Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-19
Ru n Rtnn correspondert

,ySwooD. N. j., May ia hand"
- dame. which came forth from the sky
~,,h a great white light, at 10 o'clock at
rght a short time after the death of the
%vorIte son of the family, and fell with a
r,shlne sound on the farm of Henry Prantl
:. pakersyille, about mile from this place,
y the cause of much conjecture in the
neIrhborhood.
The ''hand" appeared In the sky. The
,,thsr of the dead boy the brother and
,.other all saw it, and heard the noise
-Sich accompanied it. They saw 1t fall
an a spot where Rudolph. the dead son,
tad worked many hours during his. life.
Ths spot was not 100 feet from the room
IN which he died.
rohn. the 22.year-old brother, rushed to
M 'hand," writhing piece of mystic
Material" as 1t lay on the ground burned
on at the wrist. He tried to pick 1t up
hut Il was hot. He could even see the i'm
mint Of the finger nails as the glowing
hand writhed there, and he imagined he
enuld smell burning human flesh
When the thing cooled he took 1t into
ths house. Although the family is not
rich the mother has refused an offer of
$1,000 from two men from Philadelphia"
Who. she says. came to her house in an
automobile and tried to purchase the
phand," saying something about meteor
he or falling star.
Mrs. Prantl says she does not know the
name of the men, and does not care, add
Ing, "Ths hand had a peculiar meaning to
me- will not part with 1t for all the
money in the world"
Then, with streaming eyes. and sobs that
shook her whole body, she told of her boy
her Rudolph who "had died before his
time
II know 1t never was intended he should
hIe vet" said the mother between Sobs.
'Te had never been sick day in his life
q IT. n, at., T. u
feet inches tall, and he weighed 1872
pounds He was is years. months and "a
days old. They say he had pneumonia.
But say he died from too much NOR.
phne The nurse gave it to him."
Because Mrs. Prantl is prone to believe
IN things supernatural she unhesitatingly
rys. There's some who says Rudolph has
not reached the other side yet They do say
as this hand may be a message from him.
That is why i will not sell 1t for any
money"
Then she took the gruesome thing in
her hands and looked it over lovingly. She
told how she went to the grave of her boy
every day and praised him for what he had
been in his life.
The hand" itself, scientists believe,
must be a bit or meteor hurled from space
70 the Prantl farm. The material of
which II is composed is unlike other me-
teorlc compositions seen In this part of
inc WoTlu. IL is lBnt IN weight, has no
snell and resembled the right hand of a
human being grasping something in an
Eulsh. The thumb and little finger are
unusually long. Nails show on some of
the fingers The first finger, middle fin
ger and ring finger are drawn close to-
sether. as though in pain. They curve
Slightly inwards. The wrist is abnormally
small. 1t is burnt off and shows black
ened charred edges, which might, with a
stretch of the imagination. be called
eharred bones.
The Prantis plan to have a glass case
made and put the hand" in 1t. There have
peen thousands of persons at the little farm
70 see that strange thing" The mother
and daughter, Clara, say they cannot get
tnelr work done because they have TO spend
80 much time showing the hand" and tell
lng just how ii fell
Ihe daughter Clara is running a harrow
through the fields these days. She is trying
e take the place of Rudolph on the farm.
one hinted she thought perhaps the hand
hind
me grave of the lad is in the little Meth.
ouist ehurehyard on Zion road At pres
W Is marked with bricks and bottles
containing flowers
I'VE are going to have a monument" she
'A'a Win pride, "just as soon as we can"