The banner of the South. (Augusta, Ga.) 1868-1870, October 31, 1868, Image 1
VOL. I.
[Fruui tlie Macon Journal and Messenger.]
A Petition.
BY E. 13. C.
My little boy, about six years of age, brought me,
yesterday, a “ reward of merit” from his Teacher
aU(j gaid “ Little Mamma, keep my ticket for me, and
if I ask (kxl every night to make me good, I’ll get’ sm
other next week, won't I?”
Oh, Mamma! (and he gently came and nestled at my
eide),
p ea r Mamma, keep my ticket, and be very sure you
hide
If where no old naughty finger can find it to destroy,
And his arms were clasped around me—My gentle,
noble, Boy!
And Mamma, little Mamma, (.and his voice to whispers
grewj,
If I’ll be good to Johnnie, to my Papa, and to you ;
If I’ll “ notice little Sister” and 'member ’bout my
bat, <
M'ill I get another ticket, say Mamina, just like that ?
If I’ll say “ now I’ll lay me down” slow, and always
tot
My Brother have the nicest place, and kiss you ’fore I
get
In my trundle, near the cradle where little Sister lies,
Will I get another ticket if I’m good ? You kuow I
tries I
As I clasped him to my bosom, the tears my eyelids
wet,
1 told my Boy of Jesus, and I bade him ne’er forget
That He loves good little children. Pray, Darling,
while Tit is near,
Ask him to make you “good,” my child ; He turns no
deafniog ear.
Father, I tremble often, as I meet these earnest eyes,
Though the burthen’s “sweet,” ’tis “heavy,” to
nurture such a prize
A“ this fair, pure, spotless child, I must pure and
spotless be,
H' lp me, Father, that I bring it, unpolluted, unto
Thee!
Gol, who gavest to my guiding hand this wand’rer”
to lead
Through paths that oft’ arc lone and dark, where teet
so often blood,
Bruised and pierced by cruel thorns, O! leave me not
alone
To guide him to those gates ol pearl. Thou, he must
lean upon!
Macon, April, 1868.
From the Galaxy for October.
waesi mm ?
A Chemico Ghost Story*
My name, is Carl Van Wyck, and
I shall l>egin this narration with the
assertion that I do not believe in
ghosts. Indeed, as indicated by my
cognomen, I am of German descent,
and considered from an abstract point of
view, I would not swear that I believe in
anything. But, like people of the na-
Uon whence came my progeni tors, I am
’ouch given to the habit of seeking for
thy reason of things; hence the inter
s 'gatory which I have placed at the
head of this page.
As I have never been able to give a
odistuctory reply to the question, and as
there is something mysterious withal
' u j tlie natter, I trust I may bo ex
-7 , for laying it before the public.
- 1f * I will now proceed as if I were on
, ( witness stand, and bad been directed
Me attorney to “go on and tell all I
hnow about it ’»
n . I . ier ?. 1 is . an antiquated, and now
dilapidated building at Yorktown,
, f ,Jato 0 * irginia, wbich belonged,
p om ™t nceui °nt of tbe lat e war, to
ihls decayed old dwelling,
i,": £ l at al] v ast in its dimensions,
i ;; s os the chlef glories of the village.
< st i anger, there would appear no-
about the house, except
'deniable antiquity ; and it is on this
.3 account that it will continue to be
townol ° Ut the anti York
renvl ’ as a vesti g G of it shall
tl .' 1’ • Y IR d old burghers will tell
{{. ln ‘l. ui » n g tourists that this house and
,j uT & / ,acent lands have been handed
*] ess ' ironi to son through count
touri JW™ 8 ; aR d the aforesaid
" Gu ld imagine from theiir ani
ot description, that old Mr.
P., the father of all the P.’s, was a per
son who had escaped at the time of the
Hood, in a little private ark of his own,
and that the “ Ararat” upon which ho
cast anchor, was the identical bluff upon
which this old town now stands. There
is, or was, when I was there, a clever,
garrulqim old female man at Yorktown,
who convinced me for a short, period (that
is, during the time required for telling
the story,)* that this had been the abode
of the P.’s for thousands of years ; and
that every; particle of the material of
which it was constructed had been im
ported from England.
