Hound of Colebrook Furnace

**Hound of Colebrook Furnace** was a furnace in Colebrook, Pennsylvania of the most important iron processing halls. At that time, such enterprises were commanded by their managers, whose word was an order for the workers. However, due to the inhumanly cruel manager, a dark legend is attached to this factory, which the locals still tell each other today.

Factories, and especially metallurgical halls, at that time operated on a similar principle to plantations in the south of the USA, on which slaves worked in cruel conditions. The production manager had the main say and the workers had to follow his instructions without delay, otherwise they would be punished. These workers, who had no choice but to support themselves and their families, were basically just wage slaves. It was naturally no different in the case of Colebrook Furnace.

## Story

In 1791 in Colebrook, Pennsylvania and was one of the most important iron processing halls. At that time, such enterprises were commanded by their managers, whose word was an order for the workers. However, due to the inhumanly cruel manager, a dark legend is attached to this factory, which the locals still tell each other today.

Factories, and especially metallurgical halls, at that time operated on a similar principle to plantations in the south of the USA, on which slaves worked in cruel conditions. The production manager had the main say and the workers had to follow his instructions without delay, otherwise they would be punished. These workers, who had no choice but to support themselves and their families, were basically just wage slaves. It was naturally no different in the case of Colebrook Furnace. The leader of this hall was a man named Jacobs who, among other things, owned a villa and was known for treating his subordinates with the utmost ruthlessness. One of his distinguishing features was that he owned a whole pack of hunting dogs, which he valued unlike humans.

His most valuable dog was a female named Flora, who was a kind of leader of the pack. Flora was also devoted to her master for life and death, and with her power she was an intimidating sight at Jacobs' side. The workers under his command spoke only quietly about him, but when Jacobs heard them slandering him as just a lecherous old drunk, he immediately had them flogged and often dismissed outright. The maids in his villa were also the target of his inappropriate proposals, so it is no wonder that he was said to be an arrogant and corrupt person. So it seemed that the only manifestation of positive emotions was his relationship with Flora, with whom he had a special bond.

One winter night, Jacobs got so drunk that he passed out and fell into the snow, where he lay. Flora is said to have found him then and dragged him into the house, where the servants took care of him, apparently saving his life. In October of another year, he went fox hunting with his pack. However, the night before the hunt, he got drunk in a pub with other hunters, betting with them that his dogs were great at tracking and hunting. But the next morning, Jacobs was still drunk and his dogs wouldn't listen to him. Even his favorite Flora couldn't get the pack to hunt; the dogs were in a state of lethargy and were not in the mood for their master.

His colleagues argued that the dogs were certainly not in good condition, and it was possible that someone had poisoned them in the night so that Jacobs would lose the bets and regret his boast. However, the merciless and still intoxicated Jacobs just told them that the dogs would hunt that day, or else they would hunt in hell itself. At that moment, the bully allegedly raised his metal-tipped whip and began beating Flora. The dog howled in pain, but there was nothing he could do to make the other dogs move. However, none of the party saw any fox that day, which drove Jacobs into a frenzy. So he started beating the other dogs as well, until finally he chased them into his factory. Then something unimaginable happened there.

In a fit of rage, Jacobs beat the dogs until he drove them to a huge furnace, where they finally fell and died in excruciating pain and accompanied by terrifying howls. At the end, only Flora remained. When Jacobs started hitting her again, a worker came on the scene and reminded him that she had recently saved his life. However, Jacobs only ordered him to throw the dog into the oven. However, Flora started to gnash her fangs at him, so the worker preferred to run away. The handler then changed his tone and started talking softly to the dog. Flora devotedly came to her owner and climbed into his arms, whereupon the ominous Jacobs immediately threw her into the oven.

This terrifying legend would have remained only in the realm of Colebrook history and local folklore, if there had not been witnesses to the strange phenomena that are said to be the result of this terrible incident. After some time, factory workers began to report that they could hear the haunting howling of dogs inside. Some believed that it might have been the lamentations of the leader himself, who remained sullen after that day and often stared into the fiery furnace with only a bottle in his hand. He hardly spoke to anyone, and his servants claimed that Jacobs was talking to something invisible and stroking non-existent dogs.

His mental state gradually worsened and people around him heard him talking to Flora. Jacobs eventually ended up bedridden until one day he cried out that "the dogs are coming for him". The servants then searched the area, but found nothing suspicious. When they returned to their master, he was already dead. To this day, there are stories of locals sometimes hearing the howling of ghost dogs, and some claim to have seen a whole pack roaming the countryside with Flora at the head of the pack.