WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:05.200 Section fifteen of the Best Ghost Stories. This is a 2 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:09.359 LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. 3 00:00:10.119 --> 00:00:14.279 For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. 4 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:20.600 Reading by Marina forty seven Some Real American Ghosts, Part two, 5 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:28.039 An Idiot Ghost with Brass Buttons, Philadelphia Press, June sixteenth, 6 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:33.159 eighteen eighty nine. In a pretty but old fashioned house 7 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:38.359 in Stuyvesant Square, ghosts like squares, I think is another ghost. 8 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:42.880 This house stood empty for several years, and about six 9 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:46.000 years ago a gentleman, his wife and little daughter moved 10 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:49.240 in there, and while fitting up, allowed the child to 11 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:52.679 play about the empty attic, which had apparently been arranged 12 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.960 for a children's play room long ago. There was a 13 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.759 fireplace and a large fireboard in front of it. When 14 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.600 the horse was about finished downstairs, the mother began to 15 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.079 pay more attention to the little girl and tried to 16 00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:08.159 keep her down there with her, but the child always 17 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:12.319 stole away and went back upstairs again and again, until 18 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:14.760 finally the mother asked why she liked to go up 19 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:17.799 there so much. She replied that she liked to play 20 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:22.040 with a funny little boy. Investigation showed that it was 21 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.359 utterly impossible for any person, man or child to get 22 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:29.439 in that place or be concealed there, but the little 23 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:32.799 girl insisted and told her parents that he went in there, 24 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:38.280 pointing to the fireboard. The parents were seriously concerned, believing 25 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:41.560 that their daughter was telling them an untruth, and threatened 26 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:45.120 to punish her for it, but she insisted so strongly 27 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.680 that she saw and played with a funny little boy 28 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:51.359 with lots of brass buttons on his jacket, that they 29 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:56.400 finally gave up threatening and resolved to investigate. The father, 30 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:59.319 who was an old sea captain, found out that this 31 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.640 house had been occupied by an Englishman named Cowdery, who 32 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.239 had had three children, two boys and a girl. One 33 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.599 of the boys was an idiot. This idiot was supposed 34 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:12.199 to have fallen into the East River, as his cap 35 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:14.960 was found there, and he had always shown a liking 36 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.000 for the river when his nurse took him out. Soon 37 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:22.199 after this, mister Cowdery moved west. This was enough for 38 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:25.960 my friend's friend, who had the fireboard taken down and 39 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:27.919 short work in the wall by the side of the 40 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:31.960 chimney brought the body of the unfortunate idiot boy. The 41 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.639 back of his skull was crushed in He still had 42 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.680 the dark blue jacket on with four rows of buttons 43 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:42.039 on the front. The poor little bones were buried and 44 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.560 the affair kept quiet, but the captain left the house. 45 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:54.080 A model ghost story, Boston Courier, August tenth, A very 46 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:57.680 singular story which forms one of the sensational social topics 47 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:00.759 of the day. Is the best Ottenna dedicated of the 48 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:03.840 many stories of the supernatural that have been lately told. 49 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.879 Only a short time ago, a young and well known artist, 50 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:10.960 mister A was invited to pay a visit to his 51 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:15.800 distinguished friend, mister Izard. The house was filled with guests, 52 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:19.159 but a large and handsome room was placed at his disposal, 53 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:23.039 apparently one of the best in the house. For three 54 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:27.360 days he had a delightful visit, delightful in all particular 55 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:31.639 save one. He had each night a horrible dream. He 56 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:35.960 dreamed he was, or was really suddenly awakened by some 57 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.840 person entering his room, and in looking around, saw the 58 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:43.319 room brilliantly lighted, while at the window stood a lady 59 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:48.879 elegantly attired in the act of throwing something out. This accomplished, 60 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:52.439 she turned her face toward the only spectator showing a 61 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:55.879 countenance so distorted by evil passions that he was thrilled 62 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:59.120 with horror. Soon the light and the figure with the 63 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:02.960 dreadful face to isame disappeared, leaving the artist suffering from 64 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:06.879 a frightful nightmare. On returning to his city home, he 65 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:09.639 was so haunted by the fearful countenance which had for 66 00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:13.360 three consecutive knights troubled him, that he made a sketch 67 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:16.759 of it, and so real that the evil expression seemed 68 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:20.959 to horrify everyone who saw it. Not a great while 69 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.000 after the artist went to make an evening visit on 70 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:28.480 mister Izard. That gentleman invited him to his picture gallery, 71 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:32.720 as he wished to show him some remarkable old family portraits. 