The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-03
PHANTOM SOUNDS.
ONE OF THE MINOR MYSTERIES OF
 NATURE.
Found in All Parts of tho World Strange Expectations Connected with
 Them in Various semi-Clvilizcd
Countries,

! Countries
 One of the minor mysteries of nature
 up, is the origin and cause of the
 strange and unexplained sounds heard
 at different times, and stated places, in
 almost all parts of the world. There Is
 scarce a country in either hemisphere
 where in some special locality or an-
 other, phantom sounds are not known
 to be heard from time to time, and to
 account for which local legend or fan
 ciful theory alone is forthcoming.
 Of such a nature, for example, are
 the demon knockers" of which the
 miners speak curious tapping noises
 heard in mines, and coming, apparent
 ly, from the bowels of the earth, In
 certain countries gnomes and goblins,
 working in subterranean treasure
 vaults, are credited with the knockings In Cornwall it is the spirits of the old
 Jew captives who worked the tin mines
 in the days of the Phoenicians. In not
 a few instances, again, the phantom sounds more nearly resemble the dis
 charge of heavy guns at great dis tance. The most famous known exam
 pie of this special prenomenon is heard | in India, in the neighborhood of Bari
 sal, in the delta of the Ganges, where
 the sounds have become so familiar as
 to acquire the name of the "Barisal guns"
 1 The reports, which are described as
 dull, muffied booming, are heard at ir-
 regular intervals, sometimes singly,
 sometimes in quick succession. Vari~
 Ous theories have been adduced in eX- l planation. one of which attributes the sound to the bursting of bamboo or oth- CT hollow canes in jungle fires; but
 careful observation has failed to sub
 stantiate this suggestion, or to discover any adequate cause in the whole neigh
 borhood, which is far removed from any but the humblest habitations Nor is Barisal the only place in India where like disturbances are remarked Quite a number of districts there are famous by reason of this very phenomenon, mo-
 tably the country lying between the Brahmaputra and the Garo Hills, In Assam, where, more particularly in fair seasons, far-off boomings are heard.
 In the same region, on the rivers banks, heavy cannonade has been re- marked, apparently coming from the river itself; and the native boatmen. who are perfectly familiar with the sounds, attribute them to the gods, eel ebrating the marriage of the Ganges with the Brahmaputra Half the globe away, in the United States in mountainous district in north Georgia, ot, ra, +, f tury, at least at all times and in all 1 kinds of weather, have been heard | sounds, always mysterious and eluding | detection, but invariably described as | resembling the discharge of dstant can | non. Trustworthy witnesses who have | visited the mountain by day and night | expressly for the purpose of making | careful investigation have come to the conclusion that the sounds appear to issue from the ground itself There are several other places in the United ! States where similar noises are noticed. At Franklinvlle. N. Y., reports as of sold sock being blasted have frequent ly seemed to come from the center of certain hill Nearer home lookout men at Ostend have heard usually towards evening, ,,uii and distant noises, appa- rently subterranean; while on Dart moor. in England, and in not few parts of Scotland, circumstantial evil dence of precisely similar character s forthcoming, and has, before now, been and commented on in some of the leading scientific journals.
 Even more frequently, however the phantom sounds haunting various To- nal.ties have been described as resem- bling the pealing or tolling of distant bells. One of the most remarkable in- stances of this occurs in the peninsula If Sinai where is mountan which has always been known as 'Jebel Nagus"-- Lhe mountain of the bell Here, from time immemorial have been heard sounds as of a subterranean bell toling within the heart of the hill. This is borne out by a local legend, according | 70 which a monastery which once stood near the summit was by supernatural agency, withdrawn within the rock, and he sounds heard are those of the hid- len bell calling the monks to prayer. 3urckhaddt. in his Travels, published S22, attributes this sound to masses of inc sand which occasionally rush down he mountain-side. and in so doing give 'ise to strange bell-llke note.
 Professor Palmer, who closely exam ned the whole neighborhood, was able , o make careful observation of the slid ng of the sand, which, he said, is read ; ly set in motion, when 1t rolls down with a sluggish, viseous movement and he sound begns as a moan, swelling to
 roar, and then gradually dying away. l We need not go so far atield, however O find many other instances of phan om bells. and where the theory of the alling sand is not admissible. At least alf a dozen examples may be men ,, toned within our own isles. The fish rmen at Dunwich, the seaport town on he Suffolk coast where the encroach- lg sea has overwhelmed once large nd populous town, are known to de- lare that the bells of the lost churches l l. an still be heard pealing under the ', ayes At Bosham, in Sussex. the old fl ell of the parish church sacrilegiously q 1ld in olden times, but lost in the bay Ie ct tolls occasionally, so they say, be- cath the sea.
 So, again, at Boscastle, in Cornwall els for churches in Guernsey, tradL
 ,1.,t, I,4 ,+r,1