And so we've reached the part of the investigation of the Caledonia Mills fires where a policeman was sent to find out what all the hoopla was about. Detective "Peachie" Carroll, a detective with some local fame and admiration for his swift conclusions in deducing several murder cases, set off for the McDonald house along with reporter Harold B. Whidden, convinced that he knew the answer to the fire origins already. But after speaking to the witnesses, seeing the scorch marks for himself and spending a couple of nights at the house, he was now convinced that the antics were of a supernatural origin...
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From The Boston Globe, dated Sunday 5th March, 1922
Not content to let such curious happenings pass without some attempt being made to solve the mystery, the Halifax Herald retained the services of one of Nova Scotia's best known criminal investigators, P.O. Carroll of Pictou. Mr. Carroll, formerly a chief of police, has the solving of several baffling criminal mysteries to his credit.
Extremely skeptical regarding the "spook" theory, Mr. Carroll expressed his willingness to conduct an investigation, and before leaving for the scene of the mystery with Harold Whidden, Herald reporter, he stated that he was confident the human being who was responsible for the fires and other happenings would soon be under lock and key.
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| Alexander McDonald (or MacDonald) |
Blows in the Dark
His conviction was strengthened by the fact that during the first night he and the reporter spent in the house nothing unusual occurred. Members of the McDonald family were interviewed by Mr. Carroll, also the witnesses who were present the last night the family spent in the house. The detective was not successful, however, in locating any clew which would substantiate his claim that the fires were of human origin.
The second night of their stay was bitterly cold, so cold that they could not sleep. Alexander McDonald had agreed to return to the scene, and was in the house with them.
The early part of the night was spent huddled around a big fire in the kitchen, where they all went to sleep. At midnight, they lay down in their blankets for a rest and immediately things began to happen.
Soft-padded footsteps were heard from the upper regions of the house, mysterious rappings came from the outside walls, and as they lay quiet and listened, Whidden, the reporter, felt a sharp slap on his arm. Questioningly, he turned to Carroll.
"Did you strike me then?" he asked.
Complete silence reigned for a space of five minutes. Then Carroll, in a strangely subdued voice replied:
"No, Whidden, I didn't touch you : I felt a slap on my arm, almost at the same time you spoke."
They both looked over in the direction of McDonald, who although not asleep, seemed to be in half-stupor.
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Skeptics would jeer at them for their opinion, they knew, and to forestall this ridicule Whidden and Carroll issued statements through the Herald describing their experiences, and each offered $100 to any one who could prove within a year that the mysterious happenings were not caused by supernatural or preternatural agencies.
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| From the Evening Mail, dated Thursday 16th of February, 1922 |
From the Evening Mail, dated Wednesday 15th February, 1922
CARROLL OBTAINS STATEMENT FROM EYE - WITNESS
The following is a statement which Detective Carroll obtained from Michael MacGillivray, of Caledonia Mills. It is confirmed by John F. Kenny, also of Caledonia Mills, by the detective :
At the post office, probably four and a half miles from the Alex McDonald house, Michael MacGillivray, who lived in the next house, only a few yards away, was waiting for us by appointment. He gave his age as 22, and related the following experience :
On Thursday morning, he and John F. Kenny, a neighbor, proceeded to visit the McDonald house, thinking that they might be of some assistance to the people who had just come through such a hard ordeal. "We arrived there at about 10 o'clock," said Michael MacGillivray. "When we were about ten yards - I should judge it to be ten yards - from the house, I saw a white hand, and a naked arm from the elbow down, which looked like a human hand and arm, through the window in the north-east part of the house - the parlor - OVER THE STAIRWAY It held a piece of white cotton, probably seven inches long and four inches wide. It shook or waved this cotton across the window from the inside THREE TIMES. We were walking towards it all the time. I asked Kenny: "Did you see that?" "Yes," he replied.
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"We ran toward the house and entered the kitchen door. We found Mrs. Alex McDonald, Mary Ellen McDonald, Duncan McDonald, Alex. D. McIsaac and Colin McIsaac in the kitchen, preparing to move.
"I asked Duncan McDonald if any one had been in the parlor just before we came. He said NO, they had all been in the kitchen. I examined the window in the parlor over the stairway where we saw the arm and hand holding the piece of cotton. There was nobody there and I could no cotton. There was no frost on the window. A short time after that, Dan MacGillivray came with a team and began to move the furniture."
John F. Kenny, who was with Michael MacGillivray when this mysterious hand was seen, was not at home, but MacGillivray said that they both could take out sworn affidavits that it was all true.
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Duncan McDonald told us, either on Tuesday or Wednesday night of this strange happening, and that Michael MacGillivray had spoken to him about it when he entered the house. They did not say anything to Mrs. McDonald or Mary Ellen about it, because it would only make matters worse - they had gone through enough - and it would only frighten them.
"Are you prepared to give this evidence under oath," Michael MacGillivray was asked. "Yes, certainly:" he replied
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So, Peachie Carroll and Harold are now convinced that the spooks are real, despite public opinion leaning more to the human suspect angle. Of course all this uncertainty means that the newspaper couldn't pay out for the best theories yet, as everything was all still unproven either way, and so they let their readers know that things might take a bit longer...
But what are you lot thinking about the case now? For me, I'm wondering where Alex McDonald was during the hand waving spook appearance...he seems to be the one most present when things are happening, including the double slap incident!
Well, it turns out the story about Old McDonald's farm isn't over yet...there aren't more fires here, or more fires there, but there is one main trick that the spook has up it's sleeve (do ghosts have sleeves?) that will really divide opinion among the believers and non-believers, as our intrepid reporter Whidden teams up with a paranormal-investigating doctor who arrives on the scene....
However, I've found a wealth more information on the investigation that Walter Franklin Prince, PHD executes, and it's going to take a lot more writing, more than I could cover in the next couple of days...so why not pop back at the start of December, when I hope to cover the rest of this ghastly ghostly tale for Creepmas!
TO BE CONTINUED........
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