Another case of Stone-throwing.
Sydney, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Another case of stone-throwing, similar to the one which recently occurred in the Maclean district, has occurred at Enmore, where the residents of two houses had their windows shattered by stones from the size of a brick to pebbles. The affair is a mystery. Combined efforts of a dozen police have been futile in elucidating the mystery. To-day the force was doubled. Constable Gordon is plain clothes, and the detectives are now surrounding the neighbourhood to await the usual evening’s bombardment.
Goulburn Herald, 9th May 1894.
Stone-throwing case in Sydney.
Two houses bombarded.
Police precautions unavailing.
Sydney, Wednesday.
Another stone-throwing affair, similar to those at Maclean and Adamstown, has occurred at Enmore, where the residents of a couple of houses had their windows shattered, owing to the premises being made a target for missiles from the size of a brick to that of a pebble. The affair is shrouded in mystery, the combined efforts of a dozen police being futile in elucidating the affair. The houses are three brick of handsome exterior, adjoining each other in Charles-street, Enmore. The largest, No. 1 Mason’s-terrace, is occupied by Mr Hurcombe. Next door lives a railway porter named McCann, who has for his neighbour Senior-constable Bennett, of Newtown.
On Friday afternoon there began a regularly repeated stone shower. About 4.30 the inmates of McCann’s place were aware of a falling of stones upon the iron roof. One of the inmates ran to the back gate, which opens on to the lane, for the purpose of discovering the perpetrator. no one could be seen about, nor did the throwing cease. A few minutes after the attack was renewed, and a perfect storm of missiles began to fall on the roofs of the main dwellings and outhouses. This was continued intermittently for upwards of an hour, when it ceased for the night.
The matter was reported to the police, and nothing more was thought of the matter until 7.30 the following morning, when the attack was recommenced by a shower of half-bricks hurled at regular intervals upon both houses occupied by McCann and Hurcombe. Some missiles weighed four pounds, and were hurled with tremendous force at the dining-room window. McCann’s house was shattered.
When the fusilade ceased a small heap of stones was collected in the room, having come through the broken window. During the time the inmates, with the aid of Senior-constable Bennett explored the neighbourhood, but were unable to locate the spot from whence the stones were hurled.
The police found that the greatest distance they could hurl the largest of the missiles was 30 yards. Assuming that the perpetrator could fling them an equal distance, it would be necessary for him to stand in the middle of a wide lane at the rear of the houses, and in full view of the inmates of a score of houses whose back gates open on the thoroughfare.
The attack was continued on Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Monday morning and evening, Tuesday morning and evening, and this morning. In the mornings the stones begin to fall at 7 o’clock, and continue intermittently for about an hour, when they cease until about 5 o’clock in the evening. The first showers are usually very heavy, and of great size. So far the inmates are uninjured. But during one of the evening fusilades an inmate of Mr Hurcombe’s household was passing along the dining-room, with a milk jug in her hand, when a half-brick crashed through the window, shattering the jug into pieces, giving the lady, who is in a delicate state of health, a severe fright.
The house occupied by Senior-constable Bennett has, so far, escaped with the smashing of one window, but on the roof of the outhouse there are quantities of bricks and stones of all sizes and descriptions. The authorities at first looked upon the affair as the work of mischievously-inclined youths, but are now inclined to view the matter more seriously. Last night a number of officers were told off to specially watch the place. This they did. This morning they were about going off duty, and had turned their backs upon the houses when the morning attack commenced. Although searching diligently they failed to locate the perpetrators. To-day the force was doubled, and a cordon of plain-clothes police detectives surrounded the neighbourhood.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 10th May 1894.
Stone-throwing continued this morning at the residence of Mr McCann, Enmore. Shortly after 7 o’clock a lump of sandstone, weighing about half a pound struck the jamb of the kitchen-door and redounded on to the floor of the passage in close proximity to a little girl, a friend of Mrs McCann’s, who was in the kitchen at the time. She was alarmed and hastily ran up stairs and informed Mrs McCann, who got down stairs almost simultaneously with the advent of another missile through a broken glass window, the panes, each 30 by 15 inches, being completely shattered. So far the attempts of the police to discover the miscreants have proved futile, though a couple of plain-clothes constables were stationed in the yard, and another on a prominent point of vantage when the attack recommenced.
