Newspaper Clipping of the Day

via Newspapers.com

What do you get when you cross the "mysterious showers of stones" that form such a large part of Fortean lore with the modern-day "The Watcher" incidents?

This baby.  The "Maui News," October 4, 1921:

Puunene has a mystery which has roused the interest of not only that community, but of all central Maui as news of it spread about. Stones are being thrown, fairly showered up on and around a house and from unknown senders letters or notes are being delivered. Though the police officials have been working on the case for some time, they have not discovered the source of the annoyance. As many as 300 or 400 persons have gathered about the house of a night to witness the strange happenings. Though the stones appear to fall out of a clear sky and though the notes are delivered by some one unseen, there has been no hint of "ghosts" or of "discarnate spirits" in any of the numerous notes the family has received. There appears to be no occasion to refer the matter to the Society for Psychical Research, since the writer has said he will "stay with" the family he is annoying "until my death."

From police sources it is learned that the family which is suffering the annoyances is Portuguese and consists of a father, mother and daughter. Their troubles started when notes began to arrive shortly after it was announced that the daughter was to marry her cousin. Then and since, following a warning whistle, a note written in lead pencil, large letters on brown wrapping paper, would be found under the door or on the porch or some where about the house. In time the family came to expect and look for the letters after hearing the whistle, and they always found one. The language of the letters is fairly grammatical but it is evident that the writer disguises his handwriting. The writer says the family knows who he is and adds that he will never be caught. He makes fun of the police for failing to detect him and details happenings in the house and about the camp.

For months past, dating back as far as June, the family would be showered with gravel and broken stones when returning from the picture shows, on reaching the stone quarry or perhaps not until almost home, but none of the stones ever struck any of them. Recently the stones have fallen in the crowd around the house, not striking any one though one narrowly missed the sheriff. They appear to come from no particular direction nor do they bounce or roll along the ground from where they strike as a stone ordinarily would when thrown near the ground, but on the contrary, bounce or roll a very short distance, more as if they came from above. Larger stones and a piece of iron weighing six or seven pounds have struck upon the roof of the house.

It is not only at night and in the evening that the annoyances occur. In broad daylight stones and gravel have fallen on or about the house but no thrower of them has ever been seen. So also. in the day time the whistle has been heard and letters have been found at the door or under it.

The sheriff has quite a collection of such letters including one received Friday night in which references to his office are not couched in highly complimentary terms. Parties organized in Wailuku went up several nights last week and members of such parties came home mystified.

So persistent has been the annoyance that the members of the family have become extremely nervous and close by neighbors are becoming almost as much so. The section is very closely settled.

Saturday morning the family found one of the notes lying on the stove. It said the writer was sorry for all the annoyance caused and would cease the stone throwing and the letter writing. Since then there have been no repetitions of the troublesome and mysterious incidents and the police believe their activities have brought the end to the affair though investigations are still in progress.

I wasn't able to find if the mysterious letter-writer was ever found.