ALBURY MURDER

Hokitika Guardian, 30 March 1935, Page 6

ALBURY MURDER

TOLD AS THRILLER IN GERMANY AN AMAZING REPORT. MELBOURNE, March 26. A zenith of absurdity in reports circulated abroad about Australian affairs has been reached by an unknown correspondent of a Hamburg newspaper, with a recently-published account of the' Albury murder case. That'mystery was tragic and baffling enough; but as the following translation of extracts from German texts show, the occasion has been made- the excuse for a senseless flight of iniaginativio writing- .>■ “The world’s most expensive murder!” That is the headline. After describing the finding of the corpse, and the circumstances of the number, the “Fremdcnblatt,” Hamburg’s leading daily continues: “Every house in Albury was searched without success. The detectives worked hard to solve the mystery. On November 4, two days after the murder, the Government authority made the first discovery. “He found that one tootli was not filled according to British dental methods. It seemed to ho the work of a French or German dentist. A British toilet saloon would not manicure fin-ger-nails the way those of the dead girl were done. “That is Chinese work,” said the pathologist. “There appeared to lie ino 'doubt that a ear been used in disposing of the corpse, in the soft soil of Howlong Road, the impression of rubber tyres was found; they were east in plaster of paris and showed that the tyres wore of Dutch manufacture. x “But, within a radius of 100 miles, no car had Dutch tvres.

"The police then offered the first reward of £SO. They stirred up the whole of New South Wales. There was an endless flow of inquiries and' reminders from Canberra. Everybody became irritated. But the greatest pro-' blom remained unsolved—who was the dead girl ? “On November 20 public notices were posted in. all Australian cities and townships by the New South AVales police, requesting people able to identify the murdered girl to inform the police.: Inquiries came; from 267 towns asking who would-pay- for the trip to, Alburv and hack..

“ ‘The Government, of course,’ was' the reply. .! , \ ' “Australia is a country that is settled along the • southern and eastern, borders only,- There are. no trains through the heart of the continent. If a mail from the Northern Territory wants to get to New South Wales, it means a trip around the whole-of Australia. The trip is beautiful, but the people of tile Northern Territory hardly ever get the chance of seeing New South Wales. But now the police offered everybody a trip at Government expense.” According to the report this delightful offer captivated the country. It fs stated that:—

On the first day 360 persons reported at Port Darwin alone. They believed they could identify the dead girl, judging from the published photo. “From Victoria 1745 persons were brought to Albury; from Queensland, 977; from the Southern Territories, 255. Three days after the arrival of these people the Government at Canberra published a sharp order to stop the migration. 'Hie Government demanded a statement of all witnesses’ travelling expenses incurred so far. “This statement was telegraphed to Canberra. On November 24 the Government said, ‘According to police reports, so far more than 4000 people havp been brought to Albury to identify the (lead woman, causing; an expense of £208.000 to the Government. It is hereby ordered that no further witnesses are to he sent to Albury in this murder ease.’ ‘Simultaneously the Federal Government ordered all steps to he taken to clear up the murder. 'The Albury police took further steps. “They telegraphed to all incoming and outgoing vessels in New Zealand, China, India, and the South Sea Islands; further, to the police in all British Empire towns, and to the central police administrations of the whole world.

“For the purpose, the military authorities bulit three temporary telegraph barracks and ordered special field telegraph equipment. They increased the •lumber of telegraphists from Ihur to 44. To save time, so-called ‘collective telegrams’ were sent to Sydney, Melbourne and Port Darwin, all containing the same text, and 300-400 addresses each.

“Then the police doctor at 5 Albury thought it his duty to inform the. authorities that the corpse would no longer keep on icy; Alburv eomunicated with Canberra, and Canberra ordered the corpse to be embalmed. But the local doctor did not. know how to do it, and he lacked the necessary chemicals. An expert was advertised for, and finally a doctor iii Perth was engaged for the. job. “He had to bo brought to Albury by car and aeroplane'. Then it was found that even he did not liav. ( > all the necessary ingredients. Again aeroplanes went into action, flying to Melbourne and Sydney. Finally the corpse; was duly embalmed and placed in a coffin of glass. The; people ol Albury started a pilgrimage to see the remains. “And now the authorities made up the total cost. Preliminary defective work, £145; the first local investigations £160; first telegram and telephone calls, £80: cost of migration of witnesses, £208,000; further investi-

Ration and telegrams, £2100; and C. I.I). work, .£1(500. It cost C2do to embalm the corpse. The erection of temporary telegraph stations ) overtime pay and other incidentals amounted to £4OO. “'l’hat brought tin* cost of the Albury murder to the gigantic: sum of £210,000. Now the authorities have offered a reward of £(300 for information leading to the identification of the dead girl. So far the murder remains a complete mystery.’’ Quite as mysterious, one supposes, a s the amazing effort of Hamburg’s "special correspondent.”