, so they aren't bright ghost-children. Does that give people the
right to work them to … Okay, so they're already dead.
San
Antonio Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here &
Save |
| Well,
this is a traditional story and as we all know, tradition is not in fashion. In
fact tradition has been out-of-fashion for so long, it's becoming a tradition
to be untraditional. If the ghost children were suddenly to become as sharp and
sophisticated as our kids today; they might not just push the car, but reach inside
the car and steer the wheel so that the car sets firmly astride the tracks. They
can then push it toward any oncoming trains. Thank heavens these are Spanky and
Alfalfa-era ghost children and not Beavis and Butthead-era children. |
Any
good ghost story collection should include this one. We would suggest Spirits
of San Antonio and South Texas by Docia Schultz Williams, Republic of Texas Press,
1993. In this volume Mrs. Williams' gift of description is in fine form and
she even throws in a related story that was told to her. It's a variation of the
"Vanishing Hitchhiker" story, but who gets tired of hearing that one? This time
she even has a name.
Getting
There
As a public
service, we're not going to give you the address. If you go you'll have to find
your own way. Don't look for us there - we're staying home and putting talcum
powder on our outside doorknobs.
© John Troesser
San
Antonio Hotels >
|
|
See San
Antonio, Texas
More Texas Ghosts
Forum:
Subject: Haunting in San Antonio
As a former long-time resident of San Antonio, I am familiar with many of the
local legends about ghosts and the like. I know all about the "haunted" train
tracks, and the optical illusion responsible for the phenomenon, I remember tales
of Midget Mansion (actually hiked up that way a time or two), and I have heard
fascinating, and rather scary, stories of the ghostly activities in the old Hertzberg
Circus Museum. More specifically, I have heard tales of what occurred in the basement,
used at least at the time by the library for storage. The mother of a personal
friend of my brother actually worked in that basement, and had her own stories
to tell. Cases of a man in dark/black clothing, often very threatening, books
moving, being "grabbed" by nothing visible, and more. While looking around online
for these old stories, I found many of them, but can locate nothing on the circus/library
building. I did visit the museum there once, and only once, and was rather uncomfortable,
for lack of a better word, the entire time. I am hoping that you might have some
information on this "haunting". Thank you. - Deborah Fisher, May 25, 2006
See San Antonio,
Texas
More Texas Ghosts
San
Antonio Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here &
Save | |
|
