The Wichita daily eagle., 1901-06-30

l rance 70 the postof1ce. The writer II
question noticed her especially on Sab
! bath morning by reason OF the fact tha,
! il is his duty TO post the early morning
| mail on that day. Last Sunday he haS
some observations upon her freaks il
! the home gossip page and among othel
things suggested that she WIS probably
| or at least thought TO be, the wife Of
/ the devil" Monday afternoon (and this
is where the joker got in his work. he
! received a letter which read thus
South Steps Of Postofice
Wichita Kansas, June q, 1901.
| Ny Dear Tenement Of a Soul in Earth.
" Chains:
"Oa this approaching dawn Of a day
dedicated on earth and In heaven to the
good St. John, I take the liberty OF ad.
vising you. Under your left elbow you
viii fnd book. Open it at random nine
times, with your eyes closed. placing
the sulphur end OF a match so securely
on each page opened that it viii remain
there until your eyes are opened, then
see what word or letter it is set upon
When you have repeated this nine times
arrange the letters so that they will
make an intelligent sentence scent
the dawn-the toads are stirring-and ]
must be gone. may talk personally
with you in the future, II may be cen
turies, until which time I viii say some
needed prayers for YOU
iSigned) THE WOMAN IN BLACK"
The Precipitation stood in beads upon
the writer's face as he read the sig
nature; he trembled at the sight Of a
book under his left elbow It was q
Holy Bible that has been kept for ref
erence in the Eagle Office for years. a
deadly paHor spread over his face and
he had to be taken 70 the open window
for air.
Tt was with extreme difficulty he was
induced 10 follow the instructions in
the letter from THE Woman in Black
and not until after everybody assured
him that it could not have been any
thing but a joke attended By the acci-
dental resting Of his left elbow on the
Holy Bible, did he open the book
Securing a match with the sulphur end
toward the book, he closed his eyes and
opened the Bible. The match rested upon
the word The" in the 14th chapter and
31st verse OF John On the second trial
the match rested on the word is in
chapter 4, verse Il, Of Timothy. The
third trial rested in the match being
found totally eclipsing the word of IN
verse s. chapter 3, of Mec4h. The fourth
time it rested on the word 'wife-' in
verse q and chapter 4. of Judges. The
fifth time il rested on the word woman
in chapter u, Levitiens. The sixth time
it fell upon the letter "a in the 22nd
verse and chapter 19 of jeremiah The
seventh attempt ended on the sulphur
touching the word Devil in verse 10,
chapter 90. OF Revelations. The eighth
time the match rested on the word Mar
ried~ in verse q. chapter 2 Of the first
book OF Chronicles At the ninth and
final attempt, the sulphuric point rested
on the word Every" in the 9Th verse Of
chapter ?, in the book Of Genesis.
The words stood in the following mean
ingless order: The-is-of-wife-wo
devil-married-every.
After nearly forty minutes making
combinations out of the words, with no
success, Z was suggested that The
Woman in Black prescribed that the
words should be at first found with
closed eyes; they should be made into an
Ineligible sentence in the same man
arate piece Of paper and thrown into a
hat The man who used the Bible was
then bIndfolded and requested 10 draw
them out one by one, which he did,
and being placed IN the order in which
they were drawn. they read:
Every married woman is the wife Of
devil"
Taken in connection with the fact that
the statement which called forth the al
legged letter from THE Woman in Black"
was to the effect that she was probably
the wife Of the devil" the above sent
ence is significant; and Notwithstanding
the assurance that the whole thing must
have been a joke. gives gemblsnce Of
supernatural influence by accident. The
man who has been writing The Woman
in Black" stories for the Eagle has quit
going TO the postofice between sunset
and sunrise, and while he says he does
not believe in ghosts. it has been OBJ
served with some significance. that he
has been going home IN a hack ever
since last Monday night.