The national leader., 1889-05-04
GHOST STORIES.
A MEDICAL STUDENTS STRANGE ADvEN.
TURE-A BUFFALO MAN AND HIS
BROTHERS sPIRIT-YOU NEED
NOT BELIEVE THEM.

bhOlhEh ANiIIb
NOT BELIEVE THEM
No less man than Samuel johnson
believed in ghosts believed in them i'm
plicity, some of his biographers relate.
Many eminent men believe i'll them.
Few of them pretend to explain why
they believe in them. They just do it,
that's all.
About six years ago there was study
ing at noted eastern medical univer-
sity an extremely bright and promising
young fellow from Tennessee. He was
distinguished among his fellows for his
absolute fearlessness. Many CHASTITY
joke have they put up on him to shake
him from his pinnacle of courage, but
he remained undaunted. They resolved
to give him a mighty test. They dared
him to sit alone through the night in
the dissecting room in the presence of a
corpse. He accepted the challenge.
The dissecting room was long, mar
row chamber with door at each end,
with several suggestive tables in the
middle and ranging shelves of surgical
instruments on the walls.
Into this room was brought the body
of man who had committed suicide a
couple of days before. The body was
laid on a slab at one end of the roOmI
At the other end was a table, with q
students lamp in the center and cover
ed with books Two loaded revOlvers
were laid on the table side by side. The
student had placed them there as pre-
cautionary measure. But the men who
were testing his nerve took the bullets of
the revolvers and replaced them with
blank cartridges Early in the evening
the student entered the room, examined
the corpse, lit his lamp and sat down at his
table and began to read. He became
deeply absorbed in what he was reading
and was oblivious to his surroundings.
His fellows, who were watching him
through crack in the door at the other
end of the room, took advantage of his alb
sorption and one of them, clad in a long
white robe, quietly entered the room
and took the corpse from the slab and
placed it underneath table. He then
lay down on the slab in the place of the
corpse The student, intensely inter
ested in his book, heard nothing and
did not look up.
He read on for another half hour,
when he heard slight noise. He look
ed up and he turned white as he noticed
one arm Of the corpse slowly moving.
He was totally unsuspicious of any
trick. The supposed corpse slowly sat
bolt upright. After moment it rose
TO its feet and stood perfectly still. The
fellows who were watching through the
farther door, noticed that the student
was deathly pale and seemed dazed.
But he did not lose his nerve. He
jumped up, seized revolver in either
hand and faced the supposed corpse.
The corpse took long step towards
him, then slowly advanced. The stu
dent commanded it to stop. No re-
sponse, but the corpse kept advancing.
Again the student, evidently crazed at
the sight, commanded it to halt. No
attention was paid to his demand, and
She corpse was gradually nearing him.
The youth, who was enacting the part
of the corpse, raised his hand, pretend
ed to catch the bullet Che had hand
full of them, and threw it back at the
student Again the latter fired, and
again and again, until he had discharged
the twelve cartridges After each shot
the bullet was tossed back at him.
The pistols fell out of the students
hands and he dropped dead.
The following curious story is told by
a well known gentleman of Buffalo:
''In the summer of 1885 death took
from me a beloved younger brother.
He had lived in my family almost ever
since my marriage and commanded
from myself aud wife double affection,
for he seemed to us both son and brother.
When living with us III health he occu
pied two rooms, one large front room
with an outer door opening on the
piazza Diagonallv Y across from this
in the opposite corner of the other side
of the room-the door opened from his
bedroom into his sitting room. The
~outer door Of his sitting room had
venetian blinds attached to the outer
casing, thus allowing the door to be
open while the blinds could be closed
and fastened, giving increased circUla-
tion of air while insuring against intru
sion.
I'm the later weeks of my life, my
brother had his bed moved into his sit
ting room, because, although he was
never bed ridden, he said he was grow
ing lazy and felt like lying down good
deal" A month or so after his bright
light ceased to shine for M here. we