Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1920.
MISSOURI TOWN’S MIRACLE NOW
ONLY SMUDGEDSPOT ON CEILING
‘Morg’ Donelson Admits Wiping It With Soap And
Water, But Denies That Removed
Picture '
Following the publication of the “miracle’ of the picture on the
ceiling at the home of a farmer near Princeton, Mo., which appeared in
Mondays's.JTimes-Recorder, the Kansas City Star sent a staff reporter to
the scene to write the facts in the case as he could learn them. The
following is his story:
PRINCETON, Mo., Jan. 14.—0 n says:
the living room ceiling in Morg Don- '
elson* s farmhouse, six miles north
of Princeton, there is a white spot
about as large as the palms of your
two hands which looks as if it had
been freshly scrubbed with soap and
water.
That spot is all that remains of the
“Miracle Picture’’ which lashed this
community into a religious frenzy
two weeks ago and brought more
than five thousand persons on a pil
grimage from all over this county
and far up into lowa.
Whatever it was, the picture is
gone, but Donelson, well-to-do farm
er and cattle raiser, still spends much
of his time sitting in the living room
with an open Bible across his knees,
alternately reading scripture and gaz
ing toward the ceiling. He believes
firmly that the queer little pattern
which he discovered in the smoke
and dust above the gas lamp the
night of December 19, and which
“disappeared’’ three days later, was
a picture of his dead wifqgand baby,
drawn by a supernatural hand.
Wife and Baby Died in October.
Here are the facts. Donelson’s
wife died in premature child birth
October 6. She and the little baby
were buried in the same casket. Don
elson says she had predicted the date
of her death almost a year before.
The night of December 19, two
months and a half after his wife’s
death, Donelson was sitting in his
living room reading his Bible. He
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J. P. Andrews. Blakely. Ga.. writes:
‘‘Mr hov has been a great sufferer
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“Suddenly I heard a voice just as
; plain as dav saying, ‘Morg, look up.’
1 I looked and the house seemed to
open up; I saw the forms of my dead
wife and little baby coming down out
of the sky. My father was sitting
across the room and he noticed my
eyes bulging and the strange expres
sion on my face. He came over
where I was sitting and he, too,' look
ed up. I said to him, ‘Pa, what do
' you see* and he said to me, ‘Morg,
i what do you see,’ and then I said,
1 ‘Pa, it’s Annie and the baby.’
■ I “My .mother was in the room, and
' she saw it, too. The children cartie
down from upstairs and they saw the
I picture right oft. Theodore, who is
15 years old, said he could see right
; down through the ceiling from vp
i stairs. Joe said, ‘lt’s mamma come
down to take us away with her.’
Rosie, the little girl, she saw it, too.”
Picture Only Three Inches Long
The picture, Donelson says, was
about two and a half or three inches
: long and not quite as wide. It was
I faintly traced. There were the ouc
| lines of the upper part of a casket
■ and lying inside were the indistinct
I figures of a woman and a baby. Don
elson says he could clearly recognize
i his wife, the way her hair was part
led and the expression on her face.
I He says he could even tell how the
undertaker had arranged her head
| in the casket, and how he had drap
'ed a cloth over the baby’s face. It
s, body are disappearing like magic,
d even in this short time.”
J Mrs. Susan Day, Albany, Ga.,
- writes: “I am so pleased with my
cure that I would not regret having
I, paid ten times the modest sum that
r I gave for the remedies which have
c taken me out of my misery.
e Mrs. S. A. Baker, Lamar, S. C.,
d writes: “I am feeling lots stronger
ti and better. Have a good appetite. I
h am sure glad I am taking your reme
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f feeling much better. Will you please
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- S. C., writes: “I have been suffering
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J W. T. Thurber, Waterberry, Mo.,
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tarrh, Asthma, Bronchitis, Pleurisy,
Tumors, Indigestion, Constipation,
Gall Stones, Ovarian and Female
Troubles, Enlarged Glands or reflex
condition of the nervous system, and
those diseases about which most peo
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practitioner.
Bear in mind that this will likely
be the last visit when the specialists
extend, their services FREE.
Hundreds have been restored to
their perfect good health, with rosy
cheeks and sparkling eyes—so may
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Married women should be accom
panied by their husbands and children
by their parents.
Remember the hotel, day and date
—one day only.
Hours 9:00 a. m. to 4p. m. adv
J was all very clear to him.
Donelson didn’t sleep any that
night. The • xt day he went about
his f«rm work. He told the story of
the picture to two men who were
helping him haul hogs. At dinner
| time he- took them into the living
room to see it. They stared ceiling
ward with bared heads for a while,
and then nodded knowingly to each
other. Yes, it was Morg’s wife, all
right.
