KIDNAPPED IN SYDNEY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 251, 23 October 1928, Page 8

KIDNAPPED IN SYDNEY.

HONEYMOONERS' STORY.

EFFORTS TO FRUSTRATE

UABBUGE.

NEW ZEALAND GIRL'S ORDEAL.

COUPLE OX NIAGARA.

"My word you get life in Sydney, but don't get married there." This is the advice ot a young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Mcrvvn Kheppard, who arrived by the Niagara from Sydney last evening, and had an extraordinary tale of hated rivals; the" kidnapping of a bride of two days, and an exciting chase in a s motor car,"to tell. ' A week to-day, the pair was married at St. Barnabas' Church, Bondi, having previously planned to leave for America by the Niagara on their honeymoon. Prior to leaving Australia, however, events moved more quickly than they expected, and Mr. Slieppard reported to tho Bondi' police that his wife had been abducted in a motor car. A former admirer and his frtend were said to be implicated, and the suggestion was made that the bride, who is a petite and charming New Zealauder, had been drugged. It now transpires, however, that Mrs. Sheppard was in no way harmed, and that she was lured away froin her husband by persuasive efforts. A Bluff That Worked. Conjuring up visions of ill-treatment to his wife, Mr. Slioppard, a young Englishman, who has been in business in Sydney for four years, made frantic search for her, and eventually, after an exciting chase in a motor car, traced the culprits to a house in Bellcvue Hill.

According to Mr. Sheppard's story, -he found lri3_ wife locked iii' a room at" the" home of one ,of the conspirators. 1 The btcUpauts of tlie house refused to admit him,/tut he. climbed, unnoticed, through a windpvg I 'A scuffle ensued inside the during the course of which he land an assailant fell over a twelve-foot balcony, *•" ;,y - • ; , ' , * '

! Things began to look ugly for him when he threatened to use a revolver on f,wo. men who attacked him. He carried ho revolver, but the bluff was effective. Tho men-kept their distance, and; Mr. and .Mrs. Sh.-ppard made good their escape under :circumstances that appeal to' the imagination as a scene from a picture -romance, rather than a drama of ordinary life. , - v .<, < ') Amazing Narrative. '■ is. lent to the affair jbecause Jlrs. Sheppard is a Wellington girl, and Was educated at the Wanganui Girls' College. She has resided in Sydney, however, for six years. Of a bright per-1 sonality, Well-dressed, and of good address, Mrs. Slieppard, with her auburn hair scintillating in the sunshine, made a charming picture as she promenaded the deck of the. Niagara this morning. She was' reluctant to dhttuss her trying ordeal:when first approached, but' chatted away brightly enough once (hat reserve that "'underlies her character had been jbroken'dowrn. She- and her -htisband, she (confided, were awaiting the arrival of her brother from Wellington. '• \~z . ! "My. brother ; say's that "wherever lam there is; sure to "be hair flying," she aaidrw^jalarl^i'.*l was not hurt in any way till my arrived on the scene, and thfenfW*course, there*" Was a Htrtifrie.jand'l got bruised a bit. But that is .all over now, and we are gdifig'to America, and then to London, and maybe Parian We intend to return to Aiistrftlia, bvftlt will probably be tWo : years before •Wo; get, backl

"We .were; adviSed to take out' a warrant against those implicated in the <3&?e, but that would have meant' postponing. our so we preferred to le.. the .matter go bv default," supplemented Mr. Sheppard.-"We have the option of taking up the ease later, but we shan't be doing so. Romance of Month's Standing. "Yes," added the bride, with a captivating little laugh, "I think we have caused enough scandal in Sydney already. We are better known there now than, ever before. We have only known each other a-month, and' we only decided to make the trip and get married a fortnight ago/'

Mr. Sheppard further explained that no physical violence was used against his wife, persuasive efforts being made to frustrate the union. Twice prior to the union Mrs. Sheppard was lured away, but the rivalry, which had extended over a considerable period, did not reach the exciting head it did till after the marriage. "Those implicaved in the kidnapping, he described, as an old acquaintance and a friend to speak to. "It was pretty tough to win a wife and then lose her two days afterwards, with everything our honeymoon arranged," he concluded.