Iron Takes Wings
Oil Lamp Flies Up Staircase
Plymouth story
Pail puzzles city police constable
Flying flat-irons, oil lamps, and hair brushes have pestered residents of 69, Charlotte-street, Devonport, in the past few days. A police constable, the City Engineer’s department, and a minister of religion are among those who have been endeavouring to trace the reason for apparent unnatural happenings in the house.
Yesterday Mrs J Bissett told “The Western Morning News” of the series of peculiar events which have been frightening her and her husband. “At first I thought I must be imagining things,” she said. “I fancied my nerves might be upset, but my husband and a woman who was staying in the house at the time saw exactly the same things.”
On Friday morning, she said, her husband was going upstairs to draw the black-out curtains. The curtain covering a high window in the passage had to be drawn back by a long pole which stood in the corner of the landing. Just as he was about to pick it up it flew past him and rattled down the stairs. He thought children might have been playing pranks, but there was none near.
Mrs Bissett picked up the pole and put it back in its place. Immediately it shot downstairs again. A third time they picked it up, and a third time the same thing happened.
“We thought this rather queer,” Mrs Bissett continued, “but that was nothing compared with subsequent happenings. On the third landing of the house I had put a tin trunk with some hats in it. I had covered this trunk with a thick piece of wood. Suddenly this piece of wood rattled down the stairs. There was no one near it, and we could find no apparent reason for this to happen.”
After she had picked up the wood she went into her bedroom. Here she found her wardrobe had fallen right across her bed. With difficulty she managed to stand the heavy piece of furniture upright again. “By this time I was feeling nervous,” she admitted, “so I told my next-door neighbour, who said I was probably a little tired and imagining things, so I asked her to come in and see for herself.”
Rather doubtingly, Mrs Lang, the neighbour, went into the house, and, while she was in the first floor passage, an oil lamp which hangs on the wall under a pair of antler horns suddenly detached itself and flew up the stairs. This startled the neighbour so much that she ran for the police.
When the police constable arrived Mrs Bissett told him what had been happening. As he was listening a pail of water, placed in a corner of the landing in case of fire, moved six feet, spilt all the water down the stairs, and then rattled down a flight of twelve steps. The officer could not account for this as there was no one near the pail, and no visible reason why this should occur. This was made the subject of a report by the officer.
On Saturday morning the city engineer’s department went to inspect the house to find the cause of these happenings. They could discover no practical reason.
“Yet on Saturday worse things happened,” said Mrs Bissett. “While I was talking to Mrs Collins, who was leaving that morning, a jug which was standing on the mantlepiece fell down and smashed. Presently a hair brush flew off the dressing table and danced against the wall on the other side of the room. A minute later a flat-iron seemed to jump off the stove. That also flew across the room, hit the post of the bed and fell against the wall.”
Meanwhile her wardrobe had fallen down again. It did this three times. The third time it was badly smashed against her bed, and the whole of the panel has been shattered.
While she was talking to Mrs Collins, who was staying in the house, she noticed a large framed picture which was hanging over the fireplace. Fearing lest this should fall and the glass smash, she took it down and stood it on the floor against a piece of furniture. Five minutes later the glass splintered into fragments, but the picture still remained upright and was not damaged.
“I went downstairs to wash some dishes,” Mrs Bissett told our reporter. “The lid of a soup tureen flew off and was smashed to smithereens against the opposite wall. Later another dish fell off the dresser and was shattered, and a few minutes after a glass vase glanced off the mantelpiece, appeared to bounce on the floor, and then was broken.”
As neither the City Engineer’s Department nor the police could find any feasible explanation to these phenomena, Mrs Bissett decided to call in a minister. He came, and after questioning her held a service in the house, and prayed that any spirit of evil which might have influences in the household might be removed.
“So far,” Mrs Bissett said thankfully, “we have had no more of these awful scares. But, as you can see for yourself, for you have spoken to other witnesses, they really did happen.”
Western Morning News, 22nd July 1940.
House “Uncanny” No Longer.
All quiet now.
Devonport housewife relieved.
Peace once more reigns at 69, Charlotte-street, Morice Town, Devonport. After an exciting week-end, Mr and Mrs Jack Bissett are now settling down to comparative quiet. Flying flat irons, oil lamps, and hair brushes have been pestering these two people during the last few days, and a number of uncanny happenings have taken place. To state just a few instances, an oil lamp which was hanging on a nail at the bottom of the staircase for no apparent reason suddenly dropped to the ground, and danced up the stairs. The most remarkable thing about this was that the lamp did not smash. On another occasion a picture of Napoleon’s farewell to Josephine fell from its place of honour over the mantelpiece, smashing the glass. The picture itself was not damaged.
