Shelling a Villa.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 204, 21 May 1887, Page 6 (Supplement)

Shelling a Villa.

No little astonishment and consternation were caused in the pleasant little town of Innellan, on the estuary of the Clyde, on February 18th, by an accident which occurred on board H.M.S. Ajax as she passed down the Firth. The Ajax is the guardship stationed at the Tail of the Bank, and on the date in question she was on her way to Chatham. She has a very heavy armament, her guns firing projectiles weighing from 1001b to 1201b each, and having a range from seven to eight miles, in consequence of which her gun practice has always been carried on below the Cum braes. It? was resolved to fire on the way to Chatham the usual quarterly ammunition, but owing to some accident three shots were fired too soon, while the ship was passing Innellan. Two of the shots happily went seawards and did no harm, but the third landed in the garden of Ashgrove Villa, a house belonging to Mr G. W. Paton, a Oreenock sugar merchant. It ploughed up the earth to a depth of six or seven feet, carried away some lar^e trees, wrecked a conseivatory, sont a huge stone through the window of the drawing-room and the wall at the other end of the room, and lodged some two tons of earth and stones on the roof of the house, bulging it in, and doing other damage. In fact, this one shot rendered the house uninhabitable, and spoiled the grounds as well. Mrs Paton, who was in the house, escaped unhurt, but a plumber who was at work in io was severely hurt, and a servant girl waa slightly injured. A question was asked in the House of Commons on February 21 a8 to the cause of the accident The Firsti Lord of the Admiralty replied that the exact cause had not up to that time been ascertained, but the misadventure appeared to have resulted from some accidental disturbance of the electric gun circuit. He added that a special inquiry would be made into the matter.