The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-03
REVEALED BY A SPECTRE.
How a Widow Recovered $4,000 of
Her Husbands Estate.
From the PhiIadelphia Times

How a Widow Recovered $4,000 of
Her Husbands Estate.
From the Philadelphia Times
Madison, N. H., Aug. 30. There recent
| ly took place in this town an occurrence
over which the disciples of spiritualism
are rejoicing and the skeptical are puz-
! cling. Some eighteen months ago a we'll
TODD farmer of this county died, leaving
| widow and several children. A few
months before his death he mOrtgaged his
farm to raise the money with which TO
| purchase a piece of land adjoining his
! own. He had saved the whole amount,
| with which he expected to pay off the
| debt, and was known to have the sum,
| something over $1,000, in his possession a
| day or two before stricken down with his
| last illness, but when the widow came to
| look into the deceased mans effects the
money could nowhere be found
! The day when the mortgage was to fall
| due was near at hand and it would be
| necessary to sell the newly-acquired prop
| erty to pay ibff the money was not dis
! covered. A thorough search was made
and every possible friend to whom the
| dead man might have gwen it for safe
| keeping was examined as to his knowl-
! edge of the money, but no one had any
| inkling of what had become of it. It was
then remembered that Mr.. Lithye had
made an unexpected journey somewhere
to the south shortly before his death, but
he had been reticent as to where he had
been. indeed, it was on getting back
| home that he was struck down with the
| paralytic stroke that affected his organs
of speech and brain so that he was not
| capable of answering intelligibly the
simplest question addressed to him.
The widow, after every possible means
| had been taken to discover the where
abouts Of the money, at last became in a
measure resigned to its loss, and had
placed the new lands in the hands of an
| agent for sale, when her sister, young
| girl from Boston, came to visit her
One day this girl was talking with her
sister over some sewing on which they
| were engaged, when she seemed to look
over her relatives shoulder, and asked
abruptly: why, sister Jane, who issthat
mani"
Mrs. Lithye turned her head quickly,
but could see no one, and said so, when
Mary, the girl persisted: 'Iz l did not
know differently, | would certainly think
that was Brother Austin"
She had not seen Mr. Lithye for some
years before his decease. She watched
| the figure then lean over her sisters
shoulder, and caress her hair for mo-
ment, then it was gone, leaving the girl
staring blankIy Again she claimed
|
the hall, and that it paused as if to allow
her to ovortake it, but that she ran past
it in terror.
CAME TO HER BEDSIDE.
One morning she came down to break
fast and declared "Sister Jane. know
| where that missing money is It was
thought that she was testing, but she in
sisted, and told that the night before she
had been awakened to find standing be-
side her the mysterious visitor she had
seen twice before. She claimed that the
phantom had informed her that he had
placed the money with merchant in
Portland, and gave the mans name and
address. She had fallen asleep again af-
ter this vision and had it repeated twice
over. She then rose and set down the
name and business of the merchant and
produced the slip of paper on which she
| had iotted them down. Mrs Lithye had
never heard of such person and at first
declined to credit the story, but urged by
her sister she finally wrote to the merch-
ant inquiring if Mr.. Lithye had about a
certain date left any money with him for
| safe-keeping.
The man replied promptly that no such
sum had been given to him and Mrs
| Lithye censured Mary for causing her
to make so great a mistake. The next
morning after the receipt of this reply
| Mary Dunn came down to say that she
had again seen her brother-in-law, who
had told her that the merchant lied and
that if she would write once more telling
him that the money was contained in an
old red morocco pocket-book, marked with
his grandfather's initials in German type
that the thief would probably disgorge
his booty, which he had Appropriated
thinking there was no proof of his posses
sion of it. This Mary did with the result
that the money was forwarded by the
next train, with the explanation that the.
writer had overlooked the circumstance
| The girl had no means of knowing of this
transaction, as no written evidence of it
existed
She is good. Christian girl, of a mat
ter-Of-fact disposition, and looks on her
! singular experience as only a most won
| derful dream. But the question remains.
| what did she see, or was it only one of
| those inexplicable Condolences that have
amazed the world for all ages2 Skeptics
claim that the girl might have found some
memorandum of the money and its where
aoouts, but its presence in the old pocket
| book, of which she knew nothing, is a
| proof of her honesty in the matter She
| so much dislikes the notOriety the affair
| has given her that She makes her sister
now tell the story for her TO the inquisi-
tive crowds who flock to hear it.