HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1924-10-23, Page 3I
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One mining I received a message i which T left a small light burning, saw
from a 'friend asking me to meet him that the windows, were securely fas'
in the evening,his family haying been toned, and went back to make an in-
recently disturbed by Certain mys- speetion of the ground floor,
terious noises, respecting which .he I A11 being satisfactory, and .Mr. H.
Wished to ask my advice. I waited up- assured that I was not needing any-
on hint at the time appointed, when he thing else, he handed me the kays,
told mehe had only been in the house ' and, wishing me success in my under-.
about'a week,'having but recently~pur- taking, bade me "good -night," and left
chased' it from its former occupant. me alone to meek the ghost,
Nothing strange had been noticed for After Ms departure, my first busie
the first night or two, but about the nese was to make the policeman on
third -morning his wife was aroused duty in the neighborhood acquainted
'earlo+--rom her sleep by a noise as if with the circumstances of the case,
some one was in pain. and got him to call in two or three
Thinking it was, prhaps, one of the times during the night, as it might
children i11, he went to their room, but,.be I should require some assistance,.
they were sound asleep; neither did I Having done this, and regaled Mer-
it proceed from the servants' apart- I self with the refreshments provided, I
menta, ten returning he found his selected a volume from the book -case
wife greatly terrified at the presence and repaired to the haunted chamber.
of some one in the room: It was the first week in September,
She had not seen anything, but had and the day had been very warm, so I
heard the "rustling as of a lady's dress. threw one of the windows open, drew
After waiting for 'a.few moments in an easy -chair to the table, both of
which had been brought in for my con -
silence, he heard the sorts noise,
Which sounded to him as if a female venience, and commenced the perusal
had passed from the dressing -room, of my book. I depended on the lights
through their own, and along the cor for sufficient warmth in the cool hours
rider to the stairs. There was nothing of the morning, as the heat of a fire
visible, but-the•sweeping of the dress might induce ere to sleep while I was
and the pitiful moaning were distinct- waiting for the visitor.
I had been reading .about half an
ly audible.
In vain did` he search the house, for hour when my attention was attracted
by a low, plaintiff, moan, several times
he could find no explanation of his repeated. It sounded 'asif it proceed -
mysterious phenomenon, until, at last, ed from a wardrobe standing he a re-
ve`ry muteh aga'inst his will, he was cess between the chimney and win -
compelled to acknowledge that, if the
, IOW I LAID A
GHOST
By R. d. Lee
i
the ether apartments on the same neer, ....AND THE WORST IS YET TO COME
at the end o whish were titer stairs
leading to the upper :store,
At 'a glance we could see that the
idea suggested was impraotieable, and
it yeas abandoned without further
isearch.
We visited all the roomer; in each of
dow.
house was not exactly haunted, there T:went very silently to the spot and
was something he could not make out. placed my ear against the door. Yes!
This conviction had been strengthen- it certainly came frm there. I turned
ed the next day by one of the servants the key and opened it, but discovered
calling his attention to a large stain nothing. I"moved the wardrobe a little
on one of the floors at the top of the forward at one end to see if there was
house, having the appearance of blood,
of which' a great quantity must have
been spilled, as it formed a large patch
near the centre, and ran in several di-
rections toward the side of the room.
Unlike most cases .of ghosts he had
'heard of, the noises continued in the
day -time: as well as night; and so
'frightened were the domestics at the
disturbance that it was with difficulty
-they ccued be induced to remain in the
place "after he had sent his wife and
children away.
We went over the house together,
.and carefully inspected the various
rooms ---particularly the one in which
the stain appeared, .and .the bed -room
• where most of the noises were heard.
After we had completed our Survey he
asked me if 1 could offer any: opinion
.a5 to the cause of the'annoyance.
"Not,, unless I hear it," I answered.
au have in a ,everal cases- succeeded in
,puttipi: a. stop „to .su;chh` things, and,if
you are willing, I will spend a night
here, after which I may, perhaps, be
in a position to say, something more
about it,"
"If you think you can in any way
give -us peaceand quiet," said he, "the
house with all it contains is at your
service. because if 'it should get
abroad that it is 'haunted,' its value to
me will be nil, for I cannot live here
myself,. "and how could I expect
others?"