72 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:36.759 What was mister May's surprise to recognize among them in 73 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:40.319 the likeness of a stately, well dressed lady, the one 74 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:44.839 who had so troubled his slumbers on his previous visit. Lacking, however, 75 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:49.360 the revolting, wicked expression. Soon as he saw it, he 76 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:55.360 involuntarily exclaimed, why I have seen that lady? Indeed, said 77 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:59.199 mister I, smiling, that is hardly possible, as she died 78 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:01.879 more than a hundred y years ago. She was the 79 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.800 second wife of my great grandfather, and reflected anything but 80 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:09.879 credit on the family. She was strongly suspected of having 81 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:13.360 murdered her husband's son by a former marriage in order 82 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:16.600 to make her own child heir to the property. The 83 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:19.480 unfortunate boy broke his neck in a fall from a window, 84 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:22.560 and there was every reason to believe that he was 85 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:26.800 precipitated from the window by his step mother. The artist 86 00:05:26.839 --> 00:05:30.079 then told his host the circumstances of his thrice repeated 87 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:34.480 experience or dream, and sent for his sketch, which, so 88 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:37.639 far as the features were concerned, was identical with the 89 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.279 portrait in mister Izzard's gallery. The sketch has since been photographed, 90 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:45.680 but from its hideous expression is not very pleasant to 91 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:53.000 look upon a ghost that will not down. Cincinnati Enquirer, 92 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:59.920 September thirtieth, eighteen eighty four, Grantsville, West Virginia, September thirty 93 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:06.000 The Ghost of Bett's Farm will not lay something. Over 94 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:09.279 a year ago, the Inquirer contained an account or an 95 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:14.120 occult influence or manifestation at the farmhouse of mister Collins Bets, 96 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:18.240 about three miles below this town, in which story were 97 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:23.639 delineated a number of weird, strange instances of ghostly manifestations, 98 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:26.959 all of which were verified by the testimony of honest, brave, 99 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:31.120 and reliable citizens, the names of many of whom were mentioned. 100 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:35.000 That story went the rounds of newspapers all over the 101 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.360 country and resulted in the propriety of the place receiving 102 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:42.160 hundreds of letters from all over the country. Since then, 103 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.439 the old house has been torn down, the family of 104 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:48.319 mister Betts rebuilding a home place on a different portion 105 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:52.439 of the farm. This act, it was believed, would lay 106 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:55.720 or forever quiet the ramblings and queer doings of the 107 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:01.199 inexplicable mystery, but such has not been the case. Since 108 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:05.040 the building has been raised, the mysterious manifestation has made 109 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:08.240 itself visible at places, sometimes quite a distance from the 110 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:12.680 scene of its former domicile. At a distance of several 111 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:16.600 hundred yards from the old BET's place, a neighboring farmer 112 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:19.319 had erected a house in which he intended to reside, 113 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.959 and in fact did reside a short time. But the 114 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:27.079 kale BET's ghost, as the manifestation is commonly called, for 115 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:30.759 a distance of many miles, was no respector of persons 116 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:34.720 and oblivious of distance, and it so annoyed and frightened 117 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:37.360 the farmer and his family at underward times, that he 118 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.279 has removed his house to the opposite end of the farm, 119 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:44.959 leaving his garden, orchard and all the improvements usually made 120 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:49.120 about a farmhouse to take care of themselves. This in 121 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:53.480 itself was considered strange enough, but the ghostly visitant did 122 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:57.879 not stop there. The high road running some distance away, 123 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:01.480 has been the theater of almost numberless scenes of frights 124 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:05.439 and frightful appearances. Among those who have lately seen the 125 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:09.120 ghost is a young man named van Devener, whose father 126 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:12.519 had once been frightened nearly to death. As related in 127 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.720 a former letter, young Van Deviner had frequently made sport 128 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:19.920 of the old man's fright, but he does so no more. 129 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:24.199 In fact, the young man is willing to make affidavit 130 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:29.120 that the old man's story was mildly drawn. The young 131 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:31.879 man was driving along quietly one night, about half a 132 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:36.279 mile from the BET's place, when he saw a strange being, which, 133 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:38.679 in the pale light of the moon, he took to 134 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:40.840 be a man walking at the head of his horses. 