PART II
They took their cups of tea into the small sitting room. All four torches were left on the kitchen bench. They heard the kitchen door close. There was no wind or draught of any kind. No way anyone could have got into the place without being seen. Worse still the door was not only closed but also locked and the torches were inside and only the caretaker had a key.
Joan and Paul went through to the room Joan shared with the other women. They found Maureen sitting on her bed looking unbelievably strange and in what they could only describe as 'being in a trance'. Even as they looked at her they could not comprehend the terrible change that was taking place. They had both known Maureen for many years but now her face was becoming so distorted, so unbelievably unreal, that neither Joan nor Paul could recognize her. Then Vinny who was sitting up in her bed suddenly called out that there was something at the window next to Joan's bed. Whatever it was it was gone by the time Joan and Paul got there, but Vinny, near hysteria, swore that she had seen a cloudy ghostly figure and promptly lay down, pulling the covers over her head.
By this time Maureen appeared to have recovered from whatever it was that had affected her. She appeared none the worse for it and Joan and Paul thought it best not to say anything to her.
Eventually Don, Paul, Wilma and Mrs. Otto armed themselves with a variety of weapons, cricket bats, stumps and a can of fly spray.
All seemed fairly quiet when Maureen cried out that there was a thing near the door, no-one else saw anything but Maureen took another of the strange turns. It was really something quite terrible to see, this complete change from an attractive, happy well-known friend into an unrecognizable, almost grotesque creature.
Even as they watched, Vinny started screaming and appeared to be fighting with herself. Suddenly she was shouting to them. "Why didn't you help me?" They looked at her in astonishment. "Well, you must have heard me - I was screaming." She held her throat. "Didn't you see her? She had me by the throat. She tried to kill me."
All seemed quiet for a little while but none of them slept. Then the music began.
Now Paul had taken a record player to the camp with him. Earlier that evening he had put on a record in the sitting room where he had set it up. But with all the happenings, only the one record had been played and he had switched the machine off.
Now they could distinctly hear that record playing again.
Joan remembers sitting quietly on her bed beside the window. The curtain was closed. She remembers feeling drained of all feeling and she does not have the slightest idea as to why she suddenly pulled the curtain aside to look out. She registered no emotion of any kind when she found herself face-to-face with the apparition. For that is the only way she can describe what she saw.
It was just there outside the window. A cloudy, almost a vaporiform, the side of an adult. She dropped the curtain back and sat as she said like a Zombie. After a few seconds she lifted the curtain again. It was still there. Again she let the curtains drop. She sat there and waited, looking ever now and again to see if it had gone away. She figured it would go and eventually it did.
She wondered why she felt so numb, so unfeeling. The more she thought about the whole chain of events the more detached she became. It was, she explained, a strange feeling of not being anything at all.
She lay on her bed till daylight and though some dozed fitfully most had had little sleep and were thankful that the long night was over. The lights were still burning in the old building but the kitchen door was unlocked. The record player in the sitting room was just as it had been left switched off from the previous night and the record that they had heard in the night still sat on the machine.
Nobody said very much at all. Maureen Cramer was counting the hours for the moment when her husband would arrive with the bus from Perth. They had all had breakfast and organised the children's activities for the morning and then set about packing up and cleaning.
It had previously been decided that as Mr. Cramer would have driven up directly off night duty he should have some sleep before making the return journey, but having arrived and heard some of the story and also having had a good look around the place, he too sensed something very unhealthy, so it was arranged that the entire camp would go to Don's house and Mr. Cramer would have a sleep there.
Meantime the caretaker had reappeared on the scene.
The relief of everyone concerned was obvious as they piled into the bus and pulled away from that place. Taking a last look at the building they all felt that they were leaving an evil place. In fact they all were grateful to have got away with only minor injuries but, says Joan, the mental scars would take a long time to heal.
Several other people who have visited this place say they too have been very aware of some strange presence in the building. An eighty year old woman who was once the Matron there, who left in the early 1920's, recalled that there was something very frightening about the upstairs and that no-one liked working up there at night. All rounds were carried out by two people. No-one would go it alone.
However there are many other folk who absolutely refute any suggestion that the place is haunted.
