SPRING-HEELED JACK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17028, 30 April 1923, Page 3

SPRING-HEELED JACK.

AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY. To all but the elderly people of tm. ui'fcvwtu generation ihe name xu • opj mg-nccicu ’jt\ u r means muc 01 no cuing (says a Louden paper;. During tne late seventies, now ever, the lamt of ms exploits spread liae wild lire 110 m one end' 01 Lngiand to tne other. lie was a mysterious individual, ol remarkable acrobatic powers, who, ciaci ail in white and wearing a mask. over lus lace, sudcienly sprang out from dark hedgerows on to the backs ot chance wayfarers, terrifying them nearly to death. He never injured his victims, at least not seriously, and robbery was certainly not his object; nevertheless, the terror he inspired was such that in manv parts of the country people were afraid to venture ant of doors after nightfall. In his newly published book. rorty Years On,” Lord Ernest Hamilton tells of the consternation caused by this idiotic practical joker amongst the troops at Colchester, where the author was then serving with liis regiment, the 11th Hussars. Night after night sentries would be bonnetted and tlirowrl down by an un seen assailant. One of the men belonging to the author’s awn company described to him how. the night before. Spring-heeled Jack came flying—without any warning—over the top of the stable buildings he wo« supposed to be guarding, dropped ©n has shoulders. knocked him down, and was g«nc before he coulcl recover hi* feet. Other reports were to the effect that a snow-white figure suddenly appeared from nowhere, hurled the sentries about with superhuman strength and vanished into thin ?;ir.

.Many attempts were made by the officers and others to catch him, but in vain. Indeed, on more than one occasion men who were out at night in search of him were themselves taken unawares, and hurled violently to the ground bv the agile Jack? who then bounded off in a series of gigantic leaps —"like » kangaroo,” as one suite rer expressed it. After reducing a. good part of the garrison at Colchester to the verge of hysteria. he suddenly transferred his operations to Aldershot, and began his old pranks on the night sentries there, with similar disturbing results.

Strong men went on lonely posts hale and hearty, and came off mere nerveshattered wrecks. The civilian population went indoors at nightfall, and stayed there.

Eventually the general panic became so great that Spring-heeled Jack was officially proclaimed in General Orders. Bali cartridge was served out to the sentries, and they were told to shoot the night terror on sight. These measures proved effective, and Spring-heeled Jack was seen no more, at least in the vicinity 01 the camp; though for some little time afterwards reports continued to be received from outlying districts of solitary wayfarers 'pping pounced upon by the familiar white-sheeted figure, who. after rolling his victim in tile dirt, would turn a somersault and disappear over the nearest convenient wall or hedge. Many attempts were made at the time to fathom the secret of Jack’s identity, but to this day it, is not known who he was. Lord Ernest Hamilton, however, says that in the Officers’ mess they were firmly convinced that the midnight masquerader was a certain Lieutenant Alfro.v, of the 6th Rifles. His equipment was supposed to consist of rubber-soled .shoes and a sheet which was white on one side ;«ml bl a cion the other. He was a very big and powerful man. »md extraordinarily active. As an example of his skill in this direction. Lord Ernest mentions that Alfrey used to hunt with the .Essex and Suffolk hounds on a grey polo pony of about fourteen l ands high. On approaching a five-barred gate, instead of putting his mount at it in the ordinary way. A.lfrey would vault off his pony’s back in full career. He and the pony would then jump the gate side by side, after which he would vault back into the saddle and continue the chase until the next, gate was reached, when the performance would be repeated . Obviously, to a man capable of comoassing such feats, tho pranks played bv Spring-heeled Jack would not be so difficult of accomplishment.