No army, however—neither a friendly
nor a hostile one—has any sentimental
regard for antiquity, especially when the
antiquity in question presents itself
in the shape of a number of comfortable
rooms that may be used as some of the
offices required about military headquar
ters. Such, at all events, was the feel
ing—or no feeling, rather—exhibited by
the “ Army of the Peninsula,” which,
until the abandonment of that portion of
Virginia, was commanded by General
Ma^ruder.
Consequently, as the necessities of the
service required, all available dwelling’s
were soon impressed: and it was not a
great while before the staff-quarter-mas
ter called upon Mr. P., and entered into
the usual arrangements with him for the
relinquishment of his house to the use of
the armyn
This building was taken up by the
medical department. The mansion was a
brick one, and the main portion of it com
prised four comfortable, medium-sized,
square rooms; two being below and two
above. These, with a small L-attach
ment, containing three rooms, which were
used by our “mess” as a kitchen, dining
room, <fcc , formed the entire structure.
The two lower rooms were used as offices
by the Medical Director; or, to speak
more correctly, one of them was used as
an office by that functionary, while the
other was occupied as a sleeping apart
ment by the clerk. The same arrange
ment obtained with the upper chambers,
except that this story was under the con
trol of the medical purveyor.
I was the clerk of the last named offi
cer.; and, from the partial description
which I have attempted to give, you will
observe that I was an occupant, there
fore, of one of the upper rooms. Yes, it
was in the right-hand second story room
that I saw the apparition which I will
now attempt to describe, and about which
I should like to receive some additional
enlightenment.
I had been sick, and was now conval
escing. Born and'reared in one of the
mountain towns of western Carolina, I
had scarce expected to be transferred to
this marshy locality, in such proximity to
tjie sea-coast, without some impression
being made on my health. Consequent
ly, on arriving at Yorktown in the early
part of the summer of 1861; and, on being
assigned to duty with Dr. D., the Medi
cal Purveyor, as soon as I learned from
the village vEsculapius that I was in a
malarial district, I endeavored to pre
pare my system for the incursion of dis
ease. Having at my command uDy of
the pharmaceutical preparations stored
in the medical depot, I used to take a
daily matutinal decoction, which, in the
cabalistic hieroglyphs of the Faculty may
be .represented as follows :
R.—Quia, sulph., gr. xii.
Spts. Frumcnt, z ii.
Aq. pura, q. s.
Solve. S. Take every morning before
breakfast.
The dose thus represented, may be better
understood by being expressed in good
old English phraseology, thus : A whis
key cock-tail made by sprinkling a few
grains of quinine in a glass of “ pure old
Bourbon.”
The treatment was not difficult to ffil
!° w , if the entire truth must be con
fessed, not.a great while elapsed before
my morning “bitters” and I became
AUGUSTA, GA, OCTOBER 31, 1868.
This nebulous hand, when I first saw
it, was groping about the knob of the
door.. The fingers were outstretched,
and it seemed to be doing* as a person
would do who wished to escape from the
room without making a noise. My win
duw was closed, and there being no key
to the door, I had habitually bolted it on
retiring to bed; “consequently,” so I
reasoned, “ no one has entered the apart
ment since I retired.”
Composing myself to as great a degree
as possible, I kept perfectly quiet;
scarcely breathing—and observed the
movements ot this illumined wonder.
Occasionally, the fingers and thumb
would close, as if .grasping: the door
knob, and from tiie agitation of the
very fast friends. And, when visited
some nights by my brother clerks, and
other associates, we would take numer
ous doses of this preparation, substituting
in the evening, however, sacchar. alb,
for the quin mlph., which was only to
be used in the morning. This medicine
was of a very exhilarating nature, and it
soon became quite popular throughout
the entire army—from the General,
down. But this is digressing.
Notwithstanding these prophylactic
doses, and in spite "of my caution against
exposure to the night air, I was, at length,
obliged to succumb to the insidiousness
of the malarial poison. I was taken ill
in Spetember, and did hot entirely re*
cover until aboutthe 12th or 14th of the
next month. It was during my conval
escence that I saw the mysterious hand.
