Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1892-10-11

OF lne Tray. ulu not queSllOn his We
racity, but the old saying holds true,
''seeing is believing" and at once re-
solved to see the we'll for myself. |
took the Seaboard and Roanoke Rail-
road from Norfolk and devoted two
days to an examination Of the well.
arrived at Kildare after Il drive OF a
mile through the woods, during all OF
which was regaled with stories OF the
peculiar things the driver had seen IN
the well. At the station ! had the
same experience. The station agent
and a helper were all witnesses TO the
uncanny things the well made visible
Colonel Deyer was not expecting me
because l had not telegraphed my az
rival, but he welcomed me, and, i'll re
Spouse to my asking to be shown the
we'll. at once called his daughter and
together with his wife We proceeded to
the well, which was about sixty feet
from the house and Otto one side. a
colored man servant who stood near
looked in the well with us. and as
Miss Deycr held the mirror he exclaim-
ed =
"Foah Gawd, dere's a bottlc!'
"What kind of a bottle" | asked.
"a green bottle wild silber on de top
on it."
He was right. Family cleaning on
the surface of the water, but still dis
tinctivcly visible, saw champagne
bottle appear and then mysteriously
sink into the depths of the well. The
rest of the party saw the same things:
The bottle was only one Of a hundred
different objects inanimate and animal,
that appeared on the surface Of :ho wa
ter of the well during the torty-cight
hours spent examining it.
The sorcerer who summons up
''spirits from the Vastly deep" in fiction
is discounted in this instance by a young
Virginia beauty, who brought up flow
ers, Jewels, bottles, collins, visions of
old ladies and young ones, venerable
men and smooth faced boys, hands with
the blood dripping from their wounds,
bodies of dead men and women, and
other queer sights that few perhaps will
believe can be seen in that we'll unless.
as did, they see them for themselves.
But Miss Deyer is not the only one
who causes faces and other things TO
appear Oh the surface of the water.
Others do it rs well as she. That
proves that it is not the girl who Is
haunted.
1t is curious fact that the faces and
objects that appear in the well can only
be seen in the daylight, and the bright
er the sun is shining the more distinct
they become. In all the haunted houses
| remember utter darkness was essen
tial before the ghosts would condescend
to roam around and clank chains and
do other blood-curdling things.
Colonel Deyer's we'll is just an ordi-
nary well, such as you find on almost
every farm in Virginia, similar in ap-
pearance to fifty-one other wells on the
plantation. The other well, however,
will not reveal face. | tried them all,
and so have others. The causes that
bring these curious shapes to the sur
faces of the water in the "spook well, J"
whatever they may be, are missing in
all the other wells on the farm. | can
not explain why it is so, but just have
to give it up, as did fifty theories that
suggested themselves to me during the
hours spent peering down in the well,
climbing down in the well and exam
ining every inch of ground for mirrors
and other devices known to trickstcrs
and so-called mediums.
left Kildare considerably more as
tonished than when / arrived. The
story of the old gentleman who, after
listening to tough yarn Of which the
narrator said, ''It is true, for | saw it
myself" replied, "Well, must believe
it, then, but | would not believe it if /
saw it myself" occurred to me. | saw
the well myself, saw the things l have
described therein, but am utterly un-
able to account for them.
One of the faces seen was that OF the
old gentleman with skull cap. | saw
it as distinctly as / have seen my own
countenance in my mirror.
''Dr. Tudor said Mrs. Deyer, and
"Dr. Tudor" echoed Miss Grace Petit.
of Norfolk, one of the party engaged in
looking in the well at the time
''Describe DR.. Tudor said.
She gave me description of him
which in the most minute particulars
correspondcd TO the face that appeared
in the we'll
Imagination plays a large part in
these sort Of sights, and to make sure
that what | saw was not influenced by
the exclamations of people about the
well, | had the group write on a piece
of paper description of what each
member saw in the we'll. There was 4
startling correspondence between them
all.
Il see a white coffin, s" Il see an old
man looking at a white coffin, y Il see a
coffin and an old man." were the words
they wrote What | saw was q white
coffin with figure of an old man look
ing down at it. In minute the coffin
passed away from the shadow on the
water and Miss Petit said, Il wish it
would come back with the lid off,
''Look !" screamed Mrs. Deyer.
There was the coffin with the ellipti-
cal lid gone and under the glass could
be distinguished the face and shoulders
of a young girl. The sight was too
much for the nerves of Miss Petit, and
with a little sigh and shudder she sank
in heap fainting.
All this time Mrs. Deyer had been
holding the glass. | took it, and hold
ing the back of the mirror toward the
water awaited developments. 1t came
in this shape: A hand holding Gala
/ lily rose. from the bottom of the well
and remained in sight full minute.
Jln,.;rc, bo u e. N c,,nnE