The Maitland Daily Mercury, 10th May 1894.
The Enmore Mystery.
The stone-throwing continued.
The Police at fault.
No solution of the mysterious attack – excitement in the locality – accuracy of the aim.
The stone-throwing attack on the residence of Mr McCann, Charles-street, Enmore, was resumed last night, and despite extraordinary vigilance on the part of the police the affair is still wrapt in mystery. Yesterday afternoon several dangerous pieces of metal whizzed through the air and landed through the dining-room window, or rather between the sashes, for the window itself has long ceased to exist. In the evening a strong body of police, including the smartest plain-clothes officers in the district, was distributed at spots which could command a view of all the vicinity. One constable who was inside the house ascended the stairs and peered through a back-room window into the gloom with the determination to locate the direction from which the next missile was hurled. Standing in a position which enabled him to see all without being himself discerned he waited patiently. Not a single moment did his eyes wander from the rear of th ehouse.
The night was still, not a breeze rustled the leaves of the trees, and beyond the hum of voices from the lane at the back there was nothing to attract his attention. For a long time he waited in vain, when, without a moment’s warning, a brick crashed through the window. The officer was completely taken aback, and with a muttered imprecation he resumed his watch. Again and yet again the rocks alighted on the spot, but where they came from none could say. It seems simply impossible that such could be the case while over 600 eyes were straining to catch a glimpse of the miscreant. The lane was densely packed with at least 300 people, old and young, rough and refined, all attracted by the mysterious visitation.
There was a certain amount of humor attached to the scene. One aged Hibernian in hushed voice expressed the opinion that some supernatural agency was at work. Another, in a spirit of mockery, exclaimed that the Gale comet, in whisking northwards, was leaving Australia a relic in the shape of a few meteoric fragments of its tail.
The excitement was beginning to cool, and a number of sceptics shouldered their way through the crowd, disgusted with the mildness of the attack, when whizz! crash! a brick-bat crashed through the window once more. The police were scattered among the crowd. In front and in rear, and on all sides, the tall forms of members of the force were to be seen. Youngsters took an elevated view of the siege from the trees which adorn the yard. Everyone was regarded with suspicion, none knew whom to trust. A cry was raised as a brick, weighing at the most modest calculation 4 lb., entered through the aperture into the dining-room. Several of the inmates have had narrow escapes, and Mrs McCann is in a delicate state of health, and not at all in a condition to stand this continual fright. Weary and worried from lack of sleep and fear of being wounded, if not killed, the family is nevertheless unable to snatch beyond several hours sleep.
A sheet of galvanised iron has been nailed across the broken window, but is barely long enough to cover the entire space, leaving 4in. between the top of the iron and the upper portion of the window frame.
Preposterous as the statement may appear the perpetrators of the outrage actually succeeded in firing a great lump of metal through the narrow space referred to into the dining-room. As an additional protection a heavy sack has been stretched across the window from the inside. The stone landed on the mantelpiece, and Mrs McCann promptly removed her more valuable ornaments from the room to prevent further damage. One stone struck the wall of Mr Hurcombe’s house next door, but the aim on that occasion appears to have been erratic, and that gentleman believes that he will not be further molested. Police stayed on the premises the whole of last night, and consider that they have found a clue.
On calling at the house this morning a Star reporter found the inmates in a state of nervous apprehension. Several stones had been thrown, and the children were afraid to venture out of the house, so terrified have they become by the relentless persecution. Owing to the trees the missiles must be thrown from a difficult angle, and the accuracy, taking this fact into consideration, is astounding.
“I suppose you will not be molested again until dusk?” asked the reporter. “I fear we will,” said Mrs McCann, with a tremble in her voice. “They rarely stop altogether until after9.” The time was then half-past 8.
In the evening it is anticipated that the outrage will be resumed, and the police will then once more bring all their talents into play to attempt the solution of the mystery. Mr McCann intends to move to a quieter neighbourhood as soon as possible.
