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The Edgefield Ghost Fifty Years Ago. Messrs. Editors: There being an old copy of the "Edgefield Ghost," found in some waste papers, it has brought,fresh to memory the strange circumstance. I am now the oldest living witness that I know of. I am the oldest child and Son of the family, and it was at the time in my eight eenth year. Strange as it was, it is no less strange than true. There never has been any explanation of the myste rious circumstance upon a rational principle. It could be heard at intervals for twelve months, but during two weeks in May 1S29, it could be heard when ever called for. There has never been anything of the- kind heard about the place by any person, that I am aware of, since October, 1829. , I send you an account of it repub lished from the Carolinian some years ago, and if you think proper to pub lish again, you can do so. Yours respectfully, S. C. Burnett, Abbeville County, Phoenix Post Office. April 24th, 1879. (The above communication was addressed , to the Edgefield Advertis er.) (From the Carolinian, Saturday, July ll, 1820.) The Edgefield Ghost. The following statement of facts in relation to a matter which has produced much inquiry and specula tion in this district, may be depend ed upon by the public, as having been carefully compiled by a gentle man of piety and of strong and well cultivated mind. We are not disposed to believe that a breach has been made in the laws of nature, without any useful purpose, but we have not yet heard any satisfactory explana tion of the circumstances upon ra tional principles.-Editors Carolin ian. Messrs. Editors: As public curi osity has been greatly excited and many tales more or less true, have gone. out concerning the mysterious and invisible being, that has been heard at Mr. Isaac Burnett's in this district for some time, it seems prop er -that the public should be in pos session of the facts relative to this extraordinary circumstance. The voice was first heard in October last, imitating various noises, such as that of the spinning wheel, reel, ducks, !hen, etc. It was first heard by Mr. Burnett about twenty yards from the house which ted him to suppose it was one of his neighbor's children hiding in the weeds and trying to frighten his children. It was after ward heard in the loft of the house and Mr. B. supposing it to be a bird, sent a boy up to drive it out, but nothing could be seen. It thus contin ued to perplex the minds of the fam ily for some time, until, at length, one of the children said he believed that thing could talk and commenced asking questions, which it answered by whistling very much like a parrot. This circumstance getting out, many persons came to hear it. Mr. John Shepherd, a pious and worthy citizen, fvho lives in the neighborhood, con versed with it in the presence of a lumber of witnesses. To ascertain ie extent of its knowledge, he asked carious questions about most per sons in the neighborhood, and their :ircnmstances, which it answered jorrectly. It told his name and the iumher of children he had; also, the lames of most of the persons present, ?e. asked what it came there for. It replied, "Because it had no other ?lace to go to." It was asked if it rame to do the family any harm, it ?aid no-it loved the famliy. It was tsk?d finally ff it loved Jesus Christ, o which it made no reply, nor ans wered any question which Mr. Shep lerd asked.- The evening after, it ans wered others, but would not answer dm. For the first three months it tras heard only once a month, but l?ierwards much oftener. It had >een heard at various times, both in ?E flay and night, but more frequent yirin the day. Search has been re peatedly made by the family and oth irs, but nothing found from which he voice could proceed. There is no flflce of concealment about the house. it-?B? small house with but one room, ilfaffit of boards laid across the joists, md a piazza on one side. The house S not underpinned, so that you can iee from one end to the other, under neath. For some time the voice ap peared generally to proceed from the garther end of the house, opposite the ??ne-place and the upper part of fche:ioft. If any one, except the chil dren,-while it was talking, or if any one would steal around the house ever so softly to that end on the out sideof the .house when it was dark, and whilst others were talking to it, jt would instantly stop; and when they returned, it would commence again. This experiment was trie evening when a number of p< were there, so that both the and piazza were full. Some one the piazza, without the know of those in the house, who were :ng to it, went around on the 01 to see if they could discover anj when it instantly stopped. It has known to whistle most any dither sacred or profane, whicl one would tell it. