“I remember starting off my second year of teaching at Washington State College in the year of 1897.  I was the the crop science professor for the Agriculture College.  I taught classes to about 30 students and conducted research in the Experimental Station within the School of Sciences.  It was August on the Palouse.  All one could see for miles and miles were golden wheat fields bathing under that late summer sun.  Crickets played a low soft melody carried by the warm breeze that rippled up and over the expanding WSC campus.  There was construction everywhere.  The Crib was the first building built on campus, housing the agricultural and biological laboratories.  Then came Ferry, College, Mechanical, and Thompson Halls.  There were also the Greenhouses, which is where I spent the majority of my time researching ways to make wheat more drought resistant.

    It was here that I first met Ira.  He was a 1st semester student assigned to be my lab assistant.  He was a handsome youth.  Ira stood about 6 ft tall, had dark brown hair and a toned build, like that of a man accustomed to outdoor labor.  His most remarkable feature however were his eyes.  They stared at you unyeildingly, a very stone cold glare.  It was like an icy rain chilling your whole body to the bone.  His presence had a way of making you feel just a tinge of uneasiness somewhere back in the depth of your soul.  I brushed this feeling to the back of my mind though and started off the semester instructing Ira on how to benefit my research. The first couple weeks went smooth as summer slowely faded away and the fall weather set in.  Ira and I grew accoustommed to working in my lab together.  We had little conversation but it was better that way, as Ira was a man of little words.

    The first time I started to understand the cruel demon Ira was hiding under that cool façade was on October 14, 1897.  The events of this evening have been forever burned into my memory.  It was a stormy evening, one of the first big rainstorms of the season.  I remember the cold leaves being pounded to the ground by rain drops as big as pennies.  There were swirls of dirty water, filled with debris, washing down the street next to my house.  I was comfortably settled at home when I remembered I had left my burner on under the fermentration broth of my wheat culture cells.  Knowning all progress with the culture would be ruined if the water evaporated out I decided I better brave the storm and head back up to the greenhouses to shut off the gas.  I donned the thickest coat I could find, hopeing it would block the rain, and started out to the greenhouse.  As I was trudging along I looked up and noticed there was candlelight flickering inside my greenhouse in addition to the burner I had left lit.  I could see both flames casting long distorted shadows of the plants on the walls of the greenhouse.  I remember thinking it odd to see candle lit.  During the daylight hours there was no need for candlelight and besides, it had been several hours since I was last in the greenhouse.  A candle would have burnt out by then.  As I continued to approach closer I fleetingly thought I seen the twisted and disfigured shadow of a human in the greenhouse.  My alarm was raised, who could possibly have broken into my lab in the greenhouse?  No one had keys to it besides me and the Dean.  My thoughts jumped to the conclusion there must be a thief in there stealing my valuable lab equiptment.  I blew out my lantern and was immediately swalled up by the black of the night.  I began to sneak up on the greenhouse to get a visual of the thief.  As I neared the east corner of the greenhouse I could see a dark huddled figure inside the greenhouse, leaning over something.  I could hear a harsh whispering that sounded kind of like the scrap of rusty chair legs scraping across a polished floor.  I leaned in closer to get a better look and my knee collided with the heavy metal door prop that was sitting outside.  It shattered the night air with a loud ping.  The huddled figure wheeled around at an unnatural speed and its wild eyes locked onto mine.  It was Ira.  His mouth and teeth were covered in blood.  His lips were pulled back in a snarl.  His whole body was tensed and I recall seeing the muscles in his jaw quiver with blood lust.  At his feet were a thick leather bound book and the tattered remains of what looked like a small animal.  My body was frozen, like in those horrible dreams where you are trying so hard to run away but only stay in one spot as horror is unleashed around you.  Only, I wasn’t in a dream.  I could hear my pulse thumping through the temple in my head and every nerve in my body was in a silent struggle between staying put and trying to be quiet or to run for my life.  In the next split second Ira turned forward and took off running out of the lab.  I too whirled around into that dark storm, with no light, and ran for my dear life.  I remember feeling panic and a fear as the darkness licked around my ankles.  Even as I recall the events of that night now I get goosebumps that popped up on the back of my neck and along my cheeks. 

    I contacted the police department and an investigation was conducted in my lab.  When the chief showed up however all evidence was gone. Not even any blood marks remained.  Now I sounded like the crazy one.  How could there be no evidence left in my lab?  Ira must have gone back to destroy all evidence while I was getting the police.  The following day I made sure Ira was fired from my laboratory and not aloud anywhere near where I worked or lived.  He didn’t try and contact me in anyway.  In the subsequent days after the event I began to think I was crazy.  Had I imagined everything I saw that night?

    This thought was short lived however when the reports of small dead animals ravaged by some beast began to show up in Ferry Hall, the domority on campus.  The dorm where Ira lived.  I knew it was no coincidence.  There were a couple sightings of the ‘beast’ and animal offerings continued to show up more and more frequently until there were several found a day.  There was also a rumor of a note the police had found saying the animals were for some sort of a sacrific.  Then the unthinkable happened on that cold November morning of the 23rd. At 1:30 in the morning a fire was started in Ferry Hall that completely destroyed the building.  All students made it out fine, except for one.  Ira.  Authorities say the fire was an accident fire that started in the kitchen.  This is the story you will find in the history books.  I know though.  I know it was Ira who started that fire and then sacrificed himself. ”

               

    After this event students all over campus reported seeing a ghost around the proximity of Ferry Hall that was rebuilt in 1899.  One story of this ghost can be found within the Washington State Magazine titled “A College Ghost”.  Many more deaths occurred within the rebuilt Ferry Hall, especially during the influenza outbreak in 1918 that claimed the life of professor William Black along with 41 more people.  I guess Ira came back to haunt him afterall.  The only remaining piece left of Ferry Hall is the old bell tower that sat on top of the building.  It is located over by the Lewis Alumni Center on the east end of campus.  It has been rumored that if you sit in the bell tower on November 23 you can still see Ira’s ghost come out to haunt old Ferry Hall.