“Ghost” That Rang Bells.
“Spirit” laid by five arrests.
London, Saturday.
A “ghost” that rang electric bells, moved crockery, and was responsible for the theft of a bangle, and the starting of a fire was “laid” when the police took a practical view of the matter and arrested five servants.
The house where the “ghost” performed its pranks is that of Mr Alarcoun, in Dixwell Road, says the Shanghai correspondent of the Central News, and the “haunting” of the premises began by the ringing of the bells.
First, the front door bell would ring, and the boy, promptly answering, found nobody on the doorstep. He would then hear the bell in No. 3 room ring, and proceeding there, would find at the same time the bell in No. 2 room would begin ringing furiously. Members of the household at first attributed it to some fault in the wiring installation, but the bell ringing continued, and no explanation was forthcoming.
A little later the crockery began to manifest signs of agitation. A saucer was seen to glide from the table. In another room, unoccupied, a whole tray of cups and saucers was mysteriously transferred from a table in the centre of the room to the floor before the fireplace, and there smashed to pieces.
Next a small oil lamp standing on a chest of drawers before a shrine – a picture of the Holy Family – was transferred from its resting-place to the middle of the floor, not a drop of oil being spilled in the process, although the lamp has only a light loose cover.
A jar containing salt left its place on a shelf, and desposited its contents on the floor, the same thing happening to a sugar bowl on the table. A metal bell was also thrown from the table.
The family fled, and applied for lodging with a neighbour. The latter went to the “haunted” house himself with a heavy stick in the hope of coming across a burglar or a practical joker. He remained in the house for an hour, but nothing occurred.
A few nights later an attempt was made to set the house on fire, but no trace of anyone on the premises was found.
It was reported to the police that a gold bangle was missed from the house, and the next night a man was seen on the roof. When two sceptics spent a watchful hour in the house of mystery there was no further “visitation.”
The police did not believe in the ghost theory, and Detective-Sergeant Ross, who was called in to investigate, learned that the gold bangle which disappeared while the “manifestations” were in full swing to have been removed from a drawer by means of a duplicate key. He was certain that ghosts do not usually carry duplicate keys in their shroud pockets. He also found that one or other of the servants was always present when the “manifestations” took place, and that nothing happened when this was not the case.
The police arrested the five servants of the house, two ayahs, and three boys, and they were remanded on a charge of being implicated in the theft of the bangle, and also with being concerned in the fire. Detective-Sergeant Ross said the conclusion was that the servants had conspired to play a trick upon their master.
Sunday Post, 25th December 1921.