North Ormesby “Ghost”
Excitement caused by youth’s story.
Residents of North Ormesby, Middlesborough, have been excited this week over a ghost story which received wide credence and attracted hundreds of people nightly to its haunt. The “ghost” is alleged to have inhabited a house in Esk Street, and while the occupants slept peacefully hundreds of people congregated outside until the small hours of the morning witnessing what they declared to be a phenomenon within.
According to some people the “ghost” performed no weird antics, but had been an open-handed benefactor and essence of thoughtfulness towards the householders. Among the exploits of the alleged visitant were to leave £1 Treasury notes, mend a pair of boots, bring in coal and mend the fire, and start a gramophone which entertained the onlookers.
The ghost story has now been exploded by the Middlesborough Police averring that it is a hoax, and that it had its origin in the action of a youthful occupant of the house, who is rather nervous. It seems that in his nervousness the youth was convinced that he heard pattering of unseen feet up and down stairs, and had left the house for one night, saying that he was afraid to stay there.
Interviewed yesterday, Mrs Smith, the tenant of the house, declared that there was no truth in the stories told about the ghost, adding: “If it wasn’t for annoyance due to people standing about, talking of ghosts, and screaming, ‘There it is,’ until two or three o’clock in the morning, I could treat it as a great joke.”
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 2nd February 1924.
The Pound-Note Ghost.
The older type of ghost used to wander round with his head in his hands, or clanking his chains, or smashing furniture, or making things unpleasant generally. But just as soon as a really chummy ghost gets on the job at North Ormesby, Truth comes out and “lays” it. Such a ghost, properly trained, might have been allowed to settle down to a decent career. And look at the money side. £1 notes freely thrown about! No need to enter football competitions, or worry your head for “three words.” And the second notice about your Income-Tax would be a jest. But the plain truth is that the pound notes were as mythical as the ghost.
Yet if you want a material bargain that will SAVE you money, come to Stewarts Sale. This wonder doesn’t vanish as soon as Truth comes on the scene. It is in proving the truth that this is the greatest Sale in the land for Men and Boys that everyone is so pleased. REAL BARGAINS IN EVERYTHING.
STEWARTS CLOTHIERS Ltd., The King Tailors, 38-42 Lynn Street, West Hartlepool. Middlesborough, Stockton, Darlington. Over 130 Branches: London to Aberdeen.
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 6th February 1924.
Much ado about nothing.
Teesside Woman Explodes Foolish Ghost Story.
A foolish ghost story has created a good deal of stir at North Ormesby, a suburb of Middlesbrough. Rumours were circulated of nightly visits of the phantom to a house in Esk Street and that the mysterious nocturnal visitor had mended boots, lit the fire, started the gramophone and left pound Treasury notes about.
Mrs Smith, a sub-tenant of the dwelling, however, yesterday treated the matter as a great joke, but admitted she had been somewhat annoyed by people standing about talking of ghosts, and screaming. She explained that the story of the house being haunted had its birth in the action of her younger brother whose nerves were not of the best, and who had imagined he had heard the pattering of unseen feet up and down the stairs. He left the house for one night saying he was afraid to stay there.
Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 2nd February 1924.