, 1889-02-28
and said she had fallen down stairs during

and said she had fallen down stairs during
the night, but sne never bothered nv
friends child any more, and everybody
knew we'll enough that the words the doc
tor had put into the bible were too strong
for the devil In the hex This, my dear
sir, is a fact, and the child who was be-
witched IL nov man and has children Of
his own, and works on the Philadelphia Il
Reading railroad.
Your correspondent fit q very perccpt-
ible chill course its wav M along his back
hone after listening tn this recital. and
the old gentleman noticing that something
was wrong continued:
You probably don't believe in witches,
hut know there are witches in this citv
TO-DAY who can do just IA they please witn
you or me. Why. they siVn contract
with the devil, with a pen dipped in their
own blood. and he gives them the power.
know man living in the neighborhood
OF Boysrtown. in this county, VINO was be
witched by a man living on Tenth street.
in this city, ten miles away from him.
What do you think OF that? The witch
would come to bis house in the dead hour
ot the night, sometimes on q horse
and at other times in big stone wagon,
and no one could see him but the man
he was torturin9 The mans daughter
could see the window fly up when the
witch came into the room. and could see
and hear the window fall when he went
out, but could not see the witch himself.
He would sit on the poor mans breast
and hammer and pinch him dreadfully.
and would keep it up nearly every night
until he had him so sore that he could
scaacely move around At all.
,'He came to Reading one day and con
suited the witch doctor, who wrote some
words on a slip of paper, folded IL up. and.
giving the man u horseshoe-nail, told him
to vo to a certain tree early iu the morn
ing, before sunrise, stick this nail through
the paper and drive II into the side OF the,
tree next to the sun. just enough to hold
the paper to the tree. This, he said.
would hurt the witch and probably keep
him away. II the witch would not stay
away he was to hit the nail another tap
the next morning, Out was warned not TO
drive the nail clear through the paper or he
would kill the man who was the WITCH
The witch cont nued TO trouble the man.
however, and when he went out 10 tap the
nail the third morning he was SO angry
that. taking the axe in his hand, be struck
the nail no hard that he sent it entirely
through the paper.
Upon the instant the nail penetrated
the paper he saw the form of his torment
or fall dead before him. and he won't tot the
depot and told several parti-s that he had
killed such and such man in Reading
that morning They laughed at him aud
said he was crazy, bot sur. enough the
witch who was walking in his garden in
this city ten miles away, as the doctor
said he would do and as the nun said he
had done, fell dead in his tracks just at
that time. The man who killed him got
we'll and was never troubled again"
The names Of the parties were given In
both the above Cases, aud the old man
told his story with such AN air of sincerity
that after leaving him made inquiry in
the localities he had mentioned and
found the opinion generally prevalent that
just such things had occurred. More es-
pecialiy was this the cXse in reference to
the man who was sxid to nave dropped
dead in the garden; and there are not
few in this city who would swear that it
is true Substantially az herein given.
Witch and ghost stories, Implicitly be-
lievcd by those who narrate them, can be
gathered by the dozen in this county
They are told by the inuscular farmer
lover to his buxom conntrv sweetheart; are
related to the children in enphonions Penn.
sylvania Dutch by their parents, and arr
the subject Of many long srvum ents and
conversations in the country stores.