SENSATIONAL MAN-HUNT.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 55, 5 March 1909, Page 4

SENSATIONAL MAN-HUNT.

RUSSIAN ANARCHISTS PURSUED. ' TRAGIC DOINGS IN LONDON. PEOPLE KILLED AND WOUNDED. THRILLING STORY OF THE CHASE. I LONDON, Jan. 29. j Londoners were startled at the last week-end by a highway outrage on agrand scale. j The great metropolis always has its' desperadoes, but there were two terroists from Russia who were prepared to ex- j tend the lawless methods of their own' country to this one, and to go to an extreme undreamt of by London's peaceful citizens for several generations at least. They commenced by knocking down a clerk at a factory as he was stepping out of a motor-car with a bag containing wages. In a struggle with the clerk and chauffeur one of the thieves whipped out a Mauser pistol and emptied the five barrels, but without effect. Both, however, managed to free themselves and run. THE CHASE COMMENCES. As it happened, there is a police station close to the scene of the initial outrage. The men on duty heard the shots, and at once all was excitement. One constable jumped from & window, others rushed out of the door and without a pause joined in the pursuit. The mounted patrols ran to saddle their horses, tut of necessity ihey lost a little time, and those on foot got a consideratwe start. But th* desperadoes, spurred on by the shrill notes of the police whistles in all directions, were by this time a considerable distance ahead of their pursuers. For some time they had a clear road. The first to get in their way was a woman. She was buying her greengroceries from a cart in the street when she heard the uproar and «r.v the Russians run by. One of them pointer! his pistol at her, and she replied by throwing at him the first thing which she could lay her hands on. This happened to be a potato. When ! she grasped it she thought it was a weight. i COOL DESPERADOES. I Already some thirty or forty people were actively in pursuit of the miscreants with several policemen in the lead. It was with the greatest coolness that the Russians kept away from their pursuers.. They were going at a sharp pace, and fre-' quently one would half turn round and several shots at those following, while as he reloaded the other would cover him so that one weapon was always ready for instant use. Several men had got Into a motor car and they were soon close up to the fugitives, who for a moment turned to bay. There was a fusilade of shots, two bullets went through the wind screen in front of the car, and one grazed tbe neck of Wilson, the chauffeur, but he gamely stuck to his steering wheel until a wellaimed shot went into the radiator, and put the machine out of working order, i It was once more a question of legs against legs, and the Russians slightly gained. They swung round into Scalesroad, and very shortly afterwards the first fatality occurred. LITTLE BOY KILLED. j At the corner of this thoroughfare and Junction-road, little Ralph Joscelyn was j standing, no doubt wondering what was! the cause of all the noise. The chase roared past, and a stray bullet struck. him in the head. He staggered a pace or two, and then fell dead, the blood gush-! ing from his mouth. On the ruffians ran, the infuriated crowd, headed by Police-constables Tyler, Nicol and Newman following close at their heels. Over and over again the two fugitives emptied their revolver into the crowd at their back, reloading their j ■weapons from ammunition in their jacket j pockets. Never for a moment did the hot purSuit relax. Constable Newman was j wounded in the leg by one of the shots, but he kept in front of the chase until compelled to fall out from loss of blood. The angry crowd of pursuers grew larger and larger as the hue and cry spread. Pedestrians from all quarters joined in and hampered the crowd's own movements. Motor cars, cycles, and mounted men took part in the chase. j A POLICEMAN KILLED. At the end of Mitchley-road Constable Tyler was steadily gaining on the ruffians, but just before the house of Mr. Frederick Thorogood, a Great Eastern Rail-1 way shunter, one of the men fired point blank at him, and a well-aimed bullet buried itself in his head. He fell to the ground mortally wounded. Soon after this the murderers gained a bridge across the River Lea. They calmly paused and put up a defence for several moments, firing repeatedly. At this stage, however, the shooting yas not all on their side. Some of the police had obtained revolvers, and an exciting skirmish ensued, many of the pursuing force lying down and taking what cover they could, for it was obvious the j* were dealing with desperate men who would stop at nothing, and -who were proving themselves to be deadly shots with the revolvers. The pause was a short one, for the desperadoes, finding that they were in danger of being outflanked, went off once more, seemingly refreshed by their brief ! pause. They followed the towing-path along the bank of the Lea towards Lockwood reservoirs, and next took a foot-' path with palings on both side. BULLETS AMONG CHILDREN. On the reservoir three sportsmen were duck shooting when tfiey saw the two Russians approaching with revolvers in their hands; and closely followed by the police and majiy civilians. They joined in the conflict, and turned their own guns on the quarry, firing whenever they could get a chance. Just beyond this reservoir Is a recreation ground, and here a number of children were playing. Whether by accident or design, bullets fell among tlie little ones, and a tiny boy dropped with a badly shattered leg. It was plain that the men were well acquainted with the locality, as they headed straight for some marshes which ■would assist their flight. They were hotly pursued over this ground to the Cningford-road, at which point a tram car stood motionless. The desperadoes boarded this, and, alarmed by their aspect, and the sinister sight of the revolvers, the driver left his wheel, and fled up to the top of the car. The conductor, at the point of the revolver of one of the Russians, was induced to take the wheel, while the other desperado kept guard with his revolver at the rear of the car. A TERRMTO OHASE, To the mortification of the pursuers, the car soon attained <•> high speed, but opportunely Another cut cam* up, mi golice aud giviiuuw, to ths number, of 40

