The Ghostly Window Smashing.
The hope was indulged in last week that the North Peckham ‘ghost’ had been ‘laid’; but it appears it has arisen again, and has been doing a little more window-smashing. The first breakage this week happened on Tuesday evening, at the shop of Mr Howes, grocer and provision dealer, East Surrey Grove. This is the same tradesman who suffered so severely when first the ‘ghost’ commenced its pranks. The large plate-glass windows which had here been broken were only re-glazed last week, and now another, of the value of L.6 5s, has been struck by a large stone right in the centre, cracking it in all directions.
Wednesday passed over undisturbed by any ghostly prnaks, but not so on Thursday. On the evening of that day a large stone went with terrific force through a large pane of glass in the shop window of Mrs Harding, confectioner, St George’s Road, nearly hitting the lady who was standing behind the counter. While they were commenting upon the mysterious occurrence, a great lump of red brick came flying over the people’s heads and went crash through a pane immediately above the one that had been broken only a few minutes before.
Sergeant Phillips was bewildered. He examined the window, found that the missiles had been hurled from different angles, and that was all he could make out.
There was just a little more excitement in store for the wondering crowd. At the corner of East Surrey Grove, in St George’s Road – opposite the Princess Alexandra, in the other corner of the same street – is the shop of Mr Wilcox, chandler. While this gentleman was engaged hanging something up at his door, a stone went crash through a large pane of glass in the window which faces into East Surrey Grove. Mr Wilcox immeidately gazed round about him, but could not discover from whence the stone had come. these are very mysterious proceedings, and all kinds of theories have been adduced as to their cause.
Of course the Spiritualists attribute them to the supernatural. As for the police, notwithstanding the tempting bait of twenty pounds reward offered, and their own unremitting vigilance they appear to be as far off the solution of the mystery as they were the first day they commenced their arduous labours.
There is one thing quite certain – the stones come from different quarters; unless some one has been expert enough to invent a system of throwing round corners, which is not very likely. Another thing is certain, that there is more than one engaged in the malicious work, from the fact that stones have been thrown from different angles almost simultaneously.
And yet it is surprising how, with more than one engaged in it, the secret can be kept so well, and the destructive work carried on so daringly under the very noses of the police officers. the whole mischief done in the locality seems to be confined to an area of say 250 square yards, embracing the top end of St George’s Road and the bottom ends of the streets leading from it – viz, Cator Street, East Surrey Grove, and Camden Grove. – South London Press.
Renfrewshire Independent, 14th October 1871.
The Stone-Throwing in Peckham.
The Daily Telegraph of November 2nd, said that the window-breaking at Peckham, mentioned in our last, was done by some men and boys; that two men and one boy were caught with stones in their pockets, and that they were not punished because nobody would prosecute. The South London Pressof November 4th, says that the aforesaid Daily Telegraphparagraph is “wholly without truth from beginning to end.” Nobody has been taken up by the police, and during the past four weeks a few more windows have been smashed before their eyes.
Mr John Howes, of East Surrey-grove, Peckham, who has had £20 worth of glass broken, writes to the South London Press that the Daily Telegraph paragraph is altogether untrue, and that he and others had, by special placards, offered a reward of £20 for the detection of the offenders. He adds – “Not a single man or boy has been discovered with stones in his pocket; the police have been most energetic, and all praise is due to them for the manner in which they took up and are carrying out the matter, but they are as far off a solution as the night the throwing commenced.”
The Daily Telegraph reporter did not even know the locality, for he calls the scene of operation “Rosemary Branch, Peckham,” whilst in reality the place is several miles away from Rosemary Branch.
Another person who has had his windows smashed, writes to the South London Press that it was utterly impossible that the stones could have come over the opposite houses. Moreover, while the bombardment was at its highest, some of the police were standing on tops of the houses, as well as in the streets. The efforts of Mr Superintendent Gernon, of the P division, to detect the culprits, have been a dead failure, and Mr Inspector Gedge, with all his men, was equally unsuccessful.
The crowds of persons who witnessed the smashing operations, unanimously declared that the mischief must be done by spirits, and our reason for supposing them to be right is that plenty of such cases are on record. Mr William Howitt has collected a great many such cases, and printed them in the Spiritual Magazine. The Parisian police have been baffled more than once by spiritual stone-throwers.
Mr John Jones, Mr Coleman, and others, have written letters to the South London Press about the spiritual hypothesis, and in one of his letters Mr Jones says: “Connected with the breakage of Mrs Harding’s window was a curious fact. The stone broke the window, passed clean over the inner glass casement, and then suddenly stopped in mid air, and took a vertical fall into the scales just emptied by Mrs Harding of some confectionery, as much as to say, ‘Now, just weigh me.’ The stone was three-quarters of a pound weight. I had it weighed. It was a large flint stone, yellow tinged, such as one sees down in the chalk country on the roads, and in the chalk beds; nothing of the kind about the streets of Peckham.”
Spiritualist, 15th November 1871.
interestingly, from earlier in the year:
A Juvenile Window-smasher.
At the Lambeth police-court, Ernest Wollen (8) was charged with breaking a plate glass window, value 30s, in th ehouse of Mr Wilcox, licensed victualler, St. George’s-road, Peckham. Complainant said that stone throwing in his neighbourhood was “quite a mania.” There was not one house out of 1,000 that had not windows broken. Last week the brother of the child had broken plate-glass worth £6. He regretted to appear against such a child, but was obliged to do so on account of the Plate-glass Insurance Company. The magistrate said that frequent complaints were made of stone-throwing, and it had become a serious nuisance.
Mr Wilcox thought the police should appear in plain clothes and capture some of the older boys. The nuisance was very great, and until it was stopped much injury would result. The learned magistrate said parents should punish their children, and he would do all he could to check the evil, and if the police brought older boys before him he would certainly punish them. The boy was sent home with his father, who promised to check his stone-throwing propensities.
South London Press, 17th June 1871.