GHOST RINGS FOR A DRINK

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 13 September 1930, Page 16

GHOST RINGS FOR A DRINK

A 'GHOST that lings a hell on the taproom table and hammers on the taproom door, and other strange happenings, are mystifying the landlord of the Bull’s Head, a SOO-year-old pub-lic-house near Cliarlesworth. •Mr S. Onslow, the landlord, does not believe in ghosts, and one night with me assistance of a customer he tried to solve the mystery.

After a thunder ing knock at the taproom door, the customer stationtd himself at the bade of the door and Mr Onslow stayed in the bar which looks into the passage leading to the. front door, and. through which anyone .coming to the: tap-room door must pass. Another terrific knock came. The customer flung open the- door as Mr Onslcfw flung open the) bar window, but neither saw anything. About three months ago the mystery took a more sinister turn. Mr Onslow was awakened from his sleep bv a noise like the ticking of a clock. •He believes that it was the, call of the death-watch beetles, iwhich is said to be a sign of death to those who hear it. Once previously, while living at Southport, had he heard it, and (two days afterward he received word that his aunt had died. He woke up his wife, who could also hear it. The noise increased as the night went on, and at, last Mr Onslow got out- of bed, put on a shoe, and delivered a kick against the wall whence the sound appeared to come. On that

Mysterious Occurrences Revealed

it stopped, but on the following morning- a. telegram was received that Mr Onslow's iwifc’s father had died- suddenly during the night. ‘‘Two night’s before this,” said Mr Onslow, “a man whom I had never seen before nor since came into the house, lie bore a striking resemblance to my wife’s father, but his cheeks were sunken like those of a dead person. I called my. wife, who also noticed the astonishing resemblance. '“'The man had his drink and went out.” The Bull's Head has two of the strangest rooms. There is. no way into them from within the house. Obtaining a ladder Mr Onslow and I to-day made a ‘dangerous and grimy ascent to them from an old stable at the rear of the building. Entrance to the first is gained through a hole knocked through the wall, and to the second through a: hole knocked through the fireplace. The only things in the second room a are a< strong hemp rope which dangles L from a. beam and four bricks placed on top of one another directly under it. I>id someone take his life in this room? And is it his uneasy spirit that is responsible for the mysterious occurrences here set forth? But perhaps the most baffling mystery of all is the cellar under the flagged floor.of the tap-room, for no matter hciwi diligently he searches Mr Onslow can find no way 'to enter it.