The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-11-29
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- PHANTOM i2lOWMAN.
terrified Farmers Watched Him us He
Turned Up tho Soil Perfectly

Ae"eu FARMERS watched Him rs HI
Turned Up the Soil Perfectly
In the northwestern corner of Lowe,
Merton township, Montgomery coun
ty, Pa, terrible hubbub has been
raised by phantom farmer, who is
nightly seen blowing in field The
apparitlon was first discovered about
three weeks ago by fern
siand who was returning late
rom rom courting a pretty maid.
EnerGing from wooded path.
wny that sk!rted an old forest for
miieS, this rustic was startled to hear
u sepulchrai voice commanding a
team TO halt. lie looked in vain about
'hc place Tor a moment or two, and
WA" ABOUT moving on again when the
same sound fell on his ear. A shiver
cSrcpt down his spinal column as he
heard the crealiing Of an unseen har.
ness, and this terror was far from
bg bPeing aSiiayed by the whinny of n
horse almost d,rccuy y bofo-o hi ~.
that moment the new moon stole over
the neighborng tree tops, and in its
misty light the rural swain plainly
saw tie phantom farmer. II was
clearly outlined against the dark back
ground. and its two hands held in
steady grasp the projecting handles of
a plow. Before it marched Il pair of
spirited horses. dimly outlined in tho
misty light, tlIcir heads erect and
their eyes flashing fire rs they moved
hastily along Tho young man waited
another moment to rcassurc himself.
and was about to take to his heels
when plow,nan. horses and plow sud.
denly vanished. Then he, too, lied in
wild alarm.
AT Silas Browns corner grocery on
the night succeeding this the young
man. Albert Cooper by naino, told
this startling story Brown, like
many, of tho loungers in the store,
smiled incrcdulously, and advised
Cooper to REFORM" a discussion
arose, in which hot words were cx
changed; and several bets were made
that Cooper was drawing the long bow.
The upshot of the matter was that the
crowd adjourned To tho alleged scene
OF tho ghosts operations to verify or
disprove Coopcrs tale.
Ihey had not long TO wait. With
out tho noises that lad warned Cooper
the night before, tho phantom farmer
appeared before the eyes of tho seven
men who sat upon the fence, or, to be
more accurate, who almost fell from
1t in terror. His long white hair and
beard streamed in the passing wind.
No hat was on his head nor could any
portion OF his face be seen except the
g'lstcnlng eyes. These shot out from
a height OF moro than seven feet from
the ground, indicating that tho spec
tral granger was taller than the aver
age Of human kind. About his BODY.
which could not well DO traced, thero
was a, phosphorcsccnt glow. which
dnzz!cd the eyes Of the fortified spec
tutors and shown far ahead Of tho
steadily rcving horses The plow he
but it tossed oif r1Iiee e sScicto!, frame,
as easily as n steamer turns tho TIv3r tis
waves. On he car,ic, -tfIc toT.ycs s~e;rII-
ing TO cxlalc fire. their heads erect
aid arching, and footballs as firm and
clear as any tho watchers ever heard.
AT the corner Of tho field they turned
obcdicntly at Il word from their spec
trail driver, and again passed before
the affrightcd spectators. who there
upon fed in haste.
On the following morning crowd
OF rustics determined to go TO tho field
and SEQ whether any trace of the far
mcr could be found AS they came
III sight Of the inclosurc one Of the
number exclaimed in astonishment:
III be burned if tho thing doesn't
plow, sure enough" He was right.
OEe-half Of the field had been gone
over, evidently by no novice. The
burrows We're not quite SO broad as
those made by an ordinary plowman,
but they were less ragged and more
deep, and were as straight as tile most
experienced eye could mako them. A
day or two after the same group went
out to view tho fields again, and this
time they found that the phantom had
finished his work. The owner of the
field was one of tho number, and he
tool, solemn oath that he had not
turned a sod in the inclosure.- st.
Louis Globe-Democrat.