The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-12-05
TIE QUEEREST OF SPIRITS.
00OD AND EVfL arm THiT HhUNT
THE BOHEWTdN MINES.
Luminous DwntGs Ii0vcrinq Around the
miners Fires disappearing iutothc solid
Walls Spritra farming SOmrrsaults.
E"on N'rdinge "a ne hd7n p Of i'9ht


We have all hoard OF elementary
spirit'," aud the choicest gems az poetic
literature abound with DESCRIPTIONS OF
wild, weird and wonderful realms Of icing
reorl"d with good md evil geuii; ftirics,
gioinrs, koholds, undincs and spirits of
every fantastic form ana temperament,
are ns familiar IN idea, to the readers OF
legendary lore, a. the spirits or our de-
ceased friends have hCcOmc, in reality, TO
the readers Of the Bonner Of L'qit, but to
see these "Creai ures of the Imagination"
these "creaiiOns Ot u poets fancy or
" visions Otn hasrl"ss supegs'it iou, as man
Kind has deemed them, suddenly converted
INTO tangible cxistinccs, endowed with
actuil personalities, Shaking hands aud
cracking jokes with us under the masQur-
rndng costumes of Hontos, Mayilowers,
Johns. Katlps. and sundry other distin
guishcd members OF the ub qHltOus family
Of Kug," was n change ~ the spirit OF
the Spiritualst's" dream for which he or
she was scarcely quite prepared.
Commencing with the old but never
ont of-fa4hion saying of Hamlet, "Thcrc
are more things IN heaven aud earth than
We dream of in our philosophy, Horitio.'
| shall give my experience IN one instance.
Mt least, with the sO-called "guOmes, "kO-
bolds." or SPIRITS OF the mines.
II is well known in certain mining dis
trcts, especially In Bohemia and Hungary,
that many OF the miners cherish ialth III
the existence of mn order of beings
lnbors. and help then to find rich
leads of minerals, knock, or, as they
call IL, "hnmmcr' away lu~rllv when
thcy ure ut iault, aud sometimes by
these sounds, sometimes 10y lights. and
occasionally by the nDparition of tttNc
f9ircs, point the way to the rIcnest leads
Of the metals I have visited the mines III
Germany and the i}Ohenar Wuld, where /
have heard these kuOchlugs, setn the llehiS,
aud should have uuhcsilutingiy attributed
In
friends OF the miners, had not nls' not
once or twice, but many times, seen liiile
stUcky-louk,ug thugs il" the shape OF men,
very small, aud either lUtck. red. or me-
tullic in Culur-iittle chunhS of creatures,
whom the miners were accustomed 10 see
aud call by name VIII eli, translated, sig
ninud earth spirits" They sid thcy
were Kind AMI good; never moddlod with
them, though they sometimes IN sport
threw their tools about. These milcrs
told me they often saw llgh;s, aud al could
hear the kuOcking-, bur lew could : -
the figures. aud. IN some OF the miucS
| visited, tde poor Oihhcn thou ut
more highly of me tuun ordinarily because
cuuid so their well-brluVcd iittle earth
sprlt-.' With the light oi modern Spirit-
rAlisn to guide me, ! easily understood
thIt |. u, "A medium, cuuld see spiritual
uppurltlOns invisible to thc eyes % those
wac were not inedtdtns. / also cunpre-
heuGcd why ccrlau oi the wprKmrn, their
wives or cHrd.,il, being spirit .allN mold
ed, could p,tcrv th, f.rusoI thos, whom
their les. ~ ted Opt1pI. lIil- Ouiy knew 10y
Their knockiags or fla. hihs lights.
uAuSrrp nEGroSs.
In William lluwitt's charming sketch
called Brip-,'oisier, he alluded To- these
popular beliefs ailou- mirer-, but he dOes
more; he ewes a very graphic account OF
ccrlun Clamps III the wood, Whcrc Vcr.-
table guoine= hvur,d Is The principal per
sonages. Mr.. Ho@itts narrative IL SUP
ported by names. Witnesses ami sund V
details watch confirm his own unduuhtei
testimony. As | happened To be one of
the privileged few vino vi itcd the haunted
r,g.ou which Mr.. lIOwltt writes OF. | shall
cite my own experiences IN the lnnttur,
with wlat tru-l my readers wal allow To
be the hon ST purpose OF maNiug myself
responsible for tie story.
Ii - HOW some lew years since, being in
the ne ghbOrEOud of a lovely valley called
lDpNt,uic, IN tne county OF DrihNshitc,
Euglaui, | heard my Kind hO-t and
hoscs-s Mr.. and Mrs ilur, eNputinung
u, on tAc singular pucuIilcla they had
witnessed IN the cui,a-c of lahore. dhon
passed away To the better world, called
Clamps; | think, II rreollcct night, he
had worked for Mr. Hart, who wa, III
tetested in the mi.cs adjacent "a
Dovednle. Nv friends Inform me tina,
Clamps mad res ded Tor over ATTY years III
a rulhuus Old FARMHOUSE, only small
part OF which was hAbltablC. The nj 90,
Ma, on the edge Of the mines, mere the
old man IN his youth and priine mad
worn "a, aud where, rs ! believe, he died
Durmg ms long residence OF half a cen
tuiY IA this place, old Clamps ana his a.
sOCLtcs We're nccu- Oued To s'e siGin-,
ClohuiAr lights, which wear m and Vcil
out won 4 come and 90 wilh all the tamil
urity OF household guests.
Alr. Hare, VINO VA, somewhat of skcp.
tic on tue subject OF my "splrlts,' as II.
termed it, declared that n tlnmps's Lght,
were spirits Of humans they must haV,
been those Of deceased lamplighters or -
meu-for they never appeared by day, ant
generally chose the long winter nights, ol
| purtrtIlIiV dark evenings, for the per ID
OF their visltatlons. Old Clamps callct
them ms "Eloriou, lights ANA was very
particular about returning 10 mis- ,haut,
cary every night, 50 that lac should no
mrs seeih~ tne,n. They came out. o.
/ seemed to come, as my fl,uds allc.rd
from firm wall. tasiAOncd al rock. an,
/ ia blocks So spudly cru,nted toerhr
| that not ciaCk OF Granny could bu uis
covered.
THE MYSTERIOUS LIGHTS.
They generally came from TWO or three
/ to seven or EIGHT ia number. Mis-. llar
/ said that one very cold winters ui.ut ia,
| so" n many rs tea OF the,e lights. The
/ seemed To nj, the httle room, ana h0vtrcl
/ alb at the fire us n gratiA with II, pleas
/ uat warmth. "Itcy rtmr,' said my IN
| formaut, "oi,t of the wall some about tN,
/ feet from the ground, others ia hi II "a
/ thteo feet, but none more thIn four, an,
| nj renamed Inc same height during th,
/ time ut thDlr stay. IncN sLupk, troubled
! or Il r.rr"d the Nhoto tmr, ms II they Wei,
| Qulvcliug with fear or cold. They hat
! been srcn Tor Years RuI years, LONGER IN
| decd tnln the memory OF the code,
| inhabitants a that region could trlc,
| them, except the venerable 0c OgruatiA.
| Champs, WNuallirnud they had always b et
! there uS long - o." rouil Ttmrnhrr Tuou
! 40. us.tI liz ala