"Do you know if the former occu-
pier was in any way disturbd?"
"He says- not."
"How long did he live here?"
"Some five or six years, I believe."
"Do you know whether there have
been any complaints from any one be-
fore he came?"
"Have you said anything to him
about the blood?"
"I asked him if he had seen it; but
he knew nothing whatsoever about it."
"Did you show it to him?"
"No; he said he would call in some
time and have a look at it"
"Can you " make arrangements for
nee to be alone in the house to -morrow
night?,, ' •
"At what time?"
"The whole night, from -let me
see! I will be here at about eight
o'clock."
"And do you mean to stay in the
house all night by yourself?"
"Yes! Why not? If there were
more than one, the ghost might be
afraid to show itself."
"I would rather it be you than I,
then; But, if you wish it, you shall
have It so."
Accordingly, at the time appointed
on the following evening, I found Mr.
II. himself in the house, The ser-
vants, after providing everything for
my comfort during my watch, had
taken their departure a short time be-
fore,
"Have you heard anything further
since I was here?"
"Yes, several times during the day;
but the noise is not nearly so loud as ed in laying it; but I could not give
it was at first. I. have been wondering then a full explanation, inasmuch as
whethor any one can be confined in there were still one or two points up-
that room secretly: I have heard of on which T needed: to be satisfied. I
people having been built in recesses promised, however, that in the course
alive, and the moaning seems to be like
of a week l would tell hit all I. knew.
ane gradually growing weaker, and
hat mould account for us Bearing the
poises in the dtrytirne as well as at
night.": -
"We :.••n>a 50011 ascertain if. such a
�hiitg' has been done," I replied, "by
peaking n careful examination of the
teem, to see whether there is space
tor the carrying out of such a pur-
pose
We went up to the room, which was
situated at the front, of the iiotise, At
one Bird of it was the dressingroonr,
already mentioned, at the other wa,s a
anything at the back.
No! Perhaps it came from the next
room, so I made my way there, but
with like result. In fact, I could not
even hair the sound.
I came back, but in my absence, the
moaning had ceased; so, with nothing
to guide me, I had to wait for its re-
currence before I could attempt any
discovery.
I had determined to passthe mid-
night hour in the room where the
blood had been found, and just before
twelve laid my book aside and repair-
ed to that apartment, which was im-
mediately overhead.
After waiting half an hour, I took
a turn through the house and finally
caihe back to my old quarters, having
met with no success.
Another hour passed, and still no re-
sult. I began to. think the haunting
Wagover for the night, and my Watch-,
ing had ended in failure, but, just as
the morning was breaking, the same
cry reachedmy ear, accompanied by a
sound which might fitly be described
as the rustling of a dress.
Still it proceeded from -the same
plane, and again I examined the ward-
robe. Then'I opened the door at the
top of the grate communicating with
the chimney, to see if anything was •
there. No, nothing was to be seen.
Now it sounded as if in the room
above, but a journey there proved as
fruitless as before.
When returning, however,the noise
seemed nearer and louder than I had
heard it, as though the ghost was in
the_room I had recently left, and then
I remembered Mr. H. had told me it
was in the early morning his wife had
been first alarmed,
Very quietly I reached the foot of
the stairs and passed along to the door,
keeping on the opposite side of the
corridor, so as to shield myself as
much as possible by avoiding the glare
of the lights, Still there was nothing
visible.
I entered the room, and could dis-
tinctly hear the moaning, but the ghost
did not appear. I turned out the lights
and then in a few moments saw some-
thing come from the bottom of the bed
towards the door. Slowly it moved
and made no noise but the low, pitiful
wail, as though in.grent trouble,
I spoke, and immediately it stood
still and looked round as though im-
ploring my help,, but spoke not. I ap-•
preached, but it stood its grouted, and
ailowed•me even to touch it. We were
neither of us afraid of the ether.
