Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.com

Offer me a haunted house with a weird cat lurking about, and I say, “Yes, please.”  The “Ottawa Citizen,” April 4, 1936:

Just what it was about the Eardley district that made it the rendezvous for "spooks", witches and other weird elements in the olden days, nobody seems to know, but countless stories are told of mysterious happenings there seventy and eighty years ago.  For instance. Thomas Lusk, eighty-seven year old inmate of the Protestant Home for the Aged, relates this one: 

"Seventy years ago there was an old log building near where the Ferris family lived, not far from Breckenridge, which was said to be haunted. For a time the building was occupied by Joe Herrington. but he was driven nearly insane by the alleged actions of a 'ghost' and finally he moved out. 

“Herrington used to tell that after he retired at night he would hear uncanny sounds downstairs. On one occasion he was awakened by a deafening crash and when he went downstairs he found all his dishes in small pieces on the floor. On another occasion he awakened early in the morning to find his clothing torn to shreds and scattered all over his bedroom. 

"After Herrington moved out, people passing the house at night insisted that they saw lights flashing on and off and heard noises like the rattling of chains and the banging of dish pans. 

"Reports of these happenings spread far and crowds used to congregate there in the daytime. On several occasions what appeared to be a big black cat made its appearance at one of the windows. Shots were fired at the supposed cat, but while some of the bullets found their mark they never fazed on the animal. When people entered the house in an effort to solve the mystery everything was as still as night and no trace could be found of the cat. Finally these weird goings-on ceased entirely but the mystery was never solved."

No real mystery to anyone who's lived with a cat.