135 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:44.679 A few minutes later, the man, or whatever it was, 136 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:50.039 glided without making a particle of noise around the horses heads, 137 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:52.799 and got into the wagon and took a seat by 138 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:56.639 his side. Young van Diviner says it rode along with 139 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.799 him several hundred yards and spoke to him. It first 140 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.720 told him not to be afraid, as it did not 141 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.200 intend to injure him in the least. What it said 142 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.879 he will not tell, except that it admonished him not 143 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:15.720 to say anything about it until a certain time after 144 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:18.080 it had spoken to him. Van deer Biner says it 145 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:21.000 got up and glided off into the woods and disappeared. 146 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:24.440 He says the shape was that of a headless man, 147 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:27.360 and that while it was with him, he felt a 148 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.960 cold chill run over him, although it was a warm evening, 149 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:34.879 and this chilly feeling did not leave him until the 150 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:39.960 disappearance of the shape. Since then Van Devener cannot be 151 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:44.320 induced to go over the ground after night. He still 152 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:47.039 persists in the same story, and as he is a 153 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.559 truthful young fellow, the people who know him are satisfied 154 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:52.759 that he really saw what he claims to have seen. 155 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:58.559 Only one day last week, another young man, Henry Stevens, 156 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:02.440 I believe, on his passed the same place, saw a 157 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:04.919 peculiar shape rise out of the brush by the side 158 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:07.279 of the road and glide along by the side of 159 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:11.039 the wagon. Stephens got out of his wagon and gathered 160 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.679 together a handful of rocks, which he threw at the object. 161 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:18.360 Some of the stones appeared to go through it, but 162 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.559 did not seem to affect it in the least. It 163 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:24.720 still continued to float along at a short distance away, 164 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.919 until Stemens became frightened and whipped up his horses, until 165 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:31.120 they flew at a two minute gate down the road, 166 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.320 the object following at some distance until quite away from 167 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:38.919 the scene of its first appearance, when it disappeared like 168 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:43.399 a cloud of vapor. There are dozens of authentic stories 169 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.440 of the ghostly peculiarities of the BET's Ghost, which are 170 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.879 new and peculiar. It appears, since the destruction of the 171 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:54.440 Bett's homestead to have taken up its quarters near the highway, 172 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:57.840 and here it appears to people who have generally scoffed 173 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.240 and laughed at the former stories that it is bullet 174 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:05.480 proof does not need testimony. Located as it is in 175 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.200 a section of country which has for years been noted 176 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:12.840 for its fearless men, such as the Duskies, Downs and others, 177 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:17.000 of national fame as sharpshooters, scouts, et cetera. During the 178 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:20.600 late War. None of these men who succeeded in laying 179 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:23.720 or putting a quietness to it. There is a story 180 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:26.320 that a couple of men had been murdered or disappeared 181 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.639 in this vicinity, and that the ghost is the uneasy 182 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:32.200 spirit of one of these men, but there is no 183 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:36.320 real evidence that anybody was ever killed there. There is 184 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:41.360 no doubt that Calhoun County has a mystery which neither time, bullets, courage, 185 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:45.480 nor philosophy can either drive away or explain it has 186 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:49.000 come to stay. If you meet a Calhoun or just 187 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:52.120 mention it, and he will tell you that the BET's 188 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.240 ghost is a county possession which it will gladly dispose 189 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:05.039 of at any price. Tom Cypher's Phantom Engine, Seattle Press Times, 190 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:11.360 January tenth, eighteen ninety two. Locomotive engineers are as a 191 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:15.399 class said to be superstitious, but J. M. Pinkney, an 192 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:19.480 engineer known to almost every Brotherhood Man, is an exception 193 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:23.000 to the rule. He has never been able to believe 194 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:26.559 the different stories told of apparitions suddenly appearing on the track, 195 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:30.600 but he had an experienced last Sunday night on the 196 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:34.679 Northern Pacific eastbound overland that made his hair stand on 197 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:39.440 end by the courtesy of the engineer, also a brotherhood man, 198 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:44.879 mister Pinkney, was riding on the engine. They were recounting experiences, 199 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:48.320 and the fireman, who was a green hand, was getting 200 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:51.200 very nervous as he listened to the tales of rex 201 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:55.320 and disasters, the horrors of which were graphically described by 202 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:59.759 