In less than half an hour I had
learned as much as I could of its sad
story, having, in the meantime minis-
tered to its comfort as far as I then
could, after which it vanished from my
sight never more to haunt that house.
Early in the morning Mr. H. an-
nounced himself by a good pull at the
bell, being anxious to know the result
of my labors.
I told him I had seen the ghost, and,
having learned its story, had succeed -
Before that tine had eicpired, Mrs.
H. and the children returned Bonze,
and had almost• overcome the alarm
the ghost had', caused them, ,but were
still very impatient for me to go
and tell them what T had discovered.
At last the day arrived, and I met
Mr. and Mrs, H. and their two eldest
children..
They first assured me, on•their part,
that thy had not heard the least dis-
turbance since I had left the house,
eeith„ i' by day nor tight.
"Then," I said, "I will give you my
I have not the least hesitation he say-
ing that you would not have attached
any importance to the stain on the
floor in the upper room, which.I find
now is due to the upsetting of a bottle
of furniture polish, and not to any mur-
der you had an idea had been com-
mitted. This was the point upon
which I was wanting information and
which I have satisfactorily proved. As
to the cause of the noises, as the morn-
ing was breaking, after one unsuc-
cessful endeavor to discover it, I open-
ed the door of the grate in your room,
and while I was up stairs, the ghost
descended the chimney, where it had
been confined from the commencement
of your alarm, and when T returned, to
the room I found, not the shadowy
ghost of the human form, as you had
believed, but, in veritable flesh and
blood, I beheld—a pigeon! I gave it a
saucer of water and score bread, which
was greedily devoured, and after a
short time growing. stronger, and
manifesting a desire _to .' be free, I
opened the window and it escaped."
They looked at me in astonishment
as I finished my story,' and could
scarcely believe that such a trifle had
caused then' §o much alarm. •:. •
"And is that really all?" asked Mrs.
H,
"All, madam," I replied. '.'I can as-
sure you that is how I laid the ghost."
.hock Easily Moved.
ist Beaine;•s Man—"So, we can't
hold a candle to the kind of goods you
sell? Must be easy to keep your stock
moving then?"
2nd Ditto --"Would be if you held a
candle to it—we sell gasoline."
•
Below the Belt.
She was newly engaged, afid was
confiding in her dearest friend, - "Do
you know, dear," she said, "Tom and
I understand each other perfectly. He
tells me everything he knows, and .I
tell hien everything I know, too."
"Really," exclaimed the friend in
sarcastic tones. "And don't you some-
times find the silence rather oppres-
sive?"
The total number of typhoid cases
during the Great War was less than
the deaths from that disease during
the Boer. War.
"Invest" in Recreation.
Mrs. Nina Moore Jamieson, the well
known writer, who was one of the
speakers in the Women's Building' at
the Canadian National Exhibition,
Made a striking appeal to parents to
recognize the importance' of right play
in the lives of their children.
"I wish you would all make time to
provide recreation` for your boys and
girls," said the speaker. "In almost
every farm house there is a room
where :.the threshers are given_ their
dinner. Now any room that is big
enough to hold tables at which sixteen
hungry men are fed, is large enough
to be 'a :social centre for the family.
There are two kinds of entertainment,
the kind you buy for a dollar and the.
kind you get for nothing, and the last
ls,a long way the beat. Clean out the ..
dirty pond or stream and see that 'it'.
gets no further pollution and have an
old swiinmin' hole. Several dirty
ponds near us have been cleaned up,r
and now, when I miss the soap from;
the kitchen sink, and the towel from
the.. rack,I know that some boys ares
haveeee the time -of their lives. Those
Pon,T'" - be rinks+ in ilia winter and:'
i�
;th
thou zt vreill be 'Midler, can we have I.
the horse and scraper to clear off the 1
snow?' 'and .I'll` say, as usual, 'Go and!
ask your Dad.'- And the next thing
I win hear will be, `Dad, mother thinks
we can have the horse and scraper to
clear off the pond.' After a while I
will 'miss `'their father and enquiring
will be, told that he, too, has gone to
the pond, At night the young people
of the neighborhood will gather, and 1
someone will build a fire and roast I
sausages—or smoke them—it's all the
same to them -and I will take them'
down a kettle of cocoa. tt will all be 1
simple, but et will be a great pleasure.
