SAW A "GHOST."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 66, 19 March 1938, Page 7

SAW A "GHOST."

ESSEX BEAUTY GIRL. EFFECT OF SPIRITUALISM. HEALTH BROKEN, MUTD UNHINGED. The daughter of an Essex farm labourer, ls-year-old Olive Williams, who last Tear was runner-up at Loughton Coronation beauty contest, became interested in spiritualism. She is now suffering from a se»ere nervous breakdown. A low-roofed oak-beamed room in an Essex cafe is said to be regularlv haunted by the ghost of an old man wearing a cloak ami a slouch hat. Alwavs the ghost i< followed bv a dog. Several patrons and many of the staff say thcy have seen the ghost, which is known as Mark. Five girls on the staff sat round a table in the room trying to find out if the ghost would appear. One tap on the table meant "110" and two taps "'yes.'' "Will the ghost appear?*' asked one of the girls. The answer was two taps. "Will we see him?" wa» the next question. Again two taps. "Has he got a revolver?" Another two taps. Suddenly there was a piercing scream. Olive 1\ illiams. who was one of tne girls, cried wildly: "There lie is. I see him," But the other girls could not see Mark. Prom that moment Olive Williams, until then a healthy, normal girl, became a different creature. Now she is in a home in Brentwood. A gird friend said this week: "I was present at the table rapping. We wanted to know if we could see Mark. I believe in ghosts. Olive swore that she had seen Mark. She was terribly upset.' 1 Olhes mother said: "My daughter is so _i'l they let me see her every dav. Olive was a happy, healthy girl,"never ill, until she became interested in spiritualism. She came home crying with fear, saying that she was being" followed br a ghost who was going to shoot her."