Stone-Throwing Extraordinary.
About a month since, writes a correspondent, one of those unaccountable cases of stone-throwing occurred at a house situate at Potter’s Hill, Aston, and in the occupation of Mr Dolman, coal merchant, causing much excitement in the neighbourhood,and no little fear and expense to the parties immediately concerned. From that time up to yesterday, no disturbance had taken place, when, however, about ten o’clock in the morning, the annoyance once more commenced, and the cannonading became so strong that the inmates were in danger of bodily injury, and were compelled to close the shutters. Strange to say no sooner was this completed than the bedroom windows became the object of attack.
In the meantime the police had been communicated with, and every effort was made to discover from whence the stones proceeded; but notwithstanding the exertions of two detectives, who went so far as to place persons on the house-tops, no trace of the perpetrators or solution of the mystery was discovered. However, as if to defy discovery, the windows of the houses in the immediate neighbourhood, including a grocer’s shop, were broken, the throwing becoming so violent that these were also compelled to close early in the evening.
With only short and occasional intervals the throwing lasted from about ten in the morning till nearly eight at night, and the vigour with which it was carried on is evident from the wholesale manner in which the windows have been smashed. Many of the stones have been collected by Mrs Dolman, and consist of clean, smooth pebbles, much too large to be projected by an ordinary catapult, one of them being so large, and thrown with such force, as to split one of the shutters at the time the shop was being closed.
Birmingham Mail, 29th February 1876.