Edmund Partridge Junior High School - Banner Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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POLTERGEISTS AND GHOSTS All through childhood we were continually told that there weren’t any such things as ghosts. Why then are so many universities and colleges, so many intelligent men investigating the possibility of the existence of ghosts? There have been records of ghosts, authenticated by thoroughly reliable witnesses, as far back as the 18th century. The people, at that time, who believed in ghosts and witches, were often the butts of these attacks. How¬ ever, the people who witnessed them, most of the time were skeptics or nonbelievers. Poltergeist, defined by the dictionary, as “a noisy mischievous spirit,” is a German word. They live up to their definition. They throw crockery and stones; ring bells which are electrically disconnected; defy the law of gravity; lift up heavy beds and gently set them down; tear clothes into small shreds; smash dishes; bite people; lift coals out of the fire; occasionally take various physical forms; speak; and do other similar things. Poltergeists usually use a small person or child to act unconsciously as a medium (one through whom spirits are able to establish contact with the physical world). These mediums are often the most abused victims. Remember that I am not speaking about ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), but about poltergeists and ghosts. These really existed, and many people of high standards and intelligence witnessed the occurrence. The following are some examples of what happens when poltergeists and people mix: In 1761, around Bristol, England, there occurred the case of the Giles sisters. It first began when Molly and Dobby Giles heard noises and scratchings at beds and windows. Their father thought at first it was the prank of some servant, but when the marks of heavy imprints of fingernails were found, he began to suspect the super¬ natural. Then the cover of a box was lifted into mid-air. Upon investigation there was no one there, but the girls had seen the hand which raised the top of the box. If the children tried to protect themselves with something it was taken roughly from their hands. The next day a nurse there, was hit sharply with a heavy wine glass. She was very badly cut. The next night before bedtime one child was nearly strangled by this hand, and the other was beaten on the head. All through the night the girls were beaten, bruised and bitten. The grown men seking to help them could not. They didn’t know what they were protecting them against. A little later the girls were being pricked with pins. The funny thing about it was that the pins were bent all out of shape, before everyone’s eyes, in less than half a minute, before being stuck into the girls. Occasionlly people were being bitten by the ghosts. Records of people who were bitten tell of different types of bites. One type had two distinct fangs and the other bite was made up of two rows of teeth. In Connecticut, around March 16th, 1850, an unusual occurrence happened. There were the usual flying objects (candlesticks, etc.), but this time images appeared. These images took the shape of clothes with people in them. About eleven apparitions, just one male and ten female were seen in church. The females carried prayer books in front of them. They were often in a kneeling position, and the very young children of the family thought one of these spirits was their mother praying. In 1874 throught two young boys and young girl (anyone could have been the medium) a poltergeist struck again. Potatoes which were boiling in the pot jumped out into the fire or just jumped out and disappeared. Cloth¬ ing was torn to shreds and an umbrella was seen to have leaped twenty-five feet. Chairs walked around in mid-air, and candlesticks seemed to come alive and wander aimlessly around the rooms. Cooking bowls rotated in mid-air and windows were always being broken, either by themselves or by stones, floating in the air. Dirty and clean, large and small, stones had a habit of hopping up and down the stairs with no one in the area to move them. In 1889 the George Dragg family was visited by these supernatural beings in a small town in the province of Quebec. There were four or five children in the family and they weren’t positive of the medium. The beginning of a long series of incidents began with money. This money was either stolen or spread all around in the most illogical places. In the same period of time, streaks of dirt were spread all over the floor and the woman of the house had all the hired hands and her children under suspicion. Soon milk pans were being emptied of their contents and the butter was spilt into the milk pans. Small fires were set off all over the house. One girl had her hair pulled so severely that it had to be cut off. This same girl was the