Middletown transcript., 1872-02-10
Selett STORY.
THE HUMAN TIME-PIECE.
NJ oso. ALvKsp TOWNSEND.

People ssy that certain tombstone in
shs London Tract =" Hsrdshell" =" Baptist
graveyard. near Newark. Delaware. will
give TO the car placed fiat upon !, the
sound Of . ticking, like u watch. The
London Tract church, as its name implies
wss tho worshipping place Of certain act
tlers who either came from London. or
chosc land owned by London Company.
II II q quaint cdifce Of hard stone. with
low best bevellcd roof, and surrounded by
a stone wall which has shing!e coping.
The wall cncloscs many graves,ones, their
inscriptions showing that very many OF
the old worshippcrs Of the church we're
Wclch. Some large aud healthy forcs,
trees. partly shade the graveyard. aud the
grassy aud sandy crossroads where 1t
s,ands. near the brink Of the pretty White
Clay Creek.
climbed over the coping Of the grave
yard wall last spring. and followed my
companion. the narrator Of the following
story. to what appeared to be the very
Oldest portion Of the enclosure The tomb.
stones were IN some cases quite illegibe
~ to inscriptions. worn bare and smooth
BY more than ccuiury's rains and chip
ping frosts. aud others were sunken deep
in the grass 50 as 10 afford only partial re-
compcnse for the cpitaph hunter.
This is the Ticking Stone" said my
companion. pointing To r"cumbcnt slab,
warn smooth aud scarcely stowing n trace
Of former lettering; "pu' your ear upon
II while l pull away the wccds, aud then
zee if you hcar nnyihing?'
! laid my ear upon the mossy sionc.
aud nlGost Immediately icl, an audible,
almost tangible ticking like that Of II la
dy', watch.
q" You arc scratching the stone, ra-cy,"
| cried 10 my Informant
NO! Upon my'houor! That is not
the Sound Of scrxich that you hear II
cannot be any insect noe any process Of
aoving life ia the stone "r beneath i,
Can you likcu it Ia suyihing bu, the equal
mution Of rather e., be ,im,pircr -
listened asaia, and this timn longer
: aud = sort of superstition lrw over M" :"
that had been alone. probably | would
have experienced a sense nf ,imii lnnei-
ness. To stand amil llo.c ,ileu, mrun
rial stones Of the early times. aud h,nr
watch beat beneath "nr of ihem as per
fec,ly as you can feel il in your vrs, pn.k
ct. and then to feel your hear, start net-
vously At the recognition of this di.asari.
atcd sound. il not perfectly ludicrous.cven
when in human company
- This 10 the best ghpst | have eyer
found" | said. Perhaps some onc In.
-. A ~ =.
body's watch there is something real in
i,"
II took the s,one up once myself. said
luscy, " aud the ticking then seemed Ia
come up from the gronad While d.
liberated. sn old msu came out of ynnder
old sexton. looking house. aud warned me
not TO disturb the dead He crossed the
wall aud assisted nc TO replace the Stone.
and then badc me sit dawn upoa il. an.
cient marincr-like, while he disclosed the
cause Of this phsnomeuon.'
Here my companion stopped u minute.
and in the pause We could hear the old
trees wave very solcmnly above US aud
nut, or burr. or sycamore ball came rat.
iling down the old kirk roof us wo stood
there 10 the graves. to star,lc us the more
--an1 then he sail
II, /. jus, =. ,ecr as the tale he told
fnc: the disappearance Of ,n-' Old man
Nobody stsat here can recognize him
from my descriptions. lie walked toward
the old ~ill down skc Newark road, aud
the next time looked up he was gone
The people in the house there think am
Eighty In my mind for Insisting upon bis
Appearance to me at all. :"
). Go on with the ,ale right here, my
fesh creeping friend" said. It will
do us good TO feel occasionally solemn"
- This stcne. young man." said my
quskerly rebukcr. in n hard. country farm
er's voice." this stone il the London
Tract Ticking Stone. II is the Oldest
preacher and admonitor in this church
yard. Il 10 older than the graves Of any
Of the known pastors or communicates
round shout il.
In the year 1904 the comparative sol.
issls Of this region was broken by large
party Of chain. bearers. rod-mcn. axc-neu.
'ccm,alseasies. cooks. baggsge-sarriers aud
scamp lolloxers. They had come by the
order Of Lord Baltimore and William Penn
70 terminate ? loug controversy between
ave great landed proprietors. and they
sers led BY Chs5ep Msson. Of the Royal
Observatory. st Green ~ich. England, aud
b Jeremiah Dixon. tho sou Of collier
discovered 10 coal. DE. For three years
they continued westward. running their
stakes over mountains aud sircan,s, like u
sypsy camp 10 appearance. frightening the
1ndisus wiiA their sorcery. Bot near ihi.
spot they halted longest. TO G. Ei,h pre-.
cision the longest point. and ttc point Of
Intersection Of three states: Lse seque,tcr.
I'd hssd Of Delaware. tho abpt,ing righ,
augls of Maryland. and the tiny psn.han.
als Of Peunsylvssia
"The people Of THE region we're sparse
- uuaubss. hut Of strong. s"hcr. and yet
VIA stsrsstssissics. The long boundary
qusssyl hs1 nsds them predatory. and
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