"TARZAN" UP A TREE.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 224, 20 September 1924, Page 7

"TARZAN" UP A TREE.

MADMAN DEFIES POLICE. WOMAN DECOY FAILS. ■ LONDON, September 11. How to induce a former soldier to descend from a 60ft elm tree, which he climbed after escaping from the mental ward at the hospital at Orpington, Kent, was a. problem confronting the police. The , -patient broke off a brunch and threatened to brain two men, who ascended the tree. In response to the man's cries for his wife, the police brought a strange woman to the foot of the tree, but he repudiated her. The police then placed food on the ground, and withdrew to a hiding-place, hoping that hunger would force the patient to descend. Finally, the police brought Holmes' wife from Newcastle, and she persuaded her husband to descend. He was exhausted" from lack of food and sleep. He lujd been in the tree for 40 hours or so: The patient is named Holmes. He is lame, but climbs with remarkable agility, and has travelled some distance in the woods by springing from tree to tree, along the branches. He told the police that he was prepared to remain in the tree tops for six months. Besides meat, the "bait" on the ground- consisted of bread, cheese, beer, and cigarettes. It is reported that Holmes previously escaped from another hospital, and spent five days in the treetops.