A pair of pliers that walked.
“Goings on ” in haunted office.
Ringing bell.
Sunday Mercury Special.
Psychic investigators have failed to solve the mystery of mysterious happenings in a Bristol office, but they are convinced that supernatural forces are responsible. A bell, operated through being struck a firm blow, every now and again flies through the air, is dashed violently off desks, disappears completely, and re-appears in unexpected places. It was locked in a filing cabinet, yet it continued to ring at intervals. Once the bell flew from nobody-knows where, and severely bruised the leg of a typist alone in th eroom.
Keys have vanished mysteriously and re-appeared. One day the office staff were locked in. There have been rappings on doors when no one has been on the other side. The telephone bell rings, but when the receiver is raised there is no voice. A pot of water rose in the air apparently of its own free will and overturned, spilling over the floor. A heavy box has been thrown from one end of a corridor to the other, smashing to pieces. One member of the staff turned round to see a pair of pliers following him along the ground. A pair of scissors suddenly appeared in the air between two men who were talking, then were whisked away as though by an unseen hand.
Practical joking has been ruled out, and even a skilled stage illusionist could not have performed some of the juggling with articles of office furniture which baffled members of the staff. Besides, it is a sober office. The staff has got past the stage of laughing, and is worried. It is wondering what’s going to happen next…!
Birmingham Weekly Mercury, 13th June 1937.