BANDITS DEFIED

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 May 1931, Page 2

BANDITS DEFIED

PELTED WITH PINEAPPLES.

The bravery of a woman and her two sons in defying two masked men armed with revolvers prevented a sub-post office in Verdant Lane, Gatford, from being robbed. The men entered the office just before closing time. Mrs Harrison, the* postmistress, wife of Mr A. O. Harrison, was at the counter.

One of the men went behind the counter and pressed a revolver against the side of Mrs Harrison’s 25-year-old son Oswald, who was packing groceries fob delivery. The other man went to the grille .of the post office, and, thrusting his revolver through the bars towards Mrs Harrison, said: “Hold them up and hand it over.”

The son thought it was a practical joke on the part of one of his brothers, but realised his mistake when the man shotted, “It’s no game. Put them up!” Leslie Harrison, aged 23, another brother, who was working out of sight in front of the shop, realised the position, and, seizing some tins of pineapple, threw them at the head of one of the raiders. ' ' ( The two brothers then closed with the men and tried to disarm them. ,A struggle followed, which pyramids of tinned goods and jars of jam were sent toppling in all directions. In the course of the struggle the masks were torn from the faces of the raiders, and it was there seen that they were young men under the age of 30. ‘*My boys were fighting hard, and I realised that they needed help quickly.’ Mrs Harrison said, “I picked up a weight from the counter scales and smashed the window behind me in order to attract my husband’s attention. My husband ran into the shop, but by this time the bandits had reached the door, with the boys still clinging on to them. They broke away, however, and my husband and sons chased them along Verdant Lane. The two men jumped into a motor car which was waiting with the engine running and drove away in the direction of Downham.” ' •