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The General Wayne Inn in Merion County, PA has been the
site of many reported types of haunting, ranging from apparitions to poltergeist
phenomenon for close to a half century. In 1978, Michaeleen C. Maher, an investigator
into paranormal phenomenon conducted an experiment there to test the belief
that there were ghosts haunting the inn. The results aired, on the television
show Unsolved Mysteries, suggested that there were spots in the inn where those
sensitive to paranormal phenomenon felt 'presences'. Those feelings were reported
at places that were commonly reported sites of disturbances, and were not reported
by a control group who had no history of psychic involvement.
One waiter who worked at the inn recalled that there were
lots of odd incidents. Many afternoons, he said, he'd be sitting at the bar
talking with other employees when the glasses above the bar would suddenly start
to shake for no reason. The shaking would continue for several minutes, with
the glasses clinking and tinkling as they bumped against each other, and then
it would stop. Sometimes it happened several times a week, he reported, and
sometimes only once or twice. It would continue for several months and then
stop, only to start again several months later. The glass-shaking was reported by many other employees
and patrons of the General Wayne. Most seemed to view it almost with affection
- "Oh, there's our ghost, shaking the glasses again!" Other incidents
have only been reported by one or two people. One waiter recalls the night that
he and another employee decided to set up one of the function rooms for a wedding
the next day. They finished setting up the room late in the night, and sat at
the bar talking till nearly five a.m. When they left, they locked up the inn
tightly, and returned the next morning at 9 a.m. The room where they had set
the tables the night before was undisturbed - except for one thing. All of the
napkins from all of the place settings were removed from the tables and strewn
all over the room. The place settings themselves seemed untouched - just the
napkins had been thrown about. There were several other incidents that seemed to be the
work of pranksters, usually happening during the hours that the inn was unoccupied.
At the suggestion of a psychic, the owner left a tape recorder running in the
bar one night when he left for the evening. When he played it back the next
day, he was amazed to hear, about half an hour after the tape started, the sounds
of chairs scraping and glasses being filled and water running in the sink. There
was no evidence that any person had been in the inn, nor had the doors been
unlocked at all during the night. The proprietor's wife has her own tale of her encounters
with the ghosts. She often does the books for the inn in the afternoon, and
often she'll add up the night's receipts to find that they come up $25 or $50
off. One day when that happened, she did a quick check on the calculator by
adding 2 and 2 - and having it equal 5. For some reason, she spoke aloud to
the empty room, telling the 'boys' to stop being silly and let her do her work.
When she added the numbers up again, they tallied perfectly. Since then, she
reported to the investigator, it happens fairly often, as if the boys are just
looking for a little extra attention. A ghost that rattles glasses and plays with adding
machines? That's only the start of his playfulness, the owner of the inn says.
One morning he arrived to find his cash register and every wine carafe in the
bar filled with water. And many nights, he watches as the 'ghost' makes its
way down the length of the bar, playfully blowing on the neck of each woman
seated there. Invariably, the woman turns to the man standing behind her to
question why he did that. The owner is quite sure that his poltergeist is laughing
to himself at the confusion.
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