The Portland daily press., 1874-02-07
The Haunted House.

s,ca the publication in the PRESS OF partic- |
p,.rs concerning the Haunted House" at
Snringvale, rumors have been circulated to toe
effect that these reports had a tendency to de-
preciate the value of property in the village,
and we're merely sensational 1t is needless to
state mat such rumors are false and entirely
without foundation. When men of undoubted
reiaoility volunteer accounts of sir gular mani
iestatlons, each corroborative of the other, the
puphc are right to suppose that occurrences,
differing frCm those of common everyday life,
give sufficient cause for such variations. As
serting that previous accounts are purely "sen-
sationar' is insufficient to satisfy the curiosity
which has been aroused by statements, the
truth of which is vouched for by honest men,
There are those who affect to disbclieve all for
mer statements and express themselves ready
to bid defiance to the ''ghost'' by spending an
evening at his quarters alone, yet none have
thus far found it convenient to do so, although
several have entertained serious thoughts on
the subject. The first article that appeared
mentioning the willingness of former resi-
dent to present to any person who was desirous
of remaining in the building for nighs) unac
Commanded, the sum of $40, brought letters from
all parts of the State expressing an inclination
on the pats Of the writers to accept the gem
tleman's proposition The postmaster was be.
sieged from ali points by persons eager to OBJ.
tain further particulars, and anxious to satisfy
themselves concerning the. correctness of what
they had read To all such answers were re-
turned stating the truth of the published re-
ports. Mr. Bodwell, the gentleman whose
statement was at first inserted, received nu-
merous applications for more extended partic-
| ulars. Your correspondent was informed by
| gentleman in an adjoining town, that he should
spend a night in the house and then deliver a
lecture on Haunted Houses, giving satisfac-
tory solution to the mystery Owing to pres
sure of other engagements (probably) he has
never appeared. Recently man who regard
ed himself very brave. judging from his con-
| house " as being discussed; he expressed him.
| self willing to remain in the building over
| night and said he would do so for five dollars
| A gentleman drew from his pocket five dol
| lar bill and offered it to him. The stranger
hesitated then, said that five dollars would
hardly remuncrate him for his trouble. Ten
dollars was offered him but to no avail; his
business at home would not admit of his ac-
| ceptance.
| Several have visited the village for the ex-
| press purpose of remaining with TIE spirit but
| at night-fall each has suddenly remembered
| that some forgotten duty at home demanded
| his immediate attention, and has repairtd
| thereto somewhat unceremoniously, consider
| ing the boastiDg.
1t appears then, that however Indifferent per-
sons profess to be on this subject, they are uu-
| willing to demonstrate their bodness, and pre-
| fer to converse upon the matter than make any
attempt to fathomit On Wednesday evening,
| however, three skeptcal gentlemen from Port
| land and Biddeford visited the village, obtain
| tained permission to remain in the house du-
ring the night, and did so. They heard no
demonstrations and saw no apparitions. But
| was it strange that no manifestations occur
red? Most certainly not And why? Simply
| because the conditions were unfavorabe. We
are assured by former occupants that demon
| strations occur only IN the darkest nights, ana
Wednesday evening was as bright as day in
consequence of the moon. Again,it is reasona-
| bic to suppose that three persons would be too
many; ghosts probably prefer small audiences.
| Then as the disturbances are of regular occur
renee a single evenings sojourn would fail to
| prove the fallacy of the former statements, and
| as that evening was in everyway unfavorable
| for the performances admitting that such oc-
cur, the public cannot fail tc recognize that
our statements are in nowise gainsaid by this
incident, but rather strengthened. S.
1.-The three young men who went ghost
hunting inform representive of the .PREss
that they passed the night in the house, but
neither saw nor heard anything unusual. About
the wtcbing hour of twelve they thoroughly
prepared themselves to be frightened, but no
| ghosty sights greeted their eyes. They don't
think they will visit the place again unless
| they have a direct invitation from the ghost
| One of the gentlemen made sketch of the
place for one of the illustrated papers
The OppOsers Of Capital Punishment