DAYLIGHT GHOST.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10, 8 August 1911, Page 1

DAYLIGHT GHOST.

"SPOOK EXPERTS" CALLED IN. "~*AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE. Throughout the ages (says the 'Daily Chronicle'), whenever mini has not been able to account for any phenome na, is bus been usual to attribute th*. cause to supernatural agency. This is the oniy reason tor describing the manifestations which have become notorious in Woking during the last few days as a "ghost" story. The facts are quite .simple. Rather more than a year ago Air George Holroyd became the tenant of a furnished villa on the outskirts of Woking. Originally intending to remain there for only a lew weeks, he lias—owing to reasons which it is not necessary to enter—occupied it up to the present time. The villa is quite a modem effort, belonging to the "artistic'' style. It is built 11 red brick, stands in its own grounds of about half an acre, and altogether is about the last place in the world which might be suspected of harbouring ghostly visitants. The main feature of the interior is a large hall,, round which, on the bedroom lioor, is j a gallery. The usual rooms, dining and drawing and so oil, are disposed to right and left of the hall; at the back are the lutchen and scullery. Until about a fortnight ago Air Holroyd, who lives in the house with his ! wile and children, a governess, and a | maidservant, enjoyed tlio customary quiet existence which one naturally ex--1 pects in the salubrious neighborhood of Woking. It was on the morning of May -1 that til is peaceful atmosphere was disturbed. Just before noon the maid heard a loud shriek, apparently proceeding from the hall She is described as a rather timid girl, who is in the habit of using a niglitlight in her bedroom. Air Holroyd's son, a bright boy of twelve years of age, was in the house at the time, and also heard the strange noises, which were repeated a few minutes later. Woman's Shriek of Terror. ! Oil being informed of the matter, Air 1 Holroyd determined to stay at home the following day to see what happen- ■ ed. On Friday, at about the same time, similar shrieks and moans were I heard. | 'i was sceptical at first," said Air Holroyd, to a 'Daily Chronicle' representative. "I am not a believer in spooks, and both my wife and I, for- ! tunately, possess strong nerves; my sou : too, is interested, but not in the least I frightened. The suggestion has been put forward that the noises are made by an owl. As it happens, having lived in the country nearly all my life, I am particularly familiar with the cries of owls. Those which I have heard perhaps 40 times in this house are quite unlike any cry produced by an owl. I can only describe them as the shriek of a woman in pain or terror, and the shriek is generally followed by a low moan. , "It is," said Air Holroyd, "impossible to locate the sources of these voices. Generally speaking, they seem to come from the roof of the hflll, yet this morning, when 1 was in the bathroom, the yell—as I heard it—seemed to be just behind me." A curious fact —considering all that lias previously been known concerning the habits of'spooks—is that the manifestations are confined to daylight. '1 he latest recorded time at which the sounds have been heard is 8.15, in the j twilight; the earliest 0.30 a.m., when I the sun has long risen, j The Dog Retreats. I As I was leaving the house (writes | the pressman) 1 noticed a tine bull terrier asleep in a basket in the haunted hall. "Does the dog take any notice of these sounds?" was,the obvious quesi "It is a curious fact." said Air Hol- } royd, "that though the dog has always been chained up at night in the hall, and was quite comfortable, a month or two ago he became uneasy, and disturbed us so much that he was left unchained. I don't know whether he slept in - the hall, but now, whenever these ' strange noises are heard, he retreats to one of the rooms, generally the din-ing-room, and growls." Attempts will be made to solve the problem—if it admits of a psychical I solution—as several eminent spirituaj list mediums have offered their sei- ; vices. An electrical engineer is also 1 making investigations which may be I fertile. The Woking mystery will, at 1 anv rate, be thoroughly explored.