Joan had finished her story and knowing I was anxious to meet some of the other helpers involved, arranged for me to meet Maureen Cramer. I had previously spoken with Maureen by telephone and meeting her in person confirmed my impression that she was a very forthright and no-nonsense type of character. A very happy out-going personality and easy to talk with.
Maureen had gone along to the camp with her young son and daughter and had undertaken to do the camp cooking. She had had more than enough to occupy her first few hours on arrival. Organising the collecting of stores and preparing the first meal.
Later that evening she had discussed the oppressive heat with the other mothers and wondering if perhaps they would have all been much more comfortable had they settled for the upstairs dormitory in the old building, she took herself up to this part of the building to have a look around. Paul decided to accompany her.
When they reached the centre of the dormitory they were amazed to hear and feel a howling wind coming down the chimney. The night was absolutely still, not so much as a gentle breeze outside and not even a alight draught inside.
Standing there both admitted to having a very strange feeling they were not along. Again when they got to the end of the dormitory they were certain there was some unseen presence in the room with them.
Returning to join the other helpers on the verandah of the building both had heard the eerie moaning and crying and had been some of the first to race over to the Annexe to check the children. They were all safely asleep in their beds.
On the Tuesday Maureen had been in the kitchen with Joan Harrison. She had filled the kettle while JOan had fetched a white china jug from the pantry and had placed it on the bench opposite the sink. As they stood together waiting for the kettle to boil they had witnessed the weird sight of the jug rising into the air and travelling several feet before dropping down and smashing onto the floor.*
Later there had been several strange and inexplicable instances with the electric stove. Hot plates suddenly going cold without being turned off. Obviously with a power cut or fuse the whole stove would have been rendered out of action and it was only occasionally that there seemed to be this incredibly strange behavior. Other times the stove appeared to be in very good order.
Maureen was also a witness to the odd behavior of the door knob. As previously explained by Joan, this door was unused. Maureen says that normally the knob would have only turned half over to the left if one wanted to open the door. They had all been transfixed when of its own violition it had spun around and around. Even some of the children had been puzzled as to what was happening.
Maureen had been one of the helpers to accompany the children to the swimming pool. (Joan had remained with her daughter Darleen and two other girls and had experienced the day-time crying and moaning). After Maureen arrived back from the pool, another of the girls went to her. The girl was very distressed and said there was blood under the stairway. There was too. Several watched this totally unexplained phenomenon. The blood appeared to ooze through the surface of the underneath section of the stairway. It was not daubed or smeared on. There was no visible sign of any human action involved. One girl actually was brave enough to taste the liquid. She was positive it was blood. Maureen was also quite sure that it was blood that she wiped away and all had thoroughly examined the top of the stairs and there was absolutely nothing to indicate where the blood was seeping from. Once it had been cleaned it did not reappear. It certainly had not been there a few minutes earlier because the stairs had been used during a search for a trap door or some other hidden place where secret entry may have been possible.
Later that evening Maureen recalls how she had gone upstairs with several of the others in the company of the caretaker. This had been arranged earlier so that they could have the door of the small attic unlocked. One of the dogs was also there. When they arrived at the first landing the dog has hesitated and shown fear. It had to be forcibly dragged u to the room. The door was then unlocked and opened. The dog would not enter and Maureen said she was powerless to move into the room. Something seemed to hold her back. She could scarce refrain from vomiting as the stench from within the room was indescribably putrid. She says she never smelled anything as obnoxious. The room was again bolted and padlocked.
Later when they all retired to the Annexe for the night they all heard the moaning and crying. The children were all checked at least three times and each time all were fast asleep.
Several odd things occurred on the following day. Maureen experienced a peculiar pin-prick in her head whilst sitting in a chair in the lounge room. This was at the time that Joan was kneed in the back. There was no-one else around at the time but at each occurrence this terrible smell would waft around just for a moment and then disappear. Visitors arrived unexpectedly in the afternoon. They were old friends of one of the helpers. Upon hearing of the strange happenings they decided to call again later that evening and this they did.
Later Maureen had gone upstairs with Paul and the visitors, Don and his wife Sylvia. They decided to use torches as they wanted to have a good look around without drawing attention to themselves and considered it advisable not to flood the building with light.
However, there had been a most peculiar happening with the torches when they had stood near the fireplace in the main ward.
