Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-09-12
HAUNTED HOUSES
By Il. ADDIN0ToN BRUCE

~ VERY once in while stories Of haunted
n houses appear In the newspapers Particu-
~ Iarly FREQUENT are reports Of hauntings In
which no ghost is actually SEEM but small eb1ects
are moved and flung about In q most mystertousl
way
Sometimes considerable damage II done, brio
a-brac smashed floors and walls smeared with ink
paint windows broken, etc. Always there Is
excitement and alarm among those the ~inVtsiole
ghost" has fit to torment
Failure to find any human agency responsible
for the pranks played usually inspires In them a
firm belief that some discarnate maicious-minded
spirit has invaded the house.
AS matter of fact it is safe to say that there
is no warrant for this belief The trouble Is that
most people thus haunted do not go the right way
about catching their ghost"
And the right way, briefly, is to have every
member of the haunted household, particularly the
younger members, examined by speclaIlst IN
nervous diseases.
If the specialist fnds-as he is pretty sure to
Rnd-that some one in the family is afflicted with
that strange disease hysteria, then It will be an
easy matter to get rid Of the ghost"
All that is necessary is to send the amicted
member away for treatment or to keep him under
constant watch at home. Peace and quiet in the
house will promptly follow.
OF the correctness of this view Of such haunt
ings there can be no doubt, in the light OF the
results of numerous investigations made by scien-
tc detectives of the supernatural, members or the
Society for Psychical Research.
Again and again they have traced the respon-l
sibility to some occupant of the haunted house.
Usually they have traced 1t to a child or young
servant girl. Not infrequently they have obtained
But these confessions, It is important TO mote,
do not involve willful wrongdoing.
The guilty one insists that he or she acted undsr
an irresistible impulse 'I did It, but I do not
know why 1 did It. / could not help myself.
It is difficult to credit confession like this.
The temptation to punish the culprt is strong The
ANNOYANCE the fear, created by his behavior looms
large in the minds of those he has plagued.
Yet punishment would be real mistake For
hystera is a disease characterized especially by a.
tendency to act in deceptive way, from motives
of which the hysterical one is not fully conscious
Indeed he usually is not at all conscious OF them
Besides which, in hysteria there is always an
abnormal "suggestbility." This determines the
form the hysterical deception will take
II for any reason the sufferer happens TO De
impressed strongly with suggestions relating TO any
particular disease then the symptoms OF that dis.
ease will be simulated.
If on the other hand, he is living among people
of a superstitious, credulous trend of mind then
he is likely to enact the role Of invisible ghost.
Or he may become a medium" for spiritistic
seances.
In this way he can satisfy the exaggerated craV-
ing to excite wonder and gain sympathetic interest
that turks always at the bottom of hysterta.
Please keep these facts in mind the next time
YOU read of seemingly unaccountable furn1ture
finging in some hitherto quiet house. knowledge
of them will save you from being needlessly
mysti1ed
Copyright, 1916. by the Associated NewspapersJ