The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1866-02-24
THE GHOSTS AT ERIE. PA.
ural Lights ana Sounds

! THE GHOSTS AT ERIE, PA.
Supernatural Lights and Sounds
We have before referred to the fact tina
they have haunted house" in Erie, anG
the enterpr:sing editors OF that town have
been regaling the public with their investiga
tions. The following grarhic account is from
The Observer, and may be relied upon as au
thentic, if not visionary: la.- --r
On our expressing desue to visit the
house, the gentleman positively refused to ac
company up tbither. He said the resident:
| had an intense dread of the location becom'
ing public, aud were exceedingly annoyd a,
| the accounts which had appeared In q loca
contemporary. We pressed the matter, how
, over, with great energy, and eventually ln>
duced him to see the owner, whom we shall
call Mr.. Y. in fu!u:e, and ask his consent.
DeDarting on his mission, in ten or twenty
minutes he returned with the latter, evident>
ly no. in the best of humor. On mentioning
our desire, Nr. Y. grew quite angry, declared
that he wished people would let HIM alone.
said be did not want his private affairs to be
made a subject of newspaper comment, and
clAse'l by piumply refusing to grant our re-
quest. We argued the question in the best
manner we could summOa up, and soon had
the Satisfaction OF seeing his angry passions
subAsde. II was not long until eur APPEAL:
had the wished foT effect, and an agreement
WAS m ade, that, for the better satisfa :tion Of
of our own mind, and il orier thu. we rr.,ynt
have Credible witnesses 10 anv st..eraent we
Ihigh' 10 crosse to "rit>, two editorial friends
.,ian o.:as visi, 70 the c..y should accompany
US. The latter we're only q few doors from
the house of our meeting. and on iHpartlng
Ia
70 make the visit.
When we were on the point Of stariiEg,
Mr.. y seemed absorbed in deep thought,
once or twice stepped to the door and IS Of eu
returned, and finally sitting down, said:
= Gentlemen, this is for me i matter OF eS.
treme deicacy. | v.ouldnt for e.! that | am
worth have it known where nv house Is situ.
ated. The whole city is talking about the
matter now, and it makes my wife 80 nervous
l dread the results. You are all gentle men
of honor, know, bu, before We 90 any fur
ther | must make ore imperative demand
upon you We looked him auxiGusly in
The face but no one saw proper TO sp Ak.
- 1t is that each Of you take solemn oath,
never under any circumstances, to reveal my
name in this connections, nor the situation OF
nv rssidsnce Oar curiosity 10 see the o.
ject of our search, induced us to give
prompt assent TO this proposal. Drawing
out the stand into the centre Of the room,
aud asking all TO lay their hands on the holy
volume lying upon II, lie then solemnlr Al
ministcred TO II. the required oath, in :. voice
and manner as Impressive Is II the issues OF
lif. or death were at stake OH and perhaps
ridiculous a, TIE proceeding may appear 10
others, they wers 20 all there preseut :u!! Of
sancti,y. aud the covenant thus strangely
entered into viii never be broken.
We were ushered In,p hi,chen. and they
from there into the par,or. Mr. y stepped
ol; to call his wife, and ring his absence
we employed Ourselves in looking about the
roo.n. 1t IS a pi,inly furnished. ba' verr neat
apartment. containing besides piano, ihe
usual assortment of s,ia.. small I'tD.ei, rock
ing, plain, and easv chairs, portraits, ac.
Ga ia. walls are oil ptiatinss of Mr. n,
first wle., ,.Il-i lis tsD deceased children.
cravings Of Washington. Jackson, ami Lin
coin, and I number ot photo graphs. \ large
mirror hah.s between the two f-Jnt wiudDw-,
directly opposite a door opeaing into Snii!
side room, wE.ch was wide Jpen. GA Mr.
X . return lie informed us tiIa. h;s wi: had
retired. bat woad appear shortly. Daring
the interval he stated that the manifesto ions
were c0niue. NANNY 20 :le pss.Dr aat .l.ia
room, that they o1ly 1ceured in the evening,
generally after nine o'clock, and only " hen
his second wife WI. in the room The la,!y
Of the house ma le her appearance just as he
concluded, and we found her to be ra,h
,inv looking. well preserved woman os prola-
bly, thirty-tive years. She greeted us IN a
cordial manner. and did not seem - be
alarmed in the sligh'est-
Daring our brief communication, We did
not Eotice any occurrence OF interest IN the
roum. hut on resumine our seats, one If the
party called attention to the portrait of
he deceased wife. l, had turned completely
around, and instead OF presenting is face to
the room. the back of the picture was toward
us, and the whole frame was quivaring and
moving like a human being in an extremely
nervous condition. The heretofore incretlu.
lou, faces of the visitors assumed al entirely
different east. The lady simply smiled, ami
remarxing that this the usual manner in
which the d .nonsi irations commenced, said
that they had become so accustomed 10 her
that she scarcely noticed them aEy more.
She hxd no more than uttered the remark
than ,ii- door leading into the small side
room slam ueI shut as with violent e.ii4rt.
The writer arose and undertook to open the
door, bnt it seemed as if somebody Was sta nd
in, with his back against ii. ana although we
e..er.e1 al our strength, IL ne effort, on n at
tempt WAS uusuccess u!. Al soon al we de-
sistsi. ami started !oc our seats, The door
sprun, ooen with tn. 81. lle violence as it had
closed. All the visitors instantly went into
,h, room, and searcied 70 see If any one
Gould he in, 1u: we fourl no person, and as
other outlet than tbs ..-;1. 81. 20 he p,r'0r, II
was impossible for az. indi'id0a, % have
been there and escape
On our return to the Darlor. still more
curious event occurred. The portrait of
Washington deliberately lifted itself IF the
h)o@ upor. 0Mich it was suspended and
,elil-d 10 the floor. where it stood IN an e.cc.
position. That of jackson fpllowed instant
iy, while that of Lincoln remaiued in its
place, turning and twisting rs if in perfec,
agony. In few minu.es the two pictures
left their situations On the floor and resumed
their places upon the wall. where they re-
mained without any further manifestations.
Our host remarked that this was the iis.t
occurrence of the kind he had ever Witness
ed, and we presume the exhibition WAS
Designed for the special benefit OF the edito-
rial visitors. During these pr ceedings 9TH
ers of a singular nature were goins on. The
phoIogr iphs were rocked to ani fro, IN a
deliberate manner, and lyw, rnnH Hing
Soln,.> were hta.u rom tne ceiilhH- As u
,nn,,n yy,.ll had been rolled over the Il Dor
above. Voices. like an animated tenaieI dis
cusson, were heard from tie. sinal! r9om,
occasionally interspersed with the cries OF a
child. The piano suddenly emitted cdarsc
thu.n ping sound, and a, Intervals scrai's OF
familiar old nursery tunes would be played
in :. diseordant sort of manner. One OF the
gentlemen remarked that we had n,t vet
b.en treated TO any movement OF tie fprnl-
ture. The word had not NOR than lcit his
lips. when tie piano Started with slow
lmping mo:ioa towarl him. The sofa on
which the writer was seated, being on wheels,
dar,ed toward the other side OF the room