The Australian Star, 11th May 1894.
The Enmore stone-throwing mystery.
The mysterious stone-throwing at Enmore, which was reported in The Daily Telegraph yesterday, continues to baffle every effort of the Newtown police to solve it. Notwithstanding the fact that constables are concealed all around day and night, the throwing continues at intervals, half-bricks, in most cases, being the missiles used, and which now almost invariably come flying with considerable force through McCann’s diningroom window, which is the central object of attack, Harcombe’s house not having been assailed for the past two days.
A plain-clothes officer, who is universally acknowledged as one of the smartest men in the station, is secreted in an upstairs bedroom in McCann’s house, and commands from the window, which is directly over the one assailed, a perfect view of the surrounding yards and houses, including an uninterrupted view of the back lane. This officer, when seen last evening by a reporter, expressed himself as completely nonplussed.
“I never was so taken back in my life,” he said, “to have to acknowledge that I cannot see a person who must be within a few yards heave a brick at me. It’s preposterous. A few minutes ago I was straining my eyes out here, with not a soul in sight and not a leaf stirring on the trees, without the least warning crash came another brick through that ill-fated window.”
The Daily Telegraph, 11th May 1894.
The Enmore Stone-throwing Mystery.
Repetition of the attack.
Crowds of curious spectators.
The mysterious attacks on the houses at Charles-street, Enmore, continue, and every effort put forth by a large staff of the police has been so far baffled. The attack was commenced just a week ago yesterday, about 5 o’clock in the evening. At first no notice was taken of it by the inmates, who were under the impression that it was the work of some boys; but on Sunday a fairly continual line of fire was kept up, the missiles being thrown at short intervals.
Senior-constable Bennett and a railway porter named McCann, whose houses were first attacked, endeavoured, by careful watching, to obtain a clue to the perpetrators of the deed, but without success. On Monday, as the throwing continued, the landlord of the terrace, a resident of Campbelltown, gave information to the police at Newtown, who at once took the matter in hand, and have since made every effort to reach the perpetrators, but without success, for, notwithstanding that several plain-clothes constables are daily stationed in various elevated positions commanding a full view of the whole of the surroundings, the work of stone-throwing continues.
The general opinion is that a machine is used for the purpose, but the police are of a different opinion. A remarkable feature is that the houses selected for the attack are the most secluded by means of trees in the back yard of any in the terrace, and the miscreants have selected the dining-room window of Mr McCann’s house and the kitchen window of Mr Hurcombe’s house as targets, and as Sergeant Bradley, who has charge of the case, said during a conversation with a representative of the Herald, a more difficult target could not have been chosen. In front of the window of Mr McCann’s dining-room, which has been wrecked by the bombardment, is a bamboo tree, almost hiding the window from view. In addition to that there is a large tree growing in the centre of the yard, which makes it impossible, standing in the lane at the rear of the premises, to see the window.
Yesterday afternoon this window was blocked by a sheet of iron to the height of three parts of the way up the window, leaving a space of about 14 inches between the top of the iron and the top of the window, which space is covered on the inside with bags, and at this most difficult spot to reach the stones are generally successfully aimed.
Yesterday afternoon the scene of the attack was changed, and the kitchen window of Mr Hurcombe’s house was made the target, as also the kitchen door of McCann’s house, through which latter opening a piece of blue metal about 3 in. in diameter came with a crash. This happened about 3 o’clock, when the police were secretly stationed in their different positions possessing a full view of the only direction from which the missile could come. Large numbers of people were about at the time, and yet no one seemed to know where the stone came from. The stones are generally thrown about 7 a.m., 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and about 6 or 7 o’clock in the evening, although occasionally they are thrown at other periods of the day.
Mr McCann, who has been made the victim of most of the outrage, and his family are greatly upset about the matter, and during a conversation yesterday Mr McCann said he could not account for it in any other way. He had no grievance with any of his neighbours, being on the best of terms with them all. In fact, he had only recently come to live on that side of the street.
