Mysterious Showers of Stones
At Arcot and Elsewhere.
In referring to the report that a mysterious shower of stones had fallen recently at Arcot, a correspondent writes:-
The falling of stones, heated and heavy, at Arcot, is not a unique occurrence at all. The people of Malabar and the adjacent districts are familiar with such scenes and to some even more severe in their aspect. The scenes are, it is said, the result of some one of the members of the house, in which it occurs, being practised upon by some magician; and most probably, the master of that particular house at Arcot may have been one of the victims of such cruel agents.
I was myself an eye-witness to an even more curious and interesting scene of this class in a village of the Coimbatore District. The master of a certain house there was said to be one of these victims, and in his house I saw the following scenes.
As at Arcot, huge and massive, but not heated, stones were let fall from and near the tops of the house near a group of men but not on the persons; and when the stones were not heavy but mere pellets they were thrown on the men too.
Blows could be heard administered on the body of a certain girl belonging to the house, but no hand or person could be seen near her. And with all these, that same girl had been the victim of other such cruel pranks. Small cans of castor oil could be seen emptied in her mouth and her mouth full of it.
Moreover the clothes and other dresses worn worn by the members of the house would be seen taking fire in one of the corners, and the wretched victim had to strip himself of his clothes to prevent himself from being burnt alive. But fortunately for them there was no serious loss in this direction.
In addition to all these, the exhibition at Arcot – the burning of a portion of the house – was seen there too. And on a particular occasion when one of such burning scenes was going on, a small quantity of chillie powder was dashed in the eyes of a poor woman, who was drawing water to quench the fire. Thus the cruel agent of such mischief had been able even to prevent the wretched victim from extinguishing the fire.
The only remedy, they said, was in asking another magician, well versed in these arts, to practise this against the original agent whom he need not know at all. These scenes were enacted in that house for nearly six months, after which time nothing of that sort has as yet occurred again there. Perhaps the magician was tired of his own mischief and gave his spirit some rest. And most probably the same may be the case at Arcot, where the magician, in order to screen the true victim, has practised it on the whole town.
Madras Weekly Mail, 8th September 1904.
“The Work of a Sorcerer”
“Alacisterm” writes to the Bombay Gazette:-
“In reference to the correspondent of the Madras Mail regarding the mysterious shower of stones at Arcot and elsewhere, I beg to be allowed to say that I have seen similar occurrences in several parts of the world. I have even been the victim on one occasion in Mauritius when the house was pelted with stones and mysterious sounds were heard at night as if all the furniture was being destroyed, when on inspection everything was found to be in perfect order. A young lady residing in the same house had her hair cut short by invisible hands and also had marks of violence all over her person. The house was barricaded by the Police and after a long search was made no trace of any human being could be found. The guardians of the land took fright and abandoned their situation, saying Oh ce n’est rien (‘Oh that’s nothing’). I, as a spiritualist, attribute the mysterious shower of stones at Arcot to be the work of a sorcerer and not that of a magician.”
Madras Weekly Mail, 15th September 1904.