The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-08
LIBERTY STATUE IS HAUNTED.
At Least That is What New York
HarbOrmen Think.
From the New York journal

From the New York Journal.
The statue of liberty is tenanted by
ghosts. At least, that is what the river
men claim, and say the statement is sus-
ceptible of proof They say. and thew
know whereof they speak, that as the
witching hour of night approaches most
unearthly noises are heard, as if the stat
lie was possessed. There is a scientific
explanation, however of these ghostlv
disturbances, but 1t does not interest the
harbor men and sailors on board shins
lying at anchor within a stones throw
of Liberty Island, their hulls brought
into strong relief by the electric torch
Many foe sic" yarn has been spun
about the midnight carnival of spfrits
within the goddess. The sailors in the
creaking of her joints hear the ghounsh
SHOUTS of the jewellers When the night
is calm and bitterly cold the mysteri0uS
din is plainly heard.
me most terrifying of these mysterious
sounds Tor those who are not in the Sc
cret are the spirit rappings The goddess
rivals the most expert spiritual mediums
These rapipngs may be heard almost
every night in the year. During the dav-
time the solemn figure is as quiet as a
graveyard, but when darkness settles
down it is easy TO imagine that several
SplrltualiStic Seances are being carried on
successfully in this gloomy interior The
explanation is, however, exceedingly sim
PIE. L he statue, as everybody knows, is
formed OF enormous plates of conner
bronze, firmly riveted together The ac-
tlon OF all sorts of weather, to which this
very exposed position renders the statue
subject, tends to gradually loosen these
little bits of steel. The dampness which
Is drawn in from the water from all four
sides forms a thick coating of copper
Verdigris on the rivets, eating away the
copper. This does not weaken the statue
materially, but it affords a certain amount
OF play between the overlapping sections
The goddess under the gentle influence
of old Sol expands throughout every part
OF her enormous figure. At night she in
a measure draws her robes more closely
about her, as if to protect herself from
the cold. The contraction of the copper
sheets, 1t may readily be seen, causes a
gentle motion which produces a very faint
rap But this reverberates through the
vast interior, which magnifies it over and
over again and lends to it a gloomy hol-
low sound.
The members of the guard of honor who
attend the goddess throughout the night
tell many strange stories of the haunted
statue. Several of these watchmen have
preferred to give up their positions rather
than listen to these remarkable object les
sons in acoustics. They could not be per-
suaded that the mysterious figure was
not haunted. and all said they had never
in their lives heard of any haunted house
which could boast half as many hair
raising noises as the dignifed goddess
1t sometimes happens. when the contrast
OF temperature is greatest that the
groans and rappings are loud enough 10
be heard on the boats passing close to
the island. The sound of hollow groans
accompanied by weird ratings and other
uncanny noises has frightened more
than one superstitious sailor as he f1oafed
across the dark waters.