The whole affair has created quite a sensation, not only among the residents, but a continual stream of people are going to and from the scene of the mystery, coming in vehicles and by train, from all parts. Last evening, about 8 o’clock, there could not have been less than between 800 and 900 persons present at one time. The police assert this to be the most difficult task they have had in hand for some time. Stones were thrown about 8 o’clock last evening, when the crowd was at its height, but after that things seemed quiet.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 12th May, 1894.
The Enmore Mystery.
Until someone is arrested, brought before a police court and fined, the stone-throwing at Enmore will be a mystery, and a godsend to the Sydney papers in the way of sensational headlines. It will also give an opportunity to writers to turn up works of reference, and air a borrowed knowledge of mysteries from that of the witch of Endor to the Cock-lane ghost, and the stone-throwing at the Maclean. Meantime, it leads people to wonder why these latter day mysteries so frequently take the form of stone and brick-throwing. If the spirit world has anything to do with this bombardment of houses in a Sydney suburb, then all that can be said for the spirit world is that it shows excessively low tastes by manifesting itself through a medium which is generally only adopted by larrikins. But if on the other hand there is no real mystery about the discharge of these missiles, and they come from the hands of ordinary human beings, that would seem to argue that stone-throwing as an effort to imitate the mysterious is simply adopted because stones and bits of brick offer the readiest means to those idle hands for whom Satan, as the poem tells us, finds some mischief still to do.
There is one thing, however, which the Enmore stone throwing mystery appears to have settled. That is that the police, even when armed with revolvers, are no match for ghosts or spirits whether real or simulated. Spirits in bottles are often too much for the police, but spirits out of bottles, who throw stones and bricks, are invariably quite out of police control. What is wanted for manifestations like those at Enmore is a man like Bismarck. It will be remembered that when the great German Chancellor was bossing not only his master’s empire but pretty well all Europe, a few spirits or supernatural agencies of some kind or another got up a startling series of manifestations in connection with a country church. The manifestations like those at Enmore went on to the wonder of many, and in spite of local police authority, until Bismarck had to interfere. He sent a troop of dragoons who drew a cordon around the place, adn he also announced that any captured spirits would be dealt with under martial law. there were no more manifestations.
Singleton Argus, 12th May 1894.
The Enmore Mystery.
Stone throwing extraordinary. The police baffled.
Not even in the days when Roman catapults drew aim with mighty force against the walls of ancient cities were men more scared than have been the residents of Charles-street, Enmore, during the past week. Metal-shying is a clumsy art peculiar to the Australian larrikin, but the unknown scarifiers of Enmore have raised metal and stone throwing, and even brick-heaving, to the standard of a fine art. For a whole week the inhabitants of two small villas in an unpretentious terrace in Charles-street have been victimised by a person or persons unknown, who have kept up a running fire of ugly missiles upon the back of their premises, riddling windows and endangering life and property. The houses which adjoin are tenanted in th eone case by a Mr McCann, and in the other by a Mr Harcombe, both being railway porters. On Friday last the wives of these two men were alternately startled by the crash of glass, as immense stones and pieces of brick came through their windows. Frightenened they naturally were, especially as there were no evidences to explain the cause of the attack, and when later a spent missile smashed a jug which Mrs Hurcombe held in her hand, matters assumed a serious shape.
It was soon evident that a systematic attack was being made upon the houses at the rear, more especially that of McCann’s, much in the nature of a bombardment. There was no heavy shower of stones, directness of aim being unmistakably the main object in view, and never more than one missile came at a time, and that at irregular intervals. Towards evening the throwing ceased, only to be resumed on the following day, and continued on Sunday and succeeding days. The police at first treated the matter lightly, concluding that it was the work of some individual irresponsible for his actions. As time went on, and the throwing increased rather than diminished, they banished this view of the situation, and settled down seriously to unravel the mystery. So far their efforts have been futile, and they are no nearer a clue than the day they first took the matter in hand.
