A RESULT OF PRACTICAL JOKING.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2673, 13 October 1881, Page 2

A RESULT OF PRACTICAL JOKING.

During the recent voyage of the Immigrant ship Nineveh from London tq Sydney a practical joke wqs perpetrated which hqs led to uphappy consequences. One of the immigrants dressed herself in q sheet, pretending to he a ghost. At dead of night she stalked among the sleeping girls, whom she aroused, in one instance t||e shock was so severe that a girl lost her reason and became hopelessly insane. Sl.e was examined on the arrival of the ship medical men, on whose certificate she has been sent to the asylum. ;l ’fjso Sydney “ Telegraph’’ has the following additional partu;u|qnp It says that during the voyage of the immigrant ship Nineveh one of the female passengers died, and for some flips afterwards an alarm was nightly occasioned by q, §nppqscd ghostly yjsitqnt, which kept its yigiis jn <po single girls-’ compartment pf the ship. The spectre was that pf q female form robed in apparel similar to iliac worn by thedeceasedinlifo. and the white face and thin hands of tlie apparition heightened the fears of (lie girls that it pame tyom I ho unseen y'orld- The ghosi would npilfo its appearance at three oeloek in the morning.'and glide round 'the berths, touching the faces of the awakened who were too paralysed with fear to .call out oy seiuo the figure, which, however, always seemed to have too much resemblance to corporeal pro-

portions to be a spirit o£ health or goblin damned. At last the general terror became so much increased that a number of girls were too much afraid to go to bed, and one night kept watch in company until the ghost appeared as usual. A rush was made to capture it, but in the confusion the female who had so long played her cruel practical joke in this guise escaped to her berth, and when a search was made positive proof of her identity was wanting. There was, however, sufficient circumstantial evidence to cause the suspected person to be placed under surveillance for the remainder of the voyage, and after this, it is needless to say, the ghost was seen no more. A few days afterwards, however, another of the female immigrants developed symptoms of insanity, and her incoherent exclamations showed that the fright concerning the alleged spectral appearances had preyed greatly upon, and perhaps unhinged her mind. On the arrival of the Nineveh at Sydney, the unfortunate young woman was removed to Gladesvillo, where she is said to have become so ill that her life is now in danger. An inquiry into the hoax perpetrated on the voyage was made at the Immigration office, where official reticence is maintained ; but from what we have been able to glean from outside sources it was found impossible to sheet home the reprehensible practices described to the supposed culprit, so that it is difficult to 'se that anything further can be done in the matter.