Mr Podmore (Journal S.P.R., June, 1899) refers briefly to the stone-throwing case at Paris, reported in the Gazette des Tribunaux (February 2, 1854). The affair on February 2 had lasted for three weeks. There was a rain of missiles against an isolated house, which was in a painfully battered condition. The police, aided by dogs, did their best, but could track the missiles to no source. Planks had to be nailed on to the openings of the windows and the door place.
Mirville, not till the following winter, went to make inquiries at the office of the Gazette. He learned that the owner of the house was suspected of having destroyed his own property: others said that a crimianl had been caught. This rumour the police denied. As for the sufferer, Lezible, the occupant of the house, he showed to Mirville the debris of his properties, and a scar from one of the flying stones. “What had I to get by smashing my furniture, mirrors, clock, crockery, to the value of £60?” What indeed!
An odd point was that Lezible shut his outer shutters, which had a narrow chink where the two flaps met. This didn’t baffle the stone throwers. Long thin pieces of tile now flew through the chink!
The secretaries of the Commissary of police assured Mirville that absolutely no explanation had been discovered. Now it is easy to try whether Mr Podmore or I can bombard a house with stones for weeks without being “run in.” If “run in” we could explain to the worthy beak that we were engaged in scientific experiments. However, the case is not “evidential,” it merely donne a penser.
The Poltergeist, historically considered. By Andrew Lang.
Proceedings of the SPR, 1901-3 (v17).