SURRY HILLS

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 November 1929, Page 8

SURRY HILLS

SILENCE BAFFLES THE POLICE. SYDNEY, October 29. Those who are aware of the manner in which Thomas Ivory, the Surry Hills bricklayer, received his fatal injuries are, apparently, not prepared to tell, the police. Known to the police as “the human torch case,” the crime is completely shrouded in mystery. There are indications, however, that Ivory was nearly a quarter a mile from his home when he was set on fire.

Several men ‘have been questioned by the detectives. All of them denied knowledge of the affair, and one-man resorted to silence. It almost appeared that he had been struck dumb at the mention of Ivory’s name. It is known that Ivory left his home on Friday night to attend a boxing match. Apparently he was unable to get a seat. From that time until about 2.30 o’clock on Saturday morning, when he was found outside his home in a dying condition, with his clothes burnt 'to fragments, his movements cannot be traced. He made three conflicting statements before he died —one to his wife, one to the police, and one to a magistrate—and it appeared that he wished to hide the circumstances of the tragedy which had befallen him. He asked his wife not to summon the police, but he told her that he knew the man who, with others, had robbed him and then thrown kerosene over him and set him alight. Heavy drinking was indulged in at a sly-grog shop in Surry Hills late on Friday night, and several men fell into a condition of drunkenness. They were in a basement, where cards were being played for small stakes, and the light which flickered across a rickety table was shed by a small kerosene lamp. The fortunes of the game did not vary a great deal, as one man appeared to be a consistent loser. Drinks went round monotonously; and as the players became more and more under the influence of beer, their voices rose higher, and there were frequent arguments. It was latter 1 o’clock on Saturday morning when the last argument occurred—-the argument that ended the game. There was a fight and a considerable amount of shouting and noise. Suddenly one of th© men seized the kerosene lamp and flung it at one of the others. As it struck him it was shattered, and he was sprayed, with the oil. .He fled from the basement enveloped in .flames, and ran madly into the street.

There were a few hurried movements inside the darkened sly-grog shop and then there was silence. That silence is still unbroken. Who threw the lamp, and.whether Thomas Ivory was the man whose clothes were set alight, the police have yet to discover. Ivory was found lying on the footpath by two youths. /He was groaning, and his clothes were a mass of flames. One of the youths threw a bucket of water over him, extinguishing the fire, and the two then assisted him to his home. He had been terribly injured, his wounds were indescribably horrible, but still he refused fully to explain what had happened. The police are pursuing their inquiries diligently, but, while they are working carefully to check oyer several feasible theories, they find the silenpe of Surry. Hills yery baffling.