The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-09

| perhaps more. One night we heard that
water burst through the third story ceiling
| and go on dashiug, FLASHING, tumbling in q
flood down through the house, gurgling un-
der doors and dripping from the gallery.
1 But when we came to look there was not
| drop OF water visible anywhere
by that time the women Of my house
hold were thoroughly alarmed, and l con-
TESS / was not taking much enjoyment out
OF the situation myself. My brother hight
ened the general feeling of insecurity. He
| got 1T into his obstinate head that some of
the darkies were making our troubles, and
! persisted in firing revolver bullets at night
In any direction where he fancied he heard
or saw anything suspicious. And the devil,
or whatever ii was annoying US, kept him
pretty busy. More fruitful of anxiety to
us than aught else, however, was the amaz-
| ing and incomprehendble effect produced
upon Miss Riddell. who actually seemed to
fall victim to demoniac possession.
Prior to that time she was always one Of
the gentlest, kindest, sweetest and purest
| sosls alive, but now she took to having
spells in which her whole nature was
| changed. In those spells she would demon
strate a furious and malignant temper use
the most abominable language and do the
most outrageous and violent things. She
stole from the family medicine chest a viru-
lent poison and dumped it into the break
AAo1 OO4oOs ChOISh VI ~ w uhN . hAAlbA uo oil
If its smell had not betrayed its presence.
And she wounded me severely in an at
tempt to jab a carving knife into my back.
She could give, in her rational moments.
no excuse for those criminal efforts, and
indeed seemed only vaguely conscious Of
them, as if they had been the work Of some
body else. My wife, too, began to show
herself affected by the same influence, and
in like way, for caught her trying TO set
the house aflre.
Remember that in all this maddening
series of exasperations, alarms and mis-
fortunes We never saw anything we could
possibly suppose ghost, yet our conviction
was vehement that we were inhabiting
haunted house.
THAT belief was confirmed by the in
formation we obtained from an old doctor
named Brownlow, or Brownell, 1 do not
now clearly remember which, who was
called in TO dress the wound Julia made Ia
my back. he lived couple of miles from
the Brinckley place and had known all
about it for forty years. When we narrated
what had been going on, he said.
49, i do not doubt it, and l think L can
give you an explanation. Twenty years
ago this place was owned and lived in short
time by a Welshman named David Evans
who was rather remarkable person. He
was bad man, but endowed with wonder
full mesmeric power, by the exercise of
which in Europe he had amassed a fortune.
It was said that he had to run away from
Europe to escape punishment for some
crime through misuse of his power. Coming
here ne bought this place. and within
year mesmerized and ruined Sallie
Meredith, whose father shot him. Ever
since then this house has been said to be
haunted by his ghost, which has never
shown itself, but has demonstrated an in
fernal power in compelling hallucinations,
such as you have experienced, in the minds
of those coming within the range of its
influence
1--WE moved the next day back to Balti-
more" j. Il. Connolly.