The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer

SPIRITUAL SENSATION
The Belmont County Farm House
Phenomena
Turns Out to be the Work of an Imposter.
A Party of Wheeling Gentlemen Detect
the Fraud.

As the mysterious movements of articles
of household furniture at the residence
of Mr. Wm. McComas, some four
miles west of Bridgeport, in Belmont co.,
have caused considerable comment by the
press, and numerous theories by the
"paper philosophers," several gentlemen
of this city yesterday afternoon visited
the place, with a view of eliciting the
real facts in an unexaggerated form.
Judge Cochran, who formerly resided in
the neighborhood, and is personally ac-
quainted with Mr. McComas and the
neighbors of that immediate vicinity,
invited Dr. Hazlett, Dr. Worthen and
Mr. Chas. E. Dwight to make the visit.
and all four were driven out by Mr.
Henry Schmulbach.
THE RESIDENCE OF MR. M'COMAS
is a large, new, two-story frame house
situated on a high rolling hill near the
pike, but not on the highest part of the
ground surrounding. An old barn within
a few yards of the house is several feet
higher than the dwelling, and numerous
trees close by are higher than either
building
When the party arrived there were two
or three buggies standing on the opposite
side of the street, and some dozen or more
young men sitting on the fence, while the
house itself was closed and the front gate
chained and locked, and a notice of "No
Admittance" conspicuously posted up.
Through the acquaintance of Judge
Cochran, however, the party were con-
ducted to the house by Mr. Wm. McCo-
mas, and were left to go over the various
rooms and make their own observations.
On entering by a side door into the dining
room the floor was observed to be cover-
ed, in one corner of the room, with dishes
and cans of preserved fruit, all piled
regularly and looking as if they were
placed there for safety by the family.
The kitchen was then looked at; from
this a door leads to the pantry, in which
place the performance first manifested
itself.
MR. M'COMAS INTERVIEWED
Mr. McComas was asked, "When did
the first disturbance commence?" He
replied, "Monday afternoon about two
o'clock." He was then asked, "What
was the nature of the first demonstra-
tions?" to which he replied, "The first
thing seen was by my wife, who heard
things in the pantry on the shelves fall to
the floor, and on going in she saw dishes
and jars of apple butter fall to the floor."
"What did she suppose it to be?" was then
asked. "She thought a rat was on the
shelves behind the articles and had push-
ed them off, but no rat could be found, so
they sent for me to come home, as I was
at the house of a neighbor." As Mrs.
McComas was not present her statement
of what she saw could not be had.
Mr. McComas was asked "What did
you see when you came?" Answer: "I
saw the table (pointing to an ordinary
two-leaf dining table in the kitchen)
standing in the middle of the kitchen
floor, with the things from the pantry
upon it that had been brought out for
safety." "Was anything moving when
or after you came home?" Answer: "I
saw this large teakettle, which was placed
on the stove thus [here he was requested
by Dr. Hazlett to put the kettle just where
he saw it start from, which he did] fall
off on the floor, and a can of peaches on
the other part of the stove fell off also."
"What else did you see yourself?" An-
swer: "Well, a wooden bowl containing
a few eggs was on the table, and one or
two of them fell or jumped off on the
floor, and soon after another one was
found on the floor." "Did you see the eggs
fall?" Answer: "No, I did not see them
when they fell, but after they had
fallen."
WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW.
Further questions failed to prove that
any movements of any article whatever
had been seen. Mr. McComas called in
Mr. Isaac Steers, a near neighbor, whom
he said could tell what he saw, as he was
present. Mr. Steers was asked by one of
the visiting party, "Did you see those
things happen?" Answer: "Yes, I was
here part of the time and saw them."
"Did you see these things jump up and
move, and if so, what did you see?" An.
swer: "Well, I saw enough to convince me
that everything was done that was report-
ed." "Did you see anything start to move
while you was looking at it?" Answer:
"No. I did not see anything moving myself,
but I saw them when they had been upset,
and things turned over, and I know they
were done without any one touching
them."
It will be seen that no one could be
found who would say that they really
saw any one article start from its place and
make any movement on its own account,
except Mr. McComas, who said he did
see the teakettle fall off of the stove to
the floor. Other persons were there who
saw the things after they had turned over.
or while they were in another room, or
with their backs turned, or in every oth.
er way but while they were looking right
at it.
MR. M'COMAS' THEORY.
Mr. McComas said he had a theory that
perfectly satisfied him. His explanation
was as follows: About a week previous
to the mysterious dancing of dishes and
furniture four or five barrels of cider un-
going fermentation had blown out
their faucets and allowed the cider to
flow all over the bottom of the cellar,
which was underlaid with iron ore.
