Dear Readers,
Bea and I continued our ghost research at the library.
"LOCAL GHOST "LITTLE JOE" AT IT AGAIN" was all about a ghost, and Little Joe no less! Been hearing bits and pieces about him throughout the game so far. This one talked about him a lot more, saying he was a miner named Joe Shade, who died in mysterious circumstances. The "spook-story" going round was of him getting up out of his coffin in the old section of Possum Springs Cemetery and unnerving visitors. The article warned of trespassing fees for thrill-seekers going to his grave. Thrill-seekers like us for instance! Bea was interested in checking it out and I was too, saying how could you not be interested. Bea said she was just interested in history and I said ghosts were history! History that won't stay history. She actually laughed at this! I finally got a rise out of her :)
"STRIKE!" had no ghost but it was pretty interesting, telling the story of the strike in the mine. Arthur Borowski was involved. Was that granddad's name?
"Samuel Culson has purchased 10 acres of land..." had no ghost. The name was familiar from other articles and said that he was planning something that would delight both young and old for years to come.
"Underground Gasses Afflict Many" had no ghost and had very small text, but was intensely interesting! It spoke of gas buildup in homes causing hallucinations in people! This could very well explain what was happening to me lately with my dreams! These people had to be evacuated...
"TRAGEDY AT STAFFORD MINE" had no ghost and talked about the explosion that happened in the mine that resulted in the deaths of many workers. Yikes... Also, from the looks of things, this is what led to the strike reported in the article I talked about above.
"The Stanley T. Possum statue has officially opened to the public..." had no ghost and had small text. It was about the same statue that was in another article here about its demolition. This was the start of its life as a commemorative event thingy. Statues are still being built in this town!
"POSSUM MASSACRE!" had no ghost but wow what an intense headline. It was about the strike again, but it was an ugly development. Strikers and some of their children were shot dead by the National Guard and strike breakers after rocks were thrown. Word spread about this and the Governor visited, which led to bosses finally agreeing to comply with safety standards and honouring miner demands. Things were settled at least.
"EVENTS!" had no ghost but mentioned the trolley from the tunnel! It was all about its last run before it was decommissioned.
"SPECTRAL HAPPENINGS AT POSSUM JUMP" was all about another ghost sighting! I like the chime that plays when you find something of interest to the ghost research :) This one was all about a ghostly figure that two local sweethearts saw walking off the edge of the cliff before disappearing. It also noted the view of Echo Reservoir and the graves of people involved in the Possum Massacre incident I read about above. I said I was gonna check it out in the state park and Bea said to go nuts.
"STRIKE LUMBERS ON" had no ghost but was about another phase of the strike before the massacre and after the tragedy. The odd interesting detail was here. Not sure if I can note anything other than the situation of the strikers and their families.
"STRANGE BUT TRUE: A TALE OF TEETH" had no ghost but... wow it was indeed gnarly, awesome and absolutely insane! Another bad coalmine boss knocked a worker's only remaining tooth out and the workers removed all of the boss' teeth with pliers. When the boss eventually died, the workers dug up his skull and had a secret society where they each had a tooth to slot into the skull's mouth. It also offers an explanation to the tooth I found in the safe at home! WOW! I wonder if I can learn any more about this!
"DEEP HOLLOW COUNTY MOURNS" had no ghost and talked about the neglect of the coalmine bosses, who knew about gas pockets and potential explosions, but specifically elected not to tell the workers before they died in the explosion. That was pretty horrible...
"SOUND OFF! OPINION LINE" had no ghost and it was the letters/forum section, where people expressed the social attitudes and opinions of the time. Amusing! :) I love the letters page in newspapers. Some people are weird. The Letterbocks feature in Viz magazine is wonderful too :)
"GHOSTLY RUMORS HAUNT NEW HISTORICAL SOCIETY" was the last article we read and was all about ghostly happenings too. A building called Shreigeist House was being converted into an education centre and Possum Springs Historical Society headquarters, when the custodial head resigned, citing strange happenings like someone walking around, trying doorknobs. He was even too terrified to go there during daylight hours, specifically to the off limits area and past the second floor. Some people laughed and said he was seeing Little Joe or something. I brought this up with Bea, saying there was a connection with my "history that won't stay history" quip from earlier. I told her I'd never been there, not even in school; possibly during that time I wasn't in school.
She knew it as the softball incident. I said during that time I mostly just watched TV and did therapy. She said it was actually a pretty cool house that used to be owned by the one of the mine owners or something. I said it was an actual haunted house and she disagreed, saying elementary schoolers go there all the time during the summer for arts and crafts stuff. I thought it was still worth checking out.
So uh... I wonder if there was someone on this machine before us, looking at these exact same articles?
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