Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1877-03-02
THE Banshee.'
! uansuiUe (Ind.) Journal.

The death of Mr.. Thomas Feast, last
Sunday a 'ternoon, has developed a Singh
ar C Renaissance in the history of his fam
lily, which illustrates the old Highland ira
dition of the banshee. The banshee, as it
is commonly called, is an embodied spirit
or ghost, which gives warning to persons
whose death Is approaching, by a peculiar
scream or wall in the night, by appearing
to the doomed person, or in various other
ways.
Mr.. Feast was born in the Isle of Ely,
Cambridgeshire, England, forty-seven years
sgo, came to this country when he was
young, and has been living in Evansville
tbout t%wenty-three years. He was a shoe
maker, a good citizen, and a man of quiet,
dnobtrusiye demeanor. He was, moreover,
b very intelligent man, and devoted a por-
zion of his time to the study Of the philo-
5ophy and religion of life. 1t does not APP
)ear that he was a spiritualist, but he had
a leaning that way. Since Mr.. Feast~came
to Evansville with his family there have
oeen five deaths in the. home circle, the last
If which WAS that of the father himself
last Sunday. Each one of these deaths has
oeen preceded at midnight Of the previous
uight by a knock on the door. Mrs. Feast's
death, which occurred last hummer, was
preceded at midnight by q heavy, sudden
knock on the front door, which aroused
the entire family. Upon search being made,
nobody was found at the door. Mrs. Feast
lied on the following day.
Three weeks afterWard her infant chilo
died, and the same warning Was repeated
at the same hour of the night.
The deaUh of his wife seemed to prey
upon her husband. He has been feeble and
IL, but thought that thai he would live
through the winter. On last Saturday af-
ernoo he had a sudden spasm, and ann
through it much weakened.
When the family retired that night he
was apparently as well as usual.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night,
there came a loud, hollow knock on the
street door, which aroL sed all of the fam
lily. His son Georges young man aged about
3, WAS awakened by the sound. aud rising
tlOuI UAC OCO 5OuSAt CAC 1oUlCl . 1OUul.
linking he had been seized with another
spasm and desired assistance. When he
entered the room he found his father
awake, Inc inquired if he called.
mo-" replied the old gentleman, sit was
somebody knocking at the front door,"
George descended the stairs and opened
tEe door, but no Il was without, and
further examination revealed the fact that
no one was passing in the street. George |
went up stairs and told his father of this.
A sudden change passed over the face of
the doomed man as he softly said
"Go to bed, George; it is the same
knock.o
George returned to bed, observing that
it was a few minutes past II o'clock. The
singular waning occurring in other cases
Of the family had been noticed by all the
family, and, after lying down, the son re-
membered the fact, but dismissed it as a
coincidence, went to sleep. Next morning
the father called him up in the usual tone,
apparently losing no strength. George
Went down to take his order for breakfast.
but he said
II want no breakfast nothing but a
quiet room to-day"
A second application met with the same
response, and accordingly the younger
children were sent away to the house of a
friend, and George remained with him. !
the morning he was very quiet, and
then he was discovered asleep. This CON
tlnued during the afternoon, and at -
it was discovered that he had quiet
ly glided from life to death.