They checked right through the dormitory, on, in and under every bed. These were double bunks in rows along each side of the room. The same putrid smell also remained, but never in the one place.
They all returned to the rest of the group downstairs and had supper. During this time they had a serious discussion, trying to find a logical explanation for the things they had heard and felt. They decided to again visit the upstairs dormitory. this they did, checking every conceivable nook and cranny, every bed, cupboard etc. They were absolutely certain that no-one was concealed in the building and there was no possibility that any one could have entered or left the building without being seen.
Maureen recalled that by this time Don was also becoming quite scared, for up to that time he had been prepared to dismiss many of the incidents as imaginary or at least some kind of practical joke. Then to their amazement, on leaving the dormitory they noticed some sort of light at the bottom of the door leading into the attic. They had previously double-checked that the door was bolted and padlocked. The light disappeared and upon further examination the door was found to be open but the room was completely empty. Only the putrid smell remained.
The men shut, bolted and padlocked door was wide open. By now they could hear some of the children in the annexe so they all went over there. One boy was sitting up in his bed, his face as white as a sheet. he was visibly terrified and it was some time before they could get a word out of him. Eventually he said the place was 'spooked'. He had seen a white shape at the window.
About four o'clock that morning they had heard music coming from the main building but no-one by this time was game enough to return to investigate. They had barricaded the doorways in the Annexe with brooms and mops etc. and had armed themselves with cricket bats, stumps and one had a large can of fly spray. The men put a mattress on the floor in the main doorway but all of them stayed awake till daylight.
Later that morning, after breakfast, they had all gone upstairs with the caretaker and all the locked doors were open and they noticed a coat hanger in the attic room. It definitely had not been there earlier. They all noticed that the putrid smell had disappeared.
Maureen admits that the caretaker appeared startled to find the doors open. He had not heard the 'explosion' during the night. When told of the other strange happenings he did say that members of a previous church camp had sighted strange white shapes on the verandahs.
Maureen had never had any previous experience with anything supernatural. She is adamant that there are strange forces at work in that building. She knows what she saw.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
How does a healthy athletic young man react to a close encounter with the supernatural?
When I first met Paul shortly after the holiday he was still recovering from the initial shock from all that had happened.
He recalled that on arrival they had been told that the upstairs section of the old building was strictly out of bounds. However, because of the above century heat there was some discussion between the adults that it may have been more comfortable for the children to have slept up there with possibly a better flow of air through windows opening on both sides of the dormitory.
On the second day Paul had been in the vicinity of the passage when Kirsty had the terrifying experience of a strange force trying to throw her through the glass door.
On the third day it was Paul who had been the first on the scene when the young girls saw the blood appearing under the staircase. he reiterates that the blood was fresh and appeared to have oozed from the surface. It definitely had not been smeared on and no-one could have got to the staircase without being observed by him and others of the group.
Again that night he had heard the moaning and screaming. Paul confirmed that he had been on of the four adults who had attempted to find some logical explanation for all that happened. He had accompanied Don and Sylvia and Maureen Cramer on a tour of the upstairs section of the old building. He had held one of the torches that had behaved so strangely by switching on and off at the fireplace.
Later he had been downstairs in the sitting room when the explosion occurred and also witnessed that the door upstairs which he had personally checked earlier and found to be bolted and padlocked was then wide open as though some extra strong force had been used. Later that night he had observed the children's bedroom door slowly open. There was no-one there but it seemed to confirm the frightening experience of one of the boys who had been found in a state of shock after seeing a ghostly figure at the door that had vanished into thin air.
After talking with Paul and having listened to his account of the extraordinary occurrences I can only say that I am quite certain that he was a most sincere and honest witness. Equally mystified as to the reasons for all that had happened.
Could six perfectly normal people have imagined everything that took place? A seventh outsider voluntarily becoming involved would on his own admission never set foot in the place again. Yet Joan was prepared to set all her fears to one side to return to try to solve the mystery or to at least find the answer to some of her questions.
Footnote:
They all sat there for a few minutes debating what to do when suddenly a tremendous noise or explosive sound shook the building. Joan's first thought was that the hot-water system had exploded. Then everyone raced out of the building across to the annexe. The children appeared to be sleeping quite peacefully and nothing seemed to have been disturbed. Looking outside they realised that they had left the lights on in the old building but not one of the adults would brave going back there. Without the torches they were not game to risk going anywhere.
