Calcutta’s ‘Haunted’ House.
Poltergeist theory.
Strange happenings in the compound of a residence in Calcutta have puzzled the residents, neighbours and investigating police. The house is “Bamboo Villa,” 169, Lower Circular Road, the residence of Mrs G. Gubbay. At the entrance to the handsome compound are the corrugated iron-roofed quarters of a number of servants, and surrounding them are trees, though none of the latter overhang any part of the buildings. Next door is an unoccupied house.
Early one evening just as dusk had fallen, the servants were startled by a violent and unaccountable rattling of the iron roof. After a brief interval this was followed by a sharp shower of stones varying in size from that of a match box to a clenched fist. For something like four hours stones continued to hurtle down, with brief intervals between the showers. Neighbours were summoned and, later, policemen from the local thana came upon the scene. But the downpour continued, the missiles proving to be a miscellaneous collection of pieces of brick, stones commonly used in the metalling of roads and plaster.
At one time as many as 50 people, drawn by reports of these unusual happenings, congregated about the go-downs and even when the stones were falling thickest no one was hit. Search parties armed with lanterns and torches were organised. Permission to enter the unoccupied house was obtained. Every bush and nook and cranny that might afford concealment to a human being was thoroughly investigated. The search was carried out over a considerable area, but with no result – and the shower of stones, and occasional rattling of the iron sheeting continued unabated. Still no one had been hit.
This phenomenon lasted for about four hours and ceased as suddenly and mysteriously as it had begun. It was repeated early the next morning and again in the evening.
Responsible and reliable witnesses of this uncanny performance give an assurance that there was no possibility of any human agency being involved.
The Straits Times, 26th January 1936.