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett appear simple-hearted, upright and an persons, serious in their disposi and as far from encouraging trick about them to make spo any one. No one in the neighbor who knows them, believes that know anything about the mi They have evidently been much turbed and alarmed on accour it, but having so far experience harm from it, they have resol maintained their ground. It mani a great partiality for a little da ter of the family, who is about el years of age. This so alarms her she generally gets sick whenever talks to it, and she has been kr to quit the house precipitately, \ she heard it alone in the house, long since, however, she quoted 1 a passage of Scripture, whic pious friend pointed out and adv her to memorize for the purp 1 Tim. 1:15,) and it bade her her jaw, but she persisted in quo the passage until it hushed, and not spoken to her since. Since so many persons wenl hear it, it has become very shy is seldom heard when many per* are about, or when any person i: the house except the smaller child; They have never been able to as tain who, or what it is, or the ob, of its visit. It has told its name peatedly, but cannot be understc It will not answer any serious i gious questions. When asked wh( er it was a man or a woman, it s it was the foolishest question it e heard, and appeared to laugh. The Rev. Mr. Hodges visited family several times, at their quest, without hearing anythi However, on the 25th of May Mr. being in the neighborhood and c? ing at the house of Mr. N.; Mrs. informed Mr. Hodges, she had y been to Mr. Burnett's and heard 1 .voice-Mr. H. immediately rode oi in company with Mr. John Shephe: Mr. S. went up to the house first, get the children in the house to ti to it, and after it commenced, up a signal given, Mr. H. went up to t house and seated himself on the ph za. A little boy eight or jaine yes of age stood just inside of the do to ask .questions which were suggei ed to him by the company. It imiti ed various noises in a whistle, su' as the crowing of a cock, the clue ing of a hen, noise of a partridg etc., and enswered a variety of sir pie questions. There were but fe answers that Mr. H. could unde stand, but were interpreted to hi j by the family, who were accustom* I to hear it, he could then trace oi I some resemblance. Some words, hov ever, were pronounced very plaii such as kitten, yes, no, goose-quil etc. The family say, that it generali spoke much more distinctly and coul be much better understood than o this occasion. Mr. Shepherd says th same. It was understood, howevei to say it knew Mr. H., pronounce) his name tolerably distinct, said i got acquainted with him there, an< that it did not like him. When Mr. H spoke and said, "I have not come tc drive you away," it was understooc to reply "Do if you dare,"- During th? conversation with it, which lasted about an hour, no person was present except Mr. Burnett's wifev Mr- Shep herd and Mr. Hodges, wittie the small children. The oldest was the little girl above mentioned, who was in the yard with the little children. No one was inside of the house except the Et tie boy who asked the questions- The reason why he was put there to ask questions was, because for some tine it had ceased to speak to aay but the children. There were also in the kitchen a negro woman, and an idiot girl, spinning and weaning, who could not have heard what passed in the house. The two older sons were absent at work in the farm. Mr. S. and .Mr. H. after the conversation ended, examined the house and found nothing. During the time of conver sation it was asked to sing a song it said it did not know any. Mr. H. whistled a sacred tune, but it said that wouldn't do. It then whistled Yankee Doodle very distinctly. When Mr. H. first heard of the circumstance he very naturally was led to suspect that it proceeded from some one in the neighborhood, or family who possessed the arjt of ven triloquism. But against that opinion lie the following objections, viz: 1st. It is certain that it is no on^, not of the family, as no such person ha3 been thereabouts at times when it was heard, and no person could be there always, without being seen es pecially in the day, time. 2nd. Mr. Burnett and wife, whose word will be taken by all who know them, state that no individual of the family, who could possibly be suspected of such a thing, is always present at such times. They state positively, it has been heard when the negro j the ser vant about the house) was in the field at work. It has been heard when the two older sons, who were nearly grown, were absent, as was the fact when Mr. H. heard it. It has