Mysterious Stone Throwing.
A mysterious and diabolical case of stone-throwing occurred this week at the house of Mr Barber, 200, Maxey-road, Plumstead, where the whole of the windows in the rear of the house have been smashed. It commenced on Monday night, and has been continued ever since, the presence of the police about the house not having the effect of checking it, the stones coming with such force and rapidity that it has hitherto been impossible to trace their source. The damage will probably have to be made good by the county.
Woolwich Gazette, 24th April 1880.
A Window Smashing Mystery.
The residents on the western side of Maxey Road, at its upper end, have been much excited for the past week by a singular and somewhat alarming bombardment of their houses. Stones of large size have showered upon them from some unknown point at the back, destroying the windows so thoroughly that in one house there is not a single pane of glass unbroken.
The residents of the houses in Burrage Road, whose back gardens adjoin, have been naturally suspected, and the exceedingly respectable inhabitants of the houses most adjacent have been much scandalized and vexed at the imputation.
Nothing, however, could be seen to justify a selection of the offending quarter; and conjecture only seemed to point at such houses as contained young gentlemen of the frolicsome age, to whom, for want of any better explanation, the extraordinary visitation was somewhat dubiously ascribed.
The “eye of the law” in the shape of the police force was invoked, and some twenty constables, clothed sombrely in mufti, have been hidden about the houses and gardens, waiting and watching day and night; but, though the hail of stones continued from about six till ten, p.m., every evening, their origin was and is still a puzzle and a wonder. Indeed, for a day or two, the storm continued all the day; that is to say, at intervals of about five minutes, smash went a pane of glass, or the remains of one, and another big stone arrived in the bed-room, parlour, or kitchen.
A visit to the house particularly affected, which is that of Mr Barber, No. 200, Maxey Road, suggests the interior of a house after a six weeks’ siege. The house has been recently whitened at the back, and to this circumstance has been attributed the preference of the assailants in making it the special object of attack. The bed-room window we found barricaded with boards and carpets, not to save the glass, for every pane had gone, but for the protection of the occupants, who in one or two instances have been injured.
The same destruction was to be seen in all the other rear rooms, even the projecting scullery, whose window faces the south, having come in for its share of the fire, proving that the catapult or other engineof the secret warfare must stand somewhere in that direction.
The recently whitened walls were spotted all over with marks like those which tell the ghastly story of the last stand of the Commune in the Rue de Madelaine, and great pebbles lay about such as no human hand could have hurled for any great distance, some weighing nearly a pound each.
According to latest accounts from the scene, the bombardment continues, but at more uncertain periods. We may add, without ipeding the course of justice, that a clue has been obtained, and that we have every reason to believe that the unoffending inhabitants of Burrage Road will be fully and satisfactorily exonerated. (Latest intelligence) A female l odger who has been residing in Mr Barber’s house, has left, and the stone throwing has ceased.
Kentish Independent, 24th April 1880.
Mysterious Stone-Throwing.
Every now and again we hear of mysterious cases of wholesale stone-throwing, houses being bombarded for days together with stones, great and small, while the police are utterly unable to trace the offenders. Such an occurrence is reported from Plumstead, some of the houses in the upper part of Maxey-road having for some days past been undergoing a bombardment of this description.
Stones of large size have been showered upon them by some unknown hand at the rear of the premises, destroying the windows to such an extent that in one house every pane of glass is broken. The inhabitants of Burrage-road, whose gardens meet those of the Maxey-road houses, have naturally been suspected, and respectable persons have been scandalised and vexed at the imputation.
No reason for the outrage can be guessed at, and the 20 constables in plain clothes who have been hidden about the gardens and houses have failed to discover the offenders, although the stone throwing continued from about six till ten o’clock every evening. Indeed, for a day or two the bombardment continued all through the day, and at intervals of five minutes smash went a pane of glass or the remains of one, and another large stone found its way into the parlour, bed-room, or kitchen.
No. 200, Maxey-road, has been an especial mark for attacks, and suggests the interior of a house after a siege. It has been recently whitened at the back, to which may be attributed its being made a mark of by the assailants. The bed-room window is barricaded with boards and carpets, not to save it, for every pane of glass has gone, but for the protection of the inmates, one or two of whom have been injured. The same destruction is to be seen in all the other rear rooms; even the projecting scullery, the window of which faces the south, has come in for its share of the assault, proving that the catapult or engine used must stand somewhere in that direction.
Many of the stones are much too large to have been thrown from any distance by hand.
It is said the police believe they have at last obtained a clue to the mystery.
Newbury Weekly News and General Advertiser, 29th April 1880.
The Window Smashing Phenomena.
There has been no recurrence this week of the storm of stones which smashed the back windows of the houses in Maxey Road, as reported in our last issue. Mr Barber, the chief victim of the visitation, desires us to state that it was not his lodger, but his servant girl, who quitted the house last week, and he does not share in the opinion of the policeand the neighbours that there was any reason for connecting her departure with the close of the bombardment. He says that she left on Thursday, and that the stone throwing ceased on Wednesday night, and he seems to think that the police ought to have furnished a more reasonable interpretation of the mystery.
Kentish Independent, 1st May 1880.