Strange Ghost Story at Crewe.
It is seldom a week goes by without some startling revelation is made in Crewe, and the latest has reference to a ghost, which is supposed to haunt a house in Alexandra-street, and which has given rise to considerable excitement in the neighbourhood. A family of the name of Steele are the occupants of a corner shop in Alexandra-street, of which, it is said, they have only recently become the tenants, and they allege that shortly after 12 o’clock each night they are startled by something invisible which comes from the cellar, opens the door, and rushes past them upstairs, making extraordinary sounds.
Neighbours have been called in to keep watch at night-time, and many of them assert that they have seen signs and heard a peculiar noise, which has awakened within them feelings of horror and timidity. It is stated that during the last night or so the sound has been louder, and this, as a natural consequence, has caused greater alarm.
The occupants of the shop, and those living in the adjoining houses, have become so terrified that it will not be at all surprising to hear of them quitting the neighbourhood. Many people, of course, ridicule the idea of a ghost having been seen, but in other minds the superstition is very strong, and they seem to entertain the idea that the house is haunted.
We are informed that about seven or eight persons sat in the kitchen on Friday night in total darkness, anxiously waiting for manifestations of the ghost. At an early hour on Saturday morning they were joined by a police constable, who remained there for about twenty minutes, and during that time he neither saw nor heard anything which should give rise to the least alarm. Whether the ghost made his appearance at all that night we are not in a position to state, but the landlord of the house, who happened to be one of the party, informed the constable when he reached the house that no unusual sound had been heard prior to his arrival. Perhaps the presence of an officer of the law had the effect of keeping this alleged ghost out of the way until the constable had taken his departure.
Those who believe the premises to be haunted rest their assumption on the statement that it is not a new matter, but that previous tenants have been similarly disturbed by these peculiar sounds. In addition to unlocking doors, stamping, screaming, and going through a host of other manoeuvres, it is said that the ghost even discharges pistols, and sends bullets through brick walls.
Probably, when the excitement has somewhat abated, some more satisfactory explanation will be obtained as to the causes underlying this extraordinary superstition.
Northwich Guardian, 12th August 1891.