Clean Bowled.

Manawatu Herald, 29 November 1894, Page 3

Clean Bowled.

... . ■ . '—+ : Many foolish people, says a Napier newspaper; of late have been made alarmed at reports of a ghost playing strange fantastic tricks in the Roman Catholic portion of the cemetery. A young man named Denby was the principal witness against the ghost, and the other day he showed a letter which" he said he found addressed to him on the grave where the spook always disappeared. In this letter Denby's life was threatened. He showed it to a member of the staff of the Hawke's Bay Herald, who suspected from a very minute and realistic imitation of the alleged ghost antics that it was Denby 4 hiins^and he communicated with Det&tiye Kirby. The latter interviewed Denby, who showed the original letter, which wa3 unpunctuatad and written in a peculiar hand on peculiar stationery. The detective insisted on seeing Denby's stationery, which was identical with it, and under pressure Denby admitted that ha had written the letter, and was (he author of the whole hoax. Then thare was another developmint. Some time ago the papers fare received a letter signed Albert Gordon, of Wellington, in which the writer said he was leaving by the tarly coach, but he wished to bear leitlmony to the splendid bravery of » young man who had rescued his (Gordon's) sister from a watery grave* The letter detailed sensational incidents, the girl having fallen off the breakwater in a heavy i«a in the middle of winter. Gordon laid he was too ill from the shock to interview the editor, but said that he bad learned that the name of the young man who bad so modestly walked! off before , he could be thajjeed was Denby, and be suggested that steps should be taken to geoure the Royal Humane Society's medal for Denby for his bravery. The letter bore every appearance of being genuine, and on it being given op to a representative of the Humane Society, he wrote for the medal, whioh is now actually on the way out, Detective Kirby, remembering this, questioned Denby closely about the alleged rescue, and in the end got him to sign a written confession that the whole affair was a hoax.