the veteran engineers. The night was clear, and the rays 203 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:03.480 from the headlight flashed along the track, and although they 204 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:07.039 were interested in spinning yarns, a sharp lookout was kept, 205 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.320 for they were rapidly nearing Eagle Gorge in the Cascades, 206 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:14.600 the scene of so many disasters and the place which 207 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:17.600 is said to be the most dangerous on the two thousand, 208 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:21.679 five hundred miles of road. The engineer was relating a 209 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:24.279 story and was just coming to the climax when he 210 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:27.799 suddenly grasped the throttle and in a moment had thrown 211 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:32.039 her over, that is, reversed the engine. The air brakes 212 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:34.679 were applied and the train brought to a standstill within 213 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.360 a few feet of the place where engineer Cipher met 214 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:41.320 his death. Two years ago. By this time, the passengers 215 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:44.200 had become curious as to what was the matter, and 216 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:48.440 all sorts of questions were asked the trainmen. The engineer 217 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.120 made an excuse that some of the machinery was loose, 218 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:53.960 and in a few moments the train was speeding on 219 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:59.120 to her destination. What made you stop back there, asked Pinkney. 220 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.879 I heard your excuse, but I have run too long 221 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:05.159 on the road not to know that your excuse is 222 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.919 not the truth. His question was answered by the engineer, 223 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:12.159 pointing ahead and saying excitedly, there, look there, don't you 224 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:16.120 see it? Looking out of the cab window, said mister Pinkney, 225 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.879 I saw about three hundred yards ahead of us the 226 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:22.399 headlight of a locomotive. Stop the train man, I cried, 227 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:25.679 reaching for the lever. Oh, it's nothing, It's what I 228 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:29.639 saw back at the gorge. It's Tom Cypher's engine, number 229 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:34.279 thirty three. There's no danger of a collision. The man 230 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.399 who is running that ahead of us can run it 231 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.679 faster backward than I can this one forward. Have I 232 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:44.600 seen it before, Yes, twenty times. Every engineer on the 233 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:48.159 road knows that engine, and he's always watching for it. 234 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:51.440 When he gets to the gorge. The engine ahead of 235 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.120 us was running silently, but smoke was puffing from the stack, 236 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.679 and the head light throughout rays of red, green, and 237 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:01.080 white light. It kept a sh short distance ahead of 238 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:04.399 us for several miles, and then for a moment we 239 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:08.200 saw a finger on the pilot. Then the engine rounded 240 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:11.000 a curve and we did not see it again. We 241 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:14.399 ran by a little station, and at the next when 242 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:16.720 the operator warned us to keep well back from a 243 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:21.240 wild engine that was ahead, the engineer said nothing. He 244 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:25.279 was not afraid of a collision. Just to satisfy my 245 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.000 own mind on the matter, I sent a telegram to 246 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:31.679 the engine wiper at Sprague, asking him if number thirty 247 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:35.399 three was in. I received a reply stating that number 248 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:38.360 thirty three had just come in and that her coal 249 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:42.840 was exhausted and boxes burned out. I suppose you'll be 250 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:45.960 inclined to laugh at the story, but just ask any 251 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:48.960 of the boys, although many of them won't talk about it. 252 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.120 I would dot myself if I were running on the road. 253 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:57.200 It's unlucky to do so. With this comment upon the tail, 254 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:00.240 mister Pinckney bordered passing caboose and was sooner on his 255 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:04.799 way to Tacoma. It is believed by Northern Pacific engineers 256 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:11.840 that Thomas Cipher's spirit still hovers near Eagle Gorge Ghosts 257 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:17.480 in Connecticut, New York Sun September one, eighteen eighty five. 258 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:22.600 There is as much superstition in New England today as 259 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:25.240 there was in those old times when they slashed quakers 260 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:29.559 and built bonfires for witches. It was a New york 261 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.720 Man who gave expression to this rather startling statement. He 262 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:36.759 has been summering in Connecticut, and he averts that his 263 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:41.720 talk about native superstition is founded on close observation. Perhaps 264 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:46.039 it is. Anyhow, he regaled the Times Correspondent with some 265 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:49.240 entertaining incidents which he claims established the truth of his 266 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:55.320 somewhat astonishing theories. Old Stratford, the whitewashed town between this 267 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:59.840 place in Bridgeport, made famous by mysterious rappings many years ago, 268 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.799 and more recently celebrated as the scene of poor Rose 269 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:08.680 