The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1872-11-07
A GHOST THAT MEANS BUS1
t1SA MESS. ea5 sa i2ai

4
/ ts''a :. MESS. sA5 = t9a
/ He refuses to allow another fellow TO Run
1 ltis Section! LoeoFhotiVes7wadi ing tIlFoh hsb
I Invisible Show, = Qn.il.4p eaehaslel testi-
and Nocturnal HABITS. ~ 57lt't' -.
rF.rom tile St. raali Pioneer.1 :. 70 =
Our readers viii all remember the
terrible accident which took place in
u binding snow-storm at Randall sta
ton, on the main line OF the ST Paul
and Pacific Road, in March last, W HIGH
caused, the, death of several persons,
| Among the victims OF that terrible
accident was q section foreman, named
Connely, This man was very much
attached to- his division, and took
great pride in keeping everything
right and tidy, as far as his superVisr
ion extended Although his station;
/ was located at that time ina sparcely
/ settled section of eonntry-cn tree
/ less waste, SO to, speak, where 1espec-
/ ially there was nothing to break, The
/ force of the, wind which ut times
swept over the bleak prairies with the
/ force of q hurricane, net, SO great WAS
ConneIly's attachment to his section
] thatEhe refused several more jiueratiye
| POSITIONS. which were offered TO, him
| Upon his death. by the. accident re
ferred to- the Randall Station was
| given to anOthar mans whose name is
! also Connolly. The latter has been
! employed on the road for a long time,
/ and is known to be a, sober,i industri-
! Gus and intelligent man, one i'll whose
/ fidelity the COMPANY las the, most inf-
! plicit confidence, and the last man ial-
I hot Iara 7~.a
| would suspect of being tiaetured in
the slightest degree with superslitious,
| notions.- For some time AFTER ,assunir,
ing charge of the Division everything
went along satisfactorily. Is This state
of things was not to last however,
For some lime past Miro CQnnelIY I, has;
| complained that he could not sleep al.
nights He AYERS that he is visited at
all hours of night by the. apparitioll
of his dead predecessor. The ghostly-
form appears at his bedside, and Yainn
ly endeavors to- tell his tale by un-g
earthly motions, at times apparently
entreating and anon with every APP
pearance of anger and revenge. Sew
eral times Mr. Counelly has! been
thrown from his bed with great vio-
lence, and his arms and other portions
of his body, show the marks OF rough
handling The imprint of hands and
finger nails are plainIy visible. which
he asserts have been left there by his
ghostly visitor. TO such an extent
has this most mysterious visitation
been carried, that Mr.. Connolly has
petitioned to be removed to another
section, or granted permission TO erect,
another house on q different portion
of the section. lie says it is. not only
these visitations which disturb him,
the spirit of the dead man prevents
him from performing his duties both
day and night. He has seen the awful
spectacle in the day time while at his
labors, and the shadowy form has, by
unmistakable motion, ordered him
away. t9 .latsij b4f4
For long time Mr.. Connolly rel
Trained from mentioning any thing
about these mysterious appearances,
knowing that he would not be, be-
lieved, aud in all probability he would
be laughed at, and it is propable that
he never would have mentioned it hut
for an occurrence which took place o
short time ago. se .s..,f.5 5te,
One evening after the labors of the
day had closed, and as Mr.. Connolly
and the men under his charge were
seated at the table eating their supper
the door of the house opened noise
lessly, and in the doorway, i'll the full
gaze of all who wGre present, stood
the awful apparition of the dead man.
The shadow remained long enough to
make a number of demonstrations OF
reyengeful character, and then dis
appeared, apparently melting into
space. An awful feeling of terror fell
upon that small party OF men, and for
a time they were speechless, gazing
into each others faces, with eyes dis
tended with horror. They were not
men easily frightened, and some of
them had looked death in the face
without fiinching. But this uuearthiy
supernatural visitation which was rec
ognized at once, by them all as the
spirit of the man they had all well
known while living, was more than
they could stand. When their mo-
mentary terror had subsidized they
commenced in awe stricken tones to
tell each other what they had seen. 1t !
was then that Mr. Connolly recited
his experience, and it is needless to
say that he was not laughed at r1lis-,i
believed. The sight. had been 100.
real, and too palpable to all to admit |
of dispute. They had seen the verit-
able ghost of their former fellow
workman. fisrtii tlg. slifut .
Since that time, there have been
many mysterious, occurrences taking
place at that lonely station on the |
prairie. Several tools, which were
known to have been put away
aye missing, and, various . other
things have taken place to hinder Mr..
Connolly and his crew of men from /
performing their work. ...rf COMO I
Nor is this all. The engineer ON |
one of the freight trains AYERS that
on several occasions he has seen the !
apparition in the night engaged at
work upon the track, the same as !
when the dead man was living, Att
one time it will be engaged with q |
crowbar raising the rails, and making |
motions as though giving directions |
to gang of men. Again he has seen
it standing upon the track in trout OF |
his engine, with both arms stretched |
out as if to give warning of danger
ahead, and the engineer says that at
such times his engine acts as if plow-
ing its way through drifting snow,
and although he pulls his engine
g wide open" the speed of the train is
sensibly decreased until it reaches q
certain point, when it will plunge
ahead as though just relieved from
some obstruction.
We understand that these most
mysterious doings have been reported
to the officials, but they, of course,
are inclined to doubt the truth of the
statements; but so serious has the
matter become that steps have been
taken to have some of the employees
of tile road stay at the station-house
number of nights and have the mat
ter thoroughly investigated.
The above is q statement OF facts,
which come to us we'll authenticated,
and we give them as one of the most
singular stories we ever remember of
hearing. Should any more facts be
developed after thorough investiga-
ton of the matter, we shall hasten TO
lay them before our readers.