OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER

Evening Star, Issue 12208, 28 May 1904, Page 10

OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER

[Fkom Oun Special Cobrespondent.] SYDNEY, May 21. SENSATIONAL BANK ROBBERY. In the early hours of Tuesday morning a daring robbery was effected by a gang of burglars at the Boxhill branch of (he English, Scottish, and Australian Bank. I BoihiJ is a distant suburb of Melbourne, on the Healesviile railway. The bank is } not far from the railway "station, and the gang had the audacity' to take cushions and nuts from a irain which was left i.n a eiding in order to deaden the eound of nitro-glyeerine explosions, which they resorted to for bursting open the stronc j loom and safe. They also robbed a bla?£ smith s shop of some tools, and made off with their booty with the aid of the managers horse and dog cart. They cot cliar away with £1,692. The manager, Mr R, A. Sutton, lives a quarter of a mi'e awav from the hark and only Mr Alfred H. Serpell, a clerk of twenty-one, slept on the premises. . The latter tells the following story: "On Monday night I went to bod I suppose, at about half-past 11, but I didn't *«• to sleep till shortly bfore midniaht iter, the robbers came along. I should hink at about 2 o'clock. The first thinthat I knew was that three men came anil sat at my bedside. I suppose they woke me coming into my room,"and one of th-in flashed a bu.l's-eye k.ntoin on me, md pointed a wvolver at my had:-'lf TOU dont keep quiet,' he said, TH blow vour brains out.' \V,n, I kept quiet, of course, but to make sure, they gagged me and tied me up ...preud-eagied me on the bed I was 0 „ m y back, and they go: rm- hands up alov-e my head and tied , ;l , h of mv wrists with cords to the corner of the bed' Thetied my feet at the other end in a similar ,wiy. n,e p ag they used was a bit. of cork or wood with a rorrl through it, and a lot of cotton EtiifT wrapped round it ,-,rd it g eve me no , hwed to talk. It was ri.J at the back and under r„v chin Then they wort irto the ofliee whV- the ~>,0 „ ., room was and started to blow it „,it I heard them drilling in there, and after a time—half an hour, I think—l lvar' ftV» e>-plos,on s i„ q„i ck succession. I M ippo f « now that they were h'ewin- out the strim* room door. After these , xo'os'ons, which made a lot of noise, I heard a chippm* ]S h ? 1 the *«* <* the ,:ron, loom? lliks .hipping sound iDus-: h.v.-.j been ca"-ej by an abortive atlempt to open the -troi-r r-'-m fi »,, the back Theee it «-.«, .i" covered iat , r that a n:.,,uMv of plue'r had b-en knocked awav from the «lid brickwork of the stion... room, |, ut . if Ü-b««-S?lar S . intended to try to op,n il fr.-.m" ,;, J, A mas A , ; vcnet s «f the brickwork popped them After these explosions. I heard somebody in the Vl .:d .-cttin"- tie maimer's kte into the "dog cart. "'J.-lis «■•"• cone letwept- the two sets of oxpnnor* that I heard, for the second s? t in wh,ch I heard two r xp ]„ s i ons on]v canv after hum y they went awav"by the s.de door. Ihey wcre not V(? - ■ , with me, though the gag was ccrtanlv a good on.-. From u ms to tiule or;e of ' tl . ( , men came in to see that I m still bound. n k lhQ COrds t0 s lf the k wer.» all holding, and once he took the ra- eff for a little while. One thin, I 'noticed particularly rbeut tbii man was 'lit he had soft bands. Before thev left, however another man.' who handled me pre.ty roughly, tightened the gag more than ever, and I was still trussed on the bed. When they went out I heard the ponv and cart bemp driven away, but I can't gay in what direction they went." Mr Serpell said they did not seen to trouble about his keys I hey went through his clothing and he found afterwards his "old wit"h c-f.n anl 3s ,„ s i: ver h;| , \ iem tMi . o / from his pocket, but they did not ask hira r. i the *&h, and did not take them. Alter the burglars had gone, Mr Serpen struggled to get free, and he'ore yfrvW--1» succeeded. "I sho.i'd think," he" sai-T that the burglors were in the bank for an loured ..-half oe two hours, and hiv„ I got myself free, it was between half-nast 6 and 4 o clock. I put on a pair of tiousers ard a pair of boots, and ran out of the .side door into the back street. I „,»ant to go tne bi'ck way to the police, station but I was stopped about a hurdred yards down the road. I met a horsemrn standing reined up in the middle of tie road Me shouted out something 'which I took' as a threat, and. being" inhrce-iicd I jumped over the fence, and went over several fences through private property till I cot to the house of Mr FlhnWo'it'h. mv brother-in-law. He sent his son to the m-.nager, Mr Sutton, ard nnother to the police station, and I went buek'to tne oank Ihe man who threatened me was masked, with eyelet holes cut in the cloth of the mask. I thirV a second one was masked, too, but regarding the third I have no notion at all, I am afraid " Mr concluded: "I don't know much about w.uat the men were like-" The men en-aged in the robbery were evidently experts in the ns 3 of explore*. the strong room door was complexly shattered, nitro-glyccrine hayinp been 'na<vi«-<' in two kev-l.oles. as well -s •) drilled hole, and the denr of a Philip sufe, fitted with Chubbs locks, was 4m\. 'uilv treated. The c-.v]V o sinns were he-. •<! Ny neighbors, hut no particular attention was paid to them. Thev were considerab;y deadened bv the means adopted l.v Hie burglars, and one man attributed the noise to his horse kicking against its st,i';]'e 'too-. The manager's hone" and csrt' ver ' found in North Fitzrov. Mimed loos* m .street, by a pohceman before the report of the robbery had become eirculite-1. Mr 0. H. M. Tain, the Australian representative for Chubb's safes and 11S 1S tb< flr - t (cc;li,i o'i on whi'.-n :i Chuhhs door has been forced by ritrnsr.ycenne. The s;.fe ait the hank" was of an old pattern. Had it been of more modern eon-truction it would le,v« re sistetl the force of the explosive. He \s ..' opinion that one of the burglars, ml ]e. LS ! must have been a miner.

