 |
| The Dagg House as it appears today. |
...continued from part eleven.
18. Phenomena in Restless Houses, Proving the Existence of Dark (Demonic) Forces
1. In 1874, in the village of Shakoldany, Vilnius province, in the house of a peasant named Begansky, stones, firewood, etc. were thrown, and a bottle of milk was walked around the hut; they tied it with a rope to a nail – it came loose and walked around again; they threw it out into the yard – it returned to the hut. Suspicion fell on the farrier Bardadym, who whispered to this bottle of milk for Begansky’s sick child. A case was opened. The Vilnius joint chamber of the criminal and civil court, by its ruling of May 28, 1874, released the peasant Bardadym from trial on charges of fraud, but the sworn testimony of six witnesses to the former apparitions did not lose its significance because of this. The ruling of the chamber was published in full in "Rebus Magazine" in 1894 (p. 182).
2. In 1873, Simbirsk province, Ardatovsky district, in the village of Barashevo, in the priest's house, from December 23 to December 28, "various self-movement and flying of objects" occurred; a samovar with boiling water rose from the floor and flew about two arshins; bricks were torn out of a Russian kitchen stove and smashed to pieces; household dishes and utensils flew in different directions and broke. "The moment of lifting any object from a certain place and its flight was never noticed under my careful observation, but only its fall," writes Priest N. P. Tsvetkov in his letter to A. N. Aksakov dated June 14, 1874, which was published in "Rebus Magazine" in 1882 (p. 391).
3. In 1880, in the Petersburg province, in the village of Ruchyi, near the Lesnoy Korpus, in the house of the colonist Beech, there was knocking, throwing of various household utensils, mainly at the girl Pelagia; a broom was chasing her; a ladle with water was poured on her head, or the water itself splashed onto her; hats were thrown off and jumping on the floor; a cat was lifted into the air and thrown at Pelagia’s back. After she was removed from the house, the phenomena ceased (“Rebus Magazine” 1888, p. 129).
4. In 1883, in Tashkent, in the city prison, in a cell occupied by three officers, mysterious phenomena began at the end of April, with the arrival of the last of them, artilleryman Zhe, which continued until his release from prison on May 18 of the same year: self-movement and flying of objects located in the cell; bringing things that were in other rooms of the prison and falling as if from the ceiling. At first this was observed in the moonlight, and then in full lamplight. Once, in the presence of the prison warden and the warden on duty, self-writing occurred: they put paper on the table with questions in pencil, and short, sensible answers were obtained. ("Rebus Magazine" 1885, pp. 336-354).
5. In 1886, in the Yaroslavl province, in the city of Danilov, in the house of the merchant M, there were knocks, self-movement and flying of all objects: a boiling samovar and dishes were transferred to the floor, etc.; the invisible force only did not touch the icons in front of which a lamp was burning. It continued for more than a month before the eyes of a whole crowd of curious people, without any damage to people or objects. (Reported by a witness in No. 180 of the Petersburg Leaflet; see "Rebus Magazine"b, 1886, p. 280).
6. In 1887, Tomsk province, near the town of Mariinsky, at the tannery of the merchant Savelyev - on the night of September 1 there was a complete pogrom: in almost all the windows of the two-story outbuilding where the owners lived, the glass and a lot of all kinds of dishes were broken. An investigator, a deputy prosecutor, and 7a military commander arrived; the owners and 40 factory workers testified that they saw how things lying quietly suddenly rose from their places and quickly flew into the windows and broke them. "No one could catch the moment of the rise, but everyone clearly saw the flight of the thing. The correspondent witnessed how, before everyone's eyes, a large stool standing by the stove rose into the air and flew out the window." (Correspondence from Mariinsky in the "Sibirsky Vestnik"; see "Rebus Magazine" 1887, p. 429).
7. In 1890, in St. Petersburg, in one of the barracks, in the apartment of Colonel A.B., almost every year since 1886, various phenomena were observed: footsteps, sighs, voices, scratching on clothes or furniture, shrill whistling, harmonious singing were heard; human figures were seen in full light; doors opened and slammed shut by themselves, etc. A statement was obtained from the witness himself and the owner of the apartment ("Rebus Magazine" 1890, p. 176).
8. In 1891, Kursk province, near Oboyan, in the village of Goryainovo, in the village of peasant Simeon Pashkov, for almost a year stones and bricks were thrown at the window, the frame was knocked out, and the stones flew out into the street; this was repeated almost daily in front of a crowd of people. Pashkov's daughter, 9 years old, saw various human figures in connection with the phenomena that occurred, and she herself endured various torments, as if someone were beating her, knocking her down, tangling her legs, throwing her out of bed. Shortly before the end of the phenomena, the owner heard a scream, whistle, stomping and a voice in the hallway, saying: "I will not be with you long." The neighbors also heard this noise and scream. Reported at the request of the editors of "Rebus Magazine" by the local priest Iosif Sergeev ("Rebus Magazine" 1891, p. 411).
