Arizona republican., 1922-03-29

, scend to the cellar and there find a
pile of shavings alight and blazing
merrily. They lived on constant dan
ger Of having the house burned over
their headsf 1t is interesting to note
in this connection, however. that the
ghostly incendiaries usually confided
in Esther as soon as they had start
ed a fire, although sometimes they
coyly withheld its exact location.
Soon after this we are told.
things got so bad that Esther Cox
had 10 leave home and went TO visit
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
We're two of them, ii seems-Maggie.
whose feminine personality was rec
ognized by her timid and ingratiat-
ing raps, and Bob, who pounded out
his communications with a huge fist
or possibly. ii was thought, with n
stone. OF some of the additional
phenomena which occurred about this
time. Mr.. Hubbell. the actor. who Wis
tied the iced home for the purpose
OF investigation, gives the following
account:
Il had been seated in the sitting
room about five minutes when to my
great astonishment my umbrella was
thrown distance Of 16 feet. passing
over my head in its strange flight
and almost at the same instant n
large carving knife came whizzing
through the air, passing over the head
OF Esther, who was just then COM
ing out OF the pantry with a large
dish in both hands, and fell in front
OF her, near me, having some from
behind her out of the pantry. l nat
uraliy went to the door and looked in,
put there was no person there"
Spirits Depart with Esther
Things came TO such a pass at
length that the landlord came and
told the Teed family that either Es-
ther would have to so or they would
nave to leave the house. Esther was
then dispatched TO visit other friends.
From this second time she left the
Teed house she was never more trou-
bled with ghosts. but a few weeks
after this date she was arrested for
incendiarism in a barn and SEN
fenced to four months imprison-
ment Finally, she married, had q
family and that was the end OF the
Amherst mystery.
As in the Antigonish case. II was
DR. Walter Prince who turned the
first brilliant rays OF slepticism upon
the Amherst spooks. In writing OF
their spiteful disturbances OF Esther's
bedclothes and furniture. he says:
Mr.. and Mrs. Teed one night could
see from their bed into Esther's room
by moonlight chow much moonlight.
and how much OF her room did IL
light?); they saw a chair slide UP
from wall TO her bed (wouid not 4
string looped around the chair leg
have produced the same effect, and
does not the direction the chair took
suggest the string?): q pillow went
out from under her head into the
chair (wouid that effect have been
beyond the power OF the human hand
10 produce in the semi darkness y:
a ghost sat down in the chair and
rubbed, pinched and scratched rs.
ther under the bedclothes (but thls Ia
what Esther said: all the furniture
except the bedstead was thrown out
into the entry while Esther lay quiet
" in bed (how much and how large
was the furniture7 How much Of
Esther's form could they see? Ia il
certain that IL was Esther at ali
whom they saw. on the bed, for rolls
OF clothing and artfully arranged
cushions have been known to de-
ceive in poor light?): then another
ghost rocked the bed (is IL not prob
able that Esther was in bed now. az
any rate?); at length Esther was
brought 70 sleep in the same room
with the others. whereupon the man
ifestations ceased (because OF the
better opportunities for observatory
except that once the I'D OF a trunk
gave one parting slam (was the trunk
conveniently near Essther's mattress-
Was the interval before the parting
slam long enough 10 allow the Teeds
to fall into that state, congeniai 10
the night. wherein eyes watch t?)"
Thus. DIR. Princes critical study
goes on until there Is very little
little ghostly substance left in Mag
gie' and Bob" In the same coldiy
scientific way he calls attention to
the fact that the mysterious fires
caused by the Antigonish ghost were
never more than five feet from the
ground. which is the height OF Nc
Donalds adopted daughter. Clearly.
the Englishman was right. II has
taken a neurologist. for Or. Prince
specializes in nervous disorders. such
as dual personalities. etc, 20 trail
these ghosts TO their secret sources.