AX EXPLOSIVES ,M_.\.UZINK BLOWN

An explosives magazine, situated n mile from Cooigardie, was blown up early c Thursday morning. It was used bv tie National Explosives Company, of London and in it were 682 ca e- of assort, d explosives The cases averaged about 5011. in weight each. In a separate birldin..about 20it distant, -,icre reveral thousand--0! detonators. Where the maeazine stoo--' is now a hole about 20ft decp"and 50ft in diameter. For chains round the <*ioun<i was strewn with fragments of timber and other debris. Mot of the force of tic explosion appears to have gone toward" rh town, and for some distance in that d ; p ction trees-, some of them 12in or 18i>i thicu;l. have he-n bid flat. The nearer rcMaenc was N. M'Alister. who ow.is a condenser plant about 150 yards southwest of the magazine. His plant was considerably damaged, and he himself nar rowly escaped with his life-. His camp, in v. hich he was sleeping, was shattered,' and he got a great shock, besides many' cuts md bruises. No other person living near by suffered physically, though several men <uul their cups damaged About \ ards nearer Cooigardie is situated the magazine of Strelitz Brothers. It contained about 400 cases of assorted explosives The effect of the explosion on build in town sliows a remarkable distribution of force. At the United Cli-b Hotel, nearly a mile from the magazine, doors wei'e blown off their hinges, and windows blown ;n. A number of other hotels and business places stiff, r d by the smashing of windows. Ihe explosion, which occurred at 3 30 a.m., was heard as far away as Kalgooilie, residents of which were awakened'by the vio. lent vibration. It is suppofeed that damp weather affected the exp".osives which were stored in the mair.-vine, and caused spontaneous combustion. THE ALLEGED PAKENHAM OUTRAGE. A sensational incident occurred at the preliminary trial of Ch: rles Samuel Williams, charged with assaulting a woman, aron, and horse-stealing at Pakenlum! the polce court prooeedin s were conducted in the local Mechanics* Institute, and the prisoner was plared in a prim'tive 'kind of a dock. Immediately upon the charge being read, Mr Daniel Bourke, the informant in the charges of arson and stealing, rushed madly at the prisoner, and. striking him on the face, made him reel in the dock. The police, ai once »Mni..,t