This iron ore and the escaped cider
he charged with doing or causing the
performances reported. The exact modus
operandi of this contact of the innocent
cider and the unsuspecting iron ore is
not clear in his mind, but he is sure that
"in some way or another this cider and
ore formed gases and electricity and
came up into the house and in some un-
known way caused all this fuss."
As to Mr. McComas, the gentlemen re-
gard him as a good, honest man, who is
probably well posted in his own vocation,
but who is entirely incapable of observ.
ing carefully, any phenomena of an un-
usual character, when a cool, unbiased
and accurate observation of actual facts
are to be noted and described. Like the
majority of mankind, when an unusual
and peculiar occurrence takes place, he
is very likely to get excited and not re-
member accurately anything that hap-
pened, and would be likely to magnify,
unconsciously, what took place.
After the facts had been sought for so
earnestly and persistently as to cause
annoyance to Mr. McComas, who inti-
mated that he was
NOT ANXIOUS TO HAVE
THE MYSTERY
SOLVED,
as he knew what happened and did not
care particularly whether other people
believed it or not, the impression of the
visitors was that any explanation they
had to offer other than those of a super-
natural or electrical origin, were not wil-
lingly received, and they were not desir.
ous of having the occurrences ascribed to
human agency. Dr. Hazlett had been
making very close examinations of the
position of the windows to the part of
the room where the disturbance was seen
and finally decided that, after ascertain-
ing the direction of the movement of the
articles, the direction of motion was, in all
cases shown to the visitors, close to or
directly opposite some of the windows.
Then one of the party was asked by Dr.
Hazlett to open a door of a small cup-
board in the dining room. This was
done and immediately there came to the
floor with a crash a pasteboard box con-
taining a dozen or more knives and forks.
This was unaccountable to those who saw
it, and they expressed their theories of
gas and electricity, &c., as the cause, the
same as in the other instances. But the
real theory was that the Doctor had
purposely placed the box in the cupboard
so it leaned against the door, and when
the latter opened it must fall out on the
floor—all very simple when understood
THE CLOCK MOVEMENT EXPLAINED.
Then several persons, including Mr.
McComas, while looking at a large clock
on the mantel in the parlor, where their
attention was called, saw it fall forward
and strike on the floor. The persons who
saw this occurrence did not give the
proper explanation of it, for a thread
had been attached to it, by a young man
who was "investigating" and who stepped
into the front hall and pulled the thread
at the proper time. The young gentle-
man referred to had found on the back of
the same clock a piece of thread attached and
broken off short, which had been pressed
evidently, into the wood by a knife blade
or other sharp instrument.
TRACES OF AN IMPOSTOR
Dr. Hazlett also, while examining a
piano stool that had been performing
numerous feats across the room, found
attached to it a short piece of stout string some
three-fourths of an inch long. These dis-
coveries do not prove anything, of course
but they present a very decided sugges-
tion that agencies other than cider, iron
ore and electricity had been at work, and
that agency was unanimously believed
by those who composed the visiting party
to be some human being.
Mr. McComas says that if no other ex-
planation can be given than that last re-
ferred to, that he does not wish to receive
that as the true way of it.
THE MYSTERIES EXPLAINED,
The gentlemen who made this exami-
nation, after seeing all that had happen-
ed, and explaining the peculiar sound
given by a feather bed when pressed by
the hand, (which was caused by the quill
end of the feathers scratching on the new
stiff bed ticking,) made the suggestion that
they believed that they could produce
every circumstance that had happened
within the house.
They also asserted that it was an im-
possibility to produce even a slight amount of
electricity on the premises, or to conduct it
from one part of the building to another.
Also, they assert, that the "gases," if ever
formed, could not produce the slightest
effect in moving furniture.
WHO IS THE IMPOSTOR?
As to who the person is or what the
motive could be in producing this pecu.
liar disturbance, the visitor could not
positively decide. No persons other than
the members of the family usually living
in the house were known to be present,
except a distant relative, a gentleman
from one of the Eastern cities, and he
claims to have seen none of the perfor-
man ces, but only the results. The com-
motion commenced within a day or so
after the arrival of this person. There
have been
numerous
cases
reported where persons have been led
to cause ghosts and strange things
to be seen for the purpose of intimidating
the owners of property to such an extent
that a purchase could be effected at
much below the real value. There are
persons who express very decided opin-
ions of this character in this case, but as
no positive proof exists we shall not give
the name of the party who is supposed to
be at the bottom of the mischief.