Evening sentinel, Friday, May 1, 1925 · page 17

 

_ Someone 'Tellsfa Story in the,“HollywoodfMofian.
.' ’ 7 'Picmre Calohy‘Aboat “Ghosts-”and " 'g
“Spii’iIS”-A he! 7'17th Enough _ to Start AIL-"the ' * , A.
Stcrs and Their Satellites Spinning y... Asquith. _
I Weirdest Experiences They Ever HaJ {5:717

1.-.. Hollywood is discussing it!

~ If you lunch at the Montmartre on
- the boulevard, you will hear in the in.
1ervals between suave waiters' eternal
“Try some of this, madam ?" the voices
of new and old stars exelaiming:

4 ' can’t explain it. I only know it
happened!” ‘ . . '

If you take your hot dog and coffee
from the “Covered Wagon” on Vine
street near one of the large studios.
extras .and electricians will be found
comparing curious experiences.

‘I tell you I wasn't asleep!” .

“It was the spookiest thing that ever ‘

happened to me!"

What began it, nobody knows. Per-
haps it was Peggy Eleanor with her
spectacular story. Perhaps it is just in
the air, like spring fever, or high fogs,
or the passion for wearing orchids in
certain seasons.

But here it is at any rate, and here
are some of the "spooky” tales that are
told-among the hills of Hollywood.

EGGY ELEANOR—I had been en-

. gaged to a man who died rather
suddenly at his home, his family giving
out that'he was a victim of “flu."

One day, at the home of a friend; I
met a psychic who was also a friend of

 

e

“Pull on the hall light!” calledniy
friend. . 7

It was a long ball, very dark, with
a high ceiling. We had tied arribbon
to the chain in "order to reach‘rit. p. A!
I passed under the inverted dome, I
caught the ribbon and without pining
pulled it. Immediately, there Was a
terrific noise like theend of the world
and what sounded like a voice shrieking
above it. I heard myself sci'uminl:
“Don’t, l” automatically. " " ‘
Then, there I was standing amid the
wreckage of the dome, heavy glass more
than an inch thick, entirely unhurt!

LA NEGRI—Before I left Paris for
.this country, \I was entertained at
the home of some people who are much
interested in *spiritism. During the
evening a discussion arose between a
young woman who did not believe in
materialization and one of our hosts.
and a'seance was suggested. '
“Whom would you like to see?” was
asked of the young woman, whencondh
tions were right for the seance and’we
were all sitting in a circle in the dim
room. .
“Oh.—-anybody dead!” she laughed.
Presently a light appeared in which
a face was vaguely outlined. It'rneant
nothing to me,‘but the young woman
screamed and fainted. The lights were
snapped on at once.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fred Kohler insists that the strangest thing that ever hap.

pened to him was to witness the dance of a water sprite

ghost, which gyrated in the moonlight on the surface of a
- pool in which a young girl had drowned herself

my host. The moment we had been
introduced, she said: .

“Why are you stoop’ing over? Why
don’t you stand ,up straight?”

I couldn’t answer, but I realized then
that I had for some weeks been stoop-
ing somewhat. But she went on, With-
out waiting: ‘

“There is a man leaning on you—4
man from the other world.”

“It’s ,"- l thought,
5 udder.

h“He has two bullet holes in his head."

I was puzzled. Shgcouldn’t mean
‘, and ys-t I‘. didn’t know any
one else who had passed on. - '

“You are ihinking that you. don't
know whom i mean, but you ~do.t You
think he did not kill himself, but he did,

with a

 

 

and he is’ter'ribiy sorry; Itwa‘s’dorie in

a moment of depression, 'and now he
realizes that he cared too muchfor you
to let Jon go. He isan to getyou
to come to him."

