Victorian strangeness: The man killed by an

automaton
Author Jeremy Clay tells the grisly story of
the Victorian man killed by a bell-chiming
automaton.
There was no need for Sherlock. The killer didn't
flee the scene. He stood his ground over the
lifeless body of his victim, his hand still gripping
the bloody weapon, his face betraying no emotion.
At the feet of the mechanised figure of a person - which was to have struck
the hour with a hammer - lay Mr Maybrook. Poor, blameless, bludgeoned Mr
Maybrook. At least the end, when it came, was swift. Swift, and absurd.
Mr Maybrook was a man of independent means, according to the report in the
Illustrated Police News, who was travelling for his own pleasure in the German
province of Silesia.
That winter's day in 1876 his wanderlust brought him to a historic church in the
town of Glogau. The verger offered to show him round, but was called away
during the tour, leaving the visitor alone in the clock tower.
Mr Maybrook wasn't too bothered. The clock was an ornate affair with carved
automatons that chimed the passing hours. Left to his own devices, this was a
chance to indulge his curiosity and examine the workings at close quarters.
He was enthralled by the intricate mechanism. So enthralled, in fact, that he
was oblivious to the ominous whirring sound that signalled the wooden figures
were about to spring into action.
What followed was a scene that even an author of badly written whodunits
would dismiss as implausible.
Suddenly, one of the figures struck the great bell. The startled Mr Maybrook
jumped back in surprise. It was the last thing he would ever do.
"He came directly within the range of a huge hammer wielded by another
automaton," said the paper, "which descended on the head of the unfortunate
and ill-fated traveller."
The verger returned from his errand to find his guest in a pool of blood inside
the clock. Well, when your time's up, your time's up.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27527035

Victorian Strangeness: The skeletons who fought to

the death
Some rather dramatic things happen at the theatre, but
here author Jeremy Clay tells the singular story of the
fighting skeletons trapped in a sealed chamber.
It had all the ingredients of a hit melodrama. An atmospheric
setting. A terrible secret. Murder and mystery galore.
But although this tale seems tailor-made for the stage, it
actually played out right above it. Up in the roof, to be more exact.
The timbers of the theatre in the province of Alicante were showing signs of decay back in
1867, so builders were called in and tasked with replacing them. Whatever fee they'd agreed
on, it wasn't nearly enough.
When they ripped down the boards in the upper reaches of the playhouse, a narrow passage
by the brickwork was revealed. And there, hidden away from view for years, stood a pair of
skeletons in the tattered, shredded remains of their clothes.
For the startled workmen it was a nasty surprise, but the unexpected discovery of the bodies
was something of a recurring theme in the 19th Century. It was an age of unprecedented
construction, and with the ground being churned up like never before, skeletons popped up
like ghoulish jack-in-the-boxes. In one particularly lurid case the remains of a postman were
found bricked up behind a wall in North Carolina, his bag stuffed with letters half-a-century
overdue.
But there was an extra twist to the creepy find in Alicante. When the builders conquered their
shock, they took a closer look, and the story took an even darker turn.
The "two ghastly forms", as the Illustrated Police News described them, "were locked
together in a last deadly embrace". One of the figures had a large knife buried deep in its
chest. The handle was still gripped by the fleshless hand of the other, which had a broken
blade in its own neck.
"It was evident from the position of the combatants that a deadly struggle had taken place in
which the lives of both men had been sacrificed," said the paper.
So if the corpses fought to the death, how did they come to be sealed behind those wooden
boards? Good question, and one that doesn't seem to have unduly troubled the Illustrated
Police News.
But there was, at least, a clue to the identity of one of the victims/culprits.
Around 15 years earlier, the paper said, the theatre's carpenter had disappeared without
trace. The very chap, in fact, who could have warned the owners they had a bit of looming
trouble with the beams in the roof.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27730336

Questions
Reading for gist to which article does each of the following statements
apply?
a) One man died.
b) Two men died.
c) It happened in Spain.
d) It happened in Germany.
e) The victim(s) was (were) easy to identify.
f) The victim(s) was (were) not easy to identify.
g) The murder weapon was a knife.
h) The murder weapon was a hammer.
i) The body (bodies) was (were) discovered many years after the event.
j) The body (bodies) was (were) discovered soon after the event.
k) The killer remained at the scene of the crime.
l) The victim(s) was (were) on holiday.
m) The story seems to come from a novel rather than real life.
n) No-one is sure why the victim(s) was (were) there.
Vocabulary
Define the following words from passage 1:

an automaton
bludgeoned
wanderlust
a verger
ornate

to chime
ominous
a whodunit
implausible
to wield

In passage 2, find synonyms for the following words (in order):

peculiar, unique
in great quantities
wooden fittings (e.g. beams)
ripped
repeated
never seen before