From these two farm hands the
story spread. They took the tale
with them when they went to Prince
ton Saturday night, and by Sunday
morning the “miracle” had grown
mightily in proportions and spread
over all the county. Some heard that
it was a print as large as life, and
you could see a faint radiance coming
from it. Others heard that it was
as big as the side of a door. The ru
mors spread and grew. By Sunday
noon the roads leading to Donelson’s
.home began to fill with motor loads
of curious, eager pilgrims. The-Don-
■ elson house was thrown open, and
Donelson himself, Bible in hand met
the visitors at the door.
Some Could See Nothing.
> Some of them stared at the curi-
> ous tracery above the lamp and shook
their heads. They couldn’t see any-
l thing.
■ “You haven’t got the spirit in you,”
’ Donelson would tell them.
> Others seemed to se'e it the in
t slant they crossed the threshold.
• Several women exclaimed, “If it ain’t
i Morg’s wife just as plain as day; and
tne little baby, too.” And then they
began to cry.
Sunday after noon the little yard
> in front of Donelson’s house was
s choxed with motor cars. New ar-
> r.v..is had to stop and unload down
• the road. The living room became
t so crowded that once or twice Donel
t son had to ask those inside to pass
• out and give the new-comers on the
1 porch a chance.
Monday the crowds increased.
■ Donelson’s son, Theodore, counted
> three hundred motor cars in the front
1 yard that day, and he believes he
• missed a few at that. A Rock Island
: freight train stopped on a siding
three-quarters of a mile away and
the whole crew, engineer, fireman,
brakeman and conductor, tramped '
i across the fields to the farmhouse
and trooped into the living room.
Some of th'em could see it, others
couldn’t. At any rate, the story
spread that afternoon and night to
' every switchman's shanty and way
5 station for fifty miles up and down i
■ the line.
Tuesday afternoon while the
crowds still w*ere pouring through
the living room, a stranger appear-
• ed and took Donelson to one side.
He told him about a dream he had
, had.
Asked If It Was Evil Spirit.
r “I can’t repeat that dream,” Don- (
t elson told a reporter, “and I can’t tell
> just what connection it had with the
picture, but when he had finished
, arguing with me we went back to the,
. living room and I got my Bible. I
[ asked th’e people who were in the
room to kneel down with me and
pray. Then I got down and asked
God that if that picture was the
’ work of evil spirits, or spiritalism, to
take it away. Immediately I was
J led to go into the other room to get
‘ a towel. It seemed as if a voice
within me urged me to put soap and
’ water on that towel. I returned to
• the living room and led to stand up
on a chair.
! “And then, right ther’e before all
’ those people I prayed again that if
i that picture was the work of the
devil, for God to take it away. It
, disappeared."
“Did you rub the wet towel across'
the ceiling?" Mr. Donelson was
, asked.
“Well, yes, I did. But that wasn’t
what took the picture away. It was
praying that did it, and all the people
who were in the room then will tell I
you so, too.”
There was a rumor that the pil
grims who witnessed the disappear-1
ance of the picture took a decided |
hostile attitude toward the stranger
who took Donplson aside and told him
his dream. Some were inclined to
regard him as an agent of the devil
and there was some talk of lynching
MEN
TEACH YOUR DOLLARS
TO HAVE MORE CENTS.
GET A SUIT AND OVER
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SON AT
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ANSLEY’S
FOR ORDINARY.
i am a candidate for the office of
Ordinary of Sumter Count, subject
to the action cf the Democratic party
and will appreciate the support of all
voters. If elected I will discharge <he
duties of the office faithfully and with
careful regard for the interests of
tlpublic. Respectfully
F. A. THOMAS.
THE AMERICUS TIMES-RECOkDER
Tinker
JrcxffL, by Carlisle (t. Hoicomb SJ
SNOW SHOE HEARS PIKA. , <
“IJAT-Pat-Pat.” Snorv Shoe was■
1 talking with his feet. Tinker Bob ,
could understand all he said, how- •
ever three taps on the ground' (
with hist hind feet meant that some j
one was near.
“Who is near?” asked Tinker. “I ,
don’t see anyone. Are you sure that ;
some forest dweller is near?” 1
“Pat-Pat-Pat!” The Snow Shoe
Rabbit was always sure when he tap- .
ped on the ground. “I think it is ,
Pika the Cony,” said he. “I know he
l&’F'G
J | i
I ii '
On Top of a Pile of ‘Rocks Appeared
The Cony Hare.
came down from the mountain the |
other day and I think he is here yet.l
He always comes out when there is i
any open weather, and the snow
right there in the yard But Donel
son’s prayers prevailed.
Examined it With a Microscope.