'I Went home, feeling very quivery, L,

-b t not believing a» word. . I thought
Iuknew had died of'filu.” Imagine
how I felt when’.‘soon after 1t developed

 

that he had ,shotshimself and his family;

which is prominent,‘had triedto cover up
the suicide! Itiwas after I learnedthat

.the bullet 'holes were ”jutt’where' the'

psy:hi_: said“: they were that the spooky
, I “assayingmith a girl friad in an
Laparfinfelit’in .’NEwr’York. We were ex-
peers “firefliegetand when no: you
wokencd bii'ihe than!) water fibeil. J
jumped up .to‘answer "it. p g '7 . g

-. - The family‘listeaed, mm 3 seld’ ..
* "“Too mam. Too bull'bixt who’s or
rr'shirtj was‘ taken .ofl', there were . the

rbloodyrsoratches on my back. That

“That was my father," she moaned,
"and he isn’t dead!”

While her. car was being called. the
telepl'urme bell'rang. The young woman
was requested to come home at once-—
her father had died half an hour before!

 

FARRELL MACDONALD—When I

- was a kid in Waterbury, Conn” I
used to ride from our house tovmy grand-
father’s farm through a patch of very
thick woods. I used to imagine all sorts
of horrible creatures as intesting‘ those,
woods and I hated to go through after

cdark, but one day I was late. I whipped
'up'the old white mare I was riding bare-

back and tried not_ to see the witches .
and'gnomes and Forty Thieves spring-
ing up everywhere. '3‘ ‘“
“And then—l .. . . ,
Down on my shoulders crashed Some.
thing, piercing talons gripping my back.
I yelled bloody ._ murder and eyen the
poor ' old mare ~ was frightened, into” ,
sprinting like one of these “Ben-Ifiuf’.
chariot racers. As we reached the outer
edge .‘of the woods, the ~Something'1et

"go. flopped to the We rump andt

bounced 08' into the roadway. ”We‘didaft -

:tnow what it was, but you bet we didn't

look! ‘

”Edaélllgrpr ' J r. .7 i.
- T8511: lanterns. the whole funny
went dot to ' ‘

/

. lieve in , ghogu,

sip otwhatlthoughttopbwgp right»,

was?" “by mew wa- team; 5

 

 

. m‘v

. an

 

 

 

.‘ ’1!

the middle ot~tho~roodigm
evidently hadA'lostiits"balan;wco‘~
hangm‘ 2 tree on to my ehoul-i‘ ,
ders, grabbed mea‘inetlnctlvely
and held on nntil‘it who die-
lodged by the wild gallop of the

old mare. ' . . ,

names Jar—.1 don't: be-
licve in spooks—but ‘tbero
was a time when I nearly did!
We were on location, working in an
“old mansion_known in the neighborhood
as the haunted house. I heard nothing
but ghosts, and how this one saw a
gray shape and that one a bony hand-
I looked but saw nothing.
. It got dark, suddenly, the way it does
in Californ' 4, Every one was leaving,
but I had t waitv'forsomethingand was .

 

 

 

—alone for a few «iniput/es. .The house

was big and the room I was in was a
gloomy place, all.ahadows. lid just been
thinking what afgo'od thing it is I don‘t
believe 1:: ghosts,'ithen I heard some.
thing. ‘~ “"

It was a distinct, scratching sound.
Among the cheerful tales of the day WIS
one about a ‘man imprisoned in the

ego who- scratched. his. way out
but died beforehetoould escape. ‘

I tried to see across the room. but
gaunt. I wanted to leave but I wasn’t

le to move. I ,eouzdnft' speak. muéh
less scream. ! felt as though I’d been »
otandingthere a ,weeh-when suddenly
an assxstant director—bless hind-Put
his head in and cried: “Car’s randy!" "
“ I staggered out. ~Then .I thought:

No, I won’t give in to it. I don’t boo

I’m‘going back." ‘

“Back. I ’went. The scratching was
still going on, stealthily. I crossed the,
room to it, cautiously, ready to turn and
run if a bonyfiend or shape. my 01'
otherwise, appeared. 1 ‘ .

