SOCIAL PESTS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 397, 5 January 1909, Page 5

SOCIAL PESTS.

AJMUDACIOUS ROBBERY IN THE CITY. FUBTHER ORIMEB. £«Q STOLEN FROM BANK COUNTER. \ A light-fingorod person, apparently of » Socialistic tutu of mind, has added to the heavy load which has been thrust upon tho broad ishouldors of the police this Christmas, by committing an audacious daylight robbery from the counter of the Bank of New Zealand. Tho enterprising jobber mado a haul of u £so, and has mado off with the money without leaving a trace behind him. It appears that a Government messenger was sent to'tho Bank of New Zealand yesterday morning with instructions to oash two cheques, ono a Government oheque from the Treasury Popartment for £50, and the other a private cheque on tho account of a Government official. Tho messenger cashed tho cheque for £50 first,' and was banded £40 in gold and £10 in silver, the money being in a small hag, which the messenger placed on & small table at which ho 6at whilst ho counted tho money given for tho other cheque. On turning to pick up the bag tho messenger found it had disappeared. The matter 'was reported to tho police, who are now making inquiries.' ,'■; ANOTHER ASSAULT CASE. ' MAN ATTACKED IN HAV/KESTONE ; STREET. '- CYCLIST'S TIMELY ARRIVAL. 1 Another assault oaso in the city was reported last night, a man being attacked by two others in Hawkestone Street, just abOvo Portland Crescent, a little before eleven o'clock. ,His cries arrested tho attention of a passing'cyclist, and tho two assailants took to their, heels, without having inflicted any serious 'injury on their victim. - The cyclist, when seen by a, Dominion representative afterwards, stated that bo wasr riding down the bill in Hawkestone Street, when he saw three in'en struggling together. As he came up to them, one of the men ran towards him, oalling to him to stop. There was no ono else 1 in the street, and, regarding this man as'a possible nssailant, the cyclist increased his speed. The man, however, ran after him, protesting that ho meant no harm, and, beseeching him to stop. The cyclist then dismounted, and tho other man, who locked liko a labourer, and was extremely excited, told him 'that ho had been, "stuck up" by two men. Tho cyclist and the assaulted _ man tnrnfcd back, and meanwhile the two assailants pissed them, running down Hawkestone Street into Molesworth Street.' ■ The odds' were now even, and tho man who had called for help was quite ready to false,a single antagonist. Tho cyclist, therefore, followed one of the assailants on his bicycle, while tho other man pursued the second, The cyclist,overhauled his man in front of tho Ministerial residence in Hawkestone Street, and asked him what the trouble was about. He replied that the complainant, whom he indicated by an insulting term, had been*making a fuss. Meanwhile the assaulted Irian had overtaken tho other assailant, and with a hand upon his shoulder, was inarching himdown the road. Tho man to whom the cyclist was speaking broke nway at this nvjment, and ran back into Hawkestone Street, and the assaulted man; releasing his first' captive, gave chase after the other. Apparently ho caught him up, for soon afterwards, tho. cyclist met him engaged in angry oQnverß&tion with a man who appeared tobe the second party, to tho assault. 'By this time a considerable orowd had gathered, impatient to know what, had happened. The cyclist continued, hU journey, &nd' in a.'few seconds m'ot>a constable, to >vhom ho told what had occurred. The constable went back to deal with tho disturbance, but by the timo he reached the place assailants had. disappeared. The "cyclist, wo*it 't». tho police station, where ,hqsy?as-ablo,.tp give ;ji'!detailed description of one of the two -men, whoso ,'faee he had studied "closely under a lamp-post, andaworkjnfc* description of the other. ' 'The police wero not inclined last night to attach much importance to tho assault. The victim accompanied tho constable to the Eolice station, whero he gave a statement of is'experiences, 'Ho was still very excited, and talked so volubly that tho idea was suggested" ,to tho 'police that bo bad possibly provoked some rough characters—not necessarily dangerous men—by some unwiso remark, and one of them had givon him a buSot on the face. Ho had evidently been , assaulted in some measure, for his lip was swollen. Ho did not complain of being robbed. One can only, speculate what .might have happened but for the timely arrival of the cyclist. : - PICK-POCKETS. -'''•A SYDNEY GANG OPERATING. A considerable number'of complaints have ieen made to the police of late by persons who iare had their pookots picked. Tho ' tavonrite'places for tho pocket-picker to work L ' aro at the various houses of amusement, notably the Town Hall, at tho railway stations, and on tho wharf proper, and the ferry wharves.' Several fairly good hauls , have been made by tho operators, who generally make for the trousers pockets of male members of tho community. Ono resident was e»sed of a sum of £40 at the railway station, and a jeweller's assistant had £10 extracted from his hip pocket whilst making his way through the crowd which gathered at last Sunday night's concert at tho'Town Hall. Various other losses of smaller sums have been reported. Investigations mado by tho police have elicitod tho fact that a gang of four expert and well-known Sydney pickpockets aro operating in the city, and citizens would be well advised in taking special care of their money when thoy aro in a crowd: POLICE VIEWS. THE TREATMENT OF VAGRANTS. The pest of' society in general—the vagrant— has played a prominent p<trt in the happenings in and about the city of late, and formed the subject of a conversation between a prominent police, official and a representative of The Dominion yosteiday evening. The'police officer admitted that during tho holiday a large'number of vagrant criminals had been prowling about the city at night on the watoli for a chance to rob drunken men. Tho police experienced scmo difficulty in dealing with these undesirables under tho vagrancy clauses of the Police Offences Act, as some of tl.em have only been in the city for a shoit time, and others neie only quite lecently released from gaol. At the same time, the*e people *ere not being given anything like a fiee hand, 'mo active constables uere now doing night duty in plain clothes, and had been on this duty for somo time past. Tho instructions - given fo theso officers was to natch the movements of the class of men under discussion, and the rcsnlt has been that several of tbera have been found illegally on premises, and I i have appeared before the Court and been sentenced. Some of the vagi ants, however, know too much to bo lound illegally on premises, and' they are too recently out of gaol to allow ,of tho police taking any action before now, as they had to be given a leasonable opportunity of mending their ways, although the police knon Hint in mnny of the cases there is Very little hope of tho "vngs" taking advantage of the opportunity In the opinion of the official there is not an unusually large num> ber of thu claw, of person m the city at the piescnt time, and the tov,n is never absolutely free of them. Fuither, there was no occasion whatever tor people to be alarmed on accounl of the recent cisei, of garrotting, as that ganj had bi'cn quite broken up.