NORFOLK ISLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13011, 31 October 1905, Page 6

NORFOLK ISLAND.

j . '♦ —- . ■■' !■■■■■'■■".''' ■■'.''■ .' ' '■-'•:•■ . '■'■" [FROM OUR OWK CORRESPONDENT.] .-■Norfolk Island, Octol>*r 12. The death of Mr. Bertie Bates has caused a gap in the Executive Council which has not yet been filled up. At its last sitting the Council, after passing a vole of con- ' dolence with the bereaved family, adjourned J out of respect to the deceased councillor. The whaling is not turning out extra well, only five whales having been, taken all through the season—-No. 1 company one, No. 2 company two, and No. 3 company two—and the season finishes at the end of the .present mouth. The weather, which has been exceptionally boisterous, during the winter, lias been against the industry; the whales are scarcer, and two of the companies did not shove off until the season was well advanced. The Waveney Tennis Club Committee gave an invitation tea on the club ground last Saturday afternoon to mark the opening of the season. Over 200 people were present, and' tho function passed off very successfully.. A very large party assembled at tlie Melanesiai) Mission Station on Tuesday evening last at the invitation of Archdeacon Cullwick, who is breaking up his home at St. Barnabas' for a time. After an entertainment of music and singing, refreshments were provided, the numerous guests heartily appreciating the archdeacon's hospitality. Mr. Henry Nobbs and Miss Eleanor Young, of Cascade, were married in the Town Churoh on the 3rd inst. A large party of relatives and friends were afterwards entertained at. the residence of the bride's mother, Mrs. Young, of Cascade. Residents in the suburbs (says the Wellington Evening Post of Friday last) are still • agitated concerning the real or imaginary peregrinations of the "ghost," or "Phosphorus Jack," to use the common term given to the mysterious one. The latest report is that a small boy at RoseHeath started out with his father's gun ok Tuesday night on heaJring that " Jack " was in the neighbourhood. The story has it that "Jack" jumped in front of "the lad, opened his coat to display the pliosphorusoutlmed coffin on his vest, and then got away rapidly. The boy, it is said, not only got a shot at the practical joker—but brought him down. The police records do not substantiate this rumour from Rose-n-oath. On the same night there came a knock at the door of a lonely house as, a late hour. The housewife, with a whispered caution, "It's 'Phosphorus Jack!'" grabbed the poker out of the fender, and cautiously opened the door. The viator was a) neighbour who wanted to borrow -a i pair of scissors! Of such material am ghost stories made up ' . ■ ' . -