FEAR OF GHOSTS

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXIV, Issue 8849, 30 November 1935, Page 4

FEAR OF GHOSTS

JAVANESE SAILORS ON STEAMER OMBILIN SHINING BELL AS “CURE” SYDNEY, November 13. No argument can convince 70 Javanese sailors on the steamer Ombilin, now in Australian waters, that ghosts do not walk at night. Experience, they ■ believe, has taught them that it is true. Officers in the ship have tried every argument they know, but the crew simply shake their heads,- shrug their shoulders, and crouch into the shadows. It all started four years ago, when two coolies ran amuck in the forecastle. They were taken off the ship screaming loudly. Since then everyone who joins the ship is told the story, and it strikes fear into thenhearts. One of the officers hit upon a plan, however, which has lessened, although not abolished, the fear. He suggested that the ship’s bell had miraculous powers, and that ghosts were afraid of its shining surface. The crew thought it sounded reasonable, fqr Javanese believe that ghosts hate the light. They saw the shining bell as a star of hope, and each day they set to and pollshetf it furiously. But even this has not allayed all fears. No one will go forward by himself. If one is sent, he first gathers a party of his pals, and then they creep along as silently as possible.