been heard when all the other children were at school, except the two young est, one of which is about three years old, the other an infant. The idiot girl has not the intelligence which this invisible being manifests, accord ing to the testimony of all who have heard it. Furthermore, even supposing any of the children possessed this faculty and had the disposition to carry on the deception, for so long a time to the evident disquietude and distress of the family, is it a rational suppo sition, that this could be donewithout being suspected by the parents? Or would not the individual be disposed to try its pranks at school, or among other children to frighten them, as well as at home? There is another cir cumstance which contradicts this sup position. About two months ago Mr. Burnett, at the suggestion of some one, put a testament in the place whence the voice appeared to pro ceed. It instantly left the place, came down into the house, and said it was going away. It replied it was abliged to go, it could stay there no longer, and bade them farewell, it was then absent about two weeks, during which time it was heard at Mr. Rogers', Mr. Dicks' and Mr. Nickoll's, in the same neighborhood, as they believe. They had heard it at Burnett's and believ ed it to be the same, but did not con verse with it. When it returned it was asked and said it had been to those places. None of Mr. Burnett's family were ' at those places when it was heard. Since its return it has ocpu pied no particular part of the house, but is heard in various parts. It is now seldom heard, as Mr. B. does not allow the children to talk to it-they do not pay much attention to it. These are the most material cir cumstances connected with this strange affair, for the confirmation of which, and for further information," the public is referred to Mr. J. Shep herd, Dr. E. Andrews, and Mr. G. Slappy, who live in the neighborhood, and who have all heard it. Mr. Bur nett lives about twelve miles below Cambridge, and about three miles west of the road leading to Hamburg, near Mr. Wiley Berry's. Q. Seek Protection From Night Riders. Chattanooga, Tenn., Feb. 27. Renewed activities of night riders around Bridgeport and other Ala bama towns resulted in an appeal to day to federal authorities for pro tectionby residents who have been attacked in their homes. The jail at Scottsboro is under special guard of state law enforcement officers as a precaution against mob violence as an aftermath of night riding in that i section the past week. According to reliable information reaching here today the farmers in the Bridgeport and Stevenson sec tions are keyed up to a high pitch of excitement over developments of the past few days. Jodie Beavers and John Brown, two farmers arrived Saturday by state law enforcement| officers sent to Jackson county by Governor Kilby, are confined in the jail at Scottsboro. Brown is suffer ing from a wound alleged by the offi cers to h?ve beensustained in the course of a raid on the home, of Har ry McGowan Thursday night by a bamd of 15 or 20 night riders. Both Beavers and Brown, it is said, have been indentified by McGowan as mern hers of the gang of alleged night rid ers who attacked his home. Both men deny having participated in the raid. Information reaching Chattanooga today stated that night, riders in Jackson county, Alabama, have drag ged men from their homes and whip ped them unnrercifully and others have been warned to join the ten ant's union or take the consequences. Members of the union, while denying | any part in the outrages, are charged j with either taking part or inspiring these attacks. It is alleged that the night riders are attempting to en force the principles of the tenants' union, the raids being on homes or tenants who have refused to join. Eggs For Hatching. Wycoff and Barron Strain White Leghorns. $1.50 per setting. Mrs. GEO. 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IT S NOT WHAT OU MAKE UT WHAT OU SAVE THAT COUNTS Cocrnrht 1909, hr C. E. Zimmerman Co. ?No. 66 EVERY DOLLAR that you spend foolishly, every proportion ate amount of money that you earn that it would be possible to save and do not, is only money that you have to work for again. On the other hand every dollar you put in the bank is money that is going to constantly work for you. Which is the best; money always working for you, or you always working for your money. Come in and start that bank account. Don't put it off another day. { BANK OF EDGEFIELD OFFICERS: J. C. Sheppard, President; A. S. Tompkins, vice-President; E. J. Minis, Cashier; J. H. Allen, Assistant Cashier. DIRECTORS: J. C. Sheppard, Thos. H. Rainsford, John Rainsford, M. C. Parker, A. S. Tompkins, J. G. Holland, E. J. Mime, J. H. Allen.