The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-02-15
Ghosts.

Ghosts.
The following incidents of supernatural &C.
currence are as far within my own personal
knowledge as it is possible to be, without being
the actual. object of the extraordinary inter-
ferences narrated. ,.
insignificant town in the northern counties, a
widow lady who occupied small house alone
with her young children. The even calmness
and sell: possession of her disposition, the alb.
sence in her of everything approaching ner-
vousness or hysteria, and her extreme good
sense would entirely dissipate any suspicion of
weakness or ruhusual susceptibility OF mind, or
of her possessing tendencies beftting her, ac-
cording to popular notions, to be the subject of
any supernatural revelation. She. was sleeping,
or rather doing in a half-unconscious state, in
bed with one of her children, at night, when
she felt her reason oyerpowered by an over
mastering influence, as though she were seized
with a it Immediately there was presented
to her mind q vision of terrible distinctness.
She saw three men struggling desperately in
the water of some, deep. and rapid stream, and
in all the ,agonies of the last gasp for life The
vision was but momentary, but sufficient for
her to observe distinctly and with mfnuteness
the despairingly distorted features Of each IN a
manner so vivid and impressive that they were
never efaced in all their clearness from her
memory. On returning to consciousness, the
feeling of reality created was so exciting that
she was unable to obtain any further rest but
dressing herself spent the remainder Of the
night in passing about the house, in. great per-
turbation of mind, in the endeavor to recover
from the terrifying effects Of her vision. When
daylight began to dawn, she opened the shut
tiers of lower room looking on to the town
street, and before closing the window observed
person, whom she recognized running hastily
down the street. He told her that just then
the bodies of three drowned men were being
taken out of the river adjoining the town..
Deeply affected with the coincidence, she sought
and obtained an opportunity of viewing the
/ corpses during the day. They were those OF
three strangers the vicinity, who. engaged IN
and being pursued, had. plunged into the river,
which, small in other places, was there deep,
rapid and iulnfordable, and had SO met with their
death. In them she recognized at once the
very faces that had been so plainly represent
ed to her mind in her vision of the night pre-
vious. ''.i"' - ,'r's 4" -
| In another case, a married lady, residing in
8 remote country district in Lincolnshire, had
bestowed her charity, and taken deep interest
liin Door and friendless stranger-woman, who,
advanced in years. had seen better days, and
who, struggling with starvation, petsistently
refused to apply for or receive, parish assist
ance. Her great fear-a dread which haunted
| her perpetually-was that after death she would
be submitted to the indignity of pauper's.
burial. On this theme she continually dweEt
to her benefactor, and she extracted from her
| a solemn promise that after death she would
secure for her a,decent and respectable inter-
ment li,-i .siit -. 1851 .Hs- 80 j. 3s:4iti.
The hope of obtaining little present aid for
\ her necessities led her short distance away
| from her friend for some length of time. .Du-
ring this period in the middle of one night,
!, whilst the lady was passing from her own cham
| Der to her children's nursery, she suddenly saw
on the landing between the two rooms, with
great distinctness, what she took to be the form
Of her old dependant, who had for some time
escaped her memory, regarding her with look
OF most anxious suppIication. The render will,
OF course, guess the sequel of the story, which
is; however, a veritable fact. When the lady
1 with her husband on the following day, deeply
| impressed with this circumstance, sought out
the little hut in which the poor woman had
been resident since her removal; they found the
parish assistants preparing her corpse for It's
| funeral, and the promise so singularly exacted
4 thus strangely ODCalUeU lulHiuChu.
4 There lived some years ago in one of the
| large towns in the north, lad, who, in his
\ later years. was we'll known by many now liy-'
| ing, Beginning life as an 1etrand boy in an
Office, of large business, his merit soon became
| apparent and was acknowledged; and in the
! same office he eventually became'a partner of
the firm he had served. His only parent from
! infancy was his mother, left in wretched cir
cumstances in life; but toiling for, loving with
| ain engrossing intensity of devotion, and wholly
4 wrapped in the fortunes Of her only son. His
base indifference and disregard of her did not
check. but seemed to heighten her affection
4 In her sons prosperity, and her age, and the
great in6rmity induced by her privations, she
was the inmate of public almshouse. But
here her sole thought and conversation was OF
the son. Having at last become bedrldden, she
1 was visited by the vicar of the parish one day,
at time after she had been supposed to be un-
conscious. He entered into conversation with
/ her. and with food of tears-but tears of re-
signation-she told him that her boy was dead,
that she had seen it all-that she had seen his
BODY drawn out of the sea, that very afternoon,
quite dead /; and she continued nationally rela-
ting several incidents of the scene which she
had supposed she had witnessed. The minister
soothinely conyersed with her, but left her In
pity at the apparent arrangement which pos
sessed her. In the morning of the following
day, however, he was astonished at q visit from
friends of the poor sufferer, who wished him to
break to her the dreadful tidings of her sons
death. He had been drowned on the afternoon
I. of the previous day, whilst bathing at water
ing-place not far distant; and on inquiry, many
of the circumstances referred to by the widow
! in her conversation on the subject were found
| to have actually taken place, at the time OF the
recovery of the corpse
A MAN WITH THREE ARMs-The Will
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