The “picture” remained on the i
ceiling about ninety hours from the '
time Donelson first discovered it to
the tim’e he rubbed it with soap and ,
water and prayed. In that period
perhaps five thousand peram; saw it.
(One mar p’aced two chair* together ,
an.l c’ l .Led up where he could ex- ,
amine it with a microscope. He tried
to scratch it with his finger nail and ',
couldn’t seem to make an ’.'npres-I,
sion on it. He tried to make similar ■
marks in the ceiling nearby, but fail
ed. He made a minute examination
! of it and later drew it from memory.
He says there was some kind of '
’ a picture there, but he hesitates to
give an opinion as to its origin.
The intelligent people of Mercer
county are inclined to believe that
Donelson was sincere enough in his ■
picture “miracle,” but most of them
are of the opinion that it was noth- 1
| ing more than a religious hallucina
l tiom Donelson is a devout member
,of the Apostolic church, sometimes ■
j called the Church of Christ, A.ssembly
jof God, and more often referred to
!by outsiders as the “Holy Roller”
i sect.
| This is not the first time that Mer- ‘
i cer county has been amazed by the'
| strange religious manifestations of I
the Apostolic church. A few years
■ ago they built a large white church !
| about a mile and a half nothwest of
. Donelson’s home. Revival meetings
, were held and many converts were
i obtained. Then along came an itin
erant preacher from Texas and the
church divided into two factions.
Church Divided on Eating Pork.
From the pulpit Sunday after Sun
i day he denounced the drinking of
coffee and the eating so pork as
[ practices of the devil. Many of the
i congregation took alarm at his words
and revised their meals accordingly.
Others took a decided stand against
the Texas preacher. They didn’t ;
mind his views on coffee and pork so (
much, but what" they did mind was
■ his being so friendly with some of I
I the women of the congregation.
, The battle raged. Finally the itin- '
I erant pastor announced one Sunday ! j
that he had received a message that | ,
the. spiritual food administrator had; 1
lifted the ban on hog meat and coffee, j
and they could now be eaten and |
drunk with impunity. But that didn’t I
satisfy the other faction. The desir
ed to know about his relations with ,
Certain women.
The preacher finally confessed his
sin and about the same time passed
on to some other field of activity.
The two factions got together and de- |
cided that the church building had |
been the scene of so much turmoil |
and sin that it was clearly possessed (
of the devil. So they procured ham- |
mers, nails and some planks and
boarded up the doors and windows.
For several months services were
held in private homes and nobody 1
went near the “devil's church.” 1
Then, when a sufficient time had 1
elapsed to permit the church to be
cleansed of all sin, the congregation I
pried off the boards and resumed wor- ’
ship there. I
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doesn’t block his doorway.”
Sure enough, on the top of a pile
of rocks appeared Pika the Cony
Hare. Tinker Bob called to him,
and in answer* to the King’s call
Pika hurried to his side.
“Where have you been all of these
days?” asked Tinker. “We haven’t
seen you in the forest for a long
time—not since the snow ccme.”
“Eh-eh, Eh-eh,” said Pika in a
sort of barking way. “I’ve been busy
gathering food all fall, and then
when the snow came I ha<J to stay
in my home on the side of the moun
tain.”
“You have such a funny voice,
Pika,” said Tinker Bob, as he seat
ed himself on a rock near by, “Why
do you talk and bark way down in
your throat?”
“Eh-eh.” barked Pika. “I do that
so my enemies will not know where
I am. It sounds each time in a dif
ferent place.”
“What have you been gathering to
eat this winter?” asked Tinker Bob.
“Eh-eh. I gather clover and vines
and flowers of various kinds and let
them dry in the sun to cure them,
then I pile them up close to the door
of my house wher® I can get at it
easily all winter.” \
“But why do you live so high up
on the mountain side?" asked Tinker.
“Eh-eh. I live up where the
Mountain Goat lives, far up on the
mountain crest because I don’t have
so many enemies up there. Only now
and then the Bob Cat comes along,
and he nearly scares me to death.
And then there is the Great Weasel
—he is a treacherous fellow and has
caught many of my brothers and
sisters. You see he will go right in- '
to their home and either drive them i
out or kill them *nd suck their]
blood.”
“Does the hunter ever harm you?” |
asker Tinker, as he stroked Pika on
the ! ack. I
“Eh-Eh, the Hunter sets many|
traps and I heard him say one day ;
that Cony fur was worth a good bit
in the markets of the city. All of us
are afraid of the Hunter,”
Just then Mr. Weasel the Great
came along and Pika began to bark
furiously because Pica knew that
Mr. Weasel was a vicous enemy.
Tomorrow—An Agreement With
Tinker Bob.
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PHONES: Office 177; Residence 753. Americus, Ge.
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..... Y.■ ... ... k- , v j
PAGE THREE