The mystery of course is where do the missiles, chiefly pieces of brick, and occasionally blue metal and even ironstone, come from, and what is the reason of their coming? The fact that a bevy of plain-clothes constables and detectives have been engaged several days trying to solve the difficulty is proof-positive that it is a mystery. The neighbourhood is a quiet one, and the surroundings apparently unsuited to the development of a mystery of this character, save that a few small trees shelter McCann’s back premises. A lane runs at the end of the back yards the whole length of the terrace, and it is pretty certain that the missiles do not come from the opposite side of the lane. From where, then, do they come? that is the mystery which the police cannot yet solve, although many theories are afloat. It seems almost impossible that missiles of the character mentioned could be thrown from within the terraced premises without the culprit disclosing his hiding-place.
A perplexing feature of the throwing is that the missiles do not all come from the same spot, but from at least two different angles. The distance they travel cannot be far, on account of their size and weight, and also the directness of aim, which is certainly a mystery in itself. For instance, McCann’s window, or the framework after every particle of glass had been smashed, was barricaded from without by means of a sheet of corrugated iron and from within with sacks. The iron covered the framework with the exception of about 6 in. at the top, and so accurate is the aim that in three shots out of four the missile goes clean through the 6in. aperture. McCann, who is naturally bewildered, is of opinion that the stones are hurled by means of some instrument, but since the days of catapults are past it is not easy to imagine an instrument capable of discharging stones of such varying size and shape.
Another peculiar feature of the affair is that most of the throwing takes place in the daytime. Starting as early as 7 in the morning, it continues at irregular intervals up till about 8 p.m. and then ceases for the night. Yesterday there was no throwing after about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, which may be accounted for by the large crowds of people who thronged in the back lane and approaches, and even the front street, showing the notoriety which the mystery has obtained. Hundreds of people came and went, and at times there were as many as 500 persons on the scene, craning their necks over fences, or straining their eyes in the direction of Gale’s comet, as though that might be the cause of the mischief, and of course speculating on a hundred and one ludicrous theories as to the why and wherefore.
The man most concerned, McCann, has no theory as to the mystery, and is unable to afford the police any clue, but it is not at all improbable that a trade feud is at the bottom of the trouble. Luckily no personal injuries have so far been sustained, and but little damage to property has occurred inside the houses.
The Daily Telegraph, 12th May 1894.
Enmore Stone-throwing Mystery. Sydney, May 13.
The police are still baffled over the Enmore stone-throwing mystery. Some thousands of people made a pilgrimage to the bombarded houses yesterday and to-day, and waited around for hours in expectancy of a stony shower descending. The miscreants, however, fought shy, only one stone being thrown yesterday and not any to-day. A trade feud is now believed to be at the bottom of the mystery.
The Express and Telegraph, 14th May 1894.
The Enmore Stone-throwing.
The stone-throwing that has created such a sensation in the quiet suburb of Enmore remains unravelled. Although only one stone has been thrown since our last report, which was a piece of concreate about 2 inch square, and which was thrown into the kitchen of Mr McCann’s house in the presence of a representative of the Sydney Herald and several others on Saturday afternoon, the interest of the curious public has not in any way abated. Crowds of people gather round the premises and discuss the pros and cons of what to most of the public seems a mystery, but the police who are engaged int he case feel that human agency is quietly at work; and, although they are reticent on the subject, it is quite evident they have strong suspicions as to the culprit. All the theories that have been put forth about air-guns, machines, and such-like are scouted by the force.
Gouldburn Evening Penny Post, 15th May 1894.
The Enmore Mystery.
No fresh developments.
Satisfied apparently with the work of destruction accomplished and the terror occasioned the mysterious stone-thrower at Enmore has ceased fusillading the houses at Enmore. The police, however, are still on the alert, and are determined at all hazards to unravel the mystery. Sydneyites of the early seventies will probably remember that a case bearing a similitude to the Enmore mystery occurred at a house situated almost on the spot now occupied by the Oxford Hotel, in King-street. The premises were for several days assailed with missiles of all descriptions in a most mysterious manner, and, despite the strenuous efforts of a large body of police, the affair was never properly elucidated and remains a mystery.
Evening News (Sydney), 15th May 1894.
Enmore Mystery. Solved at Last.
Confession by a girl. A child of the State Relief Department.
The apparent mystery a very simple affair after all – she hid in the garden.
