Port Macquarie Haunted House (1936)

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The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser (NSW : 1886 - 1942), Friday 21 August 1936, p

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126095617

'.'The Haunted House'

CLOSE- TO. PORT

Many years, ago, when I was a' young

fellow,' a / .relative, and myself wore

journeying down' from the Northern

Rivers on?

horseback, and on reaching

Poit Macquaiie we stayed the night

there. Port,^ in those days, was, of

course,;

different to - what- it: is to-dny —

more of the old ? houses and. buildings;

and the 'Old Gaol' was standing out

as a grim reminder of the harsh old

day4 oi the system,' writes a contribu

tor, to' '

Wingham: Chronicle.''

Did those old founders of Port ever

dream that the pretty village that tho

convict.' toiled to raise from tho wild

bush would over bccomo ono of the

I

.many beautiful tourist resorts of- our

long coastline?

During, the course of thomeal served

by the proprietor of tho hotel at which

we wore. -..staying, ono - of . the gentlemen

at the table remarked that a chap- had

camped in tho .''Haunted House' the

night before, and- had got such a fright

?that- he had cleared out of tho house,

and left his swag there.

The conversation then turned to' The

iiaunrcti nouse,' nnd several-- Hair rais

ing yarns wore told of people who had

tried to campin the house. When my

relative enquired where this 'Hountod

House' was, heiwas told that it was not

tar out of Port, on the Manning road.

Being tired, wo retired early, and, 'af-

ter a 'good refreshing sleep, we were

awake early, and made a start on our

journey south.. ; After we had ridden out_

of sight of. Port, we caught, up to. an

other traveller who was riding to some

placo up the Hastings River. -He was a

well educated man, and had a great

faith in the future of the district.

As we rode along, this man pulled

up his - horse, and pointing to a lonely,

deserted house, a little distanco from

the road, said:*

.'There is tlio' Haunted House.?'

We. enquired if there was any truth

in the reports regarding this ;

house,

and the man told us that ho could' not

sny, but -he had heard men assert that

it was haunted. Our companion left us

after about lialf-an-liour's time; and as

wo rodo along, in tlio beautiful spring

sunshine, the bush; in its spring glory

of flowers, and: the hundreds of birds

chirping in the tree-tops, made inc think

chirping in the tree-tops, made inc think

that scones, like, this inspired Henry

Kendall to vwrito - his wonderful verses

of our Coastal Bush.

Tho road then was very rough and

narrow, and -

gave- no indication that it

would: becomo a 'bitumen speedway.?'.

? Towards dusk wo:noticed what Henry:

Lawson wouldrefer .to .as. 'A

Shantyon the Rise,' not far from the roadside

— and some men' about - the place,

we rode up. Before wo could say 'Good

evening;'? one. of the men said: 'Havo

a.'cup of tea, chaps. V

Wo dismounted, and, upon telling them

that wo.

were travelling' to the Manning,

th cy, invited: us - to stay the night with

them. Two of the'

men put our, horses

inii

sapling paddock, and wc, gathered

around: tho- rough slab table in- the hut,

and drank pannikins of teaj.eating real

bush damper and beef. And couldn't

those men eat and talk! They were a

party of timber cutters, opening up a

belt of timber for a supply of logs for a

now sawmill.

During 'the night someone said some

thing about 'The Haunted House'

near Port, and that turned the convorsa-'.

tions. Oil gUUhlS,ULC.

One man said that lie- lode to 'Tho

Haunted House;? determined to , sleep

there tor the night.- ' lie -:put his- lioiso.

in the little -paddock at tliOvback- of :tlic,

house, and camc in to light -a fire, as it

was getting on, dark.?

He was just -light:

ing the fire when lie became conscious.

that tliero was a 'something' there,

that ho could, not:

define; and, to, make.

matters worse, his horse began to 'gallop

nnd snort round and round the yaid.

?He: tried .to quieten the horse, but, rail

ing in that, he entered the house again.

? 1

:

As soon .as. lie entereil' tlio house ?

again, the awful feeling came ovor

rhim that there was an 'unseen

presence' in the hou'-o with him,

and try how ho would, lie coftld not

shake the' feelingoff.

The'' man said lie endured this for an

hour or more, and atla~st left the hoi.se.

His horse was still restless. ; and wet,

-with . sweat.- .After some: .he

caught- him, and lode away, vowing

never to , camp in 'the wriifched house

again. Ho told, us that he was reared

in :'tho' :bush;,-hadi camped anywhere in

lonely places, and never know what fear

was until lie entoi cd 'the house by the

roadside._

- ?



roadside._

- ?

Amongst the men gathered round tlio

table in tho hut was* a fine, handsome

I'.bushiiiaii — over Oft. in. height, broad

shouldered and erect. . Ho was a- beauti

ful specimen of manhood, nnd remarked:

'

Well, I've been in a good many parts

of Australia, camped by mysolf, and I

liavonover seen a

ghost— but

Iwas a

ghost myself one time!

