ATTACKED BY BURGLAR

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 89, 14 April 1917, Page 9

ATTACKED BY BURGLAR

POST-OFFICE SENSATION

MASKED MAN ESCAPES,

A daring attempt at burglary, involving an attack on an aged postmaster, was made at the Hawthorn West Post Office, Melbourne, early on the morning of 2nd April.

The post office is a two-storied building, once used aa a shop. At ,5 o'clock in ■ the morning, says the Argus, the postmaster, Mr. Gilbert Hotherdale M'Minn, who was sleeping in a bedroom at the back of the upper floor, was aroused suddenly by the fla«h of an electric torch upon his face. Instinctively he sprang up in the bed,' but was struck on'the head with a wooden instrument, and fell back upon the pillow, which was later found to be soaked with blood. Springing up again he grappled with, a man who. was about to leave the room, and a desperate struggle I took place. Blow for blow was struck, I Mr. M'Minn's knuckles being skinned by contact with, the man's head, and he receiving himself several heavy blows upon the head with the piece of wood. They fought from the room to the land- ' ing of the stairway> where the intruder | freed himself, and, dashing down the stairs, escaped through the back exit. Meanwhile, two ladies, occupying the I front bedroom,' had been, awakened by I the scuffle and the cries of Mr. M'Minn for assistance. Rushing to the window, Miss De la Rue, a former assistant in the post office, and a friend of the pre- | sent assistant. Miss Clark, called loudly for help. Miss Clark opened the door, land) going along a passage "leading; to tho stairway, at right angles to the passage along which the struggle had proceeded, 6aw the burglar in his flight down tho stairs." Regardless, of the ; danger of by possible accomplices of the burglar, Miss Clark hurried down to tho front door to call for assistance, and then telephoned 1 to the.police. Two men working in an adjacent butchery answered the cries, and has- I tened to the post office. Dr. Begg was | summoned* :and found Mr. , M'Minn j dazed and bleeding from five severe i wounds on the head, in which stitches ! were inserted.' Dr. Begg was in fre- i quent attendance during the day, ,Mr. ' M'Minn suffering from shock and loss of , blood. ESCAPE OR THE BURGLAR. The assailant of Mr. M'Minn is described by him as of medium height and build, but he was-unable'to see the man's features. Miss Clark similarly described the man from the fleeting glance she took at him. A milkman named John Murphy was delivering milk in the vicinity, and heard the cries of Miss De -la Rue.' Shortly afterwards a man of the build of the burglar who had assailed Mr. M'Minn rushed past him, towards Power-street, and, suspecting the man of being concerned in the disturbance, Mur,phy. followed him. The man ran some distance, and then jumped a fence. In the dark Murphy was unable to find the man, or to hear his footsteps further. His impression that the man was masked confirms that of Mr. M'Minn. Mr. - M'Minn states that all the burglar got was a few shillings. He apparently'came into -the bedroom in search of the keys of the safe. That tho struggle was severe was mdi- I cated by the track of blood from the bed to the staircase. Mr. M'Minn is 73 ' years of age, but a powerfully-built man, with the virility and spirit of a man many years younger. AN INEXPERIENCED THIEF. Many of the actions of the burglar indicate inexperience. , His lack of care in allowing the torcK to flash on Mr. M'Minn's face, and the lack of an attempt to open the safe by recognised methods, as well as his being without firearms, and selecting a strange weapon to guard against attack, suggest this view. He had taken the roller upon which a towel had been, hung in the bathroom, and left in the same loom a heavy hammer and a pick-handle, which a desperate and experienced burglar would assuredly have selected. It was with the roller that he struck Mr. M'Minn. He had evidently entered the house by the back door, which is of light wood with a weak lock, which would yield to strong pressure. • Mr. M'Minn has had a, long official career: He was for many years in the service of the South Australian Government prior to Federation, and was the surveyor of the Central Australian portion of the overland telegraph line from Adelaide to Darwin. For several years he' resided at Darwin, and was for a time Government Resident. Retiring from the servicel of South Australia, he went to Victoria, and for some fourteen years he has been postmaster at Hawthorn' West, as a "contract" or "nonstaff" officer on allowance. Throughout, the day personal and telephone, enquiries were made as to the condition of Mr. M'Minn, who is popular in Hawthorn. ' Mr. M'Minn has a son, who is a lieutenant serving at the front, and a daughter on duty as an army nurse with the forces abroad.