the men. and after a delay of a few minutes thp trial proceeded. The evidence of the two principal witnesses, Emily Stone, domestic servant, and Daniel Bourke, gnuier, was to the effect that on a Saturday night accused and the female witness, who were both employed by Mr Bourke, met in a paddock, when accused assaulted her. At an early hour the following morning the homestead was found to be in llames, and a horse wa.s missing from the stable. On Monday morning accused brought the stolon horse to a s.ieyar'u m Melbourne and was arrested when trying to dispose of it At the conclusion of the hearing of the first char<?e, the presid : ng magistrate said lie thought there was not a sufficient to send to a jury. The woman's statement waß wholly uncorroborated. However, the majority of the Bench thought the case oui?ht to go to a jury, and he would accordingly commit accused for trial. Accused was a'so committed for trial on the other two charges. 'IHE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE INTERFERED WrrH. Mr Wise, the Attorney-General of New South Wales, has been taught .a salutary lesson by the Full Court. In January la t Me R. Purbriek, the man ge r of the Bacchus Marsh Concentrated Milk Company, was proceeded tga tist by an inspector oi the Sydney City Council, under the Health Act, tor selling concentrated milk containing more than-one-thousandth part of a grain of horacic add per pint for the purpose of pifcservrtion, and w;s fined £2, in default seven days' imprisonment. The AttorneyGeneral took it upon himself to order the suspension of the penalty until it was considered whether the law in respect to the us_> of primitives should be amended. In cons of instructions received from the Departmr.t of Justice the acting-clerk of petty sessions <Mr Charles Jennings) lelu ed to issue a commitment warrant in the case. The Full Court wore accordingly appealed to to enforce the ordinary course"of jii.sL'ee. Jh L . Chief Justice was very deeded in declaring that the act.ng-clerk cf pt-ity. sessions was wrong in suspending the operation of tiia law, even at the directum o:_(,!;e Attwney-General. It must le take;. r(il . tnat the de< ision was a u-l;t one. It had not been appealed ai;.u;ist, and it wr.s the hounden duty of tbe Mi.tnl-r mag s ra>o to carry out* th»i<<er_tor hue by issuing the warrant of c.iiimitiii nt.

It' K'vn<.g judgment the Chief Justice s.U!I: In t,, !s case the lule nisi for a mandamus must be made absolute, and with c.sts, hj. tu against Purbrick -ard the. m rri s . ■i«.e. It appears that Mr Purbrick had' ' uii huod, witu the alternative of impn&uii.i'cnt, nnuor the Health Act. The fine was i.ot paid, and application was mvA» to the Uiauiocr m egi Male, Mr Jennings, to is-no j a warrant under the provisos of the 87th section .dr Jennings had it in his power to I excre.se: a judicial discretion to postpone! rd 1 1 n er " ? f , he time w aPP'icaion had been made to him to postpons it he gnen to him, and he mifht have post-' K«ed it. Uut when he w,s asked to issue i the n arrant he did not exercise any judicial i tTT }"■>, :LS *^ s from' Y tie affi I aavjts, he decided that he would not issue ! it because he had received a letter from the »epartn,ent of Justice, in which he was instructed not to do so, pending further proceedings. He said also that he had been Ith^lsi 0 fl ~] , the F'P«" to Mr PayL'n ..g.'in. and ho sard he could not is.-ue the vsirtan , uecause he tud been instru-ted hv he M,i,,rcr ot Justice not to until further "nhi he received such instni tions he coil" £ t Vbit f r rrant '. J \ to M ; tlut this gen lonian Msolutelv misunder- I JJe ppition of a J!Is jiu! of the peace is joined in the l°,| h s , ctinn of tl f is . s : ihe oath ne took was to administer justice > *Khou fear, favor or i,l-w!h i <J i'L" u m ' T " ! ' t ' ht I lu hlke instructions liom the .Mimslor of Jesliee tl-n to s n l, 0 instructions from any individual he hap- ' I'f"; 1 l"., meet m.the street lie comPleely_ faded in the discharge of at du"v i «'"1 mi appivhended what it was, and ,i ! ™ opinion, the only way we Jan" make! s. and that they are not to take instrucicms from tins or that Mimstor, or rom ur J Govemmenf ls to order then, to pay ! the costs. Whether any other punishment "». rc.spc.7t. of d.-privii,.J bin, of the "in : mission winch he s is to « l ""Jicred is a natter with which we have i.o concern, but I have not. the Xhtest hositalion m saying that he has tftferlv ™,erstood his p-'-sition, and the S i

TIUCTION KNGTN-FS iv -m F COUNTRY. * . Traction engines are displacing honse-i m s,.me di. tncts of New f-'outh WaleTf, ; nn.i,g operafons. It u reported l'm m Uwra that some farmers of Broula. hauled all tlieu- wheat to town dun, g tho past harvest with an engine, whicl, took one 1.-vred and fifty |,,,, s in me ]m± A couple of settlers recently purchased an ei.g.ne to do all their traction work and pother is u-nig an engine lor his thresliitig plant. IL is reported that a mini'ii* eompany intend utilising this means of motion for hauling their ore to Cowra where it will be de pat bed by rail for treatment. In view of the h'tdi pri es now ruling for draught horses this is a heaji-.r mums of transit tor peisous ni a huge way of business than horse teams.