St. Paul daily globe., 1893-05-05
HIS HAIR GOT GRAY.
The Gruesome Experience of
Joseph Simons With
. a Corpse.
How Horace Thompson Played
a Cruel Trick on I'm
5s Gle Joe.
-
John Erwine Tells Of the Hop-
rors He Felt in a Col
liSiOn.
Apparition Frank Douglas
Witnessed While Nups-
ing Wounds.

lated TO 1rlghten people, JOnn ErWlne
and his wife were among the company,
and were Oh their way, as the old
gentleman expressed it, Ito town to see
our son John and his family, and to
look after some seed pertaters for next
springs plantin'. Wife and l haven't
been to town fur more'n four years, and
then went in summer time and got in
smash-up on the railroad while we were
coming back home," says correspond
ent of the Philadelphia Times.
"Goliy. but we were frightened that
time if we ever were, tell you. 1t
happened this way: We were sitting
in the front car next the engine, and
were looking out of the front window,
watching the steam and smoke boil out
of what my wife calls the great iron
hoss.' All at once, just as we were
coming near to one of them places
where another line of tracks joins the
main line | saw string of fiat cars
coming backward down the adjoining
track, and the next thing | knoW'd our
engine went plum right into 'em. You
ought to see the men on that engine
jump for their lives. The engine
plowed right through the cars, and one
of 'em whacked against the car we were
sitting ilf and Knocked iG from the
track.
"We thought for certain that our time
was come when we were tumbled all III
heap over against the other side of
the car. and cut and bleeding by being
hit with the broken glass. This scar on
my nose and cheek | got that day. and
my wife here nearly had her chin cut
off. This is the first time we've been
on the cars since, and wouldn't be now
only we want to go down to Johns and
see the twin boys that came to his house
the week AFTER New Years. They came.
ON the Sth of the month, and Pll be
blamed if John amt gone and named
one Andrew and the other Jackson, in
honor of old Hickory"
p, A Strange ApparitiOn.
Frank Douglas. another of the wait
ing passengers, gave an account of the
fright he had in a railroad wreck in
Ohio, when the train he was riding i'll
ran off the track and down steep en-
bankment into the river. At least
dozen persons were killed, and large
number. including himself. severely in
Jured, he having sustained a fractured
hip and arm, beside scalp wound and
general confusion of his body.
Il was terribly frightened" he said,
''as | felt the car was sitting in jump
from the track and swing across the
road before it ran down the embank-
ment, but | was worse frightened one
night while [ lay i'll my room at home
waiting for my broken bones to knit. 1t
was about midnight on one of those
M al nf mic bot in
spring time. Everybody in the house
was asleep, and | had just awakened
from a pleasant dream. | lay there
watching the moon sail majestically
toward the western horizon, sab0ve
which was bank of fieecy clouds, upon
which the moonlight fell with wonder
ful effect.
Il became interested in the clouds,
and began picturing various forms out
of the lights and shadows, when | was
lorror-Struck to see monster figure rise
from the clouds and wiggle about like
an earth worm which had been trod
upon. The monster had head like
hippopotamuS, upon which were two
horns of immense length, which stood
out from above the elephant-like ears.
Its eyes were like burning sulphur.
while its forked tongue darted in and
out from its mouth with lightning-like
rapidity, emitting sparks which looked
like masses of shooting stars.
Its neck was long and spotted with
greenish light. Its body was, as near
as | could compare it, like that of a
camel of gigantic proportions. The
thing had six pairs of wings, three like
an eagles and the others webbed like
monster vampire. 1t had ten legs like
those of crocodile. There were eight
tails of different lengths and forms that
branched out from its main appendage.
which stretched outsfor at least 100 feet
in the rear, and looked like huge SER
pent.
A Child on Its Back.
Upon the back of the mons er sat
little child dressed in pink clothes. The
child appeared to be about five years
old. and was the most beautiful boy ever
saw. In his right hand he held short
staff. from the top of which streamed
an ensign of purest white. in the center
OF which was skull and croSs-bones of
fiery red. In his left hand he held
scroll parly unrolled. but l could not
make out the characters marked thereon,
owing to their dazzling splendor. The
monster bearing the happy child moved
rapidly among the clouds, and passed
from them across the sky toward the
moon, and for little while was hid be-
hind the orb of night.
''Then it reappearedand came directly
toward our house. | was wide awake.
aud so frightened that | could neither
move nor speak. Just as it seemed that
| could feel its breath was startled by
a noise like the report of an explosion,
and the thing disappeared, leaving only
vapor that had all the colors of the
rainbow. Two years later, while trav-
cling in the South, | stopped one night
along mountain road at a rude cabin
to ask for lodging. In response to my
knock Oh the door it was opened by the
most hideous looking colored woman
I've ever seen. Clinging to her
seen in my night vision two years
before. Without waiting an answer to
my inquiry, fled from the place in
awe. [ was so frightened by what re-
garded as a supernatural apparition
thatI ran for two miles, when L came to
a small log house, where | was enter
tanned for the night.
'In telling my host of what had
seen up the road he said: Stranger,
YOU'RE wrong. There's no such cabin
as you describe. No one lives beyond
this point. | travel the road daily and
often ct night, and ought to know all
about it. guess you've been indulging
in some of our strong corn juice That
l could have been mistaken seemed i'm
probable, and yet the honest manner of
my host convinced me that | had be-
held another vision that in some way
was related with the first"
what Scared Joseph Simons
.'You may talk about fights as much
as you like" spoke up Joseph Simons,
little old man, who had been an attentive
listener to the other statements. II can
tell you something that made my hair
turn gray. was.a little over forty at
the time, and Pm now slxty-fiye, so you
see it's been Qnite a while since it
happened. 1t was in the outskirts of
Easton. My uncle. Gerald Sfmons. was
an old bachelor and lived with his other
nephew. Joe THOMPSON, a cousin of
ihiue. Uncle took SICK Que day with