Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-05-31
AN UNQUIET GHOsT.
An UnsarthIy VIsft0r-The Spirit OF
COaI.Oii Charley Reanimated-Et
Appears to his DyIng wife,
10 his Daughter. ard 10
their visitors.

Our readers will remember a recital OF
terrible facts given by the APPEAL
many months ago, in which the sO6ri-
! QVet "Coal-On Charley" often appeared.
1t was he, as was unjustly supposed,
| who aided in causing the death at an in
| terror town, of a Louisville drummer
| seated beside him at table. A coal-oil
lamp was overturned by one or theotheF
! of the drummer's friends, he was robbed
! of his money on the spot and died not
! many days after in unutterable anguish.
] We failed to trace the history or fortunes
Of Coal-Oil Charley. He was tried at
Corintb, and, as stated by his friends,
properly acquitted participation in the
/ crime OF murder and robbery. Some
months after his Liberation at Corinth,
Charley was sitting in the midst Of his
| family, in his modest little home IN
Macon, Mississippi. His wife, step
| daughter, q sensible, attractive, well
reared girl Of sixteen, and other children
were sitting about the fireside. Charley
was very near an open window, and the
| cool, fresh evening winds OF that delight
/ ful climate, burdened with perfumes of
roses and pomgrsnates, famed the face
of Charley. A bright light, not brighter
than his hopes of future wealth and
power, burned on the table beside him.
! There was a sudden flash and fame
from a musket flashed across the room.
Charley never spoke, or lifted up his
face, or opened his eyes. Ten buckshot
! pierced his heart.
WHAT CAME OF THE TERRIBLE DEED.
There was much excitement, and Ma
con was thoroughly aroused. Never be-
fore had an assassin done his base cow
ARDS work in the once civilized and
prosperous pretty village. One or two
arrests were made, but nothing could be
proven, and even yet no one Is suspected
of the crime. Cosl-Oil Charley's assas-
sin, like the murderer Of Miller, the
cashier of the bank at Jackson, Tennes-
see, may never be known.
WHAT COAL-oIL CHARLEY THINKS
ABOUT IT.
However, If this be true, with the rest
of this story, it is also true that COal-Oil
Charley, in his present state of existence,
doesn't care to have the assassin detect
ed or punished. That he could have it
done none who read and believe may
doubt. Charley's widow and step
daughter, and two little children sur
vived him Not many days ago, as our
correspondent writes, "Charley's widow
became very sick. Two of the best ply
sicians Of the village were in frequent
attendance at her bedside. Medical art
and unremitting attention on the part
of neighboring families were unavailiDg,
and the hapless woman was dying. In
any event, she knew that her end was
approaching, and said to three ladies
and her daughter that Charley had
promised and was coming to see her.
h.. hnI 10, ? oil
perfectly sane. At half past three
noon, one of the attendant physi-
clans went to the cottage. He had
been hastily summoned. When
ne reached the doorway; there were
three ladies and the pretty step-ehild at
the gate crying piteeusly, and sll very
pale, and in a state of wild excitement.
The doctor asked what had happened.
He was answered in broken accents,
and all speaking at the same instant:
"He is therel We saw himl He spoke
to her! He walked straight to her bed.
side, out of the corner of the room
where there was nothing"
THE GHOST.
1t was some moments before the doc
tor could get at thefa 1t seems that
the three visiting women and the step
daughter were seated near the bedside
of the sick woman. The affeetionate
daughter held the mothers hand. The
latter opened her eyes and said, "Char-
ley is coming; knew he would. He
promised me, and never violated a
promise" and then the poor dying wo-
man suddenly sat up in bed, and point
ing to the most distant corner of the
room, her eyes ablaze and face white,
exclaimed:
"THERE HE Isl"
And sure enough, Charley, perfectly
well-known by everyone in the apart
ment, was slowly walking toward the
bedside, his eyes fixed with an expression
Of unutterable tenderness upon the face
of his dying wife. The visitors fed, one
of them dragging after her the swooning
step child. They dared not re-enterlthe
house till the doctor came. When they
went in again, the doctor leading the
way, Charley's wife had gone away with
him. Her body rested in dreamless
sleep, and soft, sweet smile still played
about her lips, recently kissed, as she
faneied no doubt, by her beloved Char
lev. There was death and the stiffness
of death in the deserted apartment, and
life, too, had deserted its marble-like
tenement, and Charley's widow did not
hear even the wailing of her heart
broken child.
"The doctor says" our correspondent
further writes, a he is not inclined to be-
lieve ghost stories. He is too much ae-
customed to scenes of anguish to lose
his senses because women or others are
excited in deaths chamber. But here
are four witnesses, each declaring that
dead man, in broad daylight, came
through the floor or wall of an apart
ment and walked across it in their pres
ence. They were frightened and fled,
and each believes, at this hour, that
Charley still lives.r