After a lapse of one week since the apparent conclusion of the stone-throwing outrage upon the residence of Mr McCann, Evaville, Charles-street, Enmore, the Newtown police consider that they have solved the mystery. A little girl, about 10 years of age, who lived with Mr McCann as an adopted child, was, it is alleged, the perpetrator, and the police moreover assert that she has made an unqualified confession of her guilt.
Previous to her adoption by McCann the girl was in the charge of the State Children’s Relief Department. Since she has lived with the “persecuted family” she was treated as one of themselves, and was always well clothed, and apparently in the best of spirits. She assisted Mrs McCann in the performance of her household duties and it was considered that she returned the affection which was bestowed upon her. Should it be eventually ascertained that she was solely responsible for the outrage, her motive for such a revengeful actionw will be difficult to understand. It is said that she was very much affected during the recital of her confession, and wept bitterly.
The method she adopted to hurl the stones was to creep from the house into the garden, and in the shadow of the thick foliage cast stone after stone at the ill-fated dining-room window. The mystery attached to the accuracy of the aim is thus unravelled. Another point which considerably mystified the police was how heavy stones could reach the window if they were thrown from a distance exceeding a few yards.
The stone-throwing mystery, as the extraordinary affair at Enmore came to be generally known, commenced on Friday, May 4, when a mild attack was made on the houses in Manson’s-terrace, Charles-street, occupied by Messrs. Hurcombe and McCann. At first the affair was thought lightly of, the persons annoyed being of the opinion that some mischievous larrikins were amusing themselves, with reckless disregard for the safety of people, by throwing stones at the buildings, but with no fixed intention of annoying anyone in particular. On Saturday and Sunday, however, renewed vigor was thrown into the onslaught, and perfect showers of metal fell on the roofs or crashed through the windows, doing pounds’ worth of damage.
On Monday the police were communicated with, but despite the utmost vigilance all attempts to detect the offenders or locate the spot whence the blue metal and brickbats came proved fruitless, and the officers of the law were reluctantly compelled to admit that the affair presented the characteristics of a mystery and they were baffled. The strange affair aroused the curiosity of people in all parts of the city and suburbs, and the hundreds in the locality who crowded in the back lane to watch the stones travelling to the place were augmented by inquisitive persons from all directions, who arrived by trains, trams and ‘buses, and formed an attentive audience, which fairly blocked the lane running at the rear of the affected premises.
Theories were expressed freely as to the source of the disturbances, and there were not a few who attributed the strange happenings to supernatural causes. Members of the police force in plain clothes crushed their way through the crowd, and some of the officers occupied elevated positions in the houses, but all attempts to unravel th emystery ended alike.
What was regarded as the strangest part of the whole affair was the absolute precision of the aim in wielding the stones, especially as the houses attacked were protected by large trees in the yard, one of which entirely obscured the back window of Mr McCann’s house from view. Still through this particular window stones crashed repeatedly until every vestige of glass had disappeared. Then a sheet of galvanised iron was nailed over the opening, but this left an open space of about 6in. at the top. Through this small opening the stones continued to come, and the inmates had several extremely narrow escapes, while ornaments and crockery were smashed to atoms indiscriminately.
The senseless, and to all appearances purposeless attack, naturally upset the families very much, and several of the inmates were seen on the subject appeared in an extreme state of nervousness from the want of rest and continual strain of watchfulness necessary and the annoyance caused.
The throwing continued throughout the week up till Friday last, when there were signs of an abatement in the atack, and since then the trouble has not been renewed. From the size of some of the stones thrown, weighing as much as 4 lb., it is very evident that the wielder must have been within 30 yd of the house, and the manner in which the person escaped detection in the teeth of the utmost vigilance the wits of the police could devise seems very strange.
The Australian Star, 18th May 1894.
The Enmore Mystery. Confession of a Girl.
The stone-throwing mystery at Enmore has been solved. A little girl, aged 10, who lived with occupants of beseiged house has confessed to having hurled th estones from the garden under the shadow of some thick foliage of trees. The girl wept bitterly during the confession, but she gave no motive for her strange action.
Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 18th May 1894.
The Enmore stone-throwing mystery. Sydney, Friday 6.40 p.m.
