Rockaway’s Ghost.
It is addicted to smashing plate glass.
A family terrified by threatening demonstrations in a lawyer’s country villa. The neighbours of the opinion that it is not a genuine spook.
Most people consider it a sacrilegious thing to question the authenticity of a ghost. As a general rule, when one makes its appearance on this terrestrial footstool it is treated with due deference. One of the handsomest villas in Far Rockaway, New York, has recently been the scene of some mysterious doings. There was smashing of glass and banging of doors during the silent midnight watches, and the family were so terrified that they hardly dared go to sleep. The night watchmen and the police officers have been talking with bated breath of the doings of the mysterious visitor and they looked upon the house over which it threw its spell with terrified awe. They whispered the story around until all the people in Far Rockaway knew the haunted house.
The villa in question is one of a cluster of cottages on Conuga avenue, Ocean Crest. It belongs to Lawyer Daniel Whitford, of the firm of Alexander and Green, who have offices in the Equitable building on Broadway of New York city, and who are counsel for the widow of Gen. Grant. Mr Whitford does not go down to Rockaway every evening. He is very often detained in the city on business, and when this is the case he remains overnight. The house is occupied by his sister, Miss Sarah Whitford, and with her lives Mrs Fitzsimmonds, whose husband is employed in New York. Two infant children of Mrs Fitzsimmonds and a 14-year-old boy named Jim, whom Mr Whitford adopted some time ago, make up the household. Jim’s last name is in doubt – even Mr Whitford doesn’t know it – but he has always been considered a good boy and very useful around the house.
One night recently the family were quietly seated in the parlor when they were suddenly startled by a terrible knocking on the front door. Mrs Fitzsimmonds opened it, but found no one there. That was about 10.30. Neither Mr Whitford nor Mr Fitzsimmonds was in the house. The woman folks were a bit scared, and even Jim appeared frightened. They retired, however, and succeeded in wooing Morpheus for a time, but were as rudely disturbed by even a louder knocking on the door than before. The family held a consultation and Jim volunteered to look out one of the upper bedroom windows. No one was to be seen. At 1 o’clock the same morning the affrightened group were again startled by a crash that sounded like the breaking of glass. Later another crash followed, and the rattle of the fragments of the front windows was heard on the piazza. The women screamed for him, but Jim was in hiding, evidently too terrified to leave his bedroom. There was very little sleep that night.
Next morning, when all had mustered courage sufficient to enable them to come down stairs, they found that the large French plate glass panel of the door was smashed; so were two of the kitchen windows. And the peculiar part of the business was that the glass appeared to be broken from the inside. The following night there was a repetition of the mysterious occurrence. Lawyer Whitford was at home that evening himself.
When the family had retired, the preliminary signals were given on the front door, and the smashing of the glass followed. Mr Whitford took a lantern and made a tour of the grounds surrounding the house. Nothing that should not have been there was seen. That night the owner of the house slept on the sofa in the drawing room. Before daylight fell he was startled by another crash. More glass fell, and Mr Whitford, seizing his lantern ran into the hallway, opened the door and made another tour of the premises, but without making any discovery.
Next day another search of the surroundings was made. In an extension on which carpenters were at work were found traces of a fire. A pile of shavings had been built upon the floor, sprinkled with kerosene and ignited. The flames had burned a hollow place in the boards. It was apparent that the ghost, not satisfied with his depradations inside the house, had attempted to set fire to it from without.
Mr Whitford had a consultation with the night watchman who looks after the houses thereabouts. The latter advanced the opinion that the family had a ghost attached to it, and that there was no use trying to capture it; they had better move out and give him possession. Mr Whitford went up to the city and had a talk with the other members of the firm. Then he went down to Far Rockaway again and told his sister that he was going to lay the ghost. “How are you going to do it?” she asked. “Just wait and I’ll show you. Here, Jim,” he continued, “I want you to come over to New York with me. Fix yourself up right away. I’m waiting for you.” Jim’s knees knocked together a little, but he did as he was told. On the way up Mr Whitford informed him that he had procured a good situation for him, and he would put him in the care of a Catholic priest. Jim acquiesced with good grace, and no conversation on the subject of the ghost was held between him and Mr Whitford.
The ghost still holds forth and the Whitfords have decided to find another place for themselves.
The Aspen Daily Times, 18th February 1892.