first to hear the gruff voice of.? This poltergeist soon began to have conversations with the members of the family. His language was rough. Once he was asked who he was. He replied, “I am the devil. I have you in my clutches. You better get out or I will break your neck!” Once he was asked to write some¬ thing on a piece of paper. The “somethings” he wrote was not in the best of taste and he was severely repri¬ manded for it. When questioned as to why he set the fires, he informed them that he had set them purposely in the daytime, so that no harm could be done. One day three of the children were out in the yard. They rushed into the house, plainly excited, telling stories of a “beautiful man rising in fire.” It semed that a “beautiful” man with long white hair had held two of the three and had let the other play with his harp. Finally he put them down. He then seemed to rise or disappear with a bright red fire beneath him. Nothing could shake the children’s story. All through this I have been telling you about other people’s experiences. Now I shall tell you about events which happened to my family. The first one hap pened to my grandmother. She was sweeping the kitchen and speaking to her son on a hot summer day. All of a sudden scratching noises were heard outside of the house. My grandmother stopped and said, “something’s happened to my father.” Her son went out to investigate the noise. He found nothing that could have caused it. Later they found out that my grandmother’s father had died at that moment. This would have been ESP except for the unexplainable noises. What were they? The second incident happened just recently to me. Just as I was about to leave the house my mother heard a tap running. Investigation proved nothing. I walked through the freshly fallen snow to the side of the house. Imagine my surprise when I saw the outside tap running. I think 1 would have dismissed this as nothing if I hadn’t looked for footprints. There weren’t any. Just one more fact. Our house is near enough to the battlefield of Seven Oaks. I wonder if anything ties in. Everything I have told you about is true or has been true. No one can explain them. They can speculate but that’s all. What do you think? Delle Bonneau Grade VII Room 19

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WINTER IN WINNIPEG A Winnipeg winter means many things to the people in my family. To my mother it means the drudgery of cleaning storm windows that seem to imprison her: It means hanging the wash in the basement. If the wash is put outside it comes in frozen and must be thawed. To my dad a Winnipeg winter means getting up early on Saturday morning to take a gang of young boys all over town, to play hockey. To my sister, winter means struggling to school and back in the freezing cold. To me it means something different. I like having the wind hit my face and blow my hair. I like the way the trees seem to take on a ghostly air and seem to make everything mysterious. It means all the winter sports and games. To put it bluntly I like a winter in Winnipeg. Diane Bentley, Room 20, Grade 7. ALL ENDS Like a cold, clammy hand, Stopping everything in its path, Slowly, Steadily, Steathily, Silently, It moves. Like a warm, helpful hand, Saving everything in its path, Suffering, Sickness, Struggling, Sorrow, All ends. How can something be warm, yet cold? How can something be hindering, yet helpful, This, my friend depends on you. Like both a warm and clammy hand, Helping or hindering as you desire, Preventing, Killing, Wonderful, Terrible, It comes. Heather Granger, Grade VIII Room 15.

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A MESSAGE Somewhere the sky is blue, Somewhere bold hearts are true; Somewhere a wild bird cries, And man lifts up his eyes. He sees the heavens, He sees the earth, He sees the sorrow, He sees the mirth. Somewhere a storm is brewing, And people run in fright, While angry bombs are falling, Destroying in their spite. Man, who once had the world tight in his palms Listens unheeding to the angels ' warning psalms. Linda Singer, Room 17, Grade 7 LOST IN THE DESERT The feverish rays of the desert sun scorched the scattered bits of vegetation. Miles and miles of endless sand dunes stretched in every direction. Here and there the gleaming blanket was dotted with the many varieties of cacti. My throat was parched and my eyes were weary as I kept them on the world beyond me ... a world of absolutely nothing. Having no food and water for almost three days, I kept trudging on but my progress was unrewarded. Weak as I was, I knew that I must go on. But unable to go any farther I fell unconscious upon the scorching sand. A few hours later, I awakened and the cool breeze of the evening desert air seemed to revive me. Unfortunately the night would last but a few hours longer and I would once again be walking the lonely desert trail. Carolyn Chick, Grade VIII Room 14.