9. In 1893, in Tobolsk province, in Tyukalinsky district, in the village of Syropyatsky, in the village of priest Donarsky, for six months there was torment by various mysterious pranks: pulling plants out of pots, breaking off leaves and branches, so that they were forced to move the flowers to another house; then began the overturning and throwing of all kinds of utensils; the carrying away, hiding and even destruction of various things. After a prayer service with the blessing of water, everything stopped. (Letter of priest Donarsky dated September 10, 1893, see “Rebus Magazine” 1893, p. 427).
10. At the end of 1889, on the outskirts of Canada, in the province of Pontiac, near the town of Shawville, in the house of a farmer George Dagg, unusual phenomena suddenly began to occur: knocks, movement of objects, their sudden disappearance and appearance, and various pranks, sometimes far from innocent in nature, for example, repeated spontaneous combustion of curtains on the windows and various torments, directed mainly against an 11-year-old girl, Dinah, the Daggs' adopted child. Soon, in her presence, in the air, a few steps away from her, a rough, old man's voice began to be heard, pursuing her everywhere with all sorts of abuse and obscene speeches; the voice was heard equally both in the house and in the open air; everyone present heard it and talked to it. The newspapers trumpeted about these curiosities, and soon Mr. Percy Woodcock, a member of the Royal Canadian Academy in Brockville, who had long been interested in these phenomena, arrived at the scene for a detailed investigation. He immediately entered into a public conversation with the mysterious voice. To Mr. Woodcock's first question: "Who are you?" he replied: "I am the devil! Get away, or I will wring your neck." For five hours, in broad daylight, in front of a crowd of people, Mr. Woodcock admonished the invisible "devil," and at last he began to give in and apologize for his pranks. To the question "Why did he torment this family?" he answered: "I was sent by a neighbor, Mrs. Wallace." Then Mr. Woodcock went to the neighbor, took her with him and confronted the "devil." After all sorts of evasions, fabrications and abuse, he was caught in a lie and finally confessed that he did it all for fun; said that he left this earth twenty years ago, revealed his real name, on condition of not revealing it; he asked everyone for forgiveness and promised to say goodbye to everyone on such and such a day – which he did.
PART THIRTEEN
18. Phenomena in Restless Houses, Proving the Existence of Dark (Demonic) Forces
1. In 1874, in the village of Shakoldany, Vilnius province, in the house of a peasant named Begansky, stones, firewood, etc. were thrown, and a bottle of milk was walked around the hut; they tied it with a rope to a nail – it came loose and walked around again; they threw it out into the yard – it returned to the hut. Suspicion fell on the farrier Bardadym, who whispered to this bottle of milk for Begansky’s sick child. A case was opened. The Vilnius joint chamber of the criminal and civil court, by its ruling of May 28, 1874, released the peasant Bardadym from trial on charges of fraud, but the sworn testimony of six witnesses to the former apparitions did not lose its significance because of this. The ruling of the chamber was published in full in "Rebus Magazine" in 1894 (p. 182).
2. In 1873, Simbirsk province, Ardatovsky district, in the village of Barashevo, in the priest's house, from December 23 to December 28, "various self-movement and flying of objects" occurred; a samovar with boiling water rose from the floor and flew about two arshins; bricks were torn out of a Russian kitchen stove and smashed to pieces; household dishes and utensils flew in different directions and broke. "The moment of lifting any object from a certain place and its flight was never noticed under my careful observation, but only its fall," writes Priest N. P. Tsvetkov in his letter to A. N. Aksakov dated June 14, 1874, which was published in "Rebus Magazine" in 1882 (p. 391).
3. In 1880, in the Petersburg province, in the village of Ruchyi, near the Lesnoy Korpus, in the house of the colonist Beech, there was knocking, throwing of various household utensils, mainly at the girl Pelagia; a broom was chasing her; a ladle with water was poured on her head, or the water itself splashed onto her; hats were thrown off and jumping on the floor; a cat was lifted into the air and thrown at Pelagia’s back. After she was removed from the house, the phenomena ceased (“Rebus Magazine” 1888, p. 129).
4. In 1883, in Tashkent, in the city prison, in a cell occupied by three officers, mysterious phenomena began at the end of April, with the arrival of the last of them, artilleryman Zhe, which continued until his release from prison on May 18 of the same year: self-movement and flying of objects located in the cell; bringing things that were in other rooms of the prison and falling as if from the ceiling. At first this was observed in the moonlight, and then in full lamplight. Once, in the presence of the prison warden and the warden on duty, self-writing occurred: they put paper on the table with questions in pencil, and short, sensible answers were obtained. ("Rebus Magazine" 1885, pp. 336-354).
