Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1837-01-24

into a giant with eyes of fire and tongue
of flame, and remembering that the better
part Of courage is discretion he seeks
safety in flight. When he arrives at home
breathless, and pale. and trembling, 10 salts.
fy his afTrighted hearers that he had good
cause for his terror, he declares that the
giant called after him and pursued him, and
that he heard the loud clatter Of the mon.
ster's feet close behind him. The children
creep off trembling to bed, and dream all
night Of ghosts, and never forget the oc.
curence till their dying hour. The poor
stump remains in the field perfectly uncon.
scious of the injury il has Lone. The
light in this decayed wood is produced by
substance called phosphorus. 1t is this
which God has given 10 the firefy. This
SUBSTANCE, cbymists can collect in large
'quantits Ihe light which it cmis is SO
pale, ,tk4Nrg cannot he seen in the day. but
is easily discernible in the night. A person
with astick of phosphorus once wrote up
on the wall of ano,her's chamber,
This night thou must de- When the per.
son entered his bed-chamber the light of the
lamp prevented his observing the light of
the phosphorus; but as soon as the lamp
was cxtinguished he beheld the warning
words glaring from the wall. But he hap.
pened to be acquainted with the nature of
phosphorus, laughed heartily at the at.
tempted deception, and quickly fell asleep.
The experiment, however, was hazardous
and wicked, for an ignorant person, and
one of sensitive nerves, might have receiv.
ed an irrecoverable shock.
The following account of a case of
unnecessary alarm is given by Scott. The
agency of philosophical principles was en-
pIoyed in the deception. Sat a certain old
castle, on the confines of Hungary, the lord
to whom it had belonged, had determined
upon giving an entertainment, worthy Of
his own rank, and Of the magniicence of
the antique mansion which he inhabited.
The guests Of course, were numerous, and
among them was veteran officer of hus.
sars remarkable for his bravery. When
the arrangements for the night were made,
this officer was informed there would be
difficulty in accommodating the company
in the castle, large as twas, unless some one
would take the risk Of sleeping in room
supposed to be haunted and that as he
was known to be above such prejudices,
the apartment was in the first place propos-
ed for his occupation, as the person least
likely to suffer bad nights rest from this
cause. The major thankfully accepted the
preference, and having shared the festivity
of the evening, retired after midnight, hay.
ing denounced vengeance against any. one
who should by any trick attempt to disturb
his rcpose. A threat which his habits
would, it was supposed. render him suf'
fciently ready to execute. Somewhat
contrary to the custom in these cases, the
major went to bed, having left his candle
burning, and laid his trusty pistols carefully
loaded upon his bedside.
He had not slept an hour, when he
was awakened by a solemn strain Of music.
He looked out. Three ladies fantastically
dressed in green, were seen at the lower
end of the apartment, who sung solemn
requiem. The major listened some time
with delight. At last he grew tired
f" Ladies'" SAID he, this is very well, but
somewhat monotonous will you be so
kind as to change the tune." The ladies'
continued singing. He expostulated, but
the music was not interrupted. The major
began to grow angry. "Ladics," he said,
81 must consider this trick, for the pur.
pose of terrifying me, and as regard it as
an impertinence, shall take rough mode
of stopping it" With that he began 10
handle his pistols. The ladies' sung on.
He then got seriously angry. Il will wait
but five minutes" he said, "and then fire
without hesitation" The song was still
uninterrupted five minutes were cx-
pired. 81 still give you leave, ladies'" he
said, "whie count twenty" This pro.
duced as little effect as his former threats.
He counted, one-two-three-accordlng
ly, but on approaching the end Of the mum.
Der, and repeating more than once his
determination to fre-the last numbers,
Observation-Disclosures pro.
nounced with considerable pauses between,
and on assurance that the pistols were cock.
cd. the ladies sung on. AS he pro.
nounced the word twenty, he fired both
pistols against the musical damsels- but
the ladies sung on. The major was over.
come by the unexpected ineficacy of his
violence, and had an illness which lasted
more than three weeks. The trick put up.
on him, may shortly be described by the
fact, that the female choristers were placed
in an adjoining room-and that he only
fired at their reflection, thrown forward in.
to that in which he slept, by the effect of u
concave mirror
Here the plain and we'll known laws Of
the reflection of light, account for the
whole appearance. But, suppose the de.
oon,;op bod novor heep axnloinad uhot