The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-07-28
What Haunted the House.

Not many years ago we resided in a
house that had the name of being
haunted. A minister, a deacon, and
other pious people had occupied it, as
we learned, and fled in haste and fear.
II was a good, handsome house, and as
the rent was cheap, for nobody could or
would live in it more than a week or
two, we took possession and waited for
developments or manifestations. They
came. The bell would ring every few
hours, but on going to the door, nobody
was there. Perhaps, for the moment,
we were slightly nervous, and may
have thought of what we have often
been told by our wise Christian advisers
and monitors, that somebody would
come for US at last n'-or, we may have
remembered what Macbeth said of the
witches on the blasted heath, "This su-
pernatural visiting cannot he good r'-
or, finally, our disturbed Imagination
may have dwelt awhile on the "hying
! Dutchman," or rather the flying minis
ter and the deacon who had fled from
our "haunted house" like righteous but
cOwardly Lot out of SOdom. But, be
all that as it may, the nervousness soon
passed off; and then, when Orchard
was himself again." we Immediately
] q
and the noise stopped. 1t seems that
heavily-lOaded wagons in passing Jared
the house, and set the bell to ringing.
That was the ghost, aud if it ever made
us another visit, it came into the build
ing without stopping to ring the bell
We got the upper hand of that ghost
and the way by which we cornered
routed, or hung him was by seeking aiC
and comfort in our Material philosophy
which, in re-hanging our bell, hanged
the ghost at the same time.
Now that we have "got our hand in,
we may as we'll give another item of +;
similar kind, though one more amusing
We had been to Spiritual Sednce, ant
got nothing, as usual, but was told b!
our guardian angel" that we woulC
have a most wonderful manifestation
very soon, perhaps before morning, o
at any rate when the "couditiOns" wer
more favorable and the "infiuence" wa
2 able to penetrate our "grOss Materials
= tic organism.n Sure enough, and t
d.. our great surprise, the prophecy proves
: true! for, at the "witching-time @
| night when church-yards yawn," W
e were awakened from a sound sleep by
curious noise in the closet of our room
s as if somebody were trapping" w
q thought of the prediction, and then {
y burglars and robbers, but concludin
b that something must be done, for W
J, were getting nervous, we arose, dressed
e lit the lamp, grabbed a stout, heav
= cane in one hand and the stock of
}. horse-pistol in the other, and, in imita
8 tion of the "light brigade" in the Or
G mean war, charged on the run into tn
s unseen and the unknown power in tn
e closet-Only to find that the rash il
/ truder who had disturbed our sumbe
y was a spirit in the shape of a cat an
e her kittens! Our midnight assault,
,f conjunction with our "grOss Materia
is ism," completely demolished the med
d umistic prediction, but if we had keI
e still, had not investigated, and merel
e reported an unexplained noise in OF
o closet, perhaps it would have been calle
a genuine "spirit manifestation" al
Y we might have read in the "messaE
o department" of our anxious Spiritu
ii contemporary, the Banner Of Ligh
y that the notorious skeptic and Intidel
1t the Investigator had at last, after gro
s ing in bald Materialism for forty year
been converted, at the eleventh hour,
u the truth of Spiritualism by an ang
D. messenger "from over the river" Blu
u as with our experience with the ghost
lie the bell, Materialism likewise va
I'd quished the spirit of the closet. Al
b, now we wait to be "haunted" again.
W Investigator.