or more, »wanned into this, A terrific chase began.' For a. mile and a-half the car careered wildly along, the unfortunate conductor being held, to his post at the controller, and having to take his chance of being hit by the patty in the chase, *who fired whenever they got an opportunity. The advantages of the car were many. It Just escaped colliding with a tram coming in. the opposite direction, and only got on to a loop in the nick of time. A constable who had thrown off his coat and helmet took a short cut, and as the runaway passed, yelled to it to stop, ■but the pistol held at the unhappy conductor's head never wavered, and on he had to go. ' RESOURCEFUL RUtPFIANS.

At length it looked as if a rescue might be effected, for a bill-posting van came out of a side street""with two men and a policeman armed with a, rifle seated in it. The ruffian who was doing guard On the rear platform rose to the occasion. He shot the horse, and down the van tilted, throwing its occupants into the street, amid paste, bills, and brushes.

An empty milk van caught the view of the two escaping Russians. They were quick to seize the chance of getting away from the main road, and away from the other tram. The man in charge of the van was just coming away from a house wbexe he had beep, delivering milk. He was shot at and dangerously wounded, the fugitives going off with his cart. They made the best use of their conveyance, and whipped their horse into a hard gallop. Eventually they reached Porest-road, where the police began to overhaul them, having commandeered a motor car.

Seeing that their danger was momentarily increasing, the Russians jumped from the cart and attempted to double on the tracks. A policeman on point duty had a narrow escape. A revolver bullet missed him by an inch or so, then going through a shop door. The speed of the two men was by this time beginning to flag. They made towards a railway bridge, which crosses the little stream, Ching. _A sis-foot fence had to be climbed if they were to get away. One succeeded in scrambling on to the fence, and, with a parting ■ shot at the crowd, droped down on the other side and pushed on. The other man, •whose name was Hefeld, tried to scramble over, but failed. One of the crowd declares that he exclaimed that his cartridges were nearly spent. At any rate, in one giant last stand he set his back to the fence and "BLAZED AWAY AT THE CROWD." Shots rang out in return, and he was slightly hit, but his own finger was the one that pulled the trigger that brought him to the ground. With only one cartridge left he fired into his own head, and fell bleeding on the bank of the Brook. The police rushed up, and found that the bullet had entered at the forehead and passed up through the top of his head. He was taken to a hospitaL . END OF THE CHASE. The race of the other Russian was •nearly run. Staggering on, he thrust open a gate and floundered across a field to the back of a small cottage. In doing so he passed some builders, who attempted to intercept him. One of these was the last to fall before his pistol, shot in the breast. The Russian managed to get into the cottage and rush upstairs. A considerable number of men had brought firearms of all softs, and descriptions, loaded and ready for use in the event of the man presenting himself at any of the windows. The number of firearms on the scene was estimated at something like 50 or 60, and consisted of fowling pieces, modern rifles, colt revolvers, and old •blunderbusses. What followed is a matter for conjecture, but it is clear that this man, known only as Jacob, made stn attempt to cao'rata himcolf in thn nfiimnor <iU ' =

What followed is a matter for conjecture, 'but it is clear that this man, known only as Jacob, made stn attempt to secrete himself in the chimney, -which is large, and of old-fashioned design. From this room he must have ascended by a narrow winding staircase to the front bedroom. Here he showed himself at the window to -the large crowd which surrounded the house. Many shots were fired, and all the windows were completely shattered. Policemen rushed upstairs, an 3 upon entering the room they found the man dead, with a. bullet wound in his head, lying across a small child's bed near the window. VICTTMS OP THE OUTRAGE. In addition to the dead murderers, brave Constable Tyler, and -the poor litQe boy who was killed, there were some 17 victims of this extraordinary outrage. Most of them had been -wounded by bußete, some very seriously. It has 'been conclusively proved that the two Russians were members of. a colony of Russian anarchists in the district.-