Near the midnight honr, on the 7th of
October, 1 was lying on my bed in that
restless, semi-feverish condition which
is such a frequent accompaniment of re
covery’ from the disease with which I had
been affected. I was not delirious, but
was in a high state of nervousness ; my
senses were all about me, no matter* in
what condition they were huddled. This
was not an optical illusion produced by
the erethi.stie condition of my braiD. *1
was mentally cool, notwithstanding my
nervousness ; and even sick as I was, I
had a desire to come at the reason for the
mystery. It was a thing, not a myth: but
whose hand it was, aud why it was only
a hand and not an entire body, I am
unable to conceive.
My bed was placed against that wall of
the* chamber which formed part of the
end of the house, and, when lying on my
light side, the door which opened upon
the stair-lauding was immediately in
front of me on the other wide of the room.
I had been lying for some time on my
back, my mind tilled with a thousand of
those thick coming vagaries which can
only find lodgment in the disordered brain
of an invalid, when wearied by the posi
tion in which 1 had so long lain. I
turned upen my right side, and now, for
tire first time, saw this—thing.
It was a luminous baud, the delicately
tapering lingers of which indicated that
it had, at one time, belonged to a person
—a lemale—ot gentle blood. This
shining spectacle was enveloped about
the wrist in a flowing, cloud-like kind of
drapery. The hand, it is true, was some
what vague and misty; but, still, the
lingers, thumb, wrist and gauzy cover
ing appeared to be sufficiently well de
fined to make one think that they would
be perceptible to the sense of touch.
M lien I first saw this appearance, I was
in that nervous and paitially feverish con
dition, which was well calculated to al
low my senses to he easily perturbed;
and I will confess it—the sight of the
mysterious phenomenon did produce
within me some degree of fright. But I
am trom a reflective nation, as you are
aware, and I was not long in bringing
reason to my succor. Sick and weak as 1
was, I was not to be terrified by a ghost.
1 assumed a bold air, and said to myself,
There are no such tilings as ghosts ;
and, even if there are, they have never
been known to do an injury.”
But, I was puzzled. What could it
be ? . . ,
drapery which formed the sleeve, I could
see that it was endeavoring to turn the
handle. Failing in this, it elevated it
self an inch or two, and seemed to be
feeling about the key-hole. Closing all
but the index finger, it attempted to in
sert that into the space that should have
been occupied by f the key. It now groped
along the crevice left between the door
and the post—slow and cautious in ijs
movements—when, coming to the bolt,
it stopped and seemed to be trying to
forc« it backward from the staple which
completed the fastening.
I could stand it no longer. The mys
tery was becoming too much for me. A
cold perspiration broke out over my face
and body-, aud turning over to the wall,
I closed my eyes Tins change of posi
tion, however, brought no relief, but
seemed rather to produce a concentration
of iny T nervousness. Turning again to
ward the door, I observed that the hand
was still endeavoring to make its exit.
Knowing it to be characteristic of the
ghost family to abhor the light, I jumped
out of bed as boldly and os noiselessly as
possible, and went to the mantel to light
my candle. Just as my feet touched the
floor, the apparition fell, as a hand would
fall by one’s side, and, gliding across the
room between the place where I stood
and my bed, it disappeared in a corner
that had once been occupied by a large
wardrobe.
I was greatly terrified by these move
ments, and if any one had been in the
house, I would have shouted for help.
To-night, however, I was alone. The
Medical Director’s clerk had gone several
miles down the Peninsula on a visit to
some of his comrades. And, to add to
my horror, I now remembered that 1 had
used the last match before retiring to
bed. Summing up a degree of courage,
I began to feel about in the dark, with a
hope that I might make some discovery.
I went to the corner where the luminous
hand had disappeared, but could neither
feel, see, Dor hear anything unusual.
Watching for some ten or fifteen minutes,
I became wearied, and returned to my
couch. I again reclined, and endeavored
to compose myself in order that I might
solve this great mystery. I continued to
lie perfectly still, looking in the direc
tion where I had last seen' the hand of
flame—turning occasionally to examine the
door—until I became tired and sleepy. I
had nearly fallen into a doze, when I was
again thrown into a tremor by the reap
pearance of what I must now call the
ghost. When I saw it this tiint, it was
passing the foot of my bed and homing
from the direction whence I had seen it
disappear. r. <i
I was now much frightened, or rather,
I should say perplexed ; for, although I
did not anticipate any bodily harm, the
inexplicability of the was
getting to be troublesome. If it had been
daylight, and I had seen this hand at
tached to the person of a delicate lady, it
would have occasioned mo no unusual
thought. But to see a mysterious, lumin
ous hand, groping about my room at this
witching hour of midnight, was to see
something that made me disagreeably
nervous.
