Whether or not I "believe in ghosts" has little bearing on the fact that they seem to believe in themselves enough to have appeared to me on at least five occasions, always entertaining and colourful events. The ghost we describe here, however, made itself known several decades before I was born.
The following account appeared in the Ottawa Citizen's "Old Time Stuff" feature, published on Saturday, December 28 1935. The here-unnamed correspondent describes something that took place in 1890, give or take. I have no creepy ghost picture to offer — instead I reproduce a Goad plan image (1895) of the area where the manifestation is said to have taken place — near where the Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge would soon be built. The dashed line labeled "Hull Steam Ferry" was the likely path taken across the frozen river on that fateful moonlit night.
HAD GHOSTLY EXPERIENCE in MIDDLE of the OTTAWA RIVER
Ottawa lady tells of being visited by spirits on lonely night trek across ice. Says something gripped her arm and mysterious voice whispered to her. An occurrence of 45 years ago. There was no Interprovincial Bridge in those days.
In response to an appeal for more of those bewitching “ghost”stories, which some OTS fans dearly love to read, we have received the following thriller from the lady who so kindly gave us the story a few weeks ago about the “spirit” that haunted a Clarkstown* tavern-keeper many years ago. She writes:
“In my last letter, I mentioned that I had been in the presence of ghosts many times, and that the spirit of my departed father had visited me on more than one occasion. Perhaps what I am about to relate, will substantiate my claim.
“I am 60 years of age now; this happened when I was 15. In those days, there was no Interprovincial Bridge. If people wanted to cross to the Quebec side from Lower Town in the winter time, they crossed on the ice. There was an opening in the embankment of the west end of St. Patrick Street for them to get through and onto the river.
“One beautiful winter day, I decided to visit a young married cousin in Hull. It hadn't been my intention to stay long, but it so happened that I remained until 10 o'clock at night. When I decided to return home, my cousin accompanied me as far as the Hull shore where, in response to her inquiries, I assured her that I was not afraid to make the crossing alone, as it was a lovely moonlight night.
A “Ghostly” Grip
“We bade each other good-night and I started out. But before I had gone very far, I suddenly felt something grip my right arm. Thinking it might be my cousin, I turned around fully expecting to see her standing there beside me. Strange to say, there was nobody there, but still I felt the grip on my arm and I was fully conscious of someone or something walking beside me. As I ran to reach the Ottawa shore, I could plainly discern two shadows ahead of me.
“Finally, when I reached the Ontario side, I felt the grip on my arm loosen and I plainly heard a voice whisper, ‘Don't do it again.’ When I reached home, my mother was in a rage because I had stayed out so late, but the scolding and whipping I got were of small account compared to the scare I had received out there on the ice.”
*Clarkstown was a small subdivision on the south side of Beechwood Avenue, now part of Vanier north.
