Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1850-05-15
PIAQUENlINE, PARISH OF IBERVIILE. LA, MAY 15 1850

! A gentleman and his wife, who reside in the
vicinity, and had been with the family frequently
while these strange things were going on, found
at another time, in a room into which they, as
well as the family were passing and repassing
every few minutes, nine figures representing
females in a kneeling posture, before each of
which was Bible, opened and passage therein
marked by the turning down of a leaf to it
orby small piece of paper laid upon it. These
figures were dressed with great precision, every
button was fully adjusted, and their preparation
would be the work Of many hours if attempted
by human hands, The dresses belonged to the
young lady and were hanging in closets within
short time OF the discovery. The passages in
Scripture were chiefly in the prophecies of the
| Old Testament, and were very appropriate to
the mystery which apparently existed in the
house.
! Not the least wonderful of these things was
the discovery. in different parts of the house,
| generally in the morning, OF species OF hler-
oglyphic characters on the walls, and on the
floor of the piazza, and also on oiled paper.
One of those on paper was Of exceedingly high
finish, fully equalling engraving on steel. A.
cross the top were characters in Hebrew, and
below, in up and down columns, others similar
in appearance to Chinese. The Hebrew charac-
ters were deciphered by intelligent neighbors.
and found to be, sThe Key to the Mystery"
Of the Chinese, or other characters, nothing has
| yet been discovered, but they have been, or
soon will be submitted to gentlemen in this
city, who are acquainted with the Chinese, Ara
bic and other languages.
Up to the 18th inst. these manifestations in
variably occurred in day time. On the night of
that day, were maintained With increased vio-
lience, and without cessation, until about 4
o'clock in the morning. During that time con-
siderable damage was done to various articles
of furniture, and several panes Of glass were
broken from the windows-all under the eye of
another gentleman from those previously men,
toned, who, at the request Of the family, was
endeayoring by all the means and ingenuity at
his command, to solve the mystery. The par
ticulars of all the upaccountable things which
took place during that night we must psss over,
at least for the present, con6ning ourselves, as
we have hitherto done, to the more striking
and extraordinary ones.
While at the supper table the previous eve-
ming, he was amazed more than once at the fall
ing upon the table of knife, or fork, or spoon,
apparently from the ceiling overhead; and while
seated near the fire, after tea, books, daguer-
reotype cases. and other articles, would fall from
tables and shelves which were distant six to ten
feet from any person in the room. In the same
way pair Of candle-snufers which were on the
mantle piece, and which the gentleman we
speak of had just examined, (they being of GU
rious workmanship seemed to jump from the
shelf and fall to the floor near his feet, he being
the while, the only person near them.
o'clock, and just as he was getting into bed he
II o1of%o n n
a portion of his clothing and running into the
hall, he found it came from the young lady's
room. He called to her to know what was the
matter. She told him the noise was in the
closet in her room, and requested him to come
in. He went in, the noise and screaming being
continued at intervals. The young lady was
in bed and the closet door shut. A light was
burning in that, as also in other rooms of the
house. The noise seemed to be series of
knocks upon the door, as though with per-
sons knuckles, from the inside, succeeded by
blow like kick against the bottom of the door.
He could distinctly see the door yibrate, as he
ran to it, On opening it nothing likely to pro-
duce such noise was to be found!
The chamber spoken of was located similar
to the usual second story hall bedrooms in our
city dwellings. The door to the hall was lock-
ed. After his unsatisfactory search in the
closet, the gentleman stationed himself in the
doorway leading to the large chamber, the
door being wide open, and the door Of the
hall being shut tight. The scream had ceas-
ed, and the knocking in the closet stopped. Pre-
sently the door from the hall to the large cham
ber was knocked upon in simalar manner to
that of the closet, from the side in the hall-a
succession traps and then kick near the bot
tom. He went to it, and taking the knob in his
hand awaited repetition of the knock: it came,
and opening the door instantly, (here being a
light also in the hall,) he saw-nothing. He
was more disconnected than before.
Considerably amazed at his discontinue, but
more determined than ever to ascertain its
origin, he again took his position in the door,
way. The knocking ceased, and he wasson the
point Of retiring again when he distinctly saw
the broken leg of stand which had been lying
on bureau in the young lady's room, fy,a it
were, across the room and strike the window,
breaking two panes of glass and then falling to
the floor. On being made acquainted with this
the mother came in to assist the gentleman in
covering the broken windows, on account of
the cold air, with blanket, and while SO doing
he saw hair brush, which had also been on the
bureau, coming towards her and finally strike
on her her head All this time the young lady
renamed in the bed, and not less than six feet
from the bureau.
Having seen, or fancied he had seen, the mid
die Of three small drawers in the top of the bu-
reau move in and out, the gentleman took it
out and examined in thoroughly. Soon after
cessation Of these things occurred he left the
room, but hardly had he done so when on hear
ing another noise, and breaking Of wood, he
ran back, and found pieces of the little drawer
previously examined by him, falling upon the
floor from the bed and the front piece Of it fall
ing from the window, where pane Of glass
had evidently been broken by it. The occur
renee, whatever it was, frightened the young Ia
DIV SO that she left her bed and was running into
her parents room. She afterwards stated that
lN drawer had beaten itself, or been beaten
against the head-board of her bed until it was