The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-02-13
The Haunted Trunk.

Milton, of Paradise Lost, fame, is
the authority for the assertion that mil
lions Of spiritual creatures walk the earth
unseen both when we are awake and
when we are asleep" The incidents of
the tale which the reporter is about to
relate will not necessarily make each
particular hair. of the readers head
Stand on end " like, quilts on the fretful
porcupine," but it will no doubt prove
somewhat interesting, particularly SO to
those who take stock in ghosts, goblins
and other invisible characters that come
back to earth to haunt the living.
There resides on Second-avenue,i IN
this city, a family who are we'll -to-do,
and it was at their house where the
mysterious ghost took up its quarters
In order that the story may be mere
fully understood, lit will beaneeessary to
state that some tine since the family
mentioned, boarded gentleman and
his wife, who now reside in the same
neiphborhood. Names are omitted tor
reasons which are obvious. The board
ers on going 10 housekeeping were un-
able to settle the full amount of their
bill, and as security the landlord kept
large trunk and some other articles
which consisted of furniture. A short
time after, bitter feeling sprang up
between the two families, and there fol-
lowed a law suit for the recovery of the
goods, which was decided in favor of the
| defendant. Thus matters stood until d
couple of weeks ago, at which time death
entered the door of the first family and
carried off one of the children, bright
little girl of four years. ltwas during the
| death scene of this child that the grlet-
stricken parents discovered that they
were harboring an invisible spirit, which
for reasons only known to his ghostshlp
chose that trying hour to make his pres
ence known. At the death-bed OF the
little girl were the members of the family
and several of the neighbors, and they
each relate the same story, and DO so
so earnestly that the listener would hes
itate a good deal before he would ques-
ton the veracity of what he heard.
The facts related to the Leader re-
porter seemed somewhatincredulous, but
the readers will Judge for themselves.
Said one of the persons who was pres
ent: "We were all greatly alarmed.
The child, few minutes before 1t died,
acted very strangely, and it would clutch
!, at the trunk, which was standing near,
as though it wished TO get at it. All at
once, however, We were thunderstruck
by hearing three deep, heavy groanS
, issuing from the trunk. In q moment
after, the child closed its eyes in death
Just as it was expiring the unearthly
sroans were repeated, and for while
we were all stricken damb." The
remains of the little one were buried
the following day, and in few hour:
after the funeral coiored man wa;
, engaged to remove the trunk and 1t:
ghOstly contents from the place, and in
, srructed to leave it at the house of the
original owners, which he did. Th'
, lady to whom the trunk belonged never
r dreaming. of ever seeing it again, wa
' somewhat surprised on going into thu
hall to find her Saratoga there, and a
/. there was not even a word or line accom-
paving it in the shape of an explanation
t she was at loss to account for its BENZ
5 returned. After enjoying the surpris
: for few minutes she hunted up he
0 KEYS and opened it to see if the content
!. were still intact. "They We're not"
p she states, "but instead dress, whicl
2 had been owned by my mother, who ha
Q been dead for some time, was fouu'
J. ripped all to pieces"
5 The report soon got circulated around
n and now the tale of the haunted trun
J, is in the mouths of all who reside j
d that locality, The husband of the lad
e who owns the spiritual box, being of
n non-superstitiods nature, now says this
o ne wishes the balance of the goods whic
e he left at the place will soon be spiIi
, ualized so strongly that they would lik'
wise be sent home. i .4-- r5 ED.