Bizarre History

Mystery In Priest’s Home
August 21, 1902

Chad Lewis |

Mystery In Priest’s Home
Pistol Shot Alarms Housekeeper, But Source Not Found
Eau Claire Weekly Telegram | August 21, 1902

Eau Claire- While Father Pappon was in his studio and his housekeeper in the kitchen the sound of a pistol shot was heard in the kitchen and the room was filled with smoke. The housekeeper was terribly frightened but an investigation failed to reveal any trace of a bullet and the mystery is still unexplained.
 

Chad’s Take- A real mystery

At first glance I thought this was just another article chronicling a mundane event in the Chippewa Valley. However, after giving it a second glance I realized that the article was filled with several unanswered questions. First of all, what the hell (pun intended) was a priest doing hiring a housekeeper? I wonder if his congregation knew when they dropped their hard earned money into the collection plates that it was going to fund the priest’s personal housekeeper. Perhaps I underestimated the benefits that come along with wearing the clerical collar.

Both the priest and the housekeeper heard the sound of a pistol being shot in the kitchen, yet when the housekeeper investigated the noise all she found was an empty room full of smoke. If someone had fired a gun, wouldn’t they have been discovered? If a gun was not discharged, then where did the smoke originate from? Maybe the gun was fired from a nearby location and the smoke simply drifted into the open kitchen window, yet both the witnesses heard the gun shot coming from the kitchen. It also seems unlikely that the priest would have been packing a gun, but perhaps I am once again underestimating the awesome benefits that come with the priesthood.

Keep an eye out!