Then there is dancing—the room that
does for the •threshers will do for the l
dancers. It is time that the ordinary ;
pleasures were not considered as be-!
ing outside the farm life. •As to the
radio—it will not only keep us from
isolation, it will give us a•vision of the
world beyond aur own horizon."
Mrs, Jamieson urged that both boys
and girls be ,given an opportunity to
earn their • living on the home farm.
"A thousand occupations are now open
to girls,":she said. "If'a girl can live
at home and at the same tini•e be inde-
pendent,, she had achieved the ideal
form of living. She will be better off
and the . home will be better off for
having her there."
On - a Boston street car the front
sign reads "Dorchester" and the side
signs "Ashznont and Milton." "Does
this car go to Dorchester?" "Yes,
lady; get right on," "Are you sure it
does?" "Yes, lady; get right on,"
"But it says 'Ashrnont and Milton' on
the side." "We ain't going sideways
lady; get right on."
Children in the Dark.
(Thrughout the South ,of Frenee on
All Soul's Eve every grave is .marked
by a lighted lantern),
The hillside graveyard all the night
Recite with a flickering sheen of light,
Because the living people grace
With candles every resting -place,
I wonder if the weary. men
That lie there' waken up again
And grumble, on their couches deep,
Because the light disturbs their sleep;
Thinking, fpr just a moment, they
Must work through yet another day.,
I wonder if the women there,
Withdust of lilies, in their hair,
Keep tight their lids against the gleam
Lest it should drive away their dream.
But I am sure that there are those
To whom the lantern -candle glows
With all the gladness of a rose:
The little children that are dead,
They feel they have been long abed;
The dear, dear children greet each
spark
With smiles, for children dread the
dark.
—Reginald Wright Kauffman.
Words That Make Us
Wonder.
Have you ever wondered how some
of the queer words and expressions we
use to -day first carie into the lang-
uage?
The expression "raining cats and
dogs" originated in the days when sea-
men used to refer to waves on the
water before a storm as "cat's-paws,"
whilst the dog has always been regard-
ed in northern mythology as symbolic
of wind. Consequently, when a heavy
rainstorm was accompanied by high
winds, sailors would say "it was corn-'
ire, down cats and dogs."
We shall use the expression "big
wig," although these articles are a fas-
hion of the past. In other days, how-
ever, a person's importance was
judged by the size of the wig he wore,
and therefore the highest in the land
were known to the less fortunate as
"big wigs."
"Pin -money" is an expression that
serves to remind us of the days when
pins were expensive, and husbands al-
lowed their wives special sums for
their purchase. Later on the expres-
sion was applied to a wife's pocket -
money.
Another word that has an interest-
ing origin is "hanicap." This is prob-
ably derived from "hand in the cap,"
as in former times it was the custom
The Passing of Wild Animals.
The picture that ;presents itself to.
most minds at the' idea of the death of
wild animals is one of violence and
agonized pain. As• a matter of fact,
few ideas are move erroneous, Meet.
wild apimals die quietly,
Both animals and birds dislike any-
thing unusual; they will Opt tolerate
the deformed, maimed or crippled, so
that when an animal feels any unusual
symptoms, instinct makes him steal
away from his fellows. He goes as
far as possible; and .then rests in es
retired a place as he can find. A lethar
gic feeling comes over him, and Ile
closes his eyes in sleep, He has no
fear of not awaking; any image that
might cross his elementary sense of
memory would he of waking as he leas
always done hitherto. .
Birds in whom the tide of life is
running low often fly out to sea, and
elos.e their eyes in Iasting sleep be-
fore their tired bodies touch the
water.