Clark Ambler's strange murder, is much concerned over a house 270 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:13.920 which the almost universal verdict pronounces haunted the family of 271 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:17.680 Elehugh Osborne lives in this house, and ghosts have been 272 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:22.480 clambering through it lately. In a wonderfully promiscuous fashion. Two 273 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.440 or three families were compelled to vacate the premises before 274 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:30.799 the Osborne's, proud and skeptical took possession of them. Now 275 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:34.359 the Osborns are hunting for a new home. Children of 276 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:37.440 the family have been awakened at midnight by visitors which 277 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:41.519 persisted in shaking them out of bed. Missus Osborne has 278 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:45.880 been confronted with ghostly spectacles, and through the halls and 279 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.240 vacant rooms, strange footsteps are frequently heard when all the 280 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:52.960 family are trying to sleep, sounds loud enough to arouse 281 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:58.720 every member of the household. Then the manifestation sometimes changed 282 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:02.880 to moanings and groaning sufficiently vehement and pitiful to distract 283 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:07.240 all who hear them. Once upon a time, perhaps a 284 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.759 dozen years ago, Jonathan Riggs lived in this house, and, 285 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:15.640 as the local gossips assert, rings, caused the death of 286 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:19.000 his wife by his brutal conduct, and then swallowed poison 287 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:23.079 to end his own life. The anniversary of the murderous 288 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.440 month in the Riggs family has arrived, and the manifestations 289 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:29.160 are so frequent and so lively that the like has 290 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:33.000 never been seen before, as is affirmed by a veteran 291 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:37.200 Stratford citizen. There is no shadow of doubt in Stratford 292 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:40.599 that the spirits of the Rigses are spryly cavorting around 293 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:45.759 their former amode. Over at the Thimble Islands off Stoney 294 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:48.720 Creek is an acre or two of soil piled high 295 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:52.519 on a lot of rocks. The natives call it Frisbee Island. 296 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:56.480 Not more than a hundred yards off shore. It contains 297 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:00.160 a big, bleak looking house which was built about twenty 298 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.160 years ago to serve as a summer hotel, when Connecticut 299 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.200 capitalists were deep in schemes to tempt New Yorkers to 300 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.519 this part of the Sound Shore to spend their summers. 301 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:13.279 New Yorkers declined to be tempted, and the old house 302 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:17.960 is rapidly approaching decay. It has recently assumed a peculiar 303 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:22.400 interest for the residents of Stony Creek. Midnight lights have 304 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:26.680 suddenly appeared in all its windows at frequent intervals, fitfully 305 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:29.279 flashing up and down like the blaze in the Long 306 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:36.200 Island lighthouses ghosts. This is the universal verdict. Nobody disputes it. 307 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:39.839 Once or twice. A hardy crew of local sailors have 308 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:43.559 volunteered to go out and investigate the mystery. But when 309 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.960 the time for the test has arrived, there somehow have 310 00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:52.279 always been reasons for postponing the excursion. Cynical people profess 311 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:54.839 to believe that practical jokers are at the root of 312 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:59.039 the manifestations, but such a profane view is not widely 313 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:01.640 entertained among them the good people who have their homes 314 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:06.160 at Stony Creek over near Middleton is a farmer named 315 00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:09.720 Edgar G. Stokes, a gentleman who is said to have 316 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:12.640 graduated with honor in a New England college more than 317 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:17.119 a quarter of a century ago. He enjoys perhaps the 318 00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:20.400 most notable bit of superstition to be found anywhere in 319 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:24.440 this country, in or out of Connecticut. He owns the 320 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:27.960 farm in which he lives, and it is valuable. Not 321 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:31.880 quite so valuable though as it once was. For mister 322 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:36.240 stokes eccentric disposition has somewhat changed the usual tactics that 323 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.599 farmers pursue when they own fertile acres. The average man 324 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:44.599 clears his soil of stones, mister Stokes has been piling 325 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:48.519 rocks all over his land. Little by little, the weakness 326 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:53.559 or philosophy has grown upon him, and not only from 327 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:57.200 every part of Middlesex County, but from every part of 328 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:01.440 this state. He has been accumulating wagon loads pebbles and rocks. 