THIEVES ROUTED

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 January 1929, Page 2

THIEVES ROUTED

GIRL’S PLUCKY ATTACK. If one of three hold-up men had not cursed Miss Pauline Fessler, 22-vear-old bookkeeper, in her father’s office at the East River Sheet Metal Works at 161, Broadway, Astoria, the young woman probably would not have been wounded and the robbers would have had less trouble taking the £57 payroll she was making up. Oaths hurled at hex- by the robber reused Miss Fessler’s ire. She threw an inkwell at the intruder and he replied by opening fire on her. When the smoke cleared Miss Fessler had been wounded twice, and the robbers had escaped with the payroll and an additional £2O taken from the pocketbooks of other employees. The young bookkeeper was preparing the payroll when three men entered the building. While the leader walked to Miss Fessler with an automatic pistol in his hand the two o<hers ordered the remaining employees into the rear of the office. There they collected the £2O, while M'Js's Fessler nervously started to gather up the payroll money in obedience to the leader’s orders. Naturally frightened at the situation in which she found herself, the young woman was slow in collecting the money, ami the thug cursed her for her tardiness.

“Just for that I’ll not give you the money,” she said, and picked up an inkwell and hurled at the man who stood a few feet from her.

The thug threatened to shoot as the girl followed up the first missile with books and other lose articles near at. hand. The robber opened fire. Two shots went wild. Another inflicted a deep scalp wound on the girl. A fourth cut the l^U l © finger of her right hand.

Apparently frightened by the shots, the two other thugs fled through a side door into Ridge Street. Stopping only to gather up the payroll money, the gunman followed them a moment later. In spite of her wounds, Miss Fessler ran out in pursuit of the hold-up men, but collapsed on the sidewalk. Her brother, David Jr., and Gus Dibell:, 19 years old, an employee of the shop, continued the chase, but abandoned it half way down the Ridge Street .block, when shots came from the hold-up men as their parked motor car failed to start. Abandoning the car, the three men escaped before the police arrived.