The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1901-07-25
appeared after about ave minutes and

appeared after about five minutes and
was passing aft one Of the men step
ped out to seize him and said:
"Look here. matey, stop a minute
and let us know how you came aboard
are in"
The sailors hand clutched the air In
stead of flesh and blood, and the thing
continued aft and disappeared. When
I was called, I went down on the main
deck among the excited men and heard
their yarn, and then we took lanterns
and made thorough search of the
decks. l also sent men aloft to the
tops. We made no discovery. 1t was
useless to say to dozen men that their
eyes had deceived them. They were
sailors above the average in intelli-
gence, and the captain was sensible
enough to take sensible view of the
matter. We talked it over at break
fast, and shortly afterward all hands
were called aft. They were told that
1t must be some trickery and were ask
ed to give their assistance in solving
the mystery. The ship was searched
was found. Then the captain did that
which no other captain would have
done. When night and the middle
watch came around again, he took the
second mate and went forward among
the men. He scattered them about and
gave them Instructions, and promptly
to the minute the carpenter appeared.
This time he showed up forward and
walked aft, and at a word from the
captain all rushed upon him. They
found no substance. AS they knocked
together and some Of them fell to the
deck the thing disappeared aft, as IL
going down into the cabin.
Now, here was a situation. That
there was ghost aboard even the cap
tain could not doubt He owned right
up to the men that it was a ghost, but
at the same time kept the creeps away
by stating that the spook showed no
desire to harm any one.
There was no scare among the men.
There was never a night Of the rest Of
the voyage that the ghost did not show
up, and by the time we reached port It
had come to be looked upon as almost
one of the crew. Here was a chance
for the superstitious to talk about FRI
day and No. 13 and all that, but there
was no such talk among us. believe
that a crowd of lawyers, doctors or
merchants would have exhibited more
nervousness than did our crew Of sail
ors. 1t got SO that they finally threw
their caps at the specter and asked for
a light for their pipes.
The solution of the mystery was not
less curious. We had not yet discharg-
ed all our cargo when a fearful odor
became plain, and when the last barrel
and box went out we traced the source
and ripped of some of the flooring.
Between two of the ribs we found the
decaying corpse of ship carpenter,
whose skull had been smashed in by q
blow from a hammer. The CHASTITY
thing was taken ashore and an inquest
held. There were initials on the cloth
ing, and true description was taken,
and no one doubted that murder had
been committed. On the run back to
Liverpool there was no ghost. The
finding Of the body had laid it. The
CdSC WAS p1dCcu Ill the AduuS OA IAS
police, and you may remember what
happened. The name of the murdered
man was John Walpole, and fellow
workman named Charles Saunders was
arrested for the crime. He confessed
at once. AS the two had knocked of
for luncheon they fell into a dispute
about a woman. and, driven to des-
peration by taunts of the other, Saun-
ders seized his hammer and gave him q
fatal blow. AS the two were alone in
the bows of the ship, then about ready
for launching, he showed the body over
against a rib and nailed on flooring
enough to cover it. Walpole was miss
ed by the foreman, but was supposed
to have gone off on a spree. That was
the confession, and it brought about
Saunders death on the gallows, and no
ghost was ever seen aboard of the Fri
day afterward. You won't believe that
we saw ghost, but as the discovery
of the remains of the murdered man
and the hanging of Saunders were mat
tiers Of public record you can't very
well get around them.