I laughed outioud when I discovered“‘
that 'it Was {a pieced-fies paper being
pushed back‘and forth on the window
~sill by the curtain! ' ‘ “ f

 

‘ NE RICH—Eight monthsago I had

a dream—a lovely dream-bu; when
I wakened I could not'remember what
it had been. .- ,

A few days later I started Work on
a film. I had never read the book.
but as the story progressed it seemed
amazingly familiar. 'It 'was like living
something over again. For a time it
worried me. until all at once I remem-
bered the dream. It was vwhat I had
dreamed and had been trying to remem-
ber! I had not read the story, nor had
the part been assigned to me when I
dreamed it—I can‘t understand it! _

HELEN FERGUSON—Every, one else
seemed to be doing it, so I took my
trusty pencil in hand one night “and
said. very cockily, to a friend:

“Well, what would you
lpirits to tell you?” ‘ ,_

“Good news—heaven knows I' need
some!” she replied. She’d been ‘confld-
ing financial" troubles to" me all evening.

“Watch me!” said P. i i ‘
I watched myself, when the pendl
began to write. At" first there m:
strange symbols that meant nothing in
my elite—looked like misshapen eggs!
Then, in a cramped hand, we readfthat
a relative had left a will in my friend's.
favor. ' - ' 7' , ‘

I pretended to be a marvel, but neither
ofus believed it until a few days lateu'
it'turned’ ‘ 'out to be true. =

JOHN ROCHE—During the war, *I we:
assigned to service with the English
in the medical unit. When a show was
on—a drive—I used to'help dress the?
wounded, One day, a man I knew‘hmi
come infrom the line.
dresshim and was eager to know‘how
he was getting ‘on, so that night the
first-.chance I got I planned to go the
200 yardsuto his‘ward. ~ '. ‘ '_
~ V'When-a bocbe plane was-sighted}
whistle was blown to warn us so that
nought might lieshown anywhgre, and
justifies Iktepped from.the ‘main'tent.

like the

 

‘of therhospital the whistle blew. '1 --

could hear'the roar of tyre planes overs-

-'«When" I thought ’ I’d been walking
mileo'lins‘teediof .yards'si I, touched'the‘

 

 
 

1.. he
:-

1 had helped

1 Whether it was, ifa’n idea in my

, guided my hand;deoa‘t‘ know. Ill: has

 
 
 

shhe‘on it, he I
car. ' ' ’4

 
 

Ines-«party. which included Pole Negri was a youngwoman to whom the supernatural did not

 

 

 

 

.-~« ;

appeal, and who, wha asked if she‘urould care to see evidence of the existence of spirits,

replied, “0h, anybody dead!

against a dead hand. ~AI tried to run and
struck another still body. Lthought I was
going : insane. Everywhere I moved.
dead ‘Mleverhead the noise of the
planes, ominous, terrible. I hadn’t slept
'aince I had forgotten when. Of course, I
must be mad. maybe I was dead.
too. ' ‘ ‘

I Yell over a litter and realized-
I was in the morgue!

FRED KOHLER—I had spent a bar-

rowing day, rehearsing and making
scenes for a picture. in which I was sup-
posed to die of fright for my sins. I
defy anybody to pass out under those
circumstances twenty-nine times and not
feel wrought up! ’ ' ' -

’c were on location in a country un-
familiar to‘ me, but after such a day I

 

felt I was fit company for nobody and ,

went for a walk by myself.

The trail I took was ovérgrowu, but ,

the way led to a lovely little pool and
I remember wondering why more poop“
edidn't come thatvxvay. I could see that
‘the noon would soon be up from the
faint glow over the farther mountains
and sat down to watch it light up'my
fairylike discovery.

wane I waited, and the silver light
brightened beyond, something rose from
the dark pool that I thought at first
must be a bird. I couldn’t see well. but
presently I knew it was not a bird. It
seemed to be a shadow in the form of
a ballet dancer, going through intricate
steps. .

I felt the hair on the back of my neck
prickle, but I set the thing down to my
overwrought nerves and determined to
be brave. I got out my, pipe and lit it.
In the flare of the match, I saw nothing,
but the moment the match went out

there was the figure gyratiug beyond‘

the pool. I made myself stay until the

moon came clear of the bars-loading .

range, .when. as I had expected, the
shadow vanished and the pool lay quiet
in its fringe of manzanitus.
But—when I was talking with an old
settler next day, I heard the rest of the
story.
A girl who had lived in the village

’ had gone East and become a dancer, been

“crossed in love,” as the fortune-tellers“
have it, and had come home to the pool

,end killed herself?

