The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-01-14
PLAYS THE ORGAN
STRANGE UNEARTHLY MUSIC IN
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
After Midnight the Organ is Heard
Playing WierG Tunes-The Keys
Move Under Invisible Fingers
aud the Lights Go Out With
out Apparent Cause.

| out JP"i NAe >0oONs
Queer noises at the dead hour OF mid
night are always electrical, and make th'
flesh creep. This is particularly the cas-
when they emanate from the quiet pre-
cincts Of the house Of God.
In the neighborhood of st. Johns Epis
copal church the flesh of the inhabitant
| creeps every night.
For several weeks-in fact, from thu
| time the church was occupied perma
nently-werd music has been heard there
every night at a most unusual hour, gen
orally about 1890 o'clock.
At first very little attention was paid tt
| 1t. but the fact that it continued and wa.
| heard every night at the same hour caused
! the people to investigate. One woman
asked her neighbor whether she heard
anything, and even the servant girls were
| consulted. Fear makes everybody demo
| cratic. aud when ghost story IS being
discussed the voice and opinion of the
kitchen maid is Of as much. if not more,
value than the voice OF the great lady
herself.
What pleasure can one find in servant
girl who does not believe in ghosts aud
who cannot tell some personal experience
| with them. One might as we'll have a
Chinaman in the kitchen as girl who
hassno poetry in her soul.
The servant girls in the neig bo rhood
OF st. Johns church are not of this class.
Every one of them have heard the strange
music coming from the church organ and
many are the nights they stay awake
with there hearts beating against their
breasts while the ghost enjoys herself
pumping the great big organ.
In all seriousness there are some very
strange noises heard in ST. Johns church
at nights, and some strange events have
happened. If there is ghost there it is
the ghost of a musician.
The first strange incident noticed was
some nine or ten months ago, when the
Wichita Musical club sang in the church.
During one song the lights went out three
times and it is a fact that each time they
went out the singers were out of tune with
one another. And this was not the
strangest part of the affair by any means.
One of the ladies of the club never noticed
that the lights had gone out at
all. The positively asserts to this day
that the lamps gave light all the time
while it is asserted with equal positive
ness by the other members of the club
that the lights went out three times
Next day the electric light company was
asked what was the matter with the
lights on the night in question and the re-
sponse was that the machinery ran evenly
that night and they could not believe that
the lights went out at all,
Rev. Mr. Won Herlich. the pastor,
was notified of the strange
events that occurred there
and he made some Investigations with a
result that was astonishing to him. He
not only heard from others that wierd
music was heard in the church nightly,
but he actually heard it himself one night
about week ago. He describes it as very
low and mournful and not like anything
he had ever heard before. OF course Mr..
Won Herlich does not believe in ghosts
and is quite at loss to know what causes
the music. He at first thought, perhaps,
that rats might have got into the organ
but the perfect harmony of the music ex-
ploded that theory.
a lady living near by heard the organ
window to hear it more plainly, for the
music was sihgularly beautiful. The
church was lighted up brilliantly and she
thought that some one, perhaps the pastor,
was practicing on the organ. The air
changed in the twinkling of an eye and
the music that followed was of the most
unearthly kind. All at once the lights
went out and voice was heard singing
very mournful song the words
of which were unintelligible to the lady
In question. This singing was kept up for
nearly two hours, although there was not
a spark OF light visible anywhere in the
church. The lady awakened her husband
and called his attention to the music but
strange to relate he could not hear note
of it, and insisted that his wife was walk
ing in her sleep. 1t is said that the col
ored iaRitor heard the music one night
went up to see who was playing and to his
saw@no one at the organ,
although it was sending forth its swelling
notes, and more than that the
keys were moving regularly under the
touch of some invisible fingers. The
colored man would have been scared out
of his boots were it not for the fact that
he read in paper few days before that
church organs IN some places were being
played with electricity. n reporter for
the EAGLE called to see the janitor yester-
day but he could not be found.
II the organ is played by ghost at all it
is the ghost of a mus ician or musicians
The fact is the large and small organs
were heard playing together one night an |
incident which indicates the presence of |
two persous whether they were of flesh or |
Of spirit.
Yesterday when an old settler was in |
formed of the mysterious noises at the |
church he recalled the fact that Ger |
man music teacher named Mrs. Eddicker /
ived with her daughter on that corner /
some years ago; that both of them dis
appeared mysreriously and have never I
been heard of since. That was nearly
iwenty years ago and very few people are
eft who remember the circumstances
People who do not believe in ghosts
ire very much excited over these noises,
md both Mr.. ven Herrlich and others
Ire determined TO investigate the matter
i'll they find IN earthly cause for this
eemiagly unearthly music.
PERECLESlAN ENTERTAINMENT
The Periclesian society met last evening |
!, lis rOsV hall in the Eet-o buiidiny apd