“Ghost” that hammers.
Salford Householders’ Sleepless Nights.
A “ghost” which plays a tatoo on the bedrails and beats a table as a drummer would a drum is causing considerable alarm in Salford. It concentrates its attention on the house of Mr and Mrs Lee, and is making things hot for Mr John Altman, an ironfounder, who is unable to sleep after his hard day’s work. The neighbours are also disturbed.
Mr Altman says for the past month the rappings have occurred nightly, with a break of four nights ending on Sunday. The noise begins at midnight with a few raps on the bedrail, and then hammered away at the table beside the bed until daybreak. His nephew, John Lee, aged 19, also heard the disturbance, as did also the other members of the household.
Mr Altman says when he speaks the “ghost” taps quietly, but if someone else butts in it makes a fearful row, as if it were in a bad humour. One night he called in a constable, who heard the noise. The officer switched on his light and all was still, but on his departure the rappings resumed.
The bed has been taken to pieces, and the floorboards have been taken up, but there is no trace of rats or mice or anything that could conceivably make such a noise.
Leicester Daily Mercury, 12th April 1921.
Ghost hammers all night.
A ghost with a malicious sense of humour and a liking for one man, which is not appreciated by the victim, has been playing pranks at a house in the Oldfield Road district of Salford (states the London “Daily Express.”) The tenant of the house, Mr John allman, an ironworker, who sleeps in a back bedroom with his nephew, was awakened on Tuesday night by sharp raps on the bedrail over his head. This goes on night after night until he and his nephew are thoroughly roused, and then the noise is transferred to the floor, where it is manifested in a series of loud knocks. This is followed by a continuous hammering on a table near the bedside, which is kept up regularly till four o’clock in the morning.
The ghost evidently prefers Mr Allman to the other occupants of the house. When he asks questions it responds with a single light rap, but when anyone else speaks there is a rattle of sharp knocks as though the ghost is angry. A policeman who was called in the other night heard the noise, but when he stepped into the room it ceased. Hardly had he gone when it began again.
Mr Allman has had his bed taken to pieces and the floor boards pulled up but nothing has been found to account for the occurrences. “I am fed up with it,” he said, “It’s been going on for five weeks, and I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to have a night’s sleep.”
Belfast Telegraph, 13th April 1921.
Mystery Knocks
Persistent Ghost That Gets In A Temper.
A rowdy ‘ghost’ which keeps people awake all night by beating a tattoo on the bed rail is abroad in Salford. It is rapidly driving Mr John Allman, who lives in the Oldfield-road district, to utter desperation.
Mr Allman works at an iron foundry, and though he comes home tired out, it is not to sleep, for no sooner does he doze off than he is aroused by a succession of sharp raps on the metal bed-rail above his head. He sleeps in the back bedroom with a 19-year-old nephew, John Lee, whose father and mother, who are also awakened by the rapping, sleep in the front bedroom.
Describing the noise, Mr Allman said it began at midnight with a few gentle taps on the bed-rail, and then, when he and his nephew were thoroughly awake, it shifted to the floor, where it sounded like a joiner putting new boards in. Then it jumped to the table by the bedside and kept hammering away until four o’clock in the morning.
Not only does the noise waken the family in the house, but it also disturbs the sleep of the neighbours on either side.
When Mr Allman questions the “ghost” it responds civilly with a solitary tap, but when someone else speaks, it bursts into a regular fusillade of knocks, which apparently denote extreme ill-temper. Apparently it has a wholesome respect for the law. On one occasion Mr Allman invited a policeman into the house at two in the morning. The policeman heard the “ghost” when he came in, but when he went upstairs and flashed his bull’s eye lantern the knocking stopped – to begin when the officer returned to his beat.
The bed has been taken to pieces, and the floorboards have been taken up, but there is no trace of rats or mice or anything that could conceivably make such a noise.
Liverpool Weekly Courier, 16th April 1921.