Slaithwaite’s latest mystery
And its solution.
There have, in the past, been manifold mysteries in the domain of Slaithwaite, but the one of the past week has broken all records, for the magician has not merely waved his magic wand but has brandished it. The last ghost story was nothing in comparison, and the denizens have been thrown into a state of intense curiosity which is akin to excitement. And what would mystery be were it not for Mother Gossip? The one we have most recently had has been scented with burglarious deeds, with ghosts, witchcraft, and the like. Yet it has ended not as most do, allowed to die swathed in the gauze of the Mysteriarch, but in a common sense and practical manner. The ghost has been captured, the sorcery and enchantment has thus ceased, and the burglars, whose figures have loomed in the darkness, have gone behind the screen of obscurity.
The venue of all this mysticism has been the quiet homestead, Calf Hey. Now at Calf Hey there was a servant, to all appearances a very intelligent sort, very intelligent! On Monday night last, about half-past ten, one of the kitchen windows gave way to a missile from an unseen hand. Another and yet another made obeisance to a force which compelled a surrender. All this happened within an hour and caused great alarm and consternation to the inmates. Police-constable Pitcher was informed, and upon going to the house found everything as described. On the kitchen floor were scattered pieces of soft sandstone and coal, but from whence had they come? Could it be the act of mischievous lads, or of someone of more advanced years who had done it for malicious motives? A watch was accordingly laid, but nothing more transpired.
Shortly after ten o’clock the following morning Police-constable Smith went on to the house to make further inquiries regarding any more molestations, and sure enough two more squares had been shattered. Now this was getting a little beyond a joke, and Mrs Partington who had heard of the affair felt convinced that the house had become suddenly haunted. The servant when questioned said that the pane smashed about nine o’clock and that she had not seen anyone about.
It is rather sad when one comes to think of it, for a ghost that is out for the week to take possession of a residence and to find on the second day no reasonable means of escape. So perhaps that accounted for the removal of the coal shoot door, which upon ordinary occasions is fastened within by two iron bars. One of the windows was also found wide open. Mary Ann, for that is the servant’s Christian name, declared these were so when she came down that morning.
Between half-past five and seven o’clock three or four more crashes had taken place, more stones and coal were in the kitchen and on the window sills, but upon a closer investigation it was noticed that each window appeared as if it had been broken from the inside, and that whilst there were no marks upon the window frames on the exterior, the ones inside bore traces of knocks. On this occasion the servant went personally to P.C. Pitcher, who was on duty in the main thoroughfare, and showed him the very stone that had come through the window. The constable at once went to the house and stayed again for some time, but there was nothing to it. The mystery grew more mysterious now the residents, the police, and the general public were thus baffled. The tale of more smashed windows had by this become to be quite an ordinary affair, and the public visited the place and expressed opinions galore.
A man had been seen by the girl in the act of throwing stones at the windows, but he had run away along the canal side and over Rotcher Bridge, and despite all the energy and exertion on the part of those in the immediate vicinity, he could not be trapped.
On Wednesday night the police were told off to further investigate, and after waiting about a couple of hours went into the kitchen and charged the girl, Mary Ann Sawyer, of Armley, Leeds, with being the perpetrator. When cornered, the girl admitted the breakages by instalments, and here the ghost tale ends. The lady of the house was informed, and in her presence and before Police-sergeant Haynes and the other officers, the girl confessed to having smashed the windows, some with clothes props and others with stones, some from the outside and some from the inside, just to suit the circumstances of the case, and to suit her own purpose. Fourteen panes in all were broken. No more need be said. The girl was escorted home the following morning by the daughter of the occupant of the house.
Colne Valley Guardian, 28th January 1898.