5. In 1886, in the Yaroslavl province, in the city of Danilov, in the house of the merchant M, there were knocks, self-movement and flying of all objects: a boiling samovar and dishes were transferred to the floor, etc.; the invisible force only did not touch the icons in front of which a lamp was burning. It continued for more than a month before the eyes of a whole crowd of curious people, without any damage to people or objects. (Reported by a witness in No. 180 of the Petersburg Leaflet; see "Rebus Magazine"b, 1886, p. 280).
6. In 1887, Tomsk province, near the town of Mariinsky, at the tannery of the merchant Savelyev - on the night of September 1 there was a complete pogrom: in almost all the windows of the two-story outbuilding where the owners lived, the glass and a lot of all kinds of dishes were broken. An investigator, a deputy prosecutor, and 7a military commander arrived; the owners and 40 factory workers testified that they saw how things lying quietly suddenly rose from their places and quickly flew into the windows and broke them. "No one could catch the moment of the rise, but everyone clearly saw the flight of the thing. The correspondent witnessed how, before everyone's eyes, a large stool standing by the stove rose into the air and flew out the window." (Correspondence from Mariinsky in the "Sibirsky Vestnik"; see "Rebus Magazine" 1887, p. 429).
7. In 1890, in St. Petersburg, in one of the barracks, in the apartment of Colonel A.B., almost every year since 1886, various phenomena were observed: footsteps, sighs, voices, scratching on clothes or furniture, shrill whistling, harmonious singing were heard; human figures were seen in full light; doors opened and slammed shut by themselves, etc. A statement was obtained from the witness himself and the owner of the apartment ("Rebus Magazine" 1890, p. 176).
8. In 1891, Kursk province, near Oboyan, in the village of Goryainovo, in the village of peasant Simeon Pashkov, for almost a year stones and bricks were thrown at the window, the frame was knocked out, and the stones flew out into the street; this was repeated almost daily in front of a crowd of people. Pashkov's daughter, 9 years old, saw various human figures in connection with the phenomena that occurred, and she herself endured various torments, as if someone were beating her, knocking her down, tangling her legs, throwing her out of bed. Shortly before the end of the phenomena, the owner heard a scream, whistle, stomping and a voice in the hallway, saying: "I will not be with you long." The neighbors also heard this noise and scream. Reported at the request of the editors of "Rebus Magazine" by the local priest Iosif Sergeev ("Rebus Magazine" 1891, p. 411).
9. In 1893, in Tobolsk province, in Tyukalinsky district, in the village of Syropyatsky, in the village of priest Donarsky, for six months there was torment by various mysterious pranks: pulling plants out of pots, breaking off leaves and branches, so that they were forced to move the flowers to another house; then began the overturning and throwing of all kinds of utensils; the carrying away, hiding and even destruction of various things. After a prayer service with the blessing of water, everything stopped. (Letter of priest Donarsky dated September 10, 1893, see “Rebus Magazine” 1893, p. 427).
10. At the end of 1889, on the outskirts of Canada, in the province of Pontiac, near the town of Shawville, in the house of a farmer George Dagg, unusual phenomena suddenly began to occur: knocks, movement of objects, their sudden disappearance and appearance, and various pranks, sometimes far from innocent in nature, for example, repeated spontaneous combustion of curtains on the windows and various torments, directed mainly against an 11-year-old girl, Dinah, the Daggs' adopted child. Soon, in her presence, in the air, a few steps away from her, a rough, old man's voice began to be heard, pursuing her everywhere with all sorts of abuse and obscene speeches; the voice was heard equally both in the house and in the open air; everyone present heard it and talked to it. The newspapers trumpeted about these curiosities, and soon Mr. Percy Woodcock, a member of the Royal Canadian Academy in Brockville, who had long been interested in these phenomena, arrived at the scene for a detailed investigation. He immediately entered into a public conversation with the mysterious voice. To Mr. Woodcock's first question: "Who are you?" he replied: "I am the devil! Get away, or I will wring your neck." For five hours, in broad daylight, in front of a crowd of people, Mr. Woodcock admonished the invisible "devil," and at last he began to give in and apologize for his pranks. To the question "Why did he torment this family?" he answered: "I was sent by a neighbor, Mrs. Wallace." Then Mr. Woodcock went to the neighbor, took her with him and confronted the "devil." After all sorts of evasions, fabrications and abuse, he was caught in a lie and finally confessed that he did it all for fun; said that he left this earth twenty years ago, revealed his real name, on condition of not revealing it; he asked everyone for forgiveness and promised to say goodbye to everyone on such and such a day – which he did.
PART THIRTEEN
