The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-10-28
STRANGE. FREAKS
OF MING.

=
William b. Remick, who was one O
Union Rivers heaviest lumber opera
! tors a few years ago and is now Il res:
dent of Mariaville. witnessed a start
ling natural phenomenon a short tim
ago while returning from the head 0
| Floods Pond to the settlement. say
the Lewistown Journui. He saw
thunderstorm gather in q clear s,>,
and watched it roll on ahead of hin
with ever increasing force and destruc
tiveness until it swept nearly all o
Hancock county and left a score o
fires in its wake.
Some Of the freaks of the lightnin!
were marvellous At Hanscomes i.
Mariaville, two families occupied tn.
house. In the front part was IN aget
| gentleman seated in ar armchair read
ing the Bible. \ ball of fire rolet
lazily into the window. danced along
the window ledge a second or two ant
then rolled into the old gentleman
lap and across the open Bible in hi:
| hands. He experienced no shocl
whatever except binding sensation
but the metal clasps of the Book wcr,
melted and ran to the floor. while
across the pages ofthe book was stamp
ed indelibiy 4 miniature photograph
of a large apple tree that stood in the
cooryard close by the window. Some
minutes after it had passed the OLD
man made an effort to rise, but was
firm y held to his chair by some mys
terious force After an hour or mort
of effort on the part of members Of the
household, with liberal bathing oil
vinegar and other reWcdics, the chain
finally lossened 1t hold and he was
able to rise There was no i'll effect
felt by him.
The ball Of fire, after dropping from
the book, had struck the floor and
bounded to the ceiling, passing through
the cracks in the top Of the partition
into the apartments of the IIanscomes,
where young Mrs. Hanscome was
seated with her baby in her arms. 1t
came toward her from the ceiling, Il
swayng ball, rocking back and forth.
until it struck her full in the face and
disappeared. Eight of Mrs. Hanscome' s
front teeth disappeared with it and
were never found. Her chair was tip
ped forward with her in it, and she
was found unconscious, her head and
feet resting on the floor, still retaining
her position in the chair, as if it were
upright instead Of resting upon her.
The baby was clasped' closely to her
bosom, uninjured, and Growing as if
greatly delighted by the event. 1t
was several hours before Mrs. Huns
comes arms could be made to unfold
and release the baby and before the
chair could be removed from her.
When she recovered consciousness she
vomited large quantity of black
matter, like charcoal, which gave out
a strong odor of sulphur, and it was Il
long time before she fully recovered
from the shock.
On the wall where the electric mass
passed from one apartment to the
other were streams of sooty blackness
as if blown through by strong blast.
The marks could not be washed off and
still work through the coat Of white
wash put on to cover it.
One of the strangest freaks was the
striking of a hennery and the killing
of several hens. Some of hens rested
on the roots, as if asleep. Others were
standing upon the ground in an atti-
tude of listening. Previous to this a
hen was supposed to be lightning proof,
her feathers forming the protective
armor.