In 1905, the practice of stone throwing amongst boys, was commonplace. Throwing stones for combined fun and mischief was the norm. But sometimes it caused unnecessary pain and annoyance to others and in a few isolated cases, this could be quite serious. As was the following case:
One dark evening in October 1905, Robert Simme (50) who resides at Fleming’s Land in Stonefield Road was on the receiving end of stone throwing. Fleming’s Land was located at the bottom of Stonefield Road.
It seems some children had been playing by themselves at this building and Simme, thinking that the children were making too much noise, went from his house to tell them off. The regrettable part was that one of the boys then responded by throwing a stone at Mr Simme, which squarely hit him on the face with force. It struck him on the eye and with such terrible speed, that his eye became detached. He had to be taken to the Eye Infirmary at Glasgow.
There are no follow up reports on this, but the description and lack of possible surgery all those years ago, may indicate that Mr Simme may have lost the eye altogether.
