The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-06-22
SOME REAL GHOST STORIES.
FELIX'S DISSERTATION UPON
SPOOKS AND THEIR ANTICS.

Ef-lN , lt2S1'' -
SPOOKS AND THEIR ANTICS.
The s.n-stion That IL Agitating wash |
ingtoni.n CI,ci,s-rbe Furniture Found
In Etotous Feeling uncanny Feelings
I'm the shenandoah valley.
Just now " hen the social pulse Of the Ma
tionnl Capital has not it, throbs quckened |
ID, those feverish disorders of Cabinet din
ners, public receptions, army and navy
hops. lat homes" teas and White House |
gossip. il needs must quicken and culver
at something. so has encrgeticaly worked
ip a Ghost story of The first water for Its |
Jane topic of de!ectation.
There Is a co tigion about the telling Of
ghost stories that rivals the measles, and is |
only exceeded 10y that Of snake stories and
the whooping cough.
one in a circle relates something mar
Vicious nnt bi0od-eurdling; every listener
ihe hic is ulmlglng hard in his mind
among his store # wonders for something
vet more startling. ana il consumed with
mpatlcnce untu h can tell it, and 50
Ghost, in history always have ample COM
Dauionship h0we'er lonely may be their
gisit1non,. No enc is ever credulous OF
any sup rnaiural wonders but their own,
and a man as matter Of principle believes
N his own ghost, while any beyond his
personal family relationship is stun and
nonsense.
FAITH IN sPOOKS.
Til, icwcst number Of people will CONFESS
ne very slightest faith ia any OF the strange
md UnaccOuntable happenings that from
| time - time starile the world yet their
lair stands on ends, and their blood runs
cod vita something very IKE conviction
Il that belief Of the melancholy Danes,
| hat There are more things IN heaven and
earth than are dreampt Of in our lhilOso-
ply" and in theory they shruS their
shoulders in disdain Of such weakness,
nd ia reality they turn pale and won
Ter when the mysterious ana umcXplain-
able happens.
THE WASHINGTON STORY.
) But this Washington sensation which Is
| aflording such timely ,opic there, aud set
| ting all its bon ton to searching through
family histories for corresponding records,
must be FASTENED in the telling before some
| commonplace sequel 10 the mystery l. an
uounced, for of all fiat, unsay0ry disap-
pOintments, an explained gh0st-story Is the
| worst.
The scene of the plot Is not suggestive.
| There are 10 mOuldly gaTrots, 30 glaring
windows like sigllless orbs, no silent halls
with spectre portraits, there may be perhaps
"A grdndlather's clock. but II 50 il Is Of H.
cent purchase, for the hall is square and
fashionable with all the artistic methods OF
elegant furnishing. So are the other luXur-
iOus apartments OF this brown stone man
sion which despite its modern unhistOrlc
appearance as il stands in the most fashion,
| .ble locality of the city, il now known a.
INC haunted house." The first sign of the
! mystery BECAME apparent lew weeks ago
when thee Eliminates Of the house were
! startled by hearing a crashing fall IN a
/ Dom in the second story. Upon inNesiiga-
ION, they found that a heavy clock had
fallen from the mantel upon the ilOOr. No
| clue 10 the reason for this disturbance OF
! he recording agent for Father lime could
| ne found; 80 natural conjecture laid the
| blame ulcn some fugitive cat or some en-
| ferlrisiug rat, aud the matter was
lloppd. The following evening. at the
same hour, a more thunderOus noise
IF pei.mell fall came from the
same direction, and 10 The CONSERVATION OF
he family. the whole contents Of the mantle
we're found tumblod together on the floor IN
I lAtultH0 fffiu7lNh. III iiiA'lNNlih- hii -
mystery then BEGAN t. pcryade the queer
incident, and it became the absorbing theme
IT SPECULATIVE wonder and conjecture
Thorough search baill,d the idea that some
hidden human agent Of evil genius worked
ne mischief, and vigiI0nt watch guarded
| gainst any stea'tly entrance and conceal
al. NJ in the house.
FURNITURE Keeling.
And, happily for interest. and unbappily
{ T. fright, these regular unaccountabe de-
! lauches Of the room grew worse and worse
until all the furniture would sometimes be
found i'm riOtous Keeling. and just before the
upbeaVal which is almost volcanic. sound
5 heard, d heavy measured tread pacing
| % ard fro. but the most rapid entrance does
not accomplish the least success in discOy-
| Try Of - spirit of health or goblin
damned" There would only be found the
most awing silence, like that which follows
clap oi thunder, and peril CT emptiness but
iOr The disordory heaps of the belongings Of
The room. The hal,liug pant Of the affair l.
hat this most mcdd' ONE and cantanker-
1us ghost Is "a most discreet individual.
| whether of air or Of hesn and blood, and ap-
Dreciated thtt quality which is the "better
part Of yalpr,' ior a. long as there is any
occupant Of Tie room peace reigns supreme
! FOR several nights everything has been
! Kept quiet by some ones remaining in the
| haunted room. bat a. soon as il is vacated
| warfare more violent, for the enforced de-
| .ay # The enemy, is begun with renewed
| yisor and danger to the furniture. This
| ; The Present stage Of the mystery.
and the future only can supply the
| chapters TO make il a continued story. The
PEOPLE most nearly connected with it are
seemingly the least affected. They are not
,upersitlOus nor have they become converts
| 20 the weakness. since the incXplicable tur-
bulence # their home, "a young man OF
! the family even continuing to occupy his
accustomed lei in the haunted chamber,
and 10 sleep dreamlassly and undisturbedly.
| They confidently expect some rational sOlu-
| ton OF The mystery, and are abiding their
| time AMI ABIDING their house with COM
posture which seems nothing short of phe-
nOmenai 10 their less practical neighbors.
THEIR LINEAGE.
| One rarely hears or reads Of any ghost
that did not come Of the best family. Their
old bones, strung together for a midnight
| rpVel. Invariably boast Of having been
clothed in patrcian flesh and uourished by
! bue blood. Some Of them pretend TO have
worn powdered queues and brOcaded waist
coats. and to have used silver snuil-b0Xes,
while those Of the other sex. who appear in
| robes of white mist and beckOn you with
| i'NEs Dful uu-fi Win u YUM HtAfl al ti'
end. will in some unaccountably way leave
I The impression that that finger once flashed
with priceless gems. But in these unwrit-
ten records Of real ghosts there is one nOta.
! be exception 10 the highbred rule If aristos
| cratic spCcires.
There is much.credited tradition Of an
Old negro woman who was Virginia born,
and, as ghost, Virginia died.
TIE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.
The tourist who now meanders through
the smiling valley OF the Shenandoah, if he
dare leave the surface pleasure OF it, rest
ful scenes and 20 deeper into the mystic
| grandeurs of the mountains, where fierce
| forms sometimes iurrOw their rugged brows
and sullen looks menace the scene 10y the
all peryading silence, some incoming feeling
must lay hold upon him.
In ROckbridge county there are not few
such weird aspects among the features of
lis hOary mountains, and some four miles
from Lexington, though in u spot 50 covert
with shadows from the rock screens around