Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-04-01

A SNiAlNAss a htat INV
eight or ten lighted matches fell on
the bed and about the out OF
air, but were all extinguished be-
fore anything could be set on fire.
Spooksr Start Blazes
1.-THE ~fire-raising continued for
several days. The family would
smell smoke, and on running up
into the bedroom. they would find
a bundle of clothes placed in the
%center of the floor blazing. Or they
would descend to the cellar and
there find a pile of shavings alight
and blazing merrily. They lived in
constant danger of having the house
burned over their heads" 1t is in
teresting to note in this connection,
however, that the ghostly incendi-
aries usually confided in Esther as
soon as they had started a fire. al
though sometimes they coyly with
held its exact location.
Soon after this" we are told
things got so bad that Esther Cox
had to leave home, and went to
visit a friend. For four weeks there
was peace. Then trouble began
again. This time, knocks and raps
were heard all over the house, and
Esther now began to see the
spooks." There were two of them, it
loCtlliS <nd6blC y"liOot AtliAiiAhC pNi
/, s~onality was recognized by her timid
and in%gratiating raps. and Bob. who
pounded out his communications
with a huge fist. or possibly. it was
thought. with a stone. OF course
some of the additional phenomena
which occurred about this time. Mr..
Hubbell. the actor. who visited the
Teed home for the purpose of in
v~estigation, gives the following ac-
count:
Il had been seated lin the sitting
room about five minutes when to
my great establishment, my umbrella
was thrown a distance of sixteen
feet. passing over my head in its
strange flight, and almost at the
same instant a large carving knife
came whizzing through the air,
passing over the head of Esther.
who vas just then coming out of the
pantry with a large dish in both
hands, and fell in front of her. near
me-having come from behind her
out of this pantry. ] naturally went
to the door and looked in, but no
person was there"
Things came to such a pass at
length that the landlord came and
told the iced family that either
Esther would have to go. or they
WOulu nave " ltdNt lllc LOQbt. L6ll-
err was then dispatched to visit
other friends. From this second
time she left the Teed house, she
was never more troubled with ghosts
but a few weeks after this date she
was arrested for in~cendiarism in a
barn and sentenced to four months
Imprisonment. Finally, she married.
had a family, and that was the end
of the Amherst mystery.
AS in the Antagonist case, ii was
DIR. Walter Prince who turned the
first brilliant rays of skepticism upon
the Amherst spooks. in writing of
their spiteful disturbances of Esth-
er's bedclothes and furniture, he
says
Mr.. and Mrs. Teed one night
could see from their bed into Esth-
er's room by moonlight Chow much
moonlight, and how much of her
room did it light?); they saw a chair
slide up from the wall to her bed
(would not a string looped around
the chair leg have produced the
same effect. and does not the d.
Erection the chair took suggest the
stringO; a pillow vent out from
under her head into the chair
(would that effect nave been beyond
the power of the human-to produce
in the semi-darkness?); a ghost sat
down in the chair and rubbed,
pinched and scratched Esther under
the bedclothes (but this is what
Esther said); all the furniture ex-
cept the bedstead was thrown out
into the entry while Esther lay
quietly in bed (hpw much and how
large was the furniture? How much
of Esther's form could they see? is
IL certain that il was Esther at all
whom they saw on the bed. for rolls
of clothing and artfully arranged
cushions have been known to de-
ceive in a poor light?); then an
other ghost rocked the bed 6is ii
not probable that Esther was in bed
now. at any rate?): at length Esth-
err was brought to sleep in the same
room with the others. whereupon
the manifestations ceased (because
of the better opportunities for OBJ
servation?); except that once the lid
OF a trunk gave one parting slam
twas the trunk conveniently near
Esther's mattress? Was the inter-
val before the parting slam long
enough to allow the leeds to fall
into that state, congenial TO the
i nfChf uhorafn aVae watch uof M