ESCAPED APE IN STREETS

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 June 1937, Page 4

ESCAPED APE IN STREETS

Ptiui; MEN lII'IIT LN PUItSUIT. LONDON. M;i' ti. [ '| t<< ie were moments of terror am! of comedy to-day during a three hours’ ilium for .Mickey, a 13st chimpanzee, i which hud escaped from an enclosure at Liverpool Zoo. During his escapade Mickey injured four men. embraced and kissed a woman; skipped a girl's face; kept some 50 people marooned in a circus tent: broke into tin ollice and caused a motor cycle to crash. Mickey, secured by a long chain. | vas playing "football” villi Mr Geotge; Wardle, secretary of Liverpool Zoo. The chain broke «lim he dashed lorvurd to pick up the ball, and the onlookers ran for shelter to a cafe.

Mickey walked past the zebras and reindeers and made his way to a circus tent, where he sat down in the clowns' dressing room. After patting lone of the clowns on the knee he j walked out. The 73-year-old proprietor of the circus. Mr IL Bailey, then attacked Micloy with a whip. but. the ape sprung at him and bit him on the I groin. PURSUED A CYCLIST. Krom there Mickey went to the Women’s Homo of Recovery, where he entered an ollice, opened all the drawers in a bureau, and played havoc with the. papers. Eventually . ho arrived in Sudley-road. which was filled wjth children. Their shouts ex- t cited Mickey who started to pursue a t boy vho had cycled past. t A. moier-cyr],. patrol drove his ma- i

1 chine down Lugurd-road in an effort to • stop the ape, but Mickey sprang at ■ him, and he fell from his machine, which crashed into a wall. A coal man with a shovel then tackled Mickey, and was mauled, having to go to hospital, and a lion tamer who attempted to put a rope round the ape's neck was bitten in the back. Mr Wardle said that Mickey "as 11 years' old. and if he wanted to he could kill anyone with ease. “He did not hurt anybody who left him alone," he added. "He only hit people who attacked him. One woman who knew this, said, 'Hullo, Mickey!’ when she saw him coming down a. street. He went over, put his arms round her. kissed her and led her by the hand for a few yards. "Eventually ho held out his hand to Constable’Howard, and when I as- > tired him that it would be all right the constable took his hand and we got him home."