The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-28

1 and sight of living observers in order 1 to gain his ends The phantom did not really hold | chains in his hands, that goes without saying, but the ears of people in that house were assailed by the noise which to them meant chains, and their eyes saw something which also brought the vision of chains. and the vision of an l old man chained.
 That the living soul of the dead man l had made some manifestation, that it wished sepulchre in accordance with the custom of the times, and that it ob- tained it through it's manifestation fin ally being understood by al. exceptional man, we cannot but admit. We must admit it because we have learned of similar cases since the time of the Greeks.
 Similar phenomena to that related by Pliny the Younger have been noted in all times since. I alone have read of more than q dozen per century, in France, Spain, Italy, England. and Germany.
 Let us turn to more modern evi- dence.
 Told By & Professor
 Here is an example of haunted house carefully set forth by the observer him. self, an observer who is professor of mathematics in French university, and whom I know to be sincere and truth full. Listen to his own account:
 "I have kept secret for more. than twenty years the strange, un heard of facts that I am now detailing with care full accuracy.
 ''In the early days of 1867 was a public instructor at Labastide-Paumes, in the Haute-Garonne. I was then twenty years old.
 My home, situated about forty me- tre9 from the parish church, was an old presbytery which had been turned over to me completely. It had been in a bad state of disrepair in 1865 and had been overhauled thoroughly in 1866 to provide for my coming. It had, upon my arrival, all the appearance of a newly constructed house.
 ''The ground floor was too low to be lived in, but it served me as cellar and woodshed. It was connected with the second floor by a large oak staircase. At the foot of this staircase were two doors, one leading outside and the other into this reimbursement, which had no other entry.
 T never used the stories above the second. I lived there exclusively in company with my brother, who today is professor of mathematics at the Bel | fort Lyceum, and my sister, Francoise. l Our apartment was composed of four l very large rooms. There was kitchen, which also served as dining room, and there were three bedrooms. The school room was not part of the old pres- bytery but was back of it, new build | ing built in 1865.
 Evenings we usually went to bed about 9 o'clock and we usually rose in | the morning at 6. Before retiring, I always closed carefully all openings leading outdoors, and the one door | which led downstairs to the ground floor.
 Knocks Waken Him "I had neither cat nor dog, nor birds in a cage. The house having just been repaired, the animals of the neighbor- | hood were not allowed to enter it.
 "I ought to tell you, before entering into the heart of my recital, that am going to disguise my name and my present residence. This story is confi- dential as far as my public identity is concerned
 ''One night in April, 1867, I was awakened and startled by singular noise. Hard blows were being struck upon the table and sideboard in the kitchen, as if someone was yielding 8 stout stick upon them, sometimes hold ing the stick horizontally and sometimes vertically.
 T listened Pan Pan! Pany Then silence. and some instants later: Pan Pan! Panp
 "A strange thing, but I felt no fear. was puzzled. quickly lighted a candle, leaped from my bed, crossed my chamber and the hall, and entered the kitchen. saw nothing unusual there, and heard not the slightest noise. went down the staircase. The two doors at the bottom were closed, locked with keys, and the keys were in their locks undisturbed. No human being could have gone through those doors and left them locked with the keys on the inside that way.
 "And l had not draemed about the noise.
 "I went to the kitchen. I opened the sIdeboard and looked within. Nothing unusual. By the light of the candle l looked into the stove and then up the chimney. The tiles which kept rain from falling upon the hearth, and at tue Sdme LlLle leC Lne SnOke upward, were in thier proper place.
 Again I crossed the kitchen and the corridor. I entered the sleeping rooms of my sister and brother and found them sleeping peacefully. I must have dreamed said to'myself. I went back to bed, but hardly had blown out my candle when the noise began again.
 "'Pan! Pan! Pan!
 ''Then the plates began to rattle in their racks, and the knives, forks, and spoons to dance in their places, and then the chairs to slide about and jump. That lasted until about 8 o'clock in the morning, The same noises were re- newed the following nights for two weeks.
 Nevertheless, every morning when arose I found everything intact, every thing in it's place, and seemingly just as it was when we had gone to bed This surprised me, for the glasses and plates had been dancing during the I s-I.A 4H.A