Weird incidents in Cock-Lane.
Spook who picks locks.
Some curious and unexplained events at Saracen House, Snow Hill, have caused people to inquire whether the famous Cock-lane ghost is at work again. Saracen House is built on the site occupied by the house where the ghostly manifestations which so interested Dr Johnson took place. It is now occupied by an unromantic firm of American dealers, Messrs. John L. Sardy and Co.
A night or two ago Mr Sardy was called up on the telephone by the police who told him that the door of the premises was open. They also said that the electric light had been switched on. Mr Sardy hurried down. The light had been switched off before he arrived. Accompanied by a policeman he entered the offices, to find them perfectly empty. No sign of anyone having been there could be found, and so far no explanation of the incident is forthcoming.
Nor is the opening of the door less mysterious. Hammond, the warehouseman, declares that he locked the door when he left at eight o’clock. That he did so is proved by a customer of the firm who saw him not only lock the door, but apply his knee to it to test it. There were no indications that the door had been forced, and the lock had not been tampered with.
There have been several unexplained happenings in the same building. Not long ago a heavy weight was heard to fall in one of the first-floor rooms, breaking the incandescent mantles in the room below. When an employe went upstairs to see what had fallen he found the room in its normal state.
Messrs Sardy and Co. have occupied their present premises for about six years, and are no believers in the supernatural, but they find it rather difficult to explain weird incidents of the kind narrated.
In Mr Sardy’s room, out of respect for the historical interest of the place, there is hung a card giving a brief account of the Cock Lane ghost, in which Dr Johnson firmly believed, though he could not be convinced of the truth of the earthquake at Lisbon. It states: – “On this site stood the house in which the Cock lane ghost was supposed to appear in the year 1762. All London was thrown into a state of excitement by the reported existence of the ghost. Queer noises were heard in the house, and a luminous lady bearing a strong resemblance to a Mrs Kemt, who once lived in the house, but had died two years previously, was said to appear. Suspicions were aroused as to Mr Kemt having poisoned his wife, and were confirmed by the ghost, who answered interrogatories by knocking. Crowds were attracted to the house, and the majority became believers. Dr Johnson and many celebrities visited the house, which at that time was occupied by a Mr Parsons.”
It will be remembered that the manifestations were afterwards proved to be rather clumsy tricks performed by a young girl. – “Daily Mail.”
The Muswellbrook Chronicle (NSW), 23rd September 1905.