When a “Western Morning News” reporter once more visited the Bissetts yesterday to inquire whether any more “weird occurrences” had been going on, a tired, upset and nervous woman opened the door. To the question if “all was quiet,” Mrs Bissett replied: “Nothing has happened since Saturday.”
At first these uncanny things were attributed to reaction from an electric current, but according to the City Engineer’s department this was not the case. Neighbours and a policeman were among those who tried to solve the mystery, but all failed to do so.
Mrs Bissett, relating her experiences, said: “On Saturday morning I was up in my room washing, and had occasion to go downstairs. I left the water in the basin, but on my return the basin was in a thousand pieces with the water swamping the floor. The jug was also shattered.”
Mr Bissett, his wife declared, has been made quite ill by these incidents. For ten years the Bissetts have lived in this house, and nothing of this sort has ever happened before.
A heavy wardrobe which stands against the wall of Mrs Bissett’s bedroom on three occasions fell across the bed. On the third fall it was badly smashed. This was witnessed by several people.
To “break the spell” a minister of religion was called in and, acting upon Mrs Bissett’s request, conducted a service in the house, appealing to the evil spirit to depart. Whether this somewhat unusual service had the desired effect upon any “unwanted visitor” or whether it departed of its own accord, still remains a mystery.
Mrs Bissett feels “sixteen since everything is quiet again.” Her husband agreed. Hardly had Mrs Bissett finished speaking when there was a piercing scream. Our reporter started from her chair and beat a hasty retreat, only to discover it was a parrot.
Western Morning News, 23rd July 1940.
A Destructive Poltergeist.
The ‘Western Evening Herald’ of Plymouth, has recently drawn attention to poltergeist phenomena that have come to light at Devonport. Summarising the story for ‘Light’, Mr John Butler says:
Mrs C., the woman in whose presence these things occur, has two children – a girl aged four years and a boy aged three months. She is married to a sailor and lives in furnished rooms. Her latest landlady, a Mrs B., had given her notice to go because there had been some things which she couldn’t quite explain. Anyway, the date of leaving was Saturdy, the 20th July.
Mr B went to draw the blackout curtains on the landing on that morning, and reached for the pole, which wwas standing in a corner on the landing. As he did so, the pole jumped aside and went tumbling down the stairs. On the landing up above this one, Mrs B had a tin trunk in which she kept some hats, and the trunk was covered by a piece of brown paper kept in place by a board. Suddenly, Mrs B. saw the board come falling down the stairs, followed shortly after by the trunk. There was no one upstairs, Mrs C was standing at a doorway halfway between the two landings.
The next thing that happened was that the wardrobe in Mrs B’s bedroom fell face downwards across the bed, though no one was in the room. She set the wardrobe up and went downstairs. When she came up again the wash-jug and basin were smashed into tiny pieces. She went into the next room and again the wardrobe fell down.
Thinking it might be due to electricity (though there is none in the house) or else to the air raids, she went and questioned a neighbour, Mrs L. This neighbour, thinking Mrs B was perhaps overstrained, brought her back to the house and was standing in the hall comforting her when an oil lamp left its bracket and was flung up the stairs. The chimney of the lamp was unbroken.
Terrified, Mrs L rushed out and called a policeman. Whilst he was trying to pacify the woman a bucket of water kept on the landing in case of fire suddenly leapt six feet and emptied all the water down stairs.
The policeman therefore fetched a city engineer. Whilst he was in the house the wardrobe fell again. He put it up, saw that it was standing fair and square and said that it wouldn’t fall again. As soon as he had gone out of the room however, leaving it empty, the wardrobe fell again and was smashed all down one panel.
Then the policeman and the engineer went into the next room, which was Mrs C’s bed-sitting room, and where the family were. Mrs B went down to her husband. In the presence of these men a flat-iron jumped from the stove in the corner of the room and hit Mrs C. on the head, hurting her but not breaking the skin. Also a hair brush left the mantelpiece and danced upon the opposite wall.
Eventually, as Mrs C was leaving the house, crockery in the kitchen left its place and dashed itself upon the floor at some distance away.
Mrs C informed a reporter that she had had similar troublesome experiences previously – usually in April, near the birthday of her mother, or in July, near the anniversary of her mother’s death. Usually, after these occurrences, she had received bad news of some kind.
Light, v.60, August 1st 1940.