With reference to the Enmore stone-throwing mystery, the girl Greaves had been suspected by the police and some stones were marked and placed on the spot where the girl was seen yesterday. This morning these stones were thrown and the police, who were on the premises, seized the girl, who denied the imputation, but on the way to the police station she made a full confession, and said she had been told in a dream to throw the stones, and did not consider she was doing wrong.
Gouldburn Herald, 18th May 1894.
The Enmore Mystery Solved.
A girl caught in the act.
The stone-throwing mystery at Enmore has been solved. The perpetrator, it is alleged, is a little girl about 12 years of age, named Eva Grieves, who was an adopted child of Mr McCann. Prior to adoption by McCann, the girl was in the charge of the State Children’s Relief Department. Since she has lived with the family she has been treated as one of themselves. She was always well clothed and cared for, and is a sharp, intelligent child. Should it be eventually ascertained that she was alone responsible for the outrage it will be difficult to understand her motive.
The method she adopted to throw the stones was to creep from the house into the yard, and from under the large castor oil tree, which was growing in the centre of the yard, she would hurl the stones. The tree it may be stated has been cut down within the last few days to allow the police a better opportunity for obtaining a clue.
The police express astonishment that a girl of Grieve’s age could cause such large stones to reach the window. Notwithstanding the precautions, several stones have been thrown during the present week. The windows have been repaired, but Mr McCann, for protection, kept the sheet of iron fastened on the outside of the frame.
The police, having their suspicions aroused, marked several stones and placed them in different parts of the yard of Mr McCann’s house, and also placed marked stones in Mr Hurcome’s yard, which is next door. On Thursday evening Mrs Hurcome, by the aid of the light of the moon, saw the girl throw a stone from the yard of her master’s house towards one of the ill-fated windows. The stone struck the projecting iron. The girl picked up the missile, conveyed it to her mistress, and informed her that another stone had been thrown. Mrs Hurcome in the meantime informed the police of what had occurred.
Senior-constable Meares secreted himself in the bathroom of Mr Hurcome’s house early on Friday morning, and from the window watched for events. About 7 o’clock, the usual hour of throwing, the girl and a sister of Mrs McCann were in the washhouse, and while the latter was engaged washing, a stone was thrown on the roof of the house, the girl Grieves at the time making a remark “You had better go inside for fear of a stone.” Constable Meares, who saw the girl throw the stone, immediately came downstairs and knocked at hte front door of Mr McCann’s premises. The knock was answered by the girl herself, and when charged with the offence at first denied it, but afterwards confessed all, giving as a reason that she was instructed to do so in a dream.
As Mrs McCann refused to keep the girl in her house any longer, Grieves was taken by Constable Meares to the Central Police Station, and afterwards sent back to the Industrial School. What is regarded as the strangest part of the affair is the absolute precision of the aim in wielding the stones, some of which weighed as much as 4 lb and even 6lb. It is evident that the thrower must have been within 20 yards of the house, and the manner in which the person escaped detection in the face of the vigilance of the police seems strange.
Goulburn Evening Penny Post, 19th May 1894.
The Enmore Mystery. Self-confessed Culprit.
The girl that heaved the bricks.
Eva Greaves admits having caused the sensation – instructions imparted while asleep – she is taken back to the state home.
The name of the girl who has confessed to being concerned in the Enmore stone-throwing mystery is Eva Greaves, aged 12. Senior-constable Meyers saw her today at McCann’s house, where she was employed as help. It is believed that the girl admitted having herself performed the extraordinary feat of bombardment, which would put the Heads’ forts to shame, and which has for weeks past mystified the public and knocked endwise all the theories of the police authorities.
Eva Greaves, who is a “State child,” was, it is alleged, seen by Senior-constable Meyers in the act of throwing a stone or a piece of brick or something through the window, and the weird suggestion is that this child has, right under the eyes of scores of eager watchers, been in the habit of rushing out into the yard, firing a brick through the same hole in the glass six or seven times and then rushing back exclaiming, “Great Caesar! Mother, it’s commenced again,” or words to that effect. This is the theory that is adduced from the admissions made by the girl, who, it seems, has eased her little bosom to the police and given the whole show away as it were.