'It was like this,' ho continued. 'I

had saved enough to buy a team and

dray, and I started carrying on tho

roads. An old mato of mine — Billy Pol

lard — joined up with me, and we 'put

our spare cosh togethor, and bought a

load of flour, in 501b. bags, to take - to

.diggings on the -South Coast. This

gold lush was off tho beaten track, and

we had to travel over somo very rough

countiy. Towards dusk one evening, as

we weie driving around a rocky spur of

a ''dge, tho wheel of the dray ran up

on a laige boulder hidden m the grass,

and the. whole dray and load was on the

verge otcapsizing.

Foiu or fhc of the calico, bags of flour

on the top ot the load slipped off, and;falling on a ledge of jutting rock, burst

open, and. tho valuable, flour was spilt

amongst the locks. Wo were picking it

up in handfuls, and putting it in a

bag, when another 'bag became dislodgedfioni, the load, and struck a rock. The

impact sent the flour all over mo.

'Well, wc woikodaway, and cvoit

.tually got as much oi. the Hour together

as, possible. Wc then decided to unload

the.: rest, -.and get tlie dray off the rock.

It, was dark when wo unloaded, and Billy.decided to go and see if wo could drive

d wn on to a little flat, and camp for'?

the night. Billy returned m a. fow min

utes, and informed me that there was a

light, at a camp about a- quarter of.- a

mile distant. I .then said I would goand - get some help,, so I started off to

the camp, which I found, on

gettingnear

er, to be a slab - hut. A big square open

ing, evidently 'intended for a window,was showing on my side of the hut, and

the (lames: from the fire in tho-

were flickering through the splits in tho

slabs. I walked to the window open

ing, and .stood and looked in

Four men- were sitting in -front of tho

fire, eating. One of the men sitting

opposite me was just in the act of tak

ing a drink:

from a pannikin, when ho

:

caught sight of me.

'The pannikin -fell from the mail's

hand; a look of vtorror ; passed -over, liis

face, and he let out the most blood- ?

curdling yell I ever heard.:

He grabbed

a swag; and went headlong; out of the

door. His mates all '.-.'.jumped- toi tlioir

feet, had one look at lue,- and with -wild

yells of fear, bolted?

out into the dark,

leaving everything behind them. I

could hear tliein yelling, and crashing,

through the fallen timber. I- -went, in

side, and there were swags,liats and

billy-cans on the floor. ? I had a drink

of tea from their billy, and while I was

raising, tho pannikin- to my mouth, I

saw myself in an old looking-glass hang

ing on tlio wall. My face, ? whiskers

and clothes were all covered with flour,

and I did present a- very ghostly, ap

pearance in the firelight.

'When I got back to Billy, ho said:

'What the blazes happened up there?

A cliap came down here, taking flying

bounds like a;

kangaroo, and - every now

and*-- again- ho would lot out a^yell-;liko

as, if tho devil was after him. I reckon,

at tlio pace lie:was putting up, that only

the Pacific Ocean will -stop that bloke,

for ho was heading that way at about

20 miles an hour.:

I never saw ? a man

go like him, and when I shouted at him

—gee, I'll swear he cleared about

twenty feet at, a bound.' ?

;

'When I told Billy what had really

happened, wo both sat. down- on a. lock,

and laughed — and laughed. Wo sot to

and got tlio load on, and the old dray

right.'

Then we cainpcd for, tho night.

'Tho next day,: we were .spelling tho

I

team, and having a- billy of tea, wli.cn

a chap came along with a. horse and

spring cart, and ho had a cliap with liini

who had an arm in a sling. .Tliey came

in with us, and had a cup of tea, though

the bloke with the hurt aim did not eat

nuich: - Ho-told'

-us;. that ,

lie, was: camped

an -:v hut - the ? .previous night, -witli sonic

other men, and when they were having

tea, a 'ghost' stood at the window .of

the: ? hut.: Well, - there was a, stampede,

and as ho' was racing away from the hut

lii. thodiirlc;

ho^ran .into the head of a

fallen, tree,.- and dislocated his shoulder.

Wo laughed,.but ho: seemed annoyed, and

1

said: 'You chaps can laugh, - but he was

the biggest v.ghost ; that ever ;

was,and

ho wras , covered all over with -a whito

substance. I never believed in

ghosts till last night — but- 1' tellyou I



ghosts till last night — but- 1' tellyou I

made up ni^mind in a hurry when I saw

that bloke. My swagis in that hut, and

it can stop there. I would not go to

get it for all the gold in Egypt! You

blokes can laugh, but ifyou had seen

tlio white bloke standing in1 tlio window,

like, I did, your foot would bo hitting

tho ground in a hurry—

my

?

oath theywould!. Blokes that have never seen

ghosts - don't know what, tliey are

like!''

Documents

Port Macquarie Haunted House (1936)