The movoments of the nebulous enigma
were now* more cautious than before.
From the foot of the bed it went slowly
again to the door, where, in a more gen
tle manner, it weut through the same evo
lutions as when 1 had first seen it. Stay
ing a few minutes, and feeling- about the
knob and key-hole of the door, it left and
came near to where I was reclining I
felt very much disposed to strike at it,
hut repressed the desire, and stopped, as
well as I could, my breathing. Linger
ing about the head of my cot for some
minutes, it returned to the door. Grasp
ing at the knob, it seemed to be the
hand of an angry person, and I could
see, from the sudden movements of the
sleeve, that it was trying to jork down
that barrier.
For some time, I was completely non
plussed. But, afjpr observing these
motions for several moments, I con
cluded to arise, open the door, and see
if the troublesome spirit would not de
part. Getting up this time without
making the least noise, I began to ap
proach the doorway. Apparently, as if
it saw me, the hand fell as before, and
seemed about to return to its old re
treat. I stood still for several seconds,
apd it moved two or three feet to the
right ot the door. It was with the
greatest difficulty that I, now mastered
the inclination to grasp at it. As if in
terpreting my secret desire, the palm of
the hand seemed to be presented to
ward me, with fingers outstretched, as
if it were about to ward oft a blow.
My fright now was terrible. What
could this hobgoblin mean? Was it the
hand of a murderess, or was it some
supernatural warning ? In my terror, I
jumped against the door with nearly suf
ficient force to burst it from its hinges.
I tried to open it, but in iny confusion I
could not find the latch. I would have
rushed from the room and left the entire
house, but I had been too hasty.
When I first jarred against the door,
the apparition retreated two or three feet;
but, while I was engaged in trying to
find the bolt, it began to approach. My
original determination again presented
itself. I came to the conclusion that the
spectre wished to get cut of the room,
and that if I would open the door, it
would disappear and cease to trouble me,
| except, of course, in the shape of its un
accountability. Deciding to act upon
this suggestion. I continued to feel for the
knob, and finding this in a few minutes,
I drew back the bolt and began to open
the door. The apparition was all this
time slowly drawing nearer, and the door
was not opened wider than was sufficient
to admit the passage of a grown person,
when the ghostly hand, at one bound
rushed by me and disappeared around
the partition made by the top of the
staircase.
Returning to bed. I lay awake nearly
the remainder of the night, endeavoring'
to find a solution for this frightful riddle.
In my weak and nervous condition, I do
not feel it to be a confession of coward
ice to say that some of the positions as
sumed by the hand hud produced in me
a certain degree of fright. I was fright
ened, for instance, when it came to my
pillow and acted as if it belonged to a
person who was listening to my treat!i
iug; and, again, when I had arisen to
open the door, as it assumed the posture
of one about to protect itself from appre
hended blows, I almost felt that the
whole person must be present, and that I
was only permitted to see the luminous
hand and wrist. I entertain, to this day,
great regret that I was unable to bring
a candle to my aid.
I never allowed myself to speak of
the apparition, and I never again slept in
the room where it had appeared. I would
not have this confession, however, to un
determine the assertion I began with, re
lative to my disbelief in ghosts; nor would
I have it thought that fear caused me to
abandon my sleeping apartment. The
clerk, who occupied the room below, had
frequently complained of its unsocial
appearance after the departure of his
friends, and I, having felt a similar de
gree of lonesomeness, we agreed to use
his room as a sleeping chamber in com
mon. On the next day these arrange
ments were carried into effect.
One of the theories by which, for my
own satisfaction, 1 attempted to explain
my spectral visitor, is as follows ;
“ When I first saw the luminous body,
resembling a hand on the knob, and wa
vering up and down near the edge of the
door, between the lock and bolt, I sail
to myself that it must be owing to some
peculiar condition of the atmosphere of
the close sick room. The vitiated air in
the confined apartment, I thought was
acted upon by the fresh breeze entering
at the key-hole, and the result of the coin-
IsTo. 33.