STRANGE BELIEF

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXIX, Issue 212, 15 September 1934, Page 8

STRANGE BELIEF

A PHANTOM LAUNCH SEEN AT THE CHATHAMS A phantom launch, which is said to make a sudden appearance and disappear just as quickly, has been disturbing the minds of fishermen at the Chatham Islands for some time past. Several fishermen claim to have seen it, and its appearance is said to foretell disaster.

Some scoff at the idea and others believe in it. The fishermen who claim to have seen it have no doubt whatever. Samuel Nicholson, a fisherman, claimed that he had seen it recently and held to the belief that no good would come of it. The Tees, which arrived in Lyttelton yesterday, brought tidings that Nicholson had been washed overboard from a launch in a heavy sea and drowned. Some four weeks ago the Tees brought news that the phantom launch had been seen by several men as it travelled at a high speed in misty weather. No sign of life was seen on board and it passed quickly by without taking any notice of the fishing fleet. The men also claim that it has passed so close that they have been able to see the . engine working. The first belief that the launch existed came some three or four years,, ago. Fishermen claimed to have seen it pass mysteriously on its way and shortly afterwards eleven men, returning from a football match at Kaingaroa, were lost when their launch foundered. This is thought by many to be the reason for the strange belief.