Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-09
OLD MANS STORY.
CURIOUS PHENOMENA WHICH oC.
CURED IN AUGUSTA YEARS AGO.
HIS RECORD OF WHAT He saw.
Mysterious Rocks Came Into n Hou..
from Invisible Sources and Broke
the Window Panes-NO other Harm
Was Done-Mysfery Never Solved.
To the Editor Of the Dispatch:

Was Done-Mysfery Never Solved,
To the Editor OF the Dispatch:
During a summer %sojourn in the noun
tains l have been privileged 10 meet
with an interesting and most excellent
couple Of old Yirginians OF the Valley.
The old lady is a consecrated mother in
Israel. whose conversation is more with
Heaven than earth-speaking always Of
her Covenant God with unaffected venera-
ton as my Father" and Of her lead as
being with "the Father"
The old gentleman was SO years old on
the LIST of last May Che and Mr.. Gladstone
having been born on the same day Of the
same year., with a bodily frame apparent
ly as robust and active as that OK mosx
men a decade or a score Of years his
junior, and his mind is as clear as a bell.
He speaks with accurate and discrimina-
ting intelligence of the experiences Of his
past life, many Of which are Of captiva-
ting interest. Born in Augusta county.
Va, he emigrated in his teens to the far
West. pausing awhile in Tennessee. and
thence went up the Mississippi and Mis-
souri, rivers to the then border line of
civilization. There he remained for sew
eral years with varied experiences OF
hat-boat travel 10 New Orleans and a
trip OF a year or more with a party OF
Missourians In quest of a silver mine be-
yond Sante Fe.
FULL OF "REMINISCENCES.
His life in the West was contemporary
with that Of Benton, Claiborne, Birch,
Doniphan. Sergeant S. Prentiss. Clai-
borne F. Jackson, Sterling Price, etc, with
many Of whom he was thrown into per-
sonhl association, more or less frequent,
and his "reminiscences Of them and of the
stirring times and events Of those days
are very entertaining.
His wife and himself returned to Viz
ginia before the war and were intense
Confederates, sharing the common fate
of our people in heavy p%ecuniary loss, but
the waning strength of age has not
abated their attachment to the southern
cause.
A MASTER MASON.
In 1890, when he was only q years old.
he became a Master Mason in Lewisburg,
then in Virginia. but now in West Nir-
ginia, and is now a member of stanton
Lodge, probably the Oldest Mason in
Virginia if not in the United States.
With the sturdy faith Of their Scotch
Irish ancestry this venerable couple, in
the shadow Of their native mountains,
await the inevitable, and to them very
proximate, future. From some recollec-
tons Of his life written out in the last
year or two in a firm. steady, and un-
tremulous hand which would be readily
accepted as that Of a man not more than
60 years of age, / have been permitted to
copy the following, which / doubt not will
be Of interest TO many OF your readers
outside Of the theatre OF the curious phe-
nomena in the county of Augusta.
b. r. w.
When 1 was a boy, as nearly as L can
about twelve years old. on a
Sunday morning father. Uncle John Bum
gardner (who then lived in Middlebrook).
and myself went to DR.. John NcChesney's,
five or six miles distant, west. 10
witness a very u-naccountabie and mys-
FERROUS something that has never been ex-
planned or accounted for. The residence
Of DR.. Nice. was a large brick house.
When we arrived there the window open
ings all around the house were protected
plank set up before them extending
10 both upper and lower windows. Upon
AdIllldl4Du We lOulu the glass Ndu all
been broken out, we were told with
locks propelled in some unaccountable
way. This mysterious business had then {
been in progress several weeks and hun
lreds OF people had been there to witness :
l.. We spent most Of the day there, and %
we're on the lookout for any unusual &C.
:
ROCKS ROLLED AROUND.
Occasionally a rock would roll over the
loor from one side of the room to the
pposite side, giving no indication how It /
,ot into the room. Some Of these rocks
We marked and threw them in the yard; q,
hese would be returned. Other things '
n the house would be moved or thrown g,
own, no cause to be seen. We did not o
ee DR.. or Mrs. McC. l don't recollect why. v
t was Sunday, and / presume they had {
one to church. We were told no one n
yas hurt, but that Mrs. Nice. had the 5
essels knocked out of her hands on her =
eturn from the spring-house with butter,
to-, for the table. IL
THAT LITTLE BLACK GIRL. n
There was a little black girl, 10 or y
old that was frequently struck, but L
ever hurt, If at all. only slightly. She was 90
the kitchen. We spent an hour or two d
her presence. She did not seem to be
yet she did not want to talk. -
he sat in a corner by the fire with a
)mmon wool hat on. The hat OCCASION
ly would fly off on the floor. She would HI
lex it up with a smiling lace and put II hi
q.
The kitchen was a long room and from W
S appearance had once been a distillery. n,
he shovel and tongs stood by the fire. al
ace. which was in the narrow end OF 81
e room, which was twenty feet or more. of
hat / have stated came under by OBJ
There was much more said "
the time. many things true and others "a
iiculously untrue. ra
Craigsville, Va, January 81. 1898. W
DAVID KUNKLE. W
1t
vi
me Astronomy Oh shnkespenre ma
'rrin f.. Harmon in Popular Astronomy ~