Even captive bred canaries feel this
primeval impulse to fly away at the
end;' they will flutter restlessly against
the bars of their cage one day, and the
next morning you willfind them
"asleep." Most birds of prey have
their own hunting grounds and do not
Poach on their fellows' ground.
An eagle had long been known round
about a certain mountainside. One
day he was seen to be sailing down-
wards on outstretched wings, but his
head drooped unusually, as if it were
too heavy for a tired body. Lower and
lower he sailed, dropping slowly at
last into a quiet wood. There he was
found the next day by a bay who had
watched him fall..
A bird -lover once noticed a little
songster sittting silently , on a frond
of evergreen over a little stream. He
was old, for his feathers were streaked
with grey and he had wrinkled scales
on his feet. He showed no fear of the
man, who often visited the place; pre-
sently he settled on his finger and
closed his eyes. He took a drop of
water from a finger as if glad of the
friendly action, and then the man put
him back on the evergreen.
A day later the man saw him hang-
ing from a spruce root, his feet holding
on firmly, his beak touching the water,
puite •dead—asleep and at peace.
There are, of course, tragedies in
animal lives; the lion and the deer, the
fox and the mouse, the hawk and the
sparrow. But we are wrong in imagist'
ing violent deaths of this type to be
painful. The agony is mental, and oc-
curs before the attack, when we suf-
fer in anticipation. In other words,.
we suffer because of our brains.
= The majority of the animals, how-
ever, pass in natural sleep.—Ernest
Atter five years of sorvice, on of the veterans of tee L,ondorr-Paris pas,
rvic�e has bent retired, 'X'he great plaice, which is the oldest
; 1..,• onz n^d aeon the lido of story, �vliioli is very short, itdeed. Had "c � Oro Edon �recoutl .
�ecor.d bec .•o ... gits, was given a funeral ceremony at S y
's�;('�,n the coi�riror eonznuutcatting With it not been for the noises in your room, en the rot
s
to draw lots from a hat or cap. Clarke.
Here is said to be one of the oldest homes in Scarboro, Ontario, which
has been standing for over 100 years. For many years it was used as a
school heluse for the children of pioneers.
School Children and Their child. Especially so, in the ease of
Health. will come to understand that the school
clutter is trying to help their child.
And the mothers' intelligent co-opera-
tion is needed to attain the best re-
sults.
During school age there are aden-
oids and diseased tonsils to be watch -
non Anglo-Saxon mothers. Thus they
Hurrah! School is in full swing
again! And what of the health of the
boys and girls? "Keep a child robust
and sound. in body until he is eighteen"
say medical experts, "and the chances
are he will remain so throughout life."
How important then that its health ed. There are ear -aches -and eye -
should be maintained. A word to strains to- be relieved, and teeth to be
parents Are your children free from treated. There are skin and scalp dis-
frequent Bolds, enlarged tonsils, aden-' eases, spinal curvet and weak feet, all
oids•, decaying teeth? These are .seri- of which can be helped and corrected
ons hindrances to their health. Are if treated in time. A delicate child is
1 they free from eyestrain? Do they no longer looked upon with pride, In
hear well? Aie they sound in body so far as we are eager to be healthy,
and limb? if not. then in school they' ashamed to be unhealthy, we are
lose a golden opportunity. awake to the ideal of our generation.
"Canada •a Land of Opportunities!" I What of the child's teeth? If teeth
we say, and yet in this land are we are 1cst, food -cannot be chewed, if
breeding a race that shows appalling' they are defective, disease .gerzne
signs of deterioration? Statistics ! lodge in them, if teeth and gums are
show au average •of one physical de-; diseased, poison invades• the system
feet for each school child in the and undermines the health. The childUnited States. Fully twenty-five per suffers pain, and no one can be at hie
cent. of the nations children are be-; beat mentally or physically while suf.
low par. 1-iow le it with Canada? Are' Tering,
your children under -weight? Being ,What of your child's sight ani
underweight does not necessarily hearing? Eye -strain or defective
mean being undernourished. Our,vision :