to dig up
bright, ghastly
fighter
unnecessarily
man, fellow
impending, coming

Comprehension
a) In your own words, explain why there was no need for Sherlock in the
case of Mr Maybrooks death.
b) In your own words, explain why Mr Maybrook was alone in the clock
tower.
c) In your own words, explain what interested Mr Maybrook about the
clock.
d) How unusual was Mr Maybrooks death? What words or phrases in
passage 1 convey this?
e) Explain, in your own words, exactly how Mr Maybrook died.
f) Why does the journalist write that the builders fee in passage 2 wasnt
nearly enough?
g) Explain, in your own words, what the builders saw when they took out
the wooden boards.
h) Explain, in your own words, why so many bodies were discovered in the
19th century.
i) Why was the case of the dead postman particularly lurid?
j) Explain, in your own words, exactly how the two men in passage 2 died.
k) What explanation is given for why the bodies were sealed behind the
wooden boards?
l) How much do we know about the identity of the dead men in passage
2?
Language questions
a) Discuss the structure of the first paragraph of each passage. What
techniques does the journalist use and what effect does he want to have
on the reader?
b) What tone is created at the end of each paragraph? How does the
journalist create this tone? Why do you think he chooses to do this?
c) How does the journalist make the reader feel sympathy for Mr Maybrook?
d) Find two examples of repetition in passage 1 and discuss the effect of
this technique.
e) Read the long middle paragraph in passage 1. Why do you think the
journalist has chosen a longer paragraph here than in the rest of the
passage?
f) In passage 2, how does the author convey the creepy nature of the
story? Choose two examples of effective word choice and explain their
effect on the reader.
g) Discuss the effectiveness of starting paragraphs 2, 6 and 10 of passage
2 with the word but.

ANSWERS
Reading for gist
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)

One man died. 1

Two men died. 2
It happened in Spain. 2
It happened in Germany. 1
The victim(s) was (were) easy to identify. 1
The victim(s) was (were) not easy to identify. 2
The murder weapon was a knife. 2
The murder weapon was a hammer. 1
The body (bodies) was (were) discovered many
years after the event. 2

j)
k)
l)
m)
n)

The body (bodies) was (were) discovered soon

after the event. 1
The killer remained at the scene of the crime. 1
and 2
The victim(s) was (were) on holiday. 1
The story seems to come from a novel rather
than real life. 1 and 2
No-one is sure why the victim(s) was (were)
there. 2

Vocabulary
Define the following words from passage 1:

an automaton = robot, mechanised figure

bludgeoned = hit, crushed, beaten

wanderlust = curiosity and desire to travel

a verger = a churchman

ornate = decorated

to chime = strike (of a clock)

In passage 2, find synonyms for the following words (in order):

peculiar, unique = singular

in great quantities = galore

wooden fittings (e.g. beams) = timbers

ripped = shredded/tattered

repeated = recurring

never seen before = unprecedented

ominous = foreboding
a whodunit = mystery or detective novel
implausible = unlikely
to wield = to hold (as a weapon)

to dig up = to churn up
bright, ghastly = lurid
fighter = combatant
unnecessarily = unduly
man, fellow = chap
impending, coming =looming

Comprehension
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)

Because the killer (the mechanised figure) was next to the body; because the cause of death was obvious
The man showing him around had to go to see someone, so left him alone.
He was intrigued by the complicated mechanism.
Very unusual. absurd implausible ill-fated (etc.)
He was struck by the hammer/mallet held by a mechanised figure which was part of the hourly clock-striking
mechanism,
The grisly discovery they made was shocking and not part of their expected work; they were only paid for building
work and not for this kind of discovery.
They saw two skeletons, dressed in rags, frozen in the position in which they killed each other.
As so much building work was being carried out and thus lots of earth was turned up / walls were knocked down.
As he had 50-year-old undelivered letters in his satchel.
They stabbed each other one in the neck, the other in the chest.
No clear explanation is given. it is still a mystery.
We think that one man may have been the theatre carpenter, but it isnt definite.

Language questions
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)

Simple, short, ungrammatical sentences. Easy to understand, create tension, intrigue the reader, draw the reader in.
A humorous or light-hearted tone. Passage 1 uses a pun; passage 2 uses irony / an off-the-cuff comment. It lightens
the tone after the grisly details of the article.
Use of adjectives e.g. poor or unfortunate; emphasis on how unlucky he was (e.g. he avoided the first automaton but
was hit by the second).
swift when your times up emphasising key facts, lightening the tone, drawing the reader in, creating interest
(desire to read on).
It contains the most detail; it builds tension for what is to come (the swift death)
Words such as terrible, ghastly or deadly embrace would be suitable answers here.
This signals to the reader that there is a twist in the tale; we are keen to read on and find out what new detail the
journalist can give us.