Latest Ghost Story.
Strange Doings In Portuguese Mansion.
A Lisbon telegram to the Central News says:- The newspapers here devote considerable attention to what must surely be one of the most remarkable “ghost stories” of recent years.
The incidents related are said to have occurred at the country residence, near Coimbra, of an elderly judge – a large, rambling mansion, chosen by its present resident largely on account of its isolation. The gentleman in question recently married a young wife, and it was just before the marriage that he rented the house which was destined to prove so troublesome a property, and to which the couple retired soon afterwards.
This old gentleman was a heavy sleeper; but his young bride was alarmed by strange noises almost immediately after they had arrived at the place – noises of knocking upon windows, of opening and shutting of doors, and of footsteps along the corridors, which were audible only after all the lights had been put out for the night. For a time she said nothing to her husband, fearing that he would only laugh at her fancies; but when an intimate friend of the family chanced to call, she confided to him her fears, and assured him that if the noises continued she would go mad.
The friend thereupon agreed to keep watch one night outside the couple’s bedroom, without saying anything to the husband on the subject. Immediately the lights were out, the strange noises were heard, and the watcher felt assured that footsteps were approaching him in the corridor. Suddenly the bedroom door was flung open by some invisible agency, and the husband awoke to the sound of his wife’s screams. She had jumped terror-stricken from the bed, and outside in the corridor the husband found their friend hitting out wildly at some invisible object. All noises had, however, ceased the moment a light was struck, and considerable explanation was required to convince the old man that nothing more serious than a ghost story was the cause of the strange scene.
The following night husband and friend watched together, and as soon as the lights were extinguished they were aware of the same strange manifestations. Suddenly the husband felt a smart box on the ears, and hit out sharply in reply. His friend struck a light, and nothing was to be seen or heard. As the match died down, sounds were heard again, proceeding apparently from a room opposite to the bedroom. The two men opened the door and rushed in, but hardly had they entered when the door slammed behind them, and they found it locked.
A shrill scream of terror was heard from the wife, now alone in her bedroom, and rushing at it with all their force the men burst open the door and ran into the other room, to find the woman in a swoon on the floor. The judge and his wife left the place the next day, unable to face the unknown and unseen terror again, and the young wife is stated to be in a serious condition as a result of her terrible experiences.
The police were informed of the matter, and three men were sent to watch for a night in the haunted bedroom and along the corridor; but shortly after the lights had been extinguished the man stationed in the corridor was heard wildly shouting, and the others on-going to his assistance, found him hammering madly at the walls, quite insane. An extraordinary feature of the manifestations, if the newspapers may be relied upon, is that the servants, who have slept in another wing of the house, had never heard the slightest noise or witnessed anything unusual, until the night when they were aroused by the struggle in the bedroom.
Belfast Telegraph, 21st April 1910.
Not sure if the following is connected (or even ‘true’) but it’s quite a coincidence in place and time if not:
Strange Phenomena in Portugal.
Law Student’s Experiences.
The current number of “The Annals of Psychical Science” contains a wealth of information relating to spiritualism and psychical phenomena. […] Madeleine Lacombe-Frondoni, in an article on the curious history of a haunted house in Portugal, says the facts which she relates occurred at Comeada, a small town on the outskirts of Coimbra, the city which contains the University of Portugal. The writer says:
At the beginning of October, 1909, Senor Homem Christo, jun., a law student in his first year at the University, rented a house at Comeada consisting of ground floor and first floor, in which he installed himself with his young wife and their two servants. From the first night Senora Bernadette Christo complained to her husband of hearing strange noises in the house. He did not take any notice, attributing this impression to her imagination. He had been living there for eight days when one of their friends, Senor Gomes Paredes, law student in his second year at the University, having something to do at Comeada, came to ask hospitality of them for one night, which was granted him with pleasure. After they had spent the evening together they retired to their rooms about one o’clock in the morning.
Senor Gomes Paredes had scarcely extinguished his candle when he heard raps on the window panes. He rose and relighted his candle, opened his window wide. He saw no one. He lay down, again extinguishing the candle, and then he heard steps quite close to him and the doors in the house opening and shutting. He relighted the candle and began to look all about, under the bed furniture, &c. Nothing, nobody. When he extinguished the light all the noises recommenced. When he relighted once more there was nothing. Not wishing to disturb anyone, he put up with the situation all night, and the following morning he asked his friend, Senor Homem Christo, if he had heard anything unusual during the night.
