Bell-ringing Spirit.
Dishes fly, clothes are burned.
Lamps shatter in daylight.
A house at Oshawa, Ontario, has been the scene of mysterious and terrifying happenings, for which the only plausible explanation is that a “poltergeist,” some freakish spirit from the nether-world, has been at work.
The house is occupied by a Mr and Mrs Jordan, their daughter Mabel, and son Wilbur, the two children being quite young. They formerly lived at Kingston, where they were also afflicted by similar phenomena, and they removed to Oshawa in the hope that they would be relieved of the spirit’s attentions. Hardly had they moved into their new residence, however, before things began to happen that rendered their lives a constant terror.
The first manifestation occurred the last week in August when some dresses which were hanging on the wall suddenly caught fire before the eyes of Mrs Jordan and her daughter. Nothing that could possibly have ignited the clothing was anywhere near. A towel and a pair of stockings hanging on a line in the kitchen were also burned, and at night one of the mattresses caught fire.
Then two lamps broke in broad daylight. Without any warning the chimneys were shattered and the bowls burst into fragments. A pitcher of water, which was standing on a shelf in the pantry, hurled through the air, breaking on the kitchen floor before the astonished gaze of Mrs Jordan, who had been about to use the water.
When the family were seated at luncheon the dishes suddenly shot from the table in all directions and crashed to pieces on the floor. On another occasion when Mrs Jordan was about to take a broom it eluded her grasp and spun round on the floor.
But the most startling occurrence of all was when the front door bell began to ring violently. When they ran to the door they saw an enormous hand at the bell. It was dark in colour and about four times the size of the average human hand, Mr Jordan stated. Only the forearm could be seen, but there was no body attached to it.
Another phenomenon in this eerie house is the dropping of strange notes, apparently from nowhere, into the rooms. One of these asked if the family desired the writer to cease his pranks, and telling them to answer if they did so. A request to this effect was accordingly written and placed on the window sill. For a short time it remained there and then disappeared, but the request was unheeded for the phenomenon continued.
A bottle hurled through the air and struck the opposite wall. Strange knockings occurred through the night, ceasing at dawn. A police watch has failed to throw any light on the mystery or to cause the phenomena to cease.
Belfast Telegraph, 22nd September 1927.