CHASED WITH SWORD

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 February 1947, Page 8

CHASED WITH SWORD

MELBOURNE GIRL’S RACE FOR LIFE IvnDNIGHT_EPISODB MELBOURNE, Feb. 10. . Wavin'* a Japanese Samurai swore!, a man chased a screaming girl, dressed in pyjamas, down_a, city sireet at midnight. They raced pa... aI ?S Ta constable fired a shot The man with the sword stopped as the bullet whirred past his head. Worn out with fright and the rut , Ihe °irl fainted face down on the roadway. Two consta .^ es had the man and arrested him— they had been looking for him all night. The tf irl was followed home by a young man when she came off duty as a railway porter. Her landlady told her to lock herself in her room. The man left, saying that he would get some hand grenades and blow the place up. Police Called.. The landlady called the police. They searched the area and could not find the man. After the police had left, the man returned to the house carrying a sword. Once again the police were called. Once again they found nothThc girl undressed for bed. The landlady and three others in the house locked themselves m anothei room for safety. . . Then they saw, from a window, tne man vanishing round a corner. The girl, the landlady, and the other three boarders, came out fiom behind their locked doors and gathered at the front doorway. But the man scaled the back fence and climbed a tree near the girl s bedroom, still clutching his sword. He must have leapt about 4ft from the tree on to a window-ledge, lor he got into the girl’s room while she was at the front door.

Rush With Sword. Raising the sword above his head, the man rushed down the stairs into the front hall. The five people ran screaming into the street and scattered in all directions. The girl ran into Gisborne Street. The man was only three paces behind her, running with the sword held above his head, when Constables

Lucas and feird arrived again. As the man sped past, Constable Bird fired a shot and called on the man to surrender. Behind a tram shelter, the police found the scabbard and the sword. They were told it was taken from a dead Japanese seigeant at Balikpapan. The man arrested, a former serviceman from West Melbourne, was charged with having entered a dwelling at night with intent to commit a felony. .