“I heard nothing at all,” he replied. “However, that is not very likely, seeing that I sleep like a marmot. And then, what should I hear? There are no thieves in the house, and all these noises are pure fancy.”
Senor Gomes Paredes, knowing the positivist character of Homem Christo, did not persist. He went home to Coimbra and related to his father what had happened to him at his friend’s house. His father listened attentively to him and said: “That is very singular. Another tenant who was there before your friend left that house because of these noises, and a woman who is now caretaker at the Meterological Observatory, passed a night there, and said she would never go there again, for that house was bewitched. I should advise you to tell all this to your friend, and ask him to devote a night to watching to find out what it may be.”
Senor Gomes Paredes followed the advice of his father, and the same day returned to Comeada, related the incident to Senor Homem Christo, and asked him to give up a night in order to observe for himself. He laughed at Gomes Paredes, and retired to rest as usul. Notwithstanding, that night he himself heard some noises which perplexed him, and led him to take the decision to keep awake the following night, and he asked his friend to keep him company. That night, therefore, towards eleven o’clock, Senor Homem Christo sent the two servants to bed as usual, while he, his wife, and friend awaited events.
As long as there was light nothing abnormal happened, but directly it was extinguished some loud blows were heard on the door of the ground floor leading into the garden. Senor Homem Christo descended the stairs quickly, and took up a position near the door. The knocks commenced again. He suddenly opened the door, and saw no one. He went outside in order to ascertain if anyone was running down a small street, which was at the corner by his door. He had scarcely got outside when the door was closed behind him with a crash, and the key turned. He saw no one outside. In order to re-enter his house he had to knock, and his wife came down to let him in.
Senor Homen Christo was greatly puzzled, but each time more convinced that there was someone in his house who thought well to play a trick on him. Taking his revolver, saying “We shall see,” he went on the landing of the staircase leading to the ground floor, revolver in hand. A match which he held between his fingers was scarcely extinguished, when he heard quite close to his face a loud burst of laughter, which was repeated like an echo throughout the house, and he saw in front of him a white cloud, while from his nostrils came two streaks of whiteish light. This was too much.
He began to be less sure of himself, and his courage, as he confessed to himself, grew weaker. Until four o’clock in the morning the same phenomena went on more or less. Afterwards they knew no more. Worn out with fatigue, they lay down and slept until the morning was well advanced.
The following day Senor Homen Christo, neither knowing nor admitting the existence of phenomena of a psychical nature, resolved to call in a police officer in order that he might be a witness of anything that might happen that night. He wished, at all costs, to catch the joker, and feared he would lose his coolness and kill someone. A sergeant and two policemen were placed at his disposal.
In relating some of their remarkable experiences, the writer continues: – He sent one of the policemen into a room where his friend Senor Paredes had slept. When the policeman went to sit down, the seat was drawn away so quickly that he fell to the floor. The two friends, Senors Gomes Paredes and Henrique Sotto Armas, were placed on the ground floor with the sergeant. The wife remained in her room and the servants in theirs.
Senor Christo, as on the previous night, remained on the landing of the staircase which led to the ground floor. Immediately the place was put in darkness, noises and knocks succeeded each other, particularly in the small room which adjoined their bedroom, and where there was only a trunk. All this seemed very like a challenge.
Suddenly, in the friend’s room, there was a terrible noise like a fearful struggle, which brought everyone into the room, frightened, but convinced that at last the policeman had found the practical joker. Disappointment. There was no one there but the distracted policeman striking right and left with his sabre, running away from everyone he saw and going into a small boudoir where there was a glass cupboard, which in his terror he broke. It became necessary to employ force in order to hold him: the poor man had become mad.
After this incident they recovered their presence of mind and extinguished the light again. Senor Homem Christo took up his position on the landing and directly received a severe blow on his left cheek, which made him utter a piercing cry, because, he said, it seemed to him as though fingers were digging into his flesh as though to tear it away. They quickly relighted and everyone could see four fingermarks on his left cheek, while the right cheek was as white as that of a corpse.
It was midnight. Senor Homem Christo, frightened, as well as his wife, the servant, his friends, the policemen and sergeant, would not remain an hour longer in the house. He went with his wife, servants and friends to spend the remainder of the night at a hotel. The policemen and sergeant also went home, swearing that they would never more set foot in such a house.
Senor Homem Christo sub-let the house, but after two days the new tenant demanded the return of his money, saying that the house was uninhabitable. These events were laughed at in the neighbourhood; but very little is known of psychism in Portugal.
Globe, 3rd November 1910.