‘ JEAN!!! harnesses—i was writ~
, ing and! was very, tired. '

I write on a yellow pad‘ with panel].

ape I remeniber’that on this night, I
had written one line at the topo! the

page. Then I seemed to lose consciow
ness. 'When'l awakened—if 1. had

—the pagewas completed. Reading it ’
over, I found it-contained an idea I was ‘.

glad to incorporate. in the story.

scious mind that: was automatically
written, or whether a spirit ’

never f’happened‘to metbeiore nor since.

"Halter tandoori-4mg driving
, from 011mg“ oto Wankegm’ ,Jfia

 

 

fancier-k nightf‘alotiga lonely road.
head as I felt mywuydhroughi the: " ' ' . ' ‘ ~
awful blackness, but I. wouldn’t, go back.

 
 
 

> .heedlii‘rhts' wouldn‘t
her! to get buffer in;

 

 

salmon.“

” According to the film star, the wraith of the girl’s father, who

had diedsduring thetggtS. appeared 7 . . ...

1

must be hall'way back to Chicago,‘ aay- Tprotect unexplored bays. Suddenly ‘

ing to myself:
They’ve taken the curl
what could have taken

car ’ "

“Where's the our? light stabbed me in the eyes. inst as
Great Scott. a horrible yell arose. 1 could see neth-
my poor little ’ ing and had decided I’d been 51mm"

when the other guests and our host

Finally, I decided I wasn’t getting any- - ficame dashing up the oompanionway.

Where on foot, so I went back. 4Tho can
I‘d . left it—I musthave
passed it in my frightL—T-its headlights
calmly shining on. an old broken-down
horse, whose neigh had sounded‘to me

was where

like a banshee’a wail!‘

MALCOLM MecGBEGOR — Shortly
after the war, Iwas; a guest. on 'inystery.
Carlton Earl Miller's yacht, Athane. ‘ ‘ *
going through the keys southfof Florida.
We had been going slowly on account

of fishi
were .
that nigh

I was thinking .of the fold Rory or
the water nymphs who flashed lights
mariners’ eyes to confuse‘them and on

 

fiat

“What’s the matter?" we called, but
natone answered.

found that a small fishing boot had been
lost. No one had been hurt, but I was

a nervous wreck (or an hour. .
‘ :Who or what screamed is still I

and my brother a bit older. my

boots, hilt we “1‘?th “I” “that moved into an old .houe near
pastrwhen I teak “:9 wheel ‘Echo Lake, N. J. The pnce‘a'ne been

unoccupied for years because its former
owner had slashed his throat With I
razor and his ghostwwas ”pom ‘50
make its headquarters there. His room

 

.z

 

7 .I;

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I. never-these!” ‘
l

“Sim. ed to my brother and me and
we were both eager to see Mr. Ghost.
:11 order to find out if we could see
clear through him.“ 3 ‘ ,
_Several nights we stayed awake in
yam. Then Willxa' tn woke me.
"Listen!” hebreethed into my ear.
What sounded like minded footsteps
came to us through the, darkness-now
close, now farther away, with little
_ pauses, as though Mr. Ghost paused to!
breath. We strained our eyes, but not
even a faint mist reWarded us.
Next moi-run” g wesdiscovered that the
branch of an old apple tree was bi’hsbed
hing; wind against‘gthe side of the old

with. a party of hunters, but when the
Idol stayednon alone. The cabin we:
in on out'éoflthe-wayéspot, miles distant
fromtheneerestdwelling.andsofaru
I; knew no-«one ever came that way.
One morning I couldn’tfind any safety
I had left itpon a shelt'in our

monr‘had vanished. , ‘
tnightlleft'ap 0!ng-
grettessgytlfie mantel and went to my bed-
room, no opened from the livmg‘ recur,
“ leaving the
fifteen minutesJatcr'I

.35

No mattervvhat [put d t
WINE! ‘ itiep.
I-begun to wonder if»! were

5

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

"We Put back-to the lost mucus ~
ineafly cut in two and its load of fish

“ ion. a. D. mats—wager“: six}

door slishfly aim he:

 
 

u.