BLUEBEARD SPOOKS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12718, 13 August 1919, Page 7

BLUEBEARD SPOOKS.

nightly shrieks

ull 8 A aUge f 6 -°7 of . Mostly wailings isioicJ by a family which occupied the his w eard n V i lla a<l otter bis tenancy had ceased. This familv = t,n g of M. and Mdxne F. and Sfe hS r nd r n ’ iu T I,w ’ Uact n6rer lieard ol Landru, tho so-called Paris Bluebeard, muil after his ar,«t Si a weiG in ignorance of local gossip conUS r ome " visitors > eleven of nhomhave disappeared. AililT d loavc their in the Ai.no department owing to the German nicusion they went to live at Vernomllet m September, 1910. immediately K c ' c '’ nrture - There was noihmg abnormal about tho house to atfciact attention, and for a time all went well.

Then suddenly Mdrae F.. who oooupiod a bedroom over a sort of tunnel which runs right through the house lorming a garage, began to be ..distux bed at mgbt by strange noises. Sometimes, she declared, these took the torm of distant wailings, at others there were uncanny knocldngs on the wall, occasionally varied by harrowing B L* eks which gradually cam© nearer. 'fa n '. ght , ,u T sIe °P was disturbed, but at daybreak the noises ceased- Her husband and daughter tried to persuade her that she was subject to hallucinations, but finally thev too came under the influence of the same phenomena. and lived in constant dread of the night hours.

For financial reasons they would not quit tho villa at once, but when the tenancy ended m September. 1916, thev fled to another village. Only then did to 10 ham ' tci *

whether the present tenant of the Lodge has bad similar experiences. Apparently she has used the^ house merely a s a week-end cot- ’ S % mvn on I'andm's m a fer? 13 i Vlfe ', & l le firsC lnet him <nlwik a chur . c b where he acted as sub-deacon or sidesman. They were both under twenty, and Landru was a a k ’ t! “ ld y°«th m indifferent health, having successively suffered from scarlatma meningitis and typhoid fever. nf Ar T r ™ arria § 6 was postponed till after Landru had finished his military He was employed in an architect s office, worked hard, and had the entire confidence of his chief. 1 J ■ nr7 as a I!lodcl husband,” deorarbdlTdfdm^LandVU; '‘ neV6r Smoked or diank, and was gentle and thoughttul. 1 was very happy.” Later he developed a passion for invention and began to lose his sleep, and his character changed. i s . ee » wo shall he rich onepay, he exclaimed continually, but his inventions were exploited by others or came to nothing, and his wife was obliged to go into business to keep the family Landru became irregular in his habits, and one day he disappeared Jno police arrived to arrest him, and then the wife learned that her husband was a. swindler.

After his release from prison his family saw him only at intervals, his i isifcs being usually to borrow monev. In this way the wife’s savings were swallowed up, and he begged even from ms children. In recent years he sometimes brought his wife, articles of jewellery. and then returned to borrow money. His wife pawned the jewellery to satisfy him. Now the poor woman Has sold nor own property in order to redeem tiiese sinister gifts and hand them over to the police-