329 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:05.559 He seeks for no peculiar stone, either in shape, color 330 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:10.680 or quality. If they are stones, that is sufficient. And 331 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:14.599 his theory is that stones have souls, souls too that 332 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:17.160 are not so sordid and earthly as the souls that 333 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:23.640 animate humanity. They are souls purified and exalted. In the 334 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:26.000 rocks are the spirits of the greatest men who have 335 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:30.680 lived in past ages, developed by some divinity, until they 336 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:35.440 have become worthy of their new abode. Napoleon Bonaparte's soul 337 00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:40.720 inhabits a stone, so does Annibals, so does Caesar's. But 338 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:45.599 poor Plebeian John Smith and William Jenkins they never attained 339 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:51.000 such immortality. Farmer Stokes has dumped his rocks with more 340 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:55.160 or less reverence all along his fields. And this by 341 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.839 one name, and that by another, he knows and haales 342 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.920 them all a choice. Galaxy of the distinguished lights of 343 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:05.160 the old days are in his possession. And just between 344 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:07.599 the burly bits of granite at the very threshold of 345 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:10.960 his home is a smooth faced crystal from the rocky mountains. 346 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:17.039 This stone has no soul yet. The rough jagged rock 347 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:21.039 on its left is George Washington. The granite spar on 348 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:24.640 the right is glorified with the spirit of Good Queen Bess, 349 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:28.839 the smooth faced crystal. One of these days is to 350 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:31.559 know the bliss of swallowing up the spirit of good. 351 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:36.599 Farmer Edgar Garton Stokes, it was not until recently that 352 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:40.599 mystified neighbors obtained the secret of the vast accumulation of 353 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:45.079 rough stones on the Stokes farm. Mister Stokes has a family. 354 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:50.079 They all seem to be intelligent, practical business people. There 355 00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:53.759 may be a will contested in Middleton one of these days. 356 00:22:56.759 --> 00:23:03.119 The Spook of Diamond Island Louis Globe Democrat, September eighteenth, 357 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:10.279 eighteen eighty eight, Harden, Illinois, September eighteenth. For some time 358 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:13.640 past rumors have been circulated and hardened to the effect 359 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:16.880 that Diamond Island in the River, about two miles from 360 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:20.839 this place, was the home of a ghost. The stories 361 00:23:20.839 --> 00:23:23.759 concerning the movements of the alleged spook were of course, 362 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:28.480 not given any credence at first, but later when several 363 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:32.319 reputable citizens of Harden announced that they had positively seen 364 00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:35.559 an uncanny looking object moving about on the island at night. 365 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:42.599 The rumors were more seriously considered. Now, after investigation, the 366 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:49.039 mysterious something is no longer considered a myth. Along toward midnight, 367 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:51.799 a peculiar light is seen at the foot of the island. 368 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.079 It has the appearance of a huge ball of fire, 369 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:59.039 and is about the size and shape of an ordinary barrel. 370 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:02.839 A few nights ago a party of young men from 371 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:05.680 this place determined to visit the island and fathom the 372 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:12.160 mystery if possible. Equipped with revolvers, knives, shot guns and clubs, 373 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:15.480 the party secured a boat and were soon cutting through 374 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:17.440 the water at a good speed for a point on 375 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:20.680 the island, near where the specter usually made its appearance. 376 00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:25.559 Arriving at the landing place, the skiff was hauled up 377 00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:27.359 on the shore and the young man took up a 378 00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:29.759 position in the clump of trees close at hand to 379 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:34.000 watch and wait. Suddenly, the whole point of the island 380 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:37.039 was illumined as a bright red object rose apparently from 381 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:41.200 the water, and glided up into the air, ascending probably 382 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:44.559 to a height of forty yards. The watcher saw the 383 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:49.519 lurid ball fade away. The investigating party had seen all 384 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:52.480 they wanted. They made a mad rush for the boat, 385 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:54.920 but just as they reached the place where it had 386 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:57.839 been left, they were horrified to see the little craft 387 00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:01.440 moving out on the water from the island. At first, 388 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:04.079 its only occupant seemed to be the red ball of fire. 389 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.200 But the next moment the watchers saw the crimson object 390 00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:12.359 gradually take the form of a man, and they saw him, too, 391 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:15.599 dip the oars at regular intervals and pull a long, 392 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:20.000 steady stroke. The man's features were fully concealed by a 393 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:23.720 wide rimmed slouch hat, which was drawn over his face. 394 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:28.079 A peculiar light illumined the boat and the waters around it, 395 00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:33.319 making the craft and its mysterious occupant perfectly discernible to 396 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:36.599 the party on the shore, who stood paralyzed with fear, 397 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:40.839 unable to speak or move their eyes. Riveted by some 398 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:44.839 mysterious influence, they could not resist on the spectral object 399 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.559 before them. The boat was now but in mid stream, 400 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.000 and suddenly the group of watchers saw the skiff's occupant 401 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:55.920