The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1908-02-20
THAT GHOST MOOSE
WEIRD PHANTOM THAT RoAMs
MAINE FOREST.
Remarkable Stories Of Spirit Animal
Told by Guides-AlI Sorts Of
Disturbances Caused by
His Antics.

II the stories of guides to the north
of here can be relied upon a ghost"
moose Is at large west of Molunkus
river and is creating all sorts of dis
turbances. Whether the spirit of a
moose roams the forests, or whether
educated to the ways of man, it mat
ters little so long as he has completely
terrorized the guides.
The phantom was first seen, so re
port has it, by one Sandy Hill, who
was in charge of party Of Massachu
setts sportsmen camped beyond the
old Patten stage road. The crowd
was out one afternoon when the
moose suddenly showed up within
range of the guns of three Of the party
and they fired simultaneously. The
moose dropped, and 1t was noted that
he looked at his slayers with mild
fearful eyes. AS there was no time to
dress the animal, It being late in the
day, the carcass was hung on tree,
bled and allowed to remain over night.
Next morning the moose was gone
and his tracks plainly showed that
he had walked Off
The following night the party was
aroused out of a heavy sleep by a
deep breathing at the door of their
sianty. There. with hts throat cut
and his mournful eyes fixed on them,
stood the very animal they had shot
less than As hours before. Sandy man
aged 10 come out OF his stupor and
IRE his rife and again down came the
moose. This time he didn't stay
down. Still gazing at them with his
awful eyes he arose and fitted back
ward into the forest. Daylight plainly
rt yealed his tracks.
This was the last Sandy's party saw
# the ghost and they were glad Of II.
But he hadn't taken himself of the
face Of the earth by any means, for
Burt Peggins, who has trapper's
camp west Of Ashland, received a visit
tory he had come in from his traps
ust as the moon was rising and was
tanding his gun against the cabin
when he felt a hot breath on the back
( his neck and turned to look into the
tlse of a moose with its throat cut He
he cabin and banged the door after
him. Peering out Of the window he
saw, 80 he says, the ghostly intruder
pick up his rife with his teeth, pull
he trigger and discharge it. Then the
pparation vanished. Peggins didn't
get over the shock for three days.
Arthur Hill was coming in from
Mud Pond when he almost stepped on
the moose lying in a copse Of fir. He
fired point blank, but missed and the
moose grasped his gun and evapor-
ated. He hasn't seen either since, but
tracks at his door and discovered that
some animal hau made a wreck of his
cabin. The door wasn't wide enough
to admit the body of a moose, but
there were no other tracks in the
snow.
The strangest story is told by Harry
Porter. He was out for a moonlight
'-ivc With his best girl when his
horse dropped dead from heart dis
ease. He was Ave miles from the
village and the situation was embar-
RAISING. He took the horse from the
thills and was stopping over to remove
the harness when he heard the sound
of heavy breathing and turned. There,
in the thills stood the phantom moose.
Porter says that without knowing
what he did he harnessed the animal,
climbed back beside his best girl and
took up the reins. They got to the
edge Of the village in record time
when the moose stopped and signified
that he wished to be released. So
Porter took off the harness and walked
the rest of the way, Porter has never