Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-11-08
APEeULIAR GHOST.
1T MAKES AMAs KEEEL DOWN IN THE
PUBLIC R0AD.i
And Lays an Icy Hand Upon BIS Hssd-fhs L.
gsnds Regarding the Haunted
Locality.

hill below the Belts farm, on the Brooks
vile road, met the spook face to face.
Vandevender had a horse and buggy and
as it was rather dark he got out OF his
buggy to lead or drive up the hill. When
he first noticed the object in the road be-
fore him he thought it was cow, but the
horse scared and refused to move, and the
object passed the horses head and came up
to Vandeyender and shook hands with
him. The object caused Vandeyender to get
down on his knees and placed his hand on
his head, which, he said, was as cold as
ice. 1.-The "ghost" told him that it
would not harm him and that he must not
reveal what it had said to him
until it saw him again, and then
he could tell all. Vandeyender lives
at Elizabeth, and is said to be "a very
truthful and upright man." He formerly
lived mile or two from the scene Of the
occurrence When he reached DR.. Rid
dies, the old homestead, he was still very
much affected over the converse
ton with the mysterious stranger.
The subject OF ghost on the Belts
plantation has been subject of gossip for
years. Different parties, it is claimed,
have seen strange objects and have had
trouble with some mysterious being at the
Belts house and along the public high
way for mile or so distant. A great
many citizens are so sanguine that there
is something there that they would not
pass along the road there in the night
time for the finest farm in the county.
There is good deal of excitement at pres
ent over the matter.
Ina cave near Pocahontas, on the New
River Division of the Norfolk & Western
Railroad, Just across the line from Nc
Dowell county, petrified child was found
few days ago standing or leaning against
the side of the cave, the head and face
being plainly visible and distinct. The
top part of the head shows
the naked skull; this is where
the water was found dripping on the body.
The balance of the body is rock, but the
shape of child is plain and distinctively
visible. The wonderful statue is now in
the possession of Capt. John A. Burchfield,
a conductor on the New River division of
the Norfolk and Western railroad, who
Il
where il is standing in one corner of his
parlor. 1t stands erect. and seems to have
died with its hands tied behind and fast
ened to the side of the cave. How it got
in the cave, and how long it had been
there no one knows.
A building in the yard of the Drewry
property, near White Sulphur Springs,
was burnt last Sunday morning about Z
o'clock. The upper part of the building
had been used by Mr.. j. ID. FOLLY, the
tenant of the place, for storage purposes,
and the lower part by his boys, as lodg-
ing room. Mr.. FOLLY reports about 60
| bushels of wheat, 175 bushels of oats and
a carload of furniture i'll the upper pOr-
tion of the building-the furniture belong
ing to Mr.. O'Connell, of the Cumberland
Lumber Co; and on the lower floor several
beds, bedding and clothing, two watches,
three guns, and many other things. All
were consumed. Loss estimated ut about
$500. No insurance The brick building
near was saved by the hardest work of the
neighbors, having been on fire several
| times whilst the other building was burn
ing.
A serious affray occurred near Newell's
Run, across the river from st. Mary's, last
Friday night Several parties were in q
saloon drinking. A man named PIerson
Pyles fired his revolver out the window,
the ball striking man named Joseph
Goddard, passing through his body, enter
ing the left side below the ribs, ranging
upward and lodging near the spinal col
umn. Goddard exclaimed to a man
named Reynolds: 'Dode, you have shot
men' Reynolds replied, 81 didn't shoot
you; it was PiersOn Pyles." Goddard was
living at last report, but it is not supposed
that he will recover.
Last Saturday night very large wild cat
came to the house of K. w. Tench, who
lives about three miles from Raleigh
c. H., and caught one of his cats in the
yard. Mr.. Tench, hearing the noise, ran
out and thinking it was dog caught
hold of him, but finding his mistake, and
not exactly able TO let it loose, began the
battle with the wild cat, hand to hand
encounter. Mr.. Tench finally succeeded
in choking the animal until life was al
most extinct and then knocked it in the
head.
1t is said that Mr.. Albert Spencer, re-
sidingat Harper's Ferry, has in his posses
sion q cooking stove that originally be-
longed to John Brown while living on
Maryland Heights, Just before he seized
the Government arsenals at Harper's
Ferry. Mr.. Spencer purchased the stove,
which in good condition, from a family
who lived neighbors to Brown. He will
place it on exhibition next year at the
Ferry, and will afterwards be shipped to
Boston. q.
At Philippi, the boys got p big jollif-
cation over the election Of Shaw and Stall
maker. Shelf Roger fixed up bomb with
six pounds of powder and some dynamite
and exploded it. The conclusion wrecked
all the windows in the vicinity Of the
Court House square, when the fire was in
progress.
On Tuesday last Mr.. Andrew Cart, O
citizen of Mountain Cove District, Fayette
county, met with bad accident. He
was cutting timber in the woods at his
home near Beets p. o., when limb from
a falling tree struck him, inflicting inju-
ries which will probably prove fatal.
Monday night at Shepherdstown, some
person or persons broke open Mr.. John X.
Rays blacksmith shop and carried two
heavy anvils out and placed them on the
railroad track. They were, fortunately,
discovered and removed before an accident
occurred.
Allen Cawley, of Raleigh, c. H., was
gored in the mouth by an OK few days
ago, the resulting wound being of a very
serious nature.
The Marshall and Wetzel Netcs, pub
lished at Cameron, Marshall county, is
the latest venture in the newspaper line