Why a child of Eva’s years should have carried on this mad prank, and how she could possibly have done so undetected so long, are matters which yet remain to be cleared up.
This morning Senior-constable Meyers brought the child to the Central Police Station, and from there he took her to the State Children’s Relief Department at Paddington. For some days, Senior-constable Meares of the Newtown police asserts, the child had been closely watched, and just when it appeared likely that she would be captured in the act the stone-throwing suddenly ceased. The police and indeed the McCanns and all others interested or connected with the case, were thus compelled to cast aside their suspicions until the culprit attempted to renew the attack. For several days the house was not molested. Yesterday, however, several stones were thrown, and Mrs Hurcombe, who resides next door to the McCanns, informed the police that she strongly suspected that she had seen the girl Greaves throw a missile from the garden.
Stones were then marked and placed in the spot where Mrs Hurcombe had noticed the girl. This morning these stones were thrown, and Senior-constables Bradley and Meares, who were on the premises, immediately seized the girl and accused her of being the perpetrator.
While in the house the girl denied the imputation, but whilst on the way to the Newtown Police Station made an extraordinary statement. In addition to making an absolute confession, she said that she had been told in a dream to throw the stones, and did not consider that she was doing wrong in obeying the directions imparted to her while she slept. Mrs McCann refused to allow the child to remain longer in the house, and Senior-constable Meyers conducted her to the home in Begg-street, where she will remain.
Among the numerous communications which the police received from the public setting forth all manner of theories to account for the inexplicable attack, was one from a lady resident of Kiama, who instanced a case which had occurred in Lancashire, England. Strange to say the main points in the Enmore and Lancashire mysteries were precisely similar.
The Australian Star, 19th May 1894.
The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 19th May 1894.
Solution of the Enmore mystery.
The mysterious stone-throwing at Enmore, which has been the occasion of so much excitement in the district and conjecture at the hands of the public generally, has been solved in a very simple and unexpected manner. On Thursday night Mrs Hurcombe, who lives in No. 1 Masons-terrace, was looking out of her window and saw someone in Mrs McCann’s yard throw a stone and then dart into the shadow of the house. She informed the police, and they marked some bricks and placed them in the yard. Yesterday morning Senior-constable Meyers was watching from one of Mrs Hurcombe’s rooms, when he saw a girl of 12, an inmate of McCann’s house, throw one of the bricks on to the roof of the bathroom. He ran quickly round and knocked at McCann’s door, being admitted by the child herself, who coolly denied having thrown the missile when taxed by the officer. She subsequently confessed to having done all the throwing from the commencement, saying she dreamed every night that she had to do it. She threw one or two at Hurcombe’s house to avert suspicion, and her habit was to go just outside the kitchen door, quickly hurl a brick at the window, and dart back again, then raising the alarm. The girl, whose name is Eva Greaves, aged 12, has been an inmate of Mrs McCann’s household for three years, being always well treated, and has been considered by the neighbours to be one of the children of the family. She is a “State” child, and was yesterday taken by Senior-constable Meyers to the home in Begg-street, where she will most likely remain.
The Daily Telegraph, 19th May 1894.
A “Ghost” mystery explained.
An Australian correspondent suggests that the Gravesend coal-throwing ghost is reminiscent of the “Enmore ghost,” whose similar proclivities created a mystery of several days’ standing in Sydney a few years ago. In the Australian case a certain house received regularly at particular hours of the day a fusilade of stones from no ascertainable source. The scared inhabitants evacuateed the house, the Sydney papers sent special reporters to the scene, and the curious flocked to the house in crowds.
Some gentlemen of scientific renown examined the mysterious missiles, and one of them learnedly declared that the stones were of “meteoric origin,” while another hazarded the opinion that they emanated from the planet Mars. But there is nothing more obscure than the obvious, as some paradoxical philosopher has observed, and after all the stones were found to have no more mysterious origin than the topmost branches of a tree in the vicinity of the house, whence they were hurled by some mischievous urchins who had secreted themselves there.
Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 22nd September 1897.