DETECTIVE M. GOURLEY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 26, 1 February 1926, Page 8

DETECTIVE M. GOURLEY.

RETIREMENT FROM POLICE

FORCE.

A FINE CAREER.

INTERESTING CASES RECALLED.

■y.y To!»?r.irh -Special to "Star." , )

WANGANUI, this day.

The fact tha: Detective M. Gourley has rPT j re ,i iron the Police Force to engage in private business has brought --," tl " ,',,-■■ a:t official career of exceptional ii."'Tc.-i. > Det(vi\r> Gourley name to New Zealand in 19<iO. it:i■ L landed a: Wellington with a young family, a stranger in a -trange i'and. 1 in he had previously been a member <•• the Glasgow Police Force, and it war. that recommendation that enabled him \> join the New Zealand force. One of hi? earliest experiences in New Zealand was being dispatched post haste to Palmpr.-ton North in connection with tho notorious Powelka case.

and }ie ivj. one >>f the escort that Krought Powelka back to Wellington. Detective Gour'tpy was next shifted to j Auckland, and while on beat duty there \ quickly distinguished himself with the capture of a man a: Messrs. Bond and Bond's premises, in Commerce Street. The man 'ah- >u:isei|UPntly sentenced to a term of iaijuJMinment. Detective (inurloy is perhaps best known for his .-jp'.endid record on the Auckland waterfront, a life that was marked by a spice of excitement. On one occasion there was a stabbing affray on a French steamer, and Detective Gourley and three constables went on board. A search was made for a wanted man with hurricane lamps and candles, and when he was eventually located in a sail locker the crew became menacing. On that occasion the police party had to fight their way back to the upper deck with their man. the position at times was desperate. On another occasion, during the war period, trouble occurred, on a Kussian steamer, and when the Auckland waterside police arrived on board the crew drew knives. In this instance a good deal of tact had to be displayed, and in the end four ringleaders were quietly arrested and removed ashore. In Auckland Detective Gourley made a specialty of waterside theft cases, and it was due to him that several mysteries were unravelled. One mystery ■was the disappearance of several* cases of goods from the sheds on the Auckland •wharf. A slender clue was the fact that the cases were of Canadian pine, and it was the ultimate search for traces of that timber beneath a house at Richmond which resulted in further investigations at Devonport. and in several men being placed on trial. Possibly Detective Gourley's outstanding piece of police work at Auckland was in connection with what was known as the sugar works' case. A serious shortage in sugar stocks led the Colonial Su°ar Company to offer a reward of £500 for a solution of the mystery, and at that time. Detective Gourley was spending a three weeks' holiday at Rotorua. He returned to take up a stone cold trail and found that Auckland had literally been combed over. However, he worked on a theory that he held, the result was 'that a conspiracy was unearthed, and a number of arrests were made. Equally satisfactory from Detective Gourley's point of view was the fact that the large reward was paid over to him.

Wanganui Murder Mystery. Detective Gourley came to Wanganui on promotion, and his work here has caused the. citizens much regret that he has resigned his official position. At the Wanganui ' police station is a packin* case piled to overflowing, and the fact that it is what is known in official circles as the Oates file indicates the immense amount of work that was put in by some ol the best detectives in New Zea*land in connection with the murder mystery v.-hich so seriously disturbed Wanganui a couple, of years a°-o. \ow that Detective Gourley "has retired from the police force ir can be stated that he held certain views on the matter that were entirely at variance with those of his brother officers. Right to the day that Detective liourley resigned he ha'« never let up on that particular case and a couple ol months ago he made an extended search in the King Country, with a result that at the moment cannot be disclosed. Still Detective Gourlev is still confident that that particular "mvnerv will be eventually solved. Historic Ra-ata Case. One of Detective Gourley's possessions IS a small school atlas, a souvenir of the historic Ra-ata cas? at Auckland. It will be remembered that an intrepid mariner who was subsequently sentenced to a term ol imprisonment, commandeered a yacht at Auckland, and with two companions set off in the direction of Rafa Island, to eventually finish up at Yapoon on the Queensland coast. To Detective Gourley fell the lot of bringing the wanted men back from Australia, and this trip takes a prominent place in his reminiscences. "The man who sailed that boat was a wonderful character." said Detective Gourley, in recounting the incident. 'The night before we got back to Auckland he was missing—he bad been given the free run of the boat and placed on his honour—but when we made a "search we found that he was up in the wireless room, giving the operator a brief respite and receiving messages." Another souvenir that Detective Gourley has is a small whip which once figured as exhibit A in a sensational Auckland assault case.

The regret at Detective Gourlev's retirement is shared by vhe members of the \\anganni police force, who at an parly date will make a presentation to -him.