Whatever the noise it was obvious that it had not disturbed anyone else and the caretaker's cottage was still in darkness. Fortunately Don's car was right outside and although reluctant to go, Sylvia woke her young family and, leaving Don to stay on guard with the others, went home.
Don and Paul settled themselves on a mattress in the doorway of the dormitory. Joan lay on her bed with Darleen beside her.
Joan said it must have been a nightmare. Vinny hotly denied this. How could it be when she was wide awake. And she proved it too by repeating everything the others had said. And when they looked at her throat they saw a bruise where Vinny said she felt something ripping her.
Maureen too was recovering again, and wearily Joan returned to her bed.
No-one was prepared to go over to the building. They all agreed to wait till daylight.
Joan felts she was wasting her time mentioning anything to him and to his question "Did you have a nice night?" she replied that even he must have heard the loud noise. He denied hearing anything at all. However Joan was insistent that he accompany them upstairs. He went with them and Joan says he did seem as surprised as them to find the bolted and padlocked door of the dying room standing wide open. Upon entering the dormitory the previously locked inner room was also wide open.
No explanation was offered.
All had gone out simultaneously. When they stepped several paces away the torches had lighted again. they were all pretty scared by this but sticking together they had repeated the movement to and from the area several times and each time the torches had gone out and relit again in this most incredible manner.
On the way back they had looked into the side dormitory and noticed a strange oblong shape in the middle of the floor. Thinking it may have been a shadow they switched on the light but it was not a shadow, rather it appeared as a small cloud of dark vapour which slowly dissolved as they watched.
And yet when they all arrived at the door of the bathroom at the end of the dormitory to their utter amazement they saw water disappearing down the sink and no tap turned on. The tap was very hot as if it had just been used. Now if anyone had been in that bathroom they would have had to pass the group to get out and there was certainly no place where anyone could possibly have hidden.
This was also seen by Joan and several others later that night. Maureen was also present when some unseen force attacked Vinny. She is positive that Vinny was wide awake at the time and that there was no way that the bruises on Vinny's throat could have been self-inflicted. Vinny had been very affected by the incident and weeks later could not speak about it.
Later that night Maureen said they had heard strange tapping noises but each time they went to investigate the tapping ceased.
This was the question I posed to Paul Harrison, son of Mrs. Joan Harrison and coach of the Rochkingham Branch of the Little Athletic Club and one of the group involved with the very strange happenings at the old York hospital.
Bewilderment had given way to incredibility, but as he said, 'he had to believe what he saw', and the fact that there were several other reliable witnesses only confirmed his belief that there was some very strange force at work in that building.
He had accompanied Mrs. Maureen Cramer on a tour of inspection. The first thing that amazed him was the icy coldness of that dormitory and the fact that although it was oppressively still outside there was a howling wind blowing down the chimney. He was very aware of an unseen presence in the room with them. He recalls a foul smell, like nothing he had ever smelled before and later in the evening he heard the strange moaning and crying which appeared to come from a locked room.
He had been one of the first on the scene and witnessed the near hysteria of both girls.
Later he had attempted to remove the jagged remains of the glass from the door but it had required the full force of a heavy block of wood, wielded by the caretaker, to dislodge the pieces. Not long after this the sitting room door had slammed in his face actually hitting him on the forehead thereby raising quite a lump. Then the door had re-opened almost immediately as thought by some unseen hand. Yet there was no-one there and no breeze or draught to account for what had happened.
He it was who first saw the water mysteriously disappearing down the plug hole. There was, he said, no way that anyone could possibly have hidden in that building without being seen. There was no other way out and it would have been absolutely impossible for anyone to have got out of that bathroom without passing the four adults.
Many of the children have also told their parents of strange happenings and perhaps they too will one day know the answer and the reason behind it all.
It will be noted that the two women provided accounts of the incident concerning the jog which vary slightly. Maureen state that Joan had placed the jug on the cupboard whereas Joan recalls that it